Another month is here, and so is another monthly update on my apprenticeship with Purple! I know February is a shorter month, but wow that month flew by faster than Flash himself 🦸‍♂️

I think for me it was partly to do with the fact that I had a whirlwind few weeks at the beginning of February after accepting the challenge and plunging myself into more independent work. Oh and also two very exciting things happened! 

Let me tell you more about it … 

As another member of the project management team here at Purple, I am being taught to do just that - manage exciting new projects. This has been a huge learning experience for me so far and continues to be as I learn about the basics and intricacies of managing a project, optimising my communication skills and meeting the needs of our clients. 

For the best part of my apprenticeship so far, I have been observing meetings, taking notes and getting to grips with the processes at Purple; I am sure you all know that by now from my previous blog posts. With so much to take in and learn I really didn’t feel as though I would naturally take to it for ages, however, this month I found myself proving myself wrong after conducting my own new enquiry meetings feeling confident I now had enough knowledge to talk to new clients about their needs for a new website and advise them on relevant design paths, page structures, features and functionalities. 

When I was very new here at Purple I began virtually shadowing Scarlett as she went through the process of a client’s project journey. The time I spent shadowing really helped underpin the timeline of a project for me and allowed me to better understand a client’s journey with us. Back in October, I started helping our MD, Phil with some of the projects he was working on to further the shadowing process in an attempt to reep as much knowledge as I could. It came to a point where I felt comfortable and confident enough to, in effect, take the lead on a website project. 

I found that through leading a project I came across things I hadn’t yet and this allowed me to raise questions and find out more about what we are capable of doing when it comes to website design and development. I have always thought that the best way to learn is through doing and this is proving very true. 

Very Exciting Thing Number 1 

So, through taking the lead on a project for the picturesque Whispering Waters Lodges in Gainford, the exciting day came when the website was ready to go live, for all to see! It was a big moment for me, I felt proud to have been part of making the client’s vision for a new website come to life. What else was rewarding was the relationship that came with managing the project; our clients are passionate about their business and it is just so lovely to find out more about them and their business journey. If you’d like to take a look at my first live project, look no further than right here! 

Very Exciting Thing Number 2 

One thing you may not know about me is that for the past 6+ years I have been educated in and practising photography! This is something I love to do and feel blessed that I can bring it forward into my role at Purple. This brought a really exciting opportunity for me in February as a client of ours was in need of a photographer in short notice. Luckily my calendar worked in their favour and I was able to step up to the plate. 

You may have heard in the news recently about the fantastic small family run business in Catterick, Eastern District Tailors, and how they had the honour and pleasure of tailoring a number of military uniforms for the funeral of the national treasure, Sir Captain Tom Moore. Well, whilst following the current guidelines and measures I had the pleasure of photographing the family, their shop and their seamstresses in action.    

I think that about sums it up for February - a long blog post for the shortest month of the year 😅 I can’t wait to get more websites launched and beautiful photographs taken. If you’re sat there thinking you would like help with either of those things, let us know by dropping us a message. We would love to see where we could help you in growing your business. 🥰