You do what for a job?

I try to sum up what I do for a living and for fun. This is what the Visitor Centre Today is all about.

I'm always being asked what I do for a job.

I visit brand experiences for a living, but also for fun. Factory tours, brand museums, flagship stores, visitor centres. Each one is different. Each one teaches me something new. I'm as happy there as I am at a Disney park (and I get to go to them too). My job takes me all over the world and allows me to meet some amazing people. I have a massive database of brand experiences, new and old. I know I'll never get to see them all, but it's fun trying. It's basically become a bit like a worldwide treasure hunt.

I've become obsessed with understanding how brands tell their stories through spaces, and how those spaces make people feel. I don't wait for brands to hire me. I choose where to go. I visit because I'm genuinely curious. I want to learn. I want to understand what works and what doesn't. For work, or for pleasure, I just want to be inspired. And very rarely am I disappointed.

But first, let me tell you how I got here. I spent 24 years in sales, marketing, and various customer-facing roles. My CV was five pages long and chronicled some very random occupations. Then, facing redundancy, I decided it was time to follow my passion for design and history. I went back to university to study Interior Design, online, before that was even a thing. I chose to focus on brand spaces because history and storytelling has always fascinated me. I do not just put cushions on sofas, like everyone thinks an interior designer does. I tell a brand's story in a 3D environment.

For over 15 years, I've worked behind the scenes as a researcher and concept designer for brands building new experiences. I'd spend weeks immersed in brand archives, reading their history, gleaming minor details that could be turned into a new product or tour experience. I'd visit competitors to see what everyone else was doing, good or bad. I'd mystery shop tours and museums, watch visitor reactions and interview customers, even if they didn't realise it. I'd look for the little nuggets that could be turned into something memorable. Details that matter, that connect with people. The ones that make people feel something deeper, that make them want to come back, that turn them into advocates.

I wasn't interested in winning design awards. I was often more interested in the practical. Could the cleaner plug in a vacuum? Could the tour guide be heard above the noise of the machinery? Could a visitor find the accessible toilet? Were the information boards legible? What did customers buy in the shop? Many designers prioritise aesthetics. I prioritised how people, visitors or staff, actually moved through and experienced a space. You'd be surprised how often those two things are in conflict.

I'd work with brands and design agencies from the very beginning, when they were just thinking about building a new visitor centre, all the way through to opening day, and then watch it come to life. But here's what makes my work different. I don't just design and walk away. I come back. Months, sometimes years later, I visit again. I produce detailed reports. Not just opinions, but real analysis. I use what I learn to help brands improve.

Then there's the added joy. I get to travel a lot. Over the last four years alone, I've visited over three hundred brand experiences, though I've been to many more. Factory tours, distilleries, studio tours, vineyards, textile mills, chocolate factories, car museums, theme parks, the list is forever growing. From the big brands to the hidden gems, the stories you think you know and the downright quirky. Each one different. Each one with its own story to tell. Each one teaching me something new.

I genuinely care about these places too. They become like old friends. I want them all to succeed. I want people to understand the struggle, to appreciate the craft.

When AI arrived, some brands decided they could do this research work using a bot in minutes. I decided I'd focus on the human. Do something the tech couldn't do: create nuanced, detailed guides based on lived experience. Write for the explorers, the history buffs, the design geeks, anyone who cared about the stories behind the brands.

I'm just like a lot of visitors. I love the industrial tourism trend. I enjoy getting my hands dirty, learning how things are made, throwing myself into the experience. I've thrown pots on a wheel, mixed my own gin, driven concept cars, created my own chocolate bar, ridden a broom, made my own Cup Noodle and so much more. I champion tour guides. I appreciate a visitor centre bar or a café, so I can rest my weary legs. And, I like to collect shelves full of memories.

That's why I launched The Visitor Centre. To tell the stories of brands and the people who built them. To create a community of designers, architects, brand people, and travellers who care about these spaces and what they mean to us.

I want to create a resource that designers, brands, and travellers can rely on. To inspire the curious to travel differently.

Photographs: ©Julie White unless noted otherwise

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed are solely my own. I paid for the tours in full, unless mentioned specifically, and any comments reflect my personal experiences on that day. Please drink responsibly. Please visit so you can foster your own opinion and feel free to research the brand and the visitor centre in question for yourself.

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