It’s impossible to achieve the perfect balance between humour, professionalism and familiarity – should I try to be funny or tell everybody what I got in my A Levels? I’m not quite sure, so I'll do my best to share the events that led me to be writing these words from my desk in Scotland.

I was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, and moved to the UK when I was one and a half years old. After fourteen years in the suburbs of North London, my mum and I moved to Cyprus and I enjoyed four beautiful years in the sun. Ever since this small but significant era, the idea of home and belonging – in particular the experience of straddling two cultures – has become a large part of who I am and has informed my outlook on life.

I have never had a specific career in mind – just a long, disparate list of things I want to do. Choosing to study English wasn’t part of a grand plan and I definitely didn’t expect to begin my career at Waterstones Piccadilly, but this ended up being the place where I first felt like an adult trying to work out what kind of life I’d like to lead.

After working in a beautiful children’s bookshop in London, I made the rash decision to do a Master’s degree in Women’s Writing and Gender in St Andrews, funded by long hours in the local bookshop. I spent a year feeling perpetually cold and always short of time, but I met lovely people and really improved my jumper collection.

Moving back down South, I finally conformed to societal expectations and start working in an office. It didn’t last long. During my time at a number of instantly forgettable admin roles, my mind was elsewhere; thinking about ideas and projects and a live of freedom and flexibility, but fear and money – or the lack of it – kept getting in the way.

So, strangely, being unexpectedly locked down in Cyprus in 2020 gave me the time to take a step back. Up high in the suburbs of Limassol, I made a lot of manic notes, listened to an unhealthy amount of podcasts, and finally made the decision to row my own canoe, as my dad says. I can’t actually row a canoe, but that hasn’t gotten in my way yet.

Later that year, I moved to Edinburgh and stumbled across a job advert that changed my career direction in a wonderful way. I’m happily moving between roles that are continually developing in ways I can’t quite predict, but I’m enjoying the – sorry, I’m going to say it – journey.