Faces of Long Island celebrates the uniqueness of everyday Long Islanders. In their own words, they tell us about their life experiences, challenges and triumphs. Newsday launched this social media journey into the human experience to shine a light on the diverse people of this wonderful place we call home.

‘For me, that’s been the biggest lesson, being committed to something no matter what it is.’

Smithtown

“Growing up in Liverpool, England, it was always football first for me – soccer here. Since age 9, I’d been taken out of school to play. Academics weren’t really my strong suit. I played for Liverpool and was lucky enough at age 12 to play Danone Nations Cup. I played in France in front of 15,000 for the Danone Nations Kids World Cup.

“At 16, I got a professional contract and played for two years. But then I got injured and decided to look into playing at college. I applied in the States and got 15 full- scholarship offers. I chose Quinnipiac [University] in part because their motto was the same as the Liverpool Football Club, ‘You’ll never walk alone.’

“After the first few months, I realized my love for soccer shifted to academics. I finished my undergraduate media studies degree and master’s in interactive digital media in five years and was on the dean’s list throughout. I wanted to develop my own business but didn’t know what that was going to be.

The biggest decision I made was coming to the States and taking a leap.

“As an international student after college, you need to be sponsored. I applied everywhere with no luck. I had a good resume and my soccer career, being college captain and finishing with the most wins. I thought it showed commitment and drive. No one wanted to touch me.

“One of my coaches was selling goalkeeper gloves, and I offered to create a marketing campaign for free. He was my first client. I met someone from the Liverpool [FC] Supporters Club who invited me to join, and a member contacted everyone for me. That’s how I got my sponsorship from a Liverpool retail company and started blogging for them. I developed my own company in 2019, Social Scousers.

“A scouser is someone from Liverpool, and my logo is a liver bird, Liverpool’s jersey crest. We have 20 clients now. Liverpool’s always been something with me throughout my life. The biggest decision I made was coming to the States and taking a leap. I was always supercompetitive and applied myself, whatever I was doing. It just always happened to be soccer, and then when I moved here, I committed to education.

“For me, that’s been the biggest lesson, being committed to something no matter what it is. I’m proud to be able to go back to where I’m from — on business now — and I’m proud of the city I came from.”

Interviewed by Liza Burby

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Faces of Long Island is produced by Newsday Consumer Marketing. This content does not involve the reporting and editing staff of Newsday’s Editorial Department.