Growing up, I wanted to be a dancer

22/10/20214 Minutes

Carving out your own path in business takes time

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a professional dancer.

Think: modern musicals, or contemporary ballet, rather than the ballroom moves you see on Strictly. But my parents didn’t have the money for dance school and without the confidence or role models around me to carve out a path, the dream fell to the wayside. So, I joined the extremely-luxury world of business class and five-star hotels via the airline business instead.

This decision would be the beginning of two decades spent in the travel industry. During this time, I worked in operations, sales and marketing roles before joining the leadership teams of KLM Airlines and later, Hertz Rent a Car.

Working for KLM – first in the UK, then in the Netherlands, where they’re based – taught me well. They were dedicated to providing talent with opportunities to grow, as well as training them well and leading them properly. Next came Hertz, where I spent another eight years, before taking a year off. This, partly, was to help my husband build a house – but also to detox from a high-stress, high-paced culture that felt at odds with my own values and ways of working.

Thankfully, the year out gave me a chance to consider how I wanted the next decade to look.

I began by choosing people, not just companies, who I wanted to work with. Their core values: wise, entrepreneurial, kind. In fact, I have chosen to only work with people with these values since then, and the decision has brought out the best in me – as well as in those I work with.

At 54, it was time to back myself. All that had gone before had led me to my then-current position. So, a year ago, in the middle of the pandemic, I partnered with an amazing woman – together we built carestockroom.com: an online marketplace dedicated to the care sector.

The hours are long, the to-do-list endless, the sight of a good salary some way off. But it feels like home. I get to be me. I also get to be close to the action, which I missed as I progressed in the corporate world.

I wish I’d known then how important it is to push through the uncertainty – to break down each step to get where you want to go.

In the end, trading dance for the travel industry wasn’t a bad trade off – despite the often-intense working culture, I had opportunities to fly around the planet.

Now, as I spend my time on packed train services from London to Birmingham, and then on another local train to the city outskirts, I couldn’t be further away from flying to New York in the corporate jet. But you know what: I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Plus, I’ve still got rhythm and I love a good dance class or trip to the ballet.

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