The path that got me here

I’ve always been good at following instructions. Not blindly, not without thought—but with precision. At school, my grades lined up consistently, offering no obvious clue about what should come next. So I took time off. Two years in retail and in a factory, assembling energy regulators for ovens. Figuring things out slowly. I travelled a little. Lived a little. Delayed the decision until I felt brave enough and knew what I wanted to try.

At twenty, I found a spark. Social sciences lit up the inside of my brain like nothing else had. It clicked—deeply. I was drawn into something bigger than myself. I threw myself into it. And then I graduated into the quiet truth that loving a subject doesn’t guarantee a job. I couldn’t even get hired by the local supermarket, rejected for being “overqualified.” They assumed I wouldn’t stay. (Do many people though?)

When work didn’t appear, I turned to recruitment agencies and stumbled into administration—mostly by chance. I’ve been doing admin ever since, never quite finding my way out. I moved through a mix of roles: in a prison, a university, not-for-profits, a small food business, insurance, media. Always admin. Always some version of support. There was a title change—from assistant to administrator—but it never felt like real progression.

And the thing is, I am good at it. Admin fits my brain like a puzzle. I crave order. My mind makes sense of systems and processes. I think fast. I find fixes. I solve well. I can make a to-do list sing. Give me the chaos of a front desk, and I’ll create calm. Filing soothed me, I used to escape to the filing room for time out! Yes, hand me your neglected stack of papers, I’ll sort them with love. I notice and mend what others overlook.

But being good at something doesn’t mean it fulfills you. And admin, for all its structure and purpose, hasn’t felt like “me” for a long time.

The truth is, I’ve been quietly bored. Not just with the work, but with the sameness. The low bar. The culture. I read job ads and feel… nothing. I’ve worked with colleagues who get praised for showing up, not showing initiative. That’s not how I want to move through life anymore.

And I’m also done. Done with managers who couldn’t lead, who demanded more while offering less. I’ve witnessed indirect bullying dressed up as professionalism—subtle exclusions, silencing, games of power with no grace. I’ve worked in places that championed nepotism, celebrated incompetence, and rewarded mediocrity in a way that made me feel like a nuisance for caring. I wasn’t allowed to ask “why.” So, I stopped asking, stopped knowing how to advocate for myself. And it cost me something I’m desperately wanting to begin to reclaim.

I was tired of feeling like the disrupter in rooms that preferred compliance. Tired of being told to stay in my corner, even when I saw ways things could be better. I hit my breaking point in a workplace built on “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But it was broken. And my silence was proof that I’d been broken down too.

So, here I am. A person who’s good at admin, but done with the version of work that punishes curiosity.

More importantly, I know the world of administration is changing. Rapidly. Even with my limited understanding, I know I need to learn how to automate workflows, how to think in systems, how to be a kind of AI generalist. I want to explore what it means to build agents, digital or otherwise, that make work better. I don’t have a roadmap yet. If you’re confused by those terms, I’m right there too. Learning. Unlearning. Messing around.

And, I want to stop following the rules for a while. I want to embrace creativity and just see what happens. I want to be surprised. I want to have fun. Maybe for once, instead of applying for jobs and trying to “sell my skills,” I’ll build something I’d actually want to buy into.

I don’t know exactly what’s next. Admin isn’t a career I chose. It’s something I fell into, then just… stayed there. And maybe it’s okay to say that. Maybe it’s okay to leave a path, even if you were good at walking it. Maybe knowing you’re done is its own kind of success.

So now, I’m looking ahead, not with a five-year plan or a bullet-point strategy, but with curiosity. I know the world of work is shifting fast. Admin roles are evolving, workflows are being automated, and the rise of AI means the very nature of support is being redefined.

What I know is this: I want to work creatively. To stop waiting for permission. To use tech not as a cage, but as a canvas. I want to build something new, not just shuffle papers in someone else’s story. I want to move with the change.

This blog is part of that. A pivot. A place to test ideas, ask dumb questions, and document whatever comes next. Even if I have to make it up as I go (and at this point, it’s all rather terrifying but even the small toe-dip I have had so far is FUN!).

This feels like a new beginning to me.