As cringe as I often find it talking about myself, this seems to be the thing about my background that amazes people I mention it to.

I spent 6 years failing to do a CS PhD, co-founded a (failed) fin-tech startup and watched the 2008 credit crunch from the inside of a multi-billion dollar hedge fund. Thanks to a chance meeting with an artist (who was hanging a door at the time), I rediscovered both my childhood love of drawing and a joy in the tech that I had started to hate.

I'll talk about failing and reinvention; imposter syndrome; being neurodivergent; my experiences of the commercial world and the art world; finding a space in which you feel comfortable – but not *too* comfortable; and the power of collaborating.