Going it alone.

D2 was registered as a company back in May 2005, but I didn't quit my job as a senior creative for BMB until Sept 2005 and that's when D2 really began to function. I think I'd always harvested the thought of going it alone, but as you climb through the ranks and become dependent on your salary to meet your commitments it becomes more difficult to leave.

However, I had quite an incentive... my wife was expecting our first child and I was working long hours on a very challenging project. Due to the pressures of delivering that hugely under resourced and under estimated job, I ended up in hospital! 

I'd gone to my GP as I was suffering with a pain in my chest (nothing to worry a healthy and fit young man I thought). She hooked me up to an ECG (all routine) but then started to look concerned. She made a call and then quickly penned a note and sealed it in an envelope before telling me that the call was for an ambulance as the ECG had picked up some irregular readings (ie heart attack). I'm pleased to say that after hours of observations and tests, everything seemed fine and the consultant put the episode down to a mixture of exhaustion and stress. 

It was at that point I said to my wife, "if I'm going to kill myself working this hard, I may as well do it for myself". So I handed in my resignation letter, which was a scary but strangely uplifting moment.

I can honestly say, that owning and running D2 is one of the most rewarding things I do and I now 'live for my work' instead of working for a living.