Hi, I'm Hayley — digital marketer, South West enthusiast, and the person behind South West Collective.

I've been in marketing longer than I care to admit. It started young — tweaking MySpace layouts, helping family businesses with their websites and Facebook pages before most people knew what a Facebook page even was. I didn't realise it at the time, but I was already hooked.

I went on to study Media & Professional Studies at university — a degree that spanned journalism, TV production, communications, and marketing and when a digital marketing module landed in front of me around 2012, something clicked. That was it for me.

From there, life took me travelling — including a stint in Australia where I somehow ended up as a chocolate shop assistant and a jet ski instructor (long story) — but marketing kept finding me. Socials to manage, print campaigns to help with, digital projects that needed a hand. I leaned in every time and also learnt so much.

Back in the UK, I took a role in local government marketing and communications, which taught me a lot about brand guidelines, compliance, and working within structure. Then came the big leap: a role at Croud, a globally recognised digital marketing agency, where I worked in paid search and biddable media across major brands including BrewDog, Amazon Prime Video, Victoria's Secret and Lee & Wrangler.

I loved the work. But agency life — the pace, the pressure, the trade-off between career and living — eventually wore me down. So in January 2021 I went freelance, launched HLJ Marketing, and never looked back. HLJ Marketing grew into something I'm really proud of. Over the years I worked with a genuinely varied mix of clients across the UK — B2B tech and engineering firms, premium wine merchants, finance companies, jewellers, children's clothing brands, photographers, coaches, hospitality businesses, and even an internationally recognised fine artist. That range taught me a lot. Every industry has its own voice, its own audience, and its own version of what "good marketing" actually looks like.

In December 2024 I made the move to Australia — my partner (a proud Aussie) had already given me the best reason to make WA home permanently, and the South West did the rest. The wineries, the food scene, the ocean, the range of incredible independent businesses. By September 2025, South West Collective was born. I wanted to work with the people building something here, because I genuinely believe in what this region has to offer.

That's what SWC is all about: bringing big-agency thinking to South West brands, without the big-agency price tag or the runaround.

When I'm not working, you'll find me at a local brewery or winery with friends, hunting down the best breakie spots, walking the coast, or chasing that next great coffee!

If you're a South West business ready to show up online and actually grow, I'd love to hear from you.