Lee Wallis, website designer in Brisbane

I'm 20 years old and I've been working as a Web Designer since I left school at 15. When I was younger I loved cartoons and I became fascinated with animation. I started watching a lot of animations online and started creating my own mini movies using Microsoft PowerPoint. After a few months using PowerPoint, I managed to get a copy of Macromedia Flash and with the help of some online Flash tutorials I soon became quite good using the software.

I created loads of animations in Flash and I started to learn how to build websites in Flash too. I always had an interest in websites and how they were made, so I decided to make my own using the Flash skills I had learned from online tutorials. By the age of 14 I knew Flash very well and I also knew some basic HTML, which only just started being taught in my school. This meant I was already ahead of the other pupils at school with my knowledge of Flash.

When school was over, like most school leavers I searched everywhere for a job but struggled to find anything. After being turned down by sandwich shops, cafe's and supermarkets I decided to send some of my Flash work in to a small Web Design company. I went for an interview and was offered a temporary 3 month position, if I was good enough I would have the opportunity to work full time.

During those 3 months I worked on a few bits of Flash work for them and helped them populate their customers websites with content. I learned as much as I could about designing and building websites from an experienced web designer who worked there, and after 3 months I was able to continue working for the company full time.

After 18 months I found another opportunity with a bigger Web Design and Development company. I went for an interview and was offered a full time position as a Web Designer, so I took it. This company had higher standards for design and website creation which was very challenging for me at the beginning, because I had to learn a whole new modern way of designing websites which passed all web standards.

With this company I worked on many projects from start to finish and I also looked after their main client websites, doing weekly website updates. Over time this company turned me into a professional, and I became very confident with Website Design and speaking directly with clients regarding their websites.

After 18 months with this company, I had a great opportunity to take some time out abroad with my best mate, so I took it. I continued to work for this company from Bodrum, Turkey which was a brilliant position to be in at 19 years old. I was living abroad with my best mate, and I was still doing the job I had back in England.

After 3 months working from Turkey, I had an opportunity to work for a real estate company, managing all of the marketing for the company, so I took it. I quit my Web Designer role with the Web Design company and started with the company based in Turkey. This was probably the best period in my life so far because I was my own boss within this company. I was in control of when I worked, what I did and where I went. Most of the time I would work from a beach on my laptop, it was a perfect work/life balance and I loved it. Unfortunately all good things come to an end and my best mate decided to leave Turkey, which meant I was living alone. It was still great to be there, even on my own, but the culture was very different and it was difficult for me to make new friends. That's when I decided to leave.

I came back to the UK and made the plan to move to Australia and start my own company, working as a freelance web designer.

I try to keep life exciting by taking every opportunity I'm given and taking chances. I love to travel and experience different cultures because I believe you learn a lot more about yourself when you travel then you ever would doing anything else!

That's me :-)