A Lip Sync, A Slow Internet Connection, and a Whole Lot of Curiosity

I was seventeen when I made my first video. It was a lip sync, which was terribly edited, grainy, and set to whatever pop song was trending at the time. YouTube had just launched. The internet barely handled video playback, but I still hit upload.

Why? Because something about it made sense. I wasn’t trying to “go viral” (that wasn’t even a thing yet). I just liked creating something and watching it come to life.

That feeling, the blend of logic and art, system and soul stuck with me.

I didn’t start out thinking I’d be a creative director. In fact, for most of my teenage years, I didn’t even think I was creative. I think as I grew older, it just became more of a form of expression that I just naturally gravitated to, cause I already had the foundations to do stuff that was creative, and then that just sort of evolved because my first ever job out of university was an IT tech support person.

So, What Drove Me Towards My Creative Roles?

Like I mentioned, my first official job was in tech support, guiding people on how to restart their routers and fix their hardware, all over the phone. But at the same time, I was just interested in computers. And when video content became a thing, I started exploring that space.

So at night, I’d edit videos, build sites, write code, and design logos. Make content that maybe no one would ever see. It didn’t feel like work. It felt natural, and marketing was something that came hand in hand with that.

Eventually, I leaned into it more. I started freelancing, took odd jobs in social media, SEO, and digital marketing way before “digital marketing” was even properly understood.

I formed titles as I went on in my career journey. I just followed the things that made me lose track of time.

The Drink That Started It All

Then there was the 21st birthday party. My sister Tish had invited this guy Andrew, someone she had as a mentor. Andrew and I ended up in the corner of the backyard, talking for hours. Being in an open space and just getting loose allowed us to also have a little bit of trust in each other in the early stages.

He was magnetic; visionary, deeply people-focused, endlessly energetic. I was more introverted, more systems-oriented, but I liked how he thought, and he liked how I executed.

After the pandemic, I felt secure enough to try new things in my life, move away from the employment business model, and start my own business.

Over the years, we kept in touch. Whenever he needed a video, he called me. Whenever I needed web or strategy advice, I called him. It wasn’t a business yet. Just trust. After the pandemic, that trust became the foundation for Social Video, my creative studio, and eventually, my partnership with Social Star. Yes, the names were coincidental. Social Video, in my own context, was named because I was just looking for a way for the business to be easily found online by SEO. Somehow, it just seemed to mesh, and here we are today.

The Transition: From Doing the Work to Building the Engine

At first, it was just me. Five clients. Editing late into the night. One-man production house.

Then Andrew brought me into Social Star, and suddenly… It wasn't five clients anymore. It was fifty. The first few months were chaotic. There were no systems, no clear scopes, but just a lot of ideas, promises, and passion. And while that was exciting, I knew something had to shift.

I couldn’t just be the guy doing all the creative stuff anymore. I had to build a system with a team that allowed creativity to scale, without sacrificing quality, and that’s how Creative Credits were born. Creative credits are a way for us to standardise the work we do because there have been processes built around the deliverables we have, which estimate the amount of work that needs to happen in order to get the deliverables. We streamlined a way to create consistently. Kind of like a menu that clients can choose from.

Imagine going to McDonald's and looking at the menu and being like, I want fries, a hamburger and a Coke. Can you tell me how much it is? You have your bill in front of you. So it comes with the idea of how much a client can spend up front, and then choosing from a list and a framework to be able to get to the result. It could be for anything like building a website, creating a logo, full day shoots, everything has a creative credit. We eliminate the need to quote more in between the process and make sure we deliver on what you want and what you are happy to receive within that cost.

My Work at Social Star

People think “Creative Director” means I spend my days sketching or moodboarding. That’s part of it. But the deeper part is engineering creativity at scale.

At Social Star, I lead the team that brings brands to life through design, video, and digital content. I still edit, still shoot, still tweak pixels but now, I also:

Develop the Creative Credits system, a menu-style framework that helps clients understand exactly what they’re getting and what it’ll take.
Oversee the production team inside Social Video, teaching them how I think so we can produce consistent, high-quality work, even when I’m not on the tools.
Build the creative operations infrastructure from project briefs to feedback loops to delivery timelines.
Work closely with strategists to ensure our creative doesn’t just look good, but solves real business problems.

Every video, graphic, or website we put out has been through a process I’ve helped build—and probably rebuilt ten times over.

Here are some projects I have worked on - Introducing Saviy - a Multi-Carrier Transport Management Platform, Office Launch - Alexander Spencer & Carol Cooke - From MS Diagnosis to Paralympic Gold

Some of the biggest challenges come from the best ideas.

Like the time Andrew promised a client a fully animated brand video in under a week. I had the vision in my head, but not the tools in my hand. So I called in support, built a micro-team, and we pulled it off under deadline, and without missing a beat.

That’s what this job is:
Turning ideas into deliverables.
Dreams into files.
Vision into action.

It’s not always glamorous. There’s a lot of invisible labour behind every brand asset you see. But when I hit “play” on a finished campaign and the client says, “That’s exactly what I imagined,” and that’s the reward.

What’s Next? For Me, Social Video, and Social Star

I’m not chasing titles. I’m chasing alignment.

This year, I’m getting married. That’s the centre of my universe right now. And my work? It has to support the life I’m building, not overtake it.

For Social Video, I want to keep refining our systems, growing the team, and tapping into global networks, like Malaysia, where I have roots and future plans.

For myself? I still want to crack YouTube again. I’ve crossed the million-view mark, but I know I haven’t told my best story yet.

And for Social Star? I want us to become the go-to creative engine for businesses who care about their brand, not just their logo, but their story, their people, and their presence.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you don’t need to have it all figured out.

Sometimes the best things come from a birthday party. Or a lip sync video. Or a mistake that forces you to build something better. I didn’t follow a roadmap. I just followed the work that made me feel most alive.

And here I am.
Still building.
Still learning.
Still hitting play.

From Basement Videos to Brand Campaigns: My Creative Journey to Social Star