A few things that explain how I work

1975: Puts on a show.

At eleven, rounds up the neighbourhood kids to stage Jack and the Beanstalk in the backyard, with a pre-show bingo, a concession stand and my brother checking tickets at the door. Sells out.

1978: Arrives from Cape Town.

My father had run a family business, part event space, part catering, part liquor store and bar. In Canada, he took a job in a factory. By winter, I'd talked my way into a job at the local chicken place, underage, and bought my own winter coat.

1981: Answers the phones.

There aren't many calls, so after exhausting the office supply of Harlequin romances, I open the Yellow Pages and start calling companies I think ought to be throwing staff parties, like McDonald’s and London Life. Nobody asked me to. The calls turn into bookings, and the owner creates a premium Pink Ladies division with pink tuxedos, pink equipment, a pink truck. For a while, I'm one of the women behind the decks.

1987: Becomes the one they book.

At Clinique's flagship Eaton Centre counter, customers begin booking me when they need more privacy than the cosmetics floor can offer. Upstairs, in a quieter space, I work with people dealing with difficult skin conditions or recovering from plastic surgery.

1989: Changes course to special effects.

Due to meet the Lauders after becoming one of Clinique's top salespeople, I get an offer to work on Friday the 13th: The Series. I have to decide that day. I say yes, show up in full makeup and long red nails, and learn how to make things explode on cue. The nails are soon covered in glue and black powder.

1994: Moves into post-production.

Works on feature films and TV series, including Johnny Mnemonic, with writers, directors, producers and editors, shaping story from script to screen. Supervising post, I keep the teams, budgets and deadlines moving to get the finished show delivered. When a studio requests a last-minute change and there’s no time to risk a courier, I get on a plane with the film and hand-deliver it to the broadcaster in New York with minutes to spare.

2008: Builds an ecommerce business.

I launch Healthy Gourmet Gifts and build the website to sell online, handling the copy, images and the back end myself. The first order comes in from Xerox the day it goes live. I manage the site for ten years, changing it whenever I see an opportunity or a need, and come to appreciate how valuable that freedom is.

2010: Starts getting asked about websites.

Customers and suppliers notice the ecommerce site I’ve built. For a small business in 2010, it’s unusually sophisticated, right down to live chat. They start asking how I did it, then asking for help with theirs. I share what I know, from product photography to choosing payment processors, and gradually the work grows alongside my own business. Some of those first website clients from 2010 are still clients today.

2018: Knows which work she wants to be doing.

One late night, right in the middle of holiday season at Healthy Gourmet Gifts, I realize I’m happily working on someone else’s website instead of my own. I move into revamping websites full-time and find that clients want more than advice or a plan. They want someone who understands the business well enough to stay involved and carry the decisions through to completion. It takes me a while, but I build Revamp Project Studio around that.