About

I founded Rebel Creative to combine two of the great interests that have permeated my career to date: writing, and community development. My copywriting services aim to offer a breath of fresh air from bland corporate communications. Meantime, the business development and creative consultancy side of the business is unashamedly focused on the North Highland area – giving something back to the place I call home.

Focus North is the economic development partnership for the North Highland area, aiming to develop and promote the opportunities in our region. I joined Focus North on a one-year contract, helping to deliver a skills strategy for the region and supporting our communications and marketing plan. Focus North was incredibly supportive of my decision to go it alone, and remain a valued client of Rebel Creative, as do many of the Focus North partners. See testimonial.

In 2021 I secured a position with the Press & Journal, as part of the BBC’s acclaimed UK Local Democracy Reporter scheme. I covered all aspects of local government, reporting on the decisions of the Highland Council and health board, and their impacts on daily life. Having initially applied for this part-time LDR role, I was also offered a second part-time role covering schools and family topics across the north east of Scotland. I wrote primarily for the digital newspaper, honing my skills in SEO-optimised copy, and also pitched and delivered a special investigative series into autism support which remains one of the paper’s best performing pieces of in-depth journalism. See testimonial.

In 2016, while expecting my second baby, NHS Highland announced a downgrading of maternity services at my local hospital. Together with other local mums, I launched a highly publicised campaign to save our maternity services. This campaign saw more than 1,000 people march through the streets, extensive nationwide media coverage and several trips to Holyrood. It also led to my election as a councillor for Wick and East Caithness, and subsequently my positions as Caithness Chair and Vice-Chair of Health and Social Care. It was a whirlwind experience, and I remain a passionate advocate for community development and local democracy.

I spent more than 15 years as a freelance copywriter and editor, based in Edinburgh. In this time I wrote blogs for Channel 4, an alumni magazine for Guildhall School, architectural profiles for Russwood, medical features for AO Spine and web copy for Canongate Books, to name but a few. The work was diverse and interesting, and fit in around my family life as a new mother. In this time I took the major decision to move home to Caithness after an amazing decade in Edinburgh.

After four years in magazine publishing I was ready for a new challenge, and jumped at the opportunity to join Channel 4 Television’s team in Glasgow. As Nations & Regions Development Manager I was responsible for supporting independent production companies for TV and digital in the regions and devolved nations of the UK. I also led on the department’s communications strategy, served on the Board of Bafta Scotland and made regular presentations to stakeholders including the Culture Minister, Ofcom and Creative Scotland. This was a highly challenging and creative role that taught me lessons for life. The highlight was seeing one of the Scottish companies I supported win a Bafta for their digital platform.

I joined content marketing agency White Light Media in my final year at Uni, after calling the office and offering to make their coffee! My coffee was bad but my writing was good, and I was offered a junior editorial position the day before I graduated. I spent the next four years learning the ropes, until I was editor and account manager of six major titles and a member of the four-strong management team. I credit WLM as the agency that made me a journalist, as well as giving me the best possible start to my career. Twenty years later, they are still a client. Read testimonial.