ABOUT

We were sailing through the Bahamas when my friend Sandra said something to me that, at the time, I wasn’t particularly keen to hear.

“Stop colouring your hair. One day you’ll thank me for the freedom it gives you.”

I smiled. Then I ignored her.

The truth is, I wasn’t colouring my hair for anyone else. I was colouring it for me.

Getting older wasn’t something I was especially keen to face. In my mind, it came with too many things I feared losing — becoming invisible, losing direction, feeling less attractive and wondering whether my best years were behind me.

And looks have always mattered to me.

I’m a fashion designer. I’m a photographer. I’ve spent years noticing colour, shape, texture and all those little details that can make something beautiful. So yes, appearance has always been part of my world.

But somewhere along the way, I realised it wasn’t really about my hair. It was about what my hair represented.

Eventually, I stopped colouring it. Not because I wanted to look older. Quite the opposite. I stopped because I didn’t want to spend my time pretending I wasn’t.

And something unexpected happened.

I liked myself.

I found a different version of myself. One with fewer expectations, less concern about fitting in and a growing sense that there was still an awful lot of life ahead.

That little decision changed more than the colour of my hair. It changed the way I thought about getting older.

WHY SILVER WAVE BY DESIGN?

Silver Wave by Design grew from that experience.

Not because I have all the answers. Far from it.

I’m still learning. Still changing. Still making mistakes.

But I’ve learned enough to know that growing older doesn’t mean giving up the things that bring us joy. It doesn’t mean dressing a certain way, living a certain way or following someone else’s idea of what this stage of life is supposed to look like.

It means deciding what feels right for you.

And perhaps that’s the freedom that comes with getting older. You know yourself a little better. You know what you like. You know what you don’t. And, hopefully, you’re becoming a little less interested in explaining yourself.

MY LIFE TODAY

Today my life looks very different from the one I imagined years ago.

Home is a sailing boat called Onyx. Life is shaped by the weather, the tide and wherever the anchor drops.

Some days I’m behind a camera. Some days I’m fishing for dinner. Other days I’m writing, designing or creating something with my hands.

I’ve been a theatre nurse, a chronic pain nurse, a retail manager, a fashion designer and a milliner.

I’ve even been a crocodile trapper.

Looking back, none of those chapters was wasted.

Each one taught me something about people, creativity, resilience and starting again.

SILVER WAVE BY DESIGN ISN’T ABOUT BECOMING SOMEONE NEW

It’s about making room for the woman you’ve become.

If anything I share here helps you feel a little more confident about growing older on your own terms, then this little corner of the world has done exactly what I hoped it would.

You don’t have to have everything worked out.

Neither do I.

We’re all still becoming.