So what were the “here now” and “coming soon” posts all about??  Let me tell you.  Now that I have finished Uni, I have to enter the ever so slightly scary world of working for money instead of a cup of peppermint tea in John’s office (John was my course leader).

Now, at Uni, many of you will know that I was classed as a “disabled student”, because I have a rather acute form of IBS (two out of the three forms in fact).  I suffer from spastic colon and mid-gut motility disorder, the side effects of which are as follows:

* intense abdominal pain
* bloating
* nausea
* spastic body movements
* shaking
* constipation
* anxiety
* fatigue
* spasms of the digestive system
* loss of concentration

What a pleasant combo!  And a real coversation starter.  Seriously you should try introducing yourself with that lot.  Naturally, I don’t do that too often.  Whilst the rest of the world (apart from those who share the experience) regard this as a ‘minor inconvenience’, it can actually be really disabling and a complete and utter confidence destroyer.

There are two ways to respond to such an illness.  Most people who meet you will tell you what you should do and wht you should try, or will try to delve into your past to dig up some emotional trauma that might be affecting you.  What few seem to acknowledge, is that it is a condition just like any other.  I hope no one would walk up to a person in a wheelchair and claim that they are there because they have done something bad, or because someone in their past had hurt them.  Whilst there might be ways to alleviate it, there is currently no cure, so the best response is to work out how to live with it.  Stress and diet are triggers, not causes, so management of these is a process of alleviation, not removal.

There are many things that I just cannot do.  I am all for equal opportunities, but I do not expect any design agency to employ me when I would have to be late to work often, I might have to run out of meetings, I might not cope with trips out, might have panic attacks etc.  This would mean that deadlines could be missed and that I would not be working like everyone else.  To me this is not equal opportunity at all. It might be great for me, but it is not ‘equal’ for them or anyone else working there.

So I could probably blag incapacity benefit, or I could work with it.  And the solution I have chosen is to work for myself.  I have got through my degree with a lot of help from the fantastic disabilities team at the University of Gloucestershire and now I am the owner of three businesses, which I intend to run in synchronicity with one another.

Here is a breakdown:

Elevation Multimedia: A web hosting provider and web development business.  This is more JT’s department but I manage the accounts.

Pink Sky: This is my design (and primary) business.  I do branding, packaging, editorial (book/magazine design), web, print, product (limited), interior (limited) and, well, whatever comes my way design!  I also intend to do some writing for design.

Jellify: This is a brand new business that I have set up with my good friend Mark.  We move into an office tomorrow!!  Jellify is “about your town” (strapline) and is a web site that tells you what is happening in your town.  We are starting with Cheltenham and expanding from there.  I am hugely excited about the office move tomorrow.  I cannot design from this office as there is already an agency next door.  Here are a couple of photos of the empty shell… Will post more when we are in!

The downstairs – Mark’s territory

Upstairs (up a spiral staircase!) – my office.

Running your own business with IBS is really good, because you can manage your own time and stress.  I know a lot of people with the same condition that do it actually, so that is ecouraging in some ways!  I will update you with more pics and info soon.