From Marketing Student to Digital Agency Owner. My Journey with The Curious Academy
Life is full of twists and surprises, and when I found myself sitting amongst a dozen small business owners ready to learn the art of digital marketing, I had no idea where the course would take me. Back in December 2024, I had recently left a sales job, had veered away from my childhood “dream” of acting to pursue a more stable career, and felt generally lost in the sea of life. With the new year approaching, I took a leap, enrolling on a government-funded course on Digital Marketing, hoping that, if nothing else, I’d get a job out of it.
Let’s just say I got more than just a job out of it!
Digital marketing was never a career I had envisioned for myself; I’d always been creative, training in acting at East 15. But after lockdown, the industry still hasn’t recovered fully. When I found out about the Skills Bootcamps, I immediately felt that this was the opportunity I needed. After scrolling through countless options, I was grabbed by a place called The Curious Academy, and after digging, I knew this was the style of course I needed. Digital Marketing was the obvious choice, it married creativity with my sales background, as well as being something I was genuinely interested in learning. After an initial meeting with the course leader, Louize, I knew I’d made the right choice. So in January, I began my journey with The Curious Academy.
The course covered everything you could need for digital marketing, whether you were a small business or, like me, looking for a career change. From business basics like addressable markets, branding and competitor analysis, to creative ventures such as Canva, social media and website design, to technical specialising with SEO, Semrush and AI. I immediately developed a fondness for the creative areas, but the beauty of the course came from how Louize married her students’ skills and comfort zones with areas that would push them to their full potential. Our course cohort was varied; we had dating agencies, photographers, e-commerce professionals and organisers. It was an eclectic group, but with only eleven students in the room, we were all given ample attention, guidance and personal support. Louize could qualify as a professional therapist with all the business woes she helped with!
Understanding the jargon of digital marketing was just one part of our learning; putting it all into practice was quite another. I discovered not just a passion for what we were learning, but also that by quickly finishing my projects, I was able to help others. I then realised this was where my talents were, adapting the skills to help other small businesses. Behind the scenes, Louize and I were searching through a barren job market looking for a position for me. After several applications, fighting against the hundreds of other candidates for jobs in digital marketing, it felt like by the end of the course, I might’ve been Louize’s first failed job seeker. The course was ending in three weeks, everyone was prepping their businesses to launch, and here I was with far more skills but the same job prospects as before.
It was in one of these last classes where, rather than working on my pitch deck for the pretend business I was using to practise skills, I was helping my colleagues with their real ones. One of them, Mel (whose business launch is just on the horizon), said to me, “You’re good at this. Why don’t you do it yourself? You’ve got all the skills to run a business now anyway?” And I thought: why not? So with two weeks to go, I scrapped everything I’d been working on and started afresh. I was going to launch a business by the end of this course.
It was clear it would be a digital marketing company; what else would I want to do? But my client base was a little more specific. I considered who I’d been helping, who I’d loved working with, and who I’d most want to make a difference with their business goals. And that was female start-ups, small business owners, and those who were self-employed. The branding quickly followed. Compared to my corporate and male-dominated competitors, I wanted my brand to feel welcoming, feminine, creative and friendly. A brand you’d go for a coffee and a gossip with, a brand you could chat to about business ideas over a glass of wine. Olive&Rose was born.
Launching was a terrifying prospect; fears of failure I’d witnessed many of my course colleagues endure it was now my turn to face. Louize and the incredible team easily mitigated all the doubts swirling around. Their energy drove me on; my website (oliveandrose.uk) was launched during the final week of the course. The outpouring of support from the Curious team was amazing, and from the course, I gained my first (but not last!) clients. The skills I’d learned from the course allowed me to help solve any sticking points in their websites, SEO and social media set-ups, allowing them to also launch their business ahead of our graduation. I had the skills, the confidence, and now, the business. Everything I’d wanted when I first started in January. And then, to top it all off, Louize presented me with the “more”. I was invited back to be a guest lecturer, specialising in Canva, branding and website design. I could bring my skills back to help future course attendees, and I had my first official business partnership. Excited couldn’t begin to cover how I felt.
So that brings me to today. My website and social media platforms are in full swing, I’ve been designing websites and content for clients, getting to do what I enjoy every day. And the cherry on top, I get to go back to the people without whom none of this would’ve been possible and be a part of that incredible team. Without The Curious Academy, I have no idea what 2025 would look like. But I can say now with certainty, at the very least, it looks exciting.
To anyone who got this far, if you’re looking for a change or an upskill, to start a new business or to improve your current one, The Curious Academy is for you. Our next course cohort is about to be picked, and we can’t wait to meet all of you. For anyone else, if you want a website or digital marketing consulting, you know who to call!
Olivia Birch, Founder of Olive&Rose & Guest Presenter at The Curious Academy