The work before the network
Before NAMI was a business or a network, I spent years figuring out how to get people to notice what an organisation was doing.
I had head-of-department jobs in brand and marketing. It went way beyond making things look pretty. I had to get everybody saying the same thing, give people something they could actually get involved in and make sure the good stuff didn't just disappear.
I probably learned the most from working with the Energy Consultants Association.
I helped build it into a leading UK trade body for energy consultancies. I made the brand, content and events, and helped run the membership side of it. I set up webinars and member comms, got the organisation onto an Energy Live News stage and took an industry campaign into Westminster.
That taught me something I've never forgotten.
A community can't live off the buzz of one good event. People need a reason to stick around after everybody goes home.
People need to know what it is, who's involved and who they should be speaking to.
Back to where NAMI began
Anyway, rewind a bit. I started NAMI Up North in 2019 and, if I'm honest, I was making a lot of it up as I went.
The idea was simple. Celebrate the creative work being made across the North East and help more people see it.
Artists, musicians, designers, photographers, makers and little independent businesses were doing work worth shouting about. Loads of it never made it outside their own scene or their own circle of mates.
The North East is full of lush people making incredible things. Too much of it still sits in separate little pockets.
I wanted NAMI Up North to join those pockets together.
I featured regional creatives, went on BBC Radio to talk about the project, curated art shows, programmed music stages and ran Creative Social gatherings.
An illustrator could meet a musician. A small business could discover a photographer. Somebody could walk in knowing nobody and leave with a collaborator, a client or even just a new mate.
That was the bit I loved. Helping people find their people.
When Covid f*cked it all up
Then Covid took away the places NAMI Up North depended on.
Networking stopped. Art shows and music stages vanished. You couldn't recreate all those random conversations and introductions by chucking a few more posts on Instagram.
So NAMI went quiet. The people were still there and they still needed the same things, but the way I'd built it was gone.
My own life was turbulent too. I was battling addiction and struggling with my mental health. I was trying, and mostly failing, to work out where the f*ck I belonged.
Truth is, I wasn't ready to give NAMI what it deserved.
I stepped back. I worked on myself, faced the things that were holding me down and started trying to build a life I actually wanted to be in.
Then my children basically saved my life.
Becoming a dad changed what my time meant. If I brought NAMI back, it couldn't rely on me turning up to every event, remembering every introduction and carrying the whole thing around in my head.
It needed some proper structure. It had to keep working without me trying to hold every bit of it together.
By then, NAMI Creative had also become my freelance side hustle. I was helping founders and small teams bring their brand, content, website and automation into one joined-up system.
That work made me think: why wasn't I giving local creative talent the same care I gave a client?
A network with a proper job to do
NAMI Creative Network is my answer.
It's basically NAMI Up North 2.0. Same heart, except this time I've got more experience, a proper setup and a plan for where I want to take it.
Creators, artists, musicians, photographers, designers, freelancers, makers, local businesses and independent brands can tell us what they do and where they're based. It's free to join.
The first job is helping people get seen. I publish creative spotlights and regional roundups so brilliant work can travel beyond the same old circle.
Then it's about connecting people. If somebody needs a photographer, designer, maker, venue, performer or collaborator, it shouldn't come down to whoever the algorithm fancies showing them that day.
There is another side to it as well.
Businesses, brands, charities, causes and local projects often say they want to support local talent, but they don't always know where to find it. They might need somebody creative, people for an event, work for a campaign or a solid local project to back.
NAMI gives them somewhere to start.
They can hire people from the network, share real opportunities, support features and events or work with NAMI to put some actual money and attention behind North East creativity.
I want "support local" to mean something. A proper introduction. Paid work. A name passed to somebody who can open a door. A good person finally getting seen.
I'm building it in public
The network's still growing, and I've decided to build it where people can see it.
Part of that is me holding myself accountable. If I talk about the idea, show people the progress and tell them what I'm trying to build, I can't quietly talk myself out of it when the fear kicks in.
Because it does kick in. I still worry that something will look cringe. I still get that imposter feeling that asks who the f*ck I think I am to build any of this. Sometimes pressing publish on a post feels harder than it probably should.
But I know what happens if I listen to that voice. I shrink the idea until it feels safe, then nobody gets anything from it.
My fear of looking daft is nowhere near as strong as my need to build communities where people feel comfortable being themselves.
That passion overrules the anxiety. Every time.
Right now, that means a directory, regular features, email roundups, referrals and plans to get people together again.
I spent the quieter years getting my head down and learning all the stuff I didn't know the first time. Now I'm chucking all of it into something I genuinely believe could become massive for the North East.
If you're a creative or an independent business, start by joining the NAMI Creative Network. Tell me enough about what you do that I remember you when the right thing comes up.
If you run a business, brand, charity or initiative and want to back North East talent, come and speak to me. Tell me what you need, what you can offer or who you are trying to reach.
NAMI started because I could see loads of good work being made here and nowhere near enough people seeing it.
That problem's still here. I'm just in a much better place to do something about it now.
This time, I'm ready to build it properly.