Hey, I'm Joseph. Here's my story.
I'm 18. I'm from Burton on Trent. I've been learning, building, and shipping — in public — since before most people my age decided what they wanted to do.
GCSE Results
School & Code Club
Before I even knew what I wanted to do, I was already doing it. At Robert Sutton School I ran Code Club — teaching younger students to code, running workshops, and watching 10+ kids ship their first projects from scratch.
School went well. I left with grades I was proud of, a Computer Science 6 under my belt, and a clear sense that tech was the direction I was heading.
Tech was always the direction.
Building FluxFUT
The summer I left school, I didn't take a break — I launched a brand. FluxFUT started as an EAFC gaming content project and quickly grew into something real: a full website, a Discord community, and a custom bot pulling live player stats.
I posted across 3 TikTok accounts, YouTube, and Instagram. Not everything worked first time, but I kept going — learning in public, iterating, and eventually monetising multiple accounts.
I figured it out as I went.
Starting College
College is where coding properly clicked. I took a Level 3 Programming & App Development course over two years — starting with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then moving into AI and automation as my confidence grew.
By 2026 I was stacking Cisco certifications to back it all up with real credentials. Nine certs earned, predicted DDD on the OCR Level 3 Extended Diploma.
Two years well spent.
Admiral & Co Fish Bar
My first paid job — kitchen assistant at a local fish bar. Handled food prep, worked busy service periods, and dealt with cash and card payments.
Not glamorous, but it taught me how to work under pressure, show up consistently, and get things done without being told twice.
Work ethic starts here.
B&Q
Customer-facing retail role at B&Q, running alongside college and everything I was building on the side. Fast-paced environment, lots of customer interaction.
Proof that I was juggling real work, studies, and building my own income streams at the same time.
Everything running at once.
Rolfe Brand Scaling
I didn't want to wait until university to work with real clients. So I launched Rolfe Brand Scaling — a digital agency offering websites, AI automations, and brand strategy to local businesses who want to grow online.
I handle every project end to end: the brief, the design, the build, the deployment. No handoffs, no middlemen, no waiting for someone to give me the green light.
Real clients, real work, before uni.
TikTok Shop & Automation
While the agency was growing, I was building passive income on the side. I set up a TikTok Shop with automated product fulfilment — content drives traffic, orders get handled, money comes in without daily input.
Alongside that, I run automated social media accounts across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Content scheduling, growth systems, audience funnels — all built to run without me having to babysit them.
Income that works while I sleep.
What's Next
Leaving college this summer and starting a Cyber Security BSc at Staffordshire University in September 2026. The degree is the next step — but it's not the whole plan.
The TikTok Shop and automation accounts keep running. FluxFUT keeps growing. Rolfe Brand Scaling keeps taking on clients. None of it stops when I start uni.
Outside the work, I'm building the person behind it — gym every day, locking in on self-improvement, and building a personal brand around that journey. The plan is to document it and eventually help others do the same.
The degree is one part of a bigger plan.