Wobbly Paths Build Better Creatives, with Eve Macdonald

"A wobbly career path can build better creatives." Eve Macdonald makes the case that coming from the "wrong" background isn't a setback — it's the thing that makes you better at the job.Eve graduated with a degree in fine art and history of art, landed in a PR agency as a social media exec, and was running full campaigns by the end of her first week. From there she moved fluidly across PR, marketing and advertising into brand, and now sits in a role she effectively built for herself at KISS Branding in Leeds — part creative strategy, part business growth. Alongside the day job she runs Pencil It In, a community calendar connecting creatives across Leeds and Manchester.Why the junior-to-mid-to-senior ladder no longer describes how creative careers actually work, and why portfolio careers and multi-hyphenate skillsets are becoming the norm. What hiring directors genuinely want to see in a portfolio — the thinking, the scamps, the mind maps — versus the polished mock-ups everyone leads with. The North/London question, and why being up North isn't the disadvantage it's made out to be. And an honest run at the harder stuff: burnout, the gap between your taste and your skill, ADHD as a creative superpower rather than a setback, and building a network without the business-card formality.If you're early in your creative career, came in from a different field, or feel like your path has been more wobble than plan — this one's for you. You don't need a straight line, a design degree, or a London postcode to be on the right track. Sometimes the detour is the point.Find Eve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eve-macdonaldcreative/ Find Pencil it In Leeds: http://leedscreativeseventscalender.online/Find KISS Branding: https://kissbranding.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kissbranding/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kissbranding/Substack: https://brandsthatkiss.substack.com/