I work for myself, from home which is something I’ve longed to do since moving to my little corner of paradise in Central Victoria. The work is varied which keeps life interesting. I’ve always written ads of course, now also socials and blogging for others. Recently I’ve started ghostwriting books. It turns out a lot of people want to record their life stories.

I fell into advertising by way of journalism. It was a very fortunate stumble. I was living beyond my means in Perth when there was a 7.30 am knock on my front door.

A man from the ANZ Bank stood outside in the rain.

‘Can I see your Bankcard’? he enquired.

For some reason I handed it to him. He whipped out some scissors, held the card up in front of my face and cut it in half. I suppose you could say it was a wake-up call.

As I needed to earn some real money a friend suggested advertising might suit. I don’t know what it says about me but it suited me down to the ground. My career began at Ogilvy and Mather in Perth, three years later, I drove my Datsun 240B with its wonky radiator across the Nullarbor to work for Darcy Masius Benton and Bowles in Melbourne. Then DDB Needham, probably the time my career hit the heights. It was the eighties, a brilliant time. Between then and now I’ve taught copywriting, written for television, run my own agency, which was a hell of a ride, and freelanced for ages. I’m very thankful I landed on a career with the potential to continue in many different ways.