Judy Andrews started writing positive reminders on Post-it notes after returning from maternity leave with little confidence in herself or her decisions.
That small daily practice became part of a journey through agency ownership, redundancy and writing a book designed to help others find their own direction.
The big idea
Judy was a creative director at a design agency when she returned from maternity leave. Her son was five months old, she was the family’s main earner and the hours were long. She had changed while she was away, the company had too, and she felt unsure where she fitted.
“I found myself feeling a little bit lost and feeling like I wasn’t good enough,” she says. “I was questioning all my decisions.”
She began writing short positive messages on Post-it notes, doodling them, photographing them and sharing them online.
The practice gave her a manageable way to make something for herself and notice what she needed, even on difficult days.
It also led her to explore hand-drawn typography, reading, journalling and creative challenges. In 2018, she committed to creating a piece of typography every day for a year.
The turning point
That same year, Judy left her employed role and founded Tickety-Boo Creative, a remote, flexible design agency. As the family’s main earner, leaving her job was a significant financial decision. She wanted to build a workplace where people could fit their work around their lives and interests.
The agency grew to a team of 12 and worked with international retailers. After the pandemic limited overseas visits, it lost its two largest accounts within six months.
Over the following year, Judy made the whole team redundant.
The loss affected the people who relied on the business and challenged Judy’s sense of who she was. She returned to journalling, making and writing, without requiring those activities to provide an immediate commercial answer.
How she built it
Judy had long thought of herself as a designer rather than a writer. A LinkedIn writing course and a challenge from David Hieatt of the Do Lectures to publish daily for 100 days helped her discover a concise writing style shaped by her design background.
At a later writing retreat, she chose “confidence” as the word for what she wanted to contribute. It connected her experience of mentoring designers, helping clients communicate their ideas and rebuilding her own self-belief.
That thread became the starting point for A Wonder Journey and her work as a self-belief mentor and clarity guide.
Judy, who describes herself as a late and reluctant reader, designed the 64-page book as a visual experience with ten sections readers can explore in order or separately.
Feedback changed the book’s direction. Judy initially planned an intentions guide, until a friend pointed out that readers would first need to know what they wanted.
The first half therefore helps readers explore who they are before asking what they want from life.
Food for thought
A few things in Judy’s story are worth thinking about:
- A regular creative practice can help reveal what matters to you and connect experiences that once seemed unrelated.
- Feedback can change the problem an offer addresses, as well as how it is presented.
- Length is a design choice. Judy’s book uses space and visual emphasis to make its ideas easier for its intended readers to approach.
Are you adding more to an offer because your customers need it, or because a shorter version doesn’t yet feel substantial enough?
What may not transfer
Judy brought years of design and creative leadership experience to her agency and book. Her route reflects those skills, the opportunities available to her and the financial responsibility of being her family’s main earner.
The loss of the agency’s major accounts and the redundancies had real consequences for Judy and her team. Judy' later work doesn't erase those costs, and another founder’s circumstances may call for different decisions and support.
Creative practice helped Judy recognise what she wanted to make. Conversations with intended readers and customers can help test whether an idea addresses a need and what form the offer should take.
Watch the full conversation
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