I worked in the NHS for many years. My days consisted of an hour sitting in traffic to get to my office, followed by eight hours of sitting in a dull, artificially lit office. Daily activities would include sitting in front of a computer screen, or attending a seemingly unending stream of “partnership” meetings with representatives from other organisations. All of this was supposedly about working together to improve the health of local people, but often felt like it was a chance for people to feed their egos and claim any success for themselves.

The system, the bureaucracy and many of the people with whom I worked stifled any opportunities to be creative. Any changes seemed to take years to happen, I never saw an end product of any of the work I was involved in, and nobody ever acknowledged my work or said thank you. I did it for years and I hated it.

Eventually I could take it no longer. At the age of 36 I chose to follow the best piece of advice I was ever given. “Find the thing you really love and make it your job”. I left the NHS (and my nice healthy salary) and went back to college to study Garden Design full time.

Now, a few years down the line, I work for myself, from home, as a garden designer. My days are very different. The commute to my office takes about thirty seconds, and I can do it with a cup of tea in my hand while wearing my slippers if I choose. I may spend the day at my drawing board, my dog asleep at my feet, working on the plans for a client’s garden, or perhaps be out surveying a new garden. Maybe I’ll be investigating some new materials I’m considering using in a design, or working on an exciting planting scheme. I might be making a site visit to check on a landscaper who is building one of my designs. Whatever the day holds in store for me I know that it is my choice. I answer only to my clients. I make all the decisions and I take all the responsibility.

Each new client is the start of a new adventure. From the first meeting with them to find out what they want from me, my work is a series of challenges to be solved, using things I learned on my college course, supplemented with skills and knowledge I have developed over many years. As well as getting to know the client and their thoughts, dreams and desires, I also have the pleasure of getting to know their garden. Even the thought of surveying a garden in the pouring rain is exciting as I know it is just the beginning of a process which will challenge me, allow me to be creative and ultimately lead to a new garden for my client. Something tangible that I can actually see, touch, feel and experience, and hand over to my client in the knowledge that ‘I did that. It was my idea.’

So, am I glad I changed my life? You bet I am! Everything has changed for the better. I’m doing something I love and enjoy and people are actually paying me to do it. I couldn’t ask for anything more. The only thing that hasn’t changed is dealing with egos. Only now the ego that needs to be fed is mine, and I think I can just about deal with that!