Work Summary
With a degree in Russian and German from Oxford University, I realised there was no obvious career path ahead and decided to spend the first few years of my working life adventuring around Europe. There followed a year working at a press agency in Moscow, six months as a PA to a director in the German National Lottery and then a year in the IT industry in Stockholm. Change was the most consistent theme!
By the time I got back to England in the mid 90’s, all my friends all had ‘proper jobs’ at investment banks and law firms. Not attracted to wearing a suit to work and still a bit of an adventuress, I turned my attentions to the advertising industry and proceeded to spend a highly enjoyable decade employed as a strategic brand planner at large and small London agencies including Young & Rubicam, Wunderman, Rapier, Publicis and McCann Erickson.
My first experience of working for myself came when I joined the unique co-owned advertising agency St Luke’s. Realising that I liked seeing my name on the company letterhead and that I could no longer complain that “they kept me late at work” (“I kept me late at work” is about a whole different set of motivations!), I became curious to understand more about the dynamics of human motivation and proceeded to spend three years doing part-time training in psychology. At this point, with training taking up more and more of my time, I realised that I could no longer be a responsible co-owner and I decided to sell up my stake in St Luke’s and qualify as a life coach.
My coaching business led me to work with a wide variety of people who themselves were looking to make changes to their working lives. I loved this work, but missed the pace and teamwork of the advertising industry. So my next move was therefore not to choose one or the other, but to choose both! By becoming a freelance consultant to advertising agencies, I was able to capitalise on my earlier career path and negotiate the terms of my work commitments to allow me to continue doing my coaching work as well.
Never one to stand still, I am currently evolving my portfolio further still by creating a new strand to my working life delivering coaching and talent training within the creative industries.
Work Terms
My Skills
BA (Hons) Oxon
AMAC
My Highlights