About Illuminate

As a freelance Website Designer, I enjoy the freedom to dedicating my time, passion and considerable experience directly to my client's projects on a "one to one" basis.

Seeing my clients project visions come to fruition and helping them to achieve their goals gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction.

As a freelancer, I don't feel bound by the many constraints that are prevalent when working with an agency.
For me getting the job "done right" and "on budget" for my client's far outways the monetary constraints that often plague larger businesses.

Having had the experience of owning and managing several small businesses has given me valuable insight into the needs and wants of my clientele.

And as a goal-oriented person, my focus is on setting the bench-marks and achieving the vision of my clients and helping them to achieve their own business goals.

My entire working life I have worked within a small business framework both here in Australia and during my time overseas.
On the whole, I have generally worked within the retail and hospitality sectors with daily one on one contact with my clients and customers.
I enjoy working one on one with my clients as I consider myself to be a "People Person".

I have also found that there is a great deal of personal satisfaction that comes from delivering a great product or service to my clients.
Saying that dealing with the public does have it's challenging at times and I have found through my experiences that if you treat people as you would have them treat yourself then you can't go too far wrong.

This simple philosophy is what underpins my core business values of honesty, integrity and communication.

HONESTY
As a small business owner and manager, honesty and transparency are at the heart of not only my business philosophy but in my personal life as well.

When I put my name to something or I say that I am going to create or deliver a product or service for someone I consider this as a personal commitment that I am making to my customers and the phrase "My word is my bond" resonates very strongly with me.

Dealing with my clients honestly, openly and with transparency has always allowed me to develop strong working relationships with my clientele which in turn has always strengthen and added longevity to my business relationships.

My entire working life I have worked within a small business framework both here in Australia and during my time overseas.
On the whole, I have generally worked within the retail and hospitality sectors with daily one on one contact with my clients and customers.
I enjoy working one on one with my clients as I consider myself to be a "People Person".
I have also found that there is a great deal of personal satisfaction that comes from delivering a great product or service to my clients.
Saying that dealing with the public does have it's challenging at times and I have found through my experiences that if you treat people as you would have them treat yourself then you can't go too far wrong.

INTEGRITY
As a small business owner, I firmly believe that who we are and how we conduct ourselves in our business and personal relationships is what sets us apart from other small businesses.
Conducting myself, my staff and my business with integrity at all times has always been another of the core values that have guided my client relationships over the years.

I want my clients to know that they can trust that I have their best interests at the forefront of our business dealings.
This trust and integrity have not only helped me to retain many loyal customers over the years but it has often been the catalyst for developing new customers as referrals from previous clients.

COMMUNICATION
The third of my core values have to be communication, as I feel that without open, honest and timely communication projects and ultimately relationships often tend to falter.

I always strive to communicate with my clients in a regular and timely fashion. I feel that consistent and relative communication is at the centre of every project that I undertake.
Great communication between myself and my clients helps to keep our projects on track and on budget, which ultimately leads to us achieving our project goals and timeframes.

For as long as I can remember I have always been interested in design, construction and the aesthetics of the combination of these two elements.

Straight out of school I spent several years training in the fashion industry which was the perfect marriage of my guiding interests.

For me, the fashion industry at its core is all about design and construction. Whilst at college we learnt daily the principles and fundamentals of design, like shape, colour and texture and then at night, I would rush home to design and construct garments using these principles.

To be honest I have never worked a single day employed in the fashion industry as I found at heart the "ruthlessness" of this world didn't sit well with my personality...I was only 20 years old at the time.
So I did what every 20 year old did in the80's...I went travelling.

I spent quite a few years living in London and this is where I started to manage my first small businesses.
London was also the place where I acquired the passion and skills that would set me on my future professional path.
Whilst travelling a found that I had a passion for photography.

Photography indulged and balanced the creative and aesthetic side of my personality with my desire to travel and see new horizons.
Also whilst in London, I started my journey into website design or what was then known as "Multimedia".
This is where I began learning programs like Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash and Illustrator which would become the tools of my trade over the next few decades.

After returning from my travels overseas I found myself living and working on Hamilton Island where I reside and work to this day.
Yes, It's a tough job living in paradise but someone's gotta do it.
Why Hamilton Island you ask? well at the time pretty much my whole family were living and working on Hamilton Island and have lived apart from my family for so long it was for me the place I needed to be.

Whilst living on the island my passion for photography was rekindled as I start my career as a professional photographer.
Over the years I have photographed everything from newlyweds to real estate, celebrities to newborns and pretty much everything in between.

As of writing this About Me article, I am currently the Manager of Hamilton Island Photography.
I still love to combine my passion for photography and travel and I try to holiday every year in unusual and "Off the Beaten Track" countries where I like nothing better than immersing myself in the local environment, always on the lookout for interesting and unusual images and scenes to photograph.

It was also this passion that helped me to achieve my "Masters in Photography" several years ago and I regularly compete and have had quite a few successes in National Photography competitions.

Not to be one to let the grass grow under my feet I have also during my time on Hamilton Island indulged my passion for Website Design and Development.

Freelancing my Website Design business brings all of my life skills to focus in one place. It allows me to create and develop strong "One on One" business and personal relationships whilst combining my passions for design and construction, aesthetics and photography.

THANKS FOR READING ABOUT ME.
Well, that's pretty much all about me without me waffling on too much.
If you would like to please head over to my Facebook or Instagram pages to learn a little more about what Illuminate has been up to lately.
Thanks again.