Notch Media Turns Three | Personality-Led Brand Designer

Three years ago, wanting more for myself had started to feel like a problem. I had a head full of ideas, a little business on the side, and a growing sense I was pouring my best energy into the wrong place. Then it all came to a head, and I had a choice. Shrink myself down to fit, or back the thing I actually believed in. I chose me. I chose Notch. And three years on, I've never once regretted it.

Backing myself, with nothing but a bit of nerve

When it all came to a head, I suddenly found myself with some unexpected time on my hands and a decision to make, and I thought, right, I'm going to do exactly what I want, because I can. So I sat down and taught myself graphic design from scratch. I came from an illustration, fashion and costume background, not branding, so I was learning the craft, the business and how to find clients all at the same time, with no real idea whether any of it would work.

Bloom started life as a passion project of mine, a chance to just play and figure out what I was doing, and then, around six months later, she became my very first paying brand client. I will never stop being grateful to her for giving me a go when I was right at the beginning. Honestly, thank you.

Not long after came a project with a company called MenoAid, and that one quietly changed everything for me. It was so much fun, and somewhere in the middle of it I had the thought that shaped my entire studio. What if I could weave a bit of story into people's brands? A bit of their actual personality? That was the lightbulb. That was the start of the Notch you know now.

I didn't need to fit the box, i needed to break it.

My first year was up and down, if I'm honest. I kept feeling like I had to squeeze myself into a certain shape, a certain way of doing things, a box I was somehow supposed to sit neatly inside.

And then it clicked: I didn't need to step out of the box; I needed to break the thing entirely. The moment I stopped trying to fit and started building things my way, loud and warm and a bit different, everything got better.

It began to feel like an actual business somewhere in my second year. That quiet shift from "I'm hopefully doing this" to "I think I can actually do this." My confidence took a little longer, it didn't really start to grow until about halfway through year two, but when it finally came, it changed everything.

And now here we are!!

The proudest bit

There have been some lovely milestones along the way, a few awards I still can't quite believe are real, but my proudest thing isn't any of those.

My proudest thing is knowing that little me would be so proud. I'm doing this for her, the me who was loud and chaotic at school, who didn't always fit in, who felt uncertain about life pretty much constantly. And to be fair, I still feel uncertain plenty of the time, the difference now is that I'm having an absolute blast while I do it.

Why three years means so much

I won't pretend running a business is easy, because it isn't. You pretty much dedicate everything to it, and if you don't do the work, you don't get paid, and there's no one to pick up the slack but you. I live and breathe this thing.

Right at the start, I made myself a promise, partly for my own sake, that I would give it everything and get to three years before I let myself judge whether it was really working. One hard year was never going to be enough to decide on, so three was my marker. If I could look back and see real growth, then I was on the right path and I keep going, and if I couldn't, if there wasn't even a glimmer of it getting better, then I'd know it was time to be honest with myself.

Thankfully, it's working, and I'm so glad, because I love it. I love every business I get to work with, every person I've met along the way, and all the ups and the downs, even the downs, though maybe not in the actual moment. I'm building something I love, something I'm so proud to call mine.

thank you!

To every single person who trusted a self-taught designer with more heart than experience in those early days, thank you. You kept me going more than you'll ever know.

And to Rocky, my tuxedo studio manager, and Skye the sleeper and snacker, thank you both for the moral support and the absolutely zero help with the actual work.

So here’s to year four!

I've got things brewing and as always, I am still learning, and I love it! Hopefully some mini courses, a few more in-person workshops, and maybe, just maybe, a glimmer of a podcast. It's all in the works and it'll stay there a little while yet, because I want to do it properly, not just for me, but for the people who'll be listening and watching too.

But mostly, if you're reading this stood at your own crossroads right now, quietly wondering whether to back yourself, here's my two pennies. Do it. It is terrifying and it is worth every single second. I'm three years in and very, very glad I did.

Thank you for being here. Here's to the next one. 💜

Notch is 3!!

I didn't need to fit the box, i needed to break it.

thank you!

A Proper Get To Know Me (The Non-Work Version)