Where Are They Now? ➕ Gary Brown
#WhereYourFutureMeansMore ➕ We really value our alumni and we love hearing about their current endeavours and career journeys. In this week’s blog, we caught up with former creative industries student, Gary Brown.
What course did you study at UHI Perth?
HND Media and Advertising in 1995.
Why did you decide to pick this course?
I was interested in photography and graphic design and just wanted to spend time doing something creative that I thought I would enjoy. I never had a long-term plan and, if I’m honest, I didn’t think I would use what I learned in my HND in a working environment. I was wrong.
What were you doing before you studied at UHI Perth?
I was waiting tables, doing bar work, and DJing to make ends meet. I continued to do all these things while I studied!
Where do you work now?
Co-ordinator at the National Leadership Network (People with Care Experience).
What does the job entail?
I co-ordinate the National Leadership Network (People with Care Experience) which aims to fund, signpost, support, and develop leadership opportunities in the care experience community. The project employs sixteen people with care experience to lead on all aspects of the work we do. More info on what we do can be found here.
Key milestones from graduation to now?
Getting my degree in Community Learning and Development was a huge moment. I wouldn’t have been able to get onto this degree course without my HND. Secondary school made me feel terrible about myself and completely put me off learning. My time studying my HND changed my thinking as I realised, I loved learning about things that mattered to me. I have been lucky in the work I have done which has included working with people in various schools, community settings, and prisons. Working in the care experience community has been the best thing I have ever done as it is full of great people doing great things, making change, challenging power and old-fashioned ways of working. It is an honour to be part of it.
Biggest career highlight?
I think the job I do is the highlight of everything I have done. I support people with care experience to make decisions on things that affect them. I think this is how things should be. An example of this, is that I support our Steering Group to decide on who we award funding to. We will award funding to projects who deliver leadership-focused projects. The Group recently wrote the National Leadership Network Funding Strategy 2024-26, which was highlighted by the Scottish Parliament.
Future aspirations?
I would love to be a lecturer. I have had a varied career to date working with people in lots of different contexts; education, youth work, and social work. I am passionate about so many things that relate to working with people including voice, participation, engagement, and supporting people to make the changes they want in their lives. I feel I have a lot of experience and knowledge I could share.
How did your course at UHI help you to get where you are?
I was so unconfident and had low self-esteem when I went to UHI Perth. Helen Rodger was a huge influence on me. She saw something in me which I then saw in myself. I cannot highlight enough the importance of meeting her and her then supporting me, guiding me and pushing me out of my comfort zone. I learned a lot from her about the power of relationships too.
Best thing about studying at UHI?
I loved my time at UHI. I loved being in a supportive and creative environment with lots of people who felt like me. I also loved that so much I learned in my HND I then used in various youth work settings, sharing my knowledge of photography, design and music production in various contexts. But the best thing about my course was meeting Helen and finding my confidence and building my self-esteem.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about studying at UHI Perth?
Just go, even if you think it may be challenging, just go. It may change your life for the better, like it did me!
