Meet Vicki and learn about her journey

I’ve always enjoyed being creative. After earning my Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design, I spent a few years honing my graphic design skills through freelance projects whilst also gaining industry experience with several internships in London. At the same time I worked in retail and administrative roles to help fund this. Jobs in the fashion industry were highly competitive, especially in London, so I hoped to find a creative job closer to home. The turning point came when I decided to launch my greetings card business, in 2019. I was doing what I loved, designing, but also handling everything from branding to social media marketing. This experience sparked my interest in pursuing digital marketing as a full-time career. 

I came across The Digital Marketing Bootcamp on LinkedIn. I connected with Louize a few years previously through a mutual connection and saw her post advertising the bootcamp.

The main goal going into the course was to secure a full-time role in marketing at the end of it. I was also excited to learn new skills that could help me market my greetings card business. Coming from a design background with experience in Adobe, I was keen to learn more about Canva and other design tools. Some key skills I learnt were Content Management Systems (WordPress), Email Marketing (Mailchimp), Analytical skills (Google) and SEO. 

As part of the bootcamp I collaborated with local business RES Fire on a whole rebrand, I led logo redesigns and website migrations with Wix to optimise for both aesthetics and SEO as well as using Google Analytics to craft an experience that will resonate with their core customers. One of the biggest challenges was lacking confidence in my ability to pitch my ideas and myself. When it came to the final pitch to local business, RES Fire, I was nervous about what the client would think. With the moral support of my group and the client’s positive feedback I began to feel self-assured. The support and coaching from Louize helped me when it came to pitching myself in job interviews. She made me realise that I really came to life when talking about my design work which then gave me the confidence to secure the job! Whilst working on the project I discovered my superpowers for website design and creating content on Canva for social media, including videos. When I secured my interview I was asked to complete a project to create a singular post for an upcoming Christmas social media campaign. I used my skills and knowledge of creating a social media strategy from the course and went the extra mile planning several posts to showcase my ideas for the rest of the campaign. The bootcamp had prepared me for a career in digital marketing by giving me a strong foundation of tools and skills to use in different areas of marketing.

The Curious Academy venue is a very welcoming and inclusive environment with plenty of space to work. I liked the themed animal rooms and quirky decor which is very on brand making it a fun and engaging place to learn. I also liked the flexibility of being able to dial in for sessions if I couldn’t make it in. 

Now that I’ve completed the program I’m really enjoying my new job designing and planning social media posts, exploring WordPress more and I hope to develop my copywriting skills further. 

I was hesitant to go back into education e.g. a Masters degree seemed like quite a commitment that would delay me from getting a full time creative job with no guarantee of a job at the end and would put me in more student debt. The 16-week Digital Bootcamp appealed to me for the exact opposite reasons, there are no course fees, and you work on live briefs gaining hands on experience with the help of securing interviews and potential jobs at the end, which it did for me, having landed a job after completion. The lessons are manageable alongside a part time job and Louize was always happy to help you catch up if commitments meant you had to miss a session.

To get the most out of the course, I would say you have to be curious and willing to learn and commit to sessions or catching up in your spare time as much as you can. 

I still enjoy running my own business alongside my job in marketing, so if anyone is looking for unique greeting’s cards, please visit my Etsy shop.

Or follow me on Instagram: @victoria.coe.design