“MAMA Youth changed my whole life. It’s just kind of opened up a world I’d never seen before. Growing up on council estates, you only ever see one set of people. I hadn't been around like, professional producers, I didn't know really how to carry myself as much as I do now.

I’ve not had a terrible upbringing but not the best either. I didn’t really do well at school, so  I didn’t want to go to college or uni. After school I just wanted to work and make money but then I just ended up in rubbish jobs with no real direction. I was delivering pizzas and doing shopping deliveries which got me by but it’s not a career.

When I was turning 21 I thought, “I’ve got to do something with myself now”. I didn’t really have much going for me, no real interest in anything. The only one thing I ever really enjoyed was media in school. I got myself a camera and began shooting anything I could in my local area, from music videos to photography. Then I came across The MAMA Youth Project and
everything I read about them was like it was meant for me, that you didn’t need any experience, and could be from an unrepresented background.
 
The thought of going into an industry where a lot of people had studied and are most likely from wealthier backgrounds than me etc was scary at the time. But going through the training, there were people from very different worlds to me, but we all just clicked straight away. I made good friends with people from different walks of life that I'd never usually be in contact with.

At first, I thought the course was quite militant. They’re training you up for one month to go and do a whole TV show from having no experience doing anything. So it has to be super intense and it is, they prepare us for the worst so we’re overprepared when we enter the industry. I learned people skills, industry skills like working with cameras and running skills.

After the course, they helped me find my first job in the industry. Now I’m working at Whisper TV. I’m one of the in-house camera operators/assistants so I'm in charge of the kit room, prepping the kit, making sure everything's flowing within each production. There can sometimes be lot of pressure but I've kind of found that’s the best way to learn because either you sink or swim and I’m still swimming!
 
Recently, I got given a permanent contract as well, which is quite unusual for this industry, most people are on contracts or freelance. So that probably shows how much they like me, which is good. I’m obviously doing something right!
 
I’ve been at Whisper two years now, I’ve had so much great experience, I’ve travelled the world like seven or eight times already, last month I was in Poland for the World Heavyweight boxing match. Here I’ve got a steady income and a great job, I’m really happy and I still feel like I’m progressing all the time, shooting more and more and getting on the good jobs.
 
I feel like I’ve made the great escape, I’ve got away from all of that negativity from where I’ve grown up and I’ve kind of emerged in a new world. Now I almost feel more comfortable in a working environment like this than where I’ve grown up.”