For many years I did what I was told to do by teachers, by parents, by society. I completed my GCSEs, got good grades at A-levels went to a prestigious University studying my favourite subject, Physics, and landed one of the best finance jobs a graduate could ever wish for. But why was I not satisfied?

I didn’t know the answer to that question until many years later but all I knew was that I was getting ill. I was unhappy and no longer had the Duracell Bunny energy to continue that lie. And so the spiral downwards continued into my unhappiness and eventually solitude.

I quit my job at the age of 25 and decided to take that much needed ‘time out’, to think. After all, many students take a Gap Year – it’s become an industry in its own right. One I wouldn’t partake in until I was well into my twenties. Something I recommend at any age. I took that much needed time-out volunteering at a charity for young people in London.

It was during that year where I harvested specialist skills; the art of project management, fund raising, capacity building and many other areas the voluntary sector gave me that the private sector could not. Eventually after about a year I decided to become a teacher as I thought I could ‘give it a shot’. I had a Physics degree so became a Physics teacher, naturally. I had a vocation now.

In every career role that I had, I learned that I thoroughly enjoyed teaching others. That never changed for me. However, unfortunately, I found the politics of teaching in the public sector strangling with little room for bespoke teaching and more of a tick box exercise. I observed Heads of Department as they looked through their list of students on border grades and how they could ‘fudge’ the numbers to position their school strategically on the league tables and I just thought it a waste of time and a waste of many teaching opportunities.

On several occasions I tried to create side projects for my pupils only to be told by the Head of Science, that if I had time on my hands to take workload off other teachers. I was shocked at this attitude. But this time I wasn’t going to spiral into unhappiness, I learned that already from my first career. This time I would make my own choices and so I quit teaching. But I decided not to quit education. This was the area that I wanted to continue working in but on my own terms.

And so I realised that I was rebelling against being institutionalised against linear thinking. Focusing on ticking boxes, meeting external requirements rather than what children needed and delivering a template of learning with little creative input. This was stifling in many ways and it greatly frustrated me. I never knew I had a creative side to myself, that every single one of us does. We pigeon-hole ourselves and each other into various categories ignoring that part of us that yearns to create. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Not for me, I decided. Instead of resisting or trying to fight the way things are run the best route was to work with what was already there. To complement it – somehow.

Soon after leaving teaching I created science games that I learned to create from observing children playing maths games in the classroom (see previous blog entry). And then things started to get interesting. As I became a games publisher the words ‘gamification’ started to be coined and STEM was now a buzz acronym in schools and local councils. I was at the frontier of it with years of experience in this area. Great! My games became top sellers at Prospects Education Resources and the Science Museum took them on, yet I was still not satisfied as something seemed amiss.

For many years I felt my creativity had been stifled in favour of being academic. So I searched for a way to bring the two together. Yes creating science games was using my creative noggin – but not really, I was actually creating teacher-led resources. Yet I wanted to create child-led games with science influence.

And so I began observing children OUTSIDE of the classroom for the first time through Toy Fairs and Game Expos. And it became clear that the toy industry was where the real lessons were. Children were making the decisions for themselves here. Empowering – they could make or destroy brands with their own choices. I firmly believe now that the toy and games industry has a lot to teach the education sector. Let’s not ignore that.

The question became, how? How could I enable children to explore their creativity whilst applying it to an academic context – science. This is where the focus is now. And I’ve come to love this new career I have forged. Building brands that children enjoy and at the same time become immersed creatively, imaginatively is a dream to be a part of.

Turning all that I was brought up to believe on its head, a campaign to bring art and science was needed in a linear world. To be truly holistic though, the campaign needed to include the kineasthetic element which included moving. To use our bodies would maximise our mental capabilities which is why I included parkour as a special ingredient in the project that has been launched.

With all these important ingredients in place the linear world considers my new venture as ‘disrupting education’ – there’s another tick box for you. Well so be it. The campaign has begun and I am looking forward to working with all the schools registered in this creative campaign that I hope will allow children to realise their creativity as much as I did not at their age. So it’s Full STEAM Ahead for 2016.