Interior Architect and co founder Next Generation Architecture City, Country: London, UK

What inspired you to want a life in Architecture and the creative industries?
What inspired me to want contribute to the industry is the strong desire I had to see change and support for the users of buildings and structures as well as a lack of representation when it comes to designers in the built environment . As a designer I always believed that buildings/ spaces should support those who use it especially on a day to day basis. We should create with the end user in mind, how will they ultimately benefit from being in this building especially if they had to use it everyday. I am very passionate about this and it stems from my personal experience at university, being I studied a design subject I never felt inspired or creative and the doom of the environment contributed heavily to that I always made it a point that I didn’t want anyone to feel that way and have been working towards transforming the narrative everyday. As a CEO I believe it’s so important what we do today for the younger generations tomorrow we are all responsible and making sure that we create paths to help them not only come into the profession but feel supported and thrive is so important to us all. With NGA I believed it was so important for chardae and I to do this amazing work and so far it has been very successful.

Who inspired you in finding your path to Architecture and the creative industries?
There were many people who helped along the way; my amazing mother who championed resilience, our mentor Neil Pinder, Yvonne Halloren, Rochelle Daphinis, my amazing peers and co workers; Daniel David, Sarah Osei and so many more.

How you unlock obstacles and overcome bias in your work.
The best way I’ve found to unlock obstacles would be to converse with peers. You never know what someone could know and how that could help you moving forward, so have a conversation, network, go out for a coffee no matter what just simply ask and don’t stop asking around until you get the answer. Determination always produces results.

What improvements you feel are required to promote effective change in the academic and working environment?
More support from tutors and an open mind. Every students style or way of working is not linear and it should not reflect the yesterdays that were once celebrated. Architecture and interior design is a constantly evolving pool of new beginnings and wonderful experiments to get to a new and supported way of living and working. Having forward thinkers and innovators who support the “new” and endless creativity will drastically help students thrive in the educational field and beyond.