My name’s George Thomas and in June 2025, I had an exhilarating work experience working alongside the founder of La Vida Liverpool, Justin Hopper. Over the four days, Isabelle Marchant and I gained a crucial understanding of the journalism field through my work experience at La Vida Liverpool, located on Victoria Road in New Brighton.
Justin was able to provide me with an incredible experience, which has fundamentally benefitted my knowledge regarding the day-to-day work of journalists. Throughout my experience, I managed to gain a vast amount of knowledge, which has significantly improved my skills and will help me progress within this desired industry.
Offering me an exciting experience, Justin has helped me to gain several necessary abilities, including communication, writing, and confidence. Throughout this exceptional experience, I have improved my communication skills through calling Justin’s clients, which has also helped to improve my confidence through speaking and meeting with new people.
After attending meetings alongside Justin, I was able to understand the key information he gets from his clients, and was able to clearly gain knowledge regarding the day to day business which Justin carries out. We met with some fantastic businesses such as Events 471, The Scrapyard in Liscard, Mariner’s Park Residential Estate, energy expert Alan Furness and many of the businesses on Victoria Road in New Brighton.
Confidence is a key role of journalists, which Justin highlighted throughout our time, and so I was able to significantly improve my confidence through venturing to new businesses, meeting new people and most notably helping Justin present the radio show.
Presenting the radio show was irrefutably the highlight of my time at La Vida, allowing me to gain key communication skills. I was given the incredible opportunity of interviewing the legends Ramsey Campbell and Phil Jones, which was amazing. After learning an insight into their lives, I was able to ask questions which I had prepared earlier, which was phenomenal.
Overall, I had an absolutely incredible experience working alongside Justin at La Vida, his excellent journalism skills have truly helped me understand the day to day lives of journalists and prepare for the future, and I am extremely grateful I was given this amazing opportunity.
