my story.

Pete Burrows is a creative visionary; brand and creative consultant and Founder of SO we create with a lifetime of international creative award winning experience in solving business problems and challenges with his own brand of original creative thinking, visual communication and design ideas.

Pete takes it from here...

"At the age of 3 years I developed epilepsy.

Growing up in a poor part of South London in a 3 bedroom top floor council flat with my 5 brothers and with the condition and the side effects of the treatments I was on enabled me to see and think in a totally different way.

From an early age this had a profound effect on my life and thought processes and greatly enhanced my visual creative abilities in the right side of my brain.

When I was first diagnosed with epilepsy my Dad sat me on his knee and started teaching me to draw and paint. It was the only way I could work out what was happening to me because I never had a clue what was going on - all I knew was my condition worried and distressed my parents deeply.

During those years I had loads of fits and convulsions and I remember always feeling creatively frustrated but I loved anything creative.

At the age of 4 years old I was painting with oil paints on canvas; at 6 years old I went through my 'purple phase', at 10 years old I taught myself to learn 3 instruments and read and write music because I was frustrated with my favourite rock songs fading out and not finishing properly.

At 13 years old I branded a local design company that ensured they signed up a multi-million pound US client and I also designed his own typeface.

I remember the company refused to pay for the work and I was very upset. I remember my Dad saying to me what I was going to do about it. I said to him I would go away and think about it. Two days Later I came back to my Dad and said I had decided what I was going to do. I decided they could have the work but I will spend the next month making it better and they wouldn’t have that work. My Dad smiled.

This was like a switch flicking from off to on and made me realise what I was truly about - creating something meaningful for the benefit of others.

I spent most of my school life in and out of London hospitals and was an academic failure compared to all the other pupils. Because of my condition I was no good at maths or other left brain subjects and was banned from such dangerous places as school metal and wood working rooms and so I spent a lot of my time in the school staff room drawing, painting, thinking and questioning "why is that created in that way?".

At one point the medication I was on made me think I was a super hero and I had daily hallucinations. I would look at the floor at it looked like it was moving or alive. Another drug I was on meant I couldn't recognise people or who they were - I could only remember them by their shape and tone of voice.

I left school with only 1 decent qualification - A level art and was accepted in an art college where I excelled.

The day I left art college I spent the whole day sitting on a park bench thinking about what I was going to do now. Eventually I made myself a promise. And that promise was that everything I did I had to be passionate about, believe in it and never do anything just 'for the money'.

Since that day I have spent my whole life waking up every day and creating ideas that have made a big difference to people, businesses and causes - and I’ve won a few awards along the way too :)"

View my website http://www.sowecreate.com/