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The uni student who accidentally launched her own business — after ‘failing’ the HSC

NSW teens will receive their ATARs tomorrow. Here’s how one young Aussie turned her HSC ‘fail’ into a success story.

TODAY, 78,000 NSW teenagers have received their HSC marks, with their ATARs set to follow tomorrow.

And while many will be elated by their results, there will also be some school leavers who will be devastated when they fail to get the marks they need to get into their dream uni course.

It’s a feeling Sydney graphic designer Lauren Nash knows all too well.

After graduating high school in 2010, Ms Nash fell five points short of the ATAR she needed to study design at The University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

“I was devastated,” she said. “When you’re in high school they drum into you that there is only one way to get the career you want, and that is to get the ATAR you need in order to get in to university.

“I felt like I let myself and my parents down.”

Instead, she enrolled in UTS Insearch, a diploma program which serves as a pathway into a degree.

After overcoming that first setback, Ms Nash started picking up freelance graphic design gigs for pubs and hotels in her spare time while she was in her second year at uni.

Before she knew it, the then 20-year-old was swamped with clients — and her creative agency Culture Fox was born.

While her fellow students were busy downing beers at the pub, Ms Nash was juggling uni assignments with big-name clients — and it’s a move that has paid off.

When she launched the business in 2012, Ms Nash had five clients on her books.

Five years later, she has 100, and the Sydney local spends her days working with high profile, multimillion-dollar clients including the Hilton, Marriott, Four Seasons and Watsons Bay Hotels, and Opera Bar at the Sydney Opera House.

She said she launched her now-thriving business “by accident”.

“I started it in my second year at uni pretty much by chance,” she said.

“I started doing a bit of freelancing for a friend who worked at a club at Kings Cross, so I did work on and off for them. They had connections with other hotels ... and they started passing my name along to other friends and colleagues.

“Before I knew it I had so many clients I was managing, I started doing it full-time.”

She urged other young people to “never give up” — even in the face of setbacks such as a low ATAR.

“My advice is to definitely pursue something that you love. Even if it doesn’t work out straight away, there’s always an alternative route to get to where you want to go,” she said.

“There’s always another way to do what you want to do. You’ve got to stick with it, be ambitious and driven.”

Ms Nash said one of the biggest challenges she faced — after receiving her ATAR — was trusting herself and knowing her value as a young woman in business.

“I was just 20 years old — I’d never run a business before and I never had any prior experience before in a design agency,” she said.

“I was very lucky because my dad was a really strong mentor during that initial stage, but it was a huge learning curve.

“Being confident in my work and knowing my worth and what to charge as a junior graphic designer was hard but over the years I’ve developed more confidence in my skills and the value I bring to clients.”

She said the rise of the internet had made things easier for young entrepreneurs, and encouraged school leavers to follow their passions — no matter what ATAR they received tomorrow.

“There are many different pathways that they can follow after graduating. Although one pathway might come to a dead end, that’s not to say another path won’t lead to greatness.”

alexis.carey@news.com.au

Originally published as The uni student who accidentally launched her own business — after ‘failing’ the HSC

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Original URL: https://www.themercury.com.au/business/work/at-work/the-uni-student-who-accidentally-launched-her-own-business-after-failing-the-hsc/news-story/287d798a1b7bc0f7d01c2e65c7cf7035