Catching up with our alumni: Amber’s journey after King’s InterHigh

Halfway through secondary school I began to struggle with anxiety, to the point where I could no longer physically go to school. King’s InterHigh seemed like the perfect solution, allowing my education to continue at a high standard whilst giving me the time and space to work on my mental health.

Thanks to King's InterHigh's flexibility, I was able to explore my own interests and entrepreneurship whilst studying, which really helped my development and my career.

I also enjoyed getting to know people from all over the world and shared classes with some interesting people, some of whom were travelling, or working in fascinating careers.

I didn’t know it then but King’s InterHigh was ahead of its time and greatly prepared me for a future of remote and hybrid working! Most people experienced this for the first time during COVID, but I felt lucky to have already got used to this way of working several years beforehand thanks to King’s InterHigh.

Whilst some people still struggle with remote and hybrid working, or managing their own time and staying disciplined, I had the opportunity to adapt to this way of working years earlier than most.

I continued freelance writing for global publications, something I started doing while at King's InterHigh. I also completed a marketing and publicity internship at Little Tiger (a publishing house in London).

I later joined my local Waitrose as a Supermarket Assistant, where I quickly worked my way up to Head Office, joining the Waitrose Social Marketing team. As part of that role, I got to work on national campaigns and new product launches. My favourite project included training over 200 shop-based employees to launch social media accounts for their shops. It was such a fun project that led to incredible results and they’re all still going today!

After a couple of years in the Waitrose Social Marketing team, I became a Publicity Executive for Waitrose and John Lewis where I manage internal digital marketing. No day is the same, and my work spans everything from graphic design, website management and copywriting to social media, email marketing, video editing, and more. I love the variety!

When I have time off, I love to travel the world and experience other cultures.

Someone once told me that ‘the jobs that will be available to you in the future may not exist yet’ — and that ended up being true for me, as social media was nowhere near as big as it is now.

Do your best, maintain your discipline, learn as much as you can, and keep an open mind — you are potentially working towards something you can’t yet imagine!