About

In my twenties I worked in the bar and restaurant industry for around 6 years and then became the owner and manager of a cocktail bar in Chelsea called Ad Lib from 2002 to 2006. During this time I gained some valuable experience in the following areas: business plans and forecasts; raising investment; setting up a limited company; buying and selling the lease; design and refurbishment of the bar; employing accountants, solicitors, numerous staff; dealing with the landlord and various planning/licensing issues; arranging contracts with drinks suppliers; branding and design; marketing and PR; management and development of the bar over 4 years. By the middle of 2003 the bar had become very popular and in 2004 Ad Lib was nominated by the Evening Standard as one of the 10 best bars in London. I sold the lease at the end of 2006 for £165,000 (originally purchased for £25,000).

After 10 years working in bars, clubs and restaurants I decided to move away from that industry and from 2008 to 2012 I worked for a spiritual teacher and mentor called Jeddah Mali. Jeddah was based in the UK and had a large following in the US. I became her business manager and had a small team of staff working with me. I learnt a lot about launching and selling products and courses online (CD sets, mp3s, 1:1 mentoring, group mentoring, large group online courses). I also organised and promoted a number of talks, workshops and retreats in the UK, the US, and Norway. I gained further experience in website development, email marketing, social media, accounting, powerpoint presentations, audio and video editing, managing group calls and large webinars.

Since 2012 I have built and developed websites for a variety of clients: a career coaching and recruitment business, an author, numerous artists, two musicians, a coffee shop, an architect, a yoga teacher, a garden designer, a castle in Sweden, and others. I still work with many of these clients on different levels depending on what they need, some of them just need website development, but a number of them need regular help organising, launching and promoting their events or products.

More recently I’ve been organising and promoting art exhibitions and working with numerous emerging and established contemporary artists. In 2019 I managed a large gallery space in Fulham, and in 2020 we launched and opened Ad Lib Gallery in Wimbledon Village.

Over the years I’ve organised a lot of live music and DJ events in and around the London area. Music has always been of huge interest to me and I’ve been a musician (drummer) since the age of 17.

Thanks for reading,

Dylan