From MSc to Fractly: How a shared hatred for stairs led to co-founding a company. 

The first time we met in person was in 2019 during our MSc in Digital Marketing at Robert Gordon University, and we bonded over something very academic: avoiding the stairs. We both looked at a big flight of steps, looked at each other, and immediately headed for the lift so neither of us arrived at class out of breath. That tiny moment of shared humour and understanding turned out to be the start of a friendship that has now lasted years and grown into a business partnership.

Back then, we were just two students figuring out deadlines, group projects, presentations, and how to make Adobe behave at 1 am. Like most MSc students, we were focused on getting good grades, building skills, and trying to work out what kind of careers we actually wanted after graduation. What we did not realise at the time was that the course was quietly teaching us much more than Digital Marketing. It was teaching us how to work together under pressure, how to communicate honestly, and how to trust each other’s strengths.

After graduating, neither of us followed a neat, traditional career path. Instead, we explored freelancing, contract work, agency roles, and portfolio careers. We stayed close through all of it. We supported each other through job changes, confidence wobbles, exciting opportunities, and moments where everything felt a bit overwhelming. Long before we ever talked about starting a business, the friendship came first.

Alongside this, we were also learning how to build careers while living with chronic illness and neurodivergence. Traditional full-time roles, rigid hours, and high-pressure environments did not always fit with fluctuating health, energy, and focus. For years, we both tried to force ourselves into work structures that were not built with people like us in mind.

Eventually, a different idea started to form. What if work could be designed around real human needs instead of forcing people to fit into systems that did not serve them? What if businesses could access marketing expertise flexibly, without needing full-time teams? What if freelancers could be paid fairly and supported properly? And what if founders could build something sustainable instead of running themselves into the ground?

That idea became Fractly.

Fractly is a fractional digital marketing company. We connect businesses with specialist freelance talent on a flexible, on-demand basis. Clients get the right expertise at the right time. Freelancers get fair pay and a supportive collective. And we get to build a business that is shaped around flexibility, trust, and shared responsibility. It is a model that reflects our values and our lived experience.

Looking back, the MSc played a bigger role in this journey than we ever expected. It gave us practical skills in strategy, campaign planning, analytics, and pitching. It encouraged real-world thinking and problem-solving. It introduced us to peers, mentors, and a professional network that still matters to us today. But most importantly, it gave us a space where a friendship could form - one that would later become the foundation of a company.

Starting a business with a close friend has taught us a lot. We have learned the importance of honest conversations, clear boundaries, and playing to each other’s strengths. We have learned that trust built over the years is a powerful thing. And we have learned that it is possible to build work differently, in a way that supports people rather than squeezing them into rigid expectations.

For current RGU students and recent graduates, the biggest takeaway from our story is this. The people met at university might become more than classmates. They might become collaborators, business partners, or lifelong friends. Non-traditional career paths are valid. Building work around life, rather than the other way round, is possible.

And it is still funny to think that it all started with two students avoiding a staircase.