I’ve lived and worked in Wales all my life, either in the Wrexham/North Wales area or Cardiff. My background bares no real relation to what I’m now involved in. Having grown up in Wrexham, when I completed my A-levels at Yale Sixth Form College in 1994, where I studied German, English Language, English Literature and Media Studies (plus 1 year of Art & Design), I started at Cardiff University studying BA Language and Communication. I have to say, I had a ball!

When I left there in 1997, having graduated, I spent a year working at the Welsh Office in Cardiff as a Publicity Officer, and enjoyed my work immensely, getting involved in many different events. But, it wasn’t really what I wanted to do, and at the end of my year-long contract, I decided to move on.

I’d worked part-time at a pub in the Cardiff area, called ‘The Crofts’ (hi guys!) throughout my time in university, and had stayed on even when I was at the Welsh Office. Having spent my teens growing up in the pub my mum & dad ran for 10 years, and always having worked part-time in pubs in Wrexham and Chester, I knew how much I enjoyed the work. So, I started working full-time there, and for the next year, learnt a lot more about running a pub. It also steered my career path firmly into retail.

In 1999, after successfully completing a selection centre, I moved back to Wrexham to begin working as a trainee manager for a major UK pub chain. For the next 3 years I worked all over North Wales and Chester area and thoroughly enjoyed myself! It’s not the easiest retail to work in, but I just loved the buzz I got from being in a busy atmosphere, with lots of contact with people of all backgrounds. I liked nothing better than a bar with hundreds of people all waiting to be served with drinks! Not often someone says that!!

Having decided that retail was where my heart lay, I made the tough decision to move out of licensed retail and into more mainstream retail. I joined one of the biggest supermarket retailers in the country in 2002. I was still based in Wrexham, and became a Night Manager. I left this position in 2005 to start Aballu Truffles.