Before I started writing for Finito, I was an enthusiastic but very inexperienced journalist. I’d just done an MA in journalism and an English degree at Oxford, and was slightly flailing around looking for writing opportunities. Despite having these qualifications, I found it an inordinately difficult industry to penetrate. Finito World picked me up and gave me a chance; they nurtured my career, offering me guidance and help at the time I most needed it. The team gave me incredible contacts to interview (Layla Moran, Natalie Bennett, Robert Halfon and Lee Elliot Major, for instance) in a wide range of areas – from politics and current affairs to the arts. And, crucially, the editors gave me the scope and freedom to write on pretty much anything that interested me, whilst also advising me on interesting topics, sending interesting interviewees my way and editing my work in an encouraging yet exacting manner. This has meant that I’m leaving with a great portfolio and range of experience, as well as – and most crucially – the confidence to keep writing and interviewing. I’ve learnt a huge amount working for Finito World, and these are skills which I’ll take with me throughout my career. I’m hugely grateful for these opportunities given to me at such a difficult period (especially being mid-pandemic) and for the faith which everybody at Finito World showed in me where others did not.