My thespian aspirations were cruelly snuffed out at an impressionable age when I failed to land so much as a speaking part in the primary school production of The Wizard of Oz. Instead, I was cast as an uncoordinated, leggings-clad “whirlwind dancer”, condemned to prance around upstage to Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygène. The Old Vic, it seemed, would have to wait.

Salvation came from an unexpected direction: my design was chosen for the play programme. Turns out I was considerably better at problem-solving making things work rather than performing in them. problem-solving has been redeeming—and defining—me ever since.

What began as a childhood consolation prize eventually became a full-blown love affair. I made things official with an Art & Design Foundation at Camberwell College of Arts, followed by a Design degree at Goldsmiths, University of London. The acting career never recovered. Probably for the best….