I started my working life answering phones in a call centre, and today I’m build
By Sophie Miller · October 13, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
I started my working life answering phones in a call centre, and today I’m building a media company with a team and a community of over 800,000 marketers (mwah love ya) ☁️ ⋆˚
from 18 to 21 I worked in that call centre, and by 21 I felt late, like everyone else had worked out what they wanted and I hadn’t. I knew I wanted something creative, I found marketing, and I went to uni as a "mature student" (I was literally 21 welp)
→ you’re not as behind as you think, and starting later still counts as starting
in 2020 I was in my second year, scared of life after graduating, so I started Pretty Little Marketer as an Instagram account sharing what I was learning about marketing to boost my CV and find people who felt the same way.
→ you don’t need a plan to start, you just need to start somewhere people can see you
freelancing came straight from that visibility. I worked as a strategist for some of the UK's biggest brands for 4 years. I didn’t have connections or a network, so every client came from someone finding my content, and it turned into five years of freelancing and consulting for some of the biggest brands in the world.
→ it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you !!!
in 2024 I let go of all my clients to become a full time creator, which was the scariest decision I’ve made.
→ the safe option isn’t always the right one, and betting on yourself is worth the wobble
and now in 2026 I’m turning Pretty Little Marketer into a media company and building a team around the community.
→ the version of you people see online is only the latest chapter, and you’re allowed to keep changing
--
this is post one of the #PLMLinkedInChallenge, which our members are doing with me over the next two weeks, so I’ll be sharing mine alongside them every day. I’d love to hear how you ended up doing what you do in the comments !!