I didn't go to uni – now I work as a celebrity photographer

Thaliqua Smith, now 24, didn’t think she’d be in vegan food, but she always knew she wanted to be her own boss.

“The thought of working my life away at a nine-to-five, building someone else’s dream just didn’t sit comfortably with me,” she says.

After realising university wasn’t for her, she took jobs across various industries, and each one taught her something new.

When she started working at Esmie’s Vegan Kitchen, something clicked.

“I kind of put two and two together – I loved food, I had always loved business even though I was terrible at it,” she says.

“That ignited my journey, and I started my own vegan food company. It was a slow build-up, a lot of trial and error, but it’s been worth it.”

As AJ Tracey’s personal chef, Thaliqua has cooked for some of the biggest names in music.

One memorable moment was AJ Tracey’s secret birthday dinner in a church that Thaliqua orchestrated. She even cooked for Harry Styles, who she’d dreamed about collaborating with long before she started cooking for celebrities.

“I thought I’d end up working in an office, but now I’m doing something that I really enjoy,” she says.

Her advice for young people who feel pressured to have a plan is simple.

“It’s okay not to have it all figured out,” she says.

“I didn’t plan for this to happen at all. It happened because I gave myself a chance to explore and see what else I could do.”