I have always had a sense of the injustices in the world, but it was whilst I was in London, surrounded by a melting pot of cultures and nations, that my awareness was heightened. The stark contrast between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ was laid bare; be it wealth, homes, jobs or communication.
I couldn’t tackle all the city’s problems, but I could make a start.
I began small, by becoming a mentor to a struggling young person and when that programme came to an end, I wanted to help more people. By night I trained as an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher and taught English to groups of refugees to help them become empowered and assimilate to their new lives. It was all practical language and life skills: how to ask for directions and catch a bus, how a doctors’ surgery worked and common illnesses, how to use money, and so on.
I am all about equipping and empowering people to become independent and finding the simplest, most effective way of conveying a message.
So: eagle-eyed TV scrutiniser by day, communication enabler by night!
💑I married my husband, who is in the Armed Forces, and moved down to the south west of England. 🚢⚓
Jobs in television were rare and I fancied a lifestyle change anyway.🏄♀️ I had a couple of short term jobs whilst I worked out which direction to take: I taught English to foreign teenagers who were in Plymouth ostensibly ‘to learn English’, but in reality were more keenly focused on strengthening ‘international relations’ 😍💔 and I also worked on a very local newspaper. 🖨
As I said, ‘short term’.
My next role was as a social media content moderator, working from home (I was SO ahead of the curve!) for the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc, monitoring their live text streams on TV, as well as the forums on their websites. It was another form of detailed compliance and I was responsible for making sure nothing untoward, illegal, libellous etc was posted.
Guidelines, people, guidelines! 👊
It was just the job I needed while I began having my family: flexible hours and not too demanding.
When the babies were no longer babies, and the halcyon, paint-filled days of toddlerdom ended, 🎨 I wanted something new. An opportunity arose with an international financial compliance firm - not an area with which I was familiar, but I do like a challenge.
My workwear wardrobe receded further, as I again worked from home in comfy clothes 👕
I started off doing some basic admin work whilst I got to grips with the financial industry, but I very quickly discovered that admin work wasn’t my forte.
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