Everybody starts their career somewhere. You get that first break… you might take a risk in a change of role, career, or industry. Hopefully fall in love with what you do, and this helps shapes your future. My journey hasn’t been any different and it goes like this…

To rewind just a little bit, before I had any idea what I wanted in a career and when I thought life was all about earning money, I studied A Levels in Information Technology, Maths, Accounts, and German (I had to go to an evening class with ‘old people’) and had grand plans to make it as an accountant working for an international organisation. 

I very quickly realised this wasn’t for me and made a brave decision as a 16-year-old to drop Accounts immediately to finish my Maths and German AS Levels and take up Sports Studies and History for the next two years - two subjects that I loved because I was good at and enjoyed. 

I think about this decision regularly because I think I’d be a miserable bugger if I’d pursued my original ‘dream’ and I’m sure my wife would say I’m still miserable at the best of times now anyway!

Moving on…

After completing my A Levels and going on to study Sports Science with Football Coaching at the University of Greenwich, I felt I knew where my career would go, or had at least whittled it down to an industry and a type of role – sport and coaching/teaching. I was fortunate to gain coaching qualifications when I was at Uni so was ‘qualified’ when I left and I had a fascination with psychology and development, so I was able to confidently apply for coaching roles thinking I’d have something to offer. 

Most entry-level football roles were part-time, so my first year and a half of real work would involve working in essentially 4 part-time roles and working from 8-8 almost daily. I worked as a teaching assistant in a secondary school, because maybe I’d be a PE teacher one day, and then held 3 part-time roles in football working with my local club Aldershot Town, and Fulham and Chelsea. This was where I learnt the hard graft and how putting in the hours, travel, and experiencing different ways of working can be so beneficial in the long run. I’d start work before the school day started, (which nearly killed me after years of waking up late morning!), helping prep classes and discussing which children might need my support that day. I’d then travel for 30-60 minutes after finishing to get to an afternoon/evening football session somewhere in Hampshire or Surrey until late evening. Then I’d eat dinner, go to bed, and do it all over again. I’d also work weekends with grassroots clubs as a coach and coach mentor, run football camps during the school holidays, and still fit it around playing football myself. I never once complained. I didn’t even think about it. I felt incredibly lucky to be working in football, visiting Chelsea’s and Fulham’s training grounds regularly, occasionally bumping into footballers, and still having my own life outside of work. In my eyes it was the next best thing to being a footballer and my work was a hobby. I was loving it!

I learnt a lot over this period and was fortunate to work with some great people - and some not-so-great people - which shaped some of my future decisions and ways of doing things. For example, I stopped working at one club because I felt everything was more organised elsewhere and I had more opportunities to work in different environments. I was fortunate to travel to some great schools and venues with incredible facilities in the role I chose to pursue, and I met people that have led to me still working with the same grassroots football club almost 15 years later. A great lesson as to why building relationships and surrounding yourself with brilliant people can be so rewarding (and how making tough decisions can pay off long-term!).

I’m not really an outwardly confident person in social environments until I feel more comfortable with the people I’m with. Trust is a really important value to me. So, each time I worked with someone new in my early career I’d take on a lot of information by observing how they did things, how they engaged with their colleagues, with their professional partners, the children they were coaching, and the parents and wider network they were involved in. Each time spotting little differences and changes and picking up tips and ideas to use. One of the most important things I picked up was how these engagements affected the children that were involved. Some loved certain approaches, others hated it, and I’d spend my own time reflecting on why. I didn’t really realise how much this all impacted me until I got that first break…

This was when I met two coaches working for The FA during a Summer football camp with Aldershot Town. I can’t remember why or how they’d decided to come to my camp, but they did and they put on a little showcase of sessions teaching me and my team of coaches some new ideas and approaches to coaching in the foundation phase (5-11s), and then they were supposed to go on their way. But I wasn’t just content with just watching and learning from them. I questioned them on how they got into their role, what their job entailed, what qualifications they had, how I could get a similar job, and got all the information I needed to be able to continually check their website for what must have been almost a year before a role became available. I applied and was offered an interview.

I got the job so it must have gone well, however, on reflection, I was a terrible coach back then. I know that the session I delivered wouldn’t have been the best they saw that day, but I also know I made the biggest impression during my face-to-face interview. I’d had so many different experiences by this stage working with primary aged children, secondary aged children, SEND children, and working in schools across a variety of demographics, including private schools and academies, and because I’m an inquisitive person and take on board a lot of random information, I was confidently able to explain what was so important about understanding individuals, recognised how different approaches impacted individuals, and reflected on how I would consider this in my approach to helping children develop. In this new role I was successful in getting the job and was genuinely so excited about being able to work at ‘The Mothership’ as one of my old colleagues called them (he’ll love reading this) that I didn’t even know what my salary would be until I turned up to the week-long induction! A stark contrast to the current recruitment market. But I was living at home and had no huge financial commitments, so it didn’t matter to me. I’d reversed my earlier philosophy and now felt that work was about enjoying yourself and loving what you do, nothing else really mattered.

Over the next few years working at The FA, I worked with 100s of different schools and grassroots clubs, with borough councils, community initiatives, and with some professional clubs and community programmes across 3 different counties. I travelled up to 150-mile round trips to work for a couple of hours and regularly travelled 2-3 hours a day…but I also had the benefit of working less than a mile from my home at one point. I worked with people I still call my friends and benefitted from being surrounded with some of the most talented and respected people I’ll probably ever work with. Some have gone onto amazing roles within the professional game in both men and women’s football and continue to have an impact on the next generation of people. I learnt lessons that went far beyond being a better coach during this time and have been able to pass on these lessons as my own career developed.

Almost 10 years later, I chose to move my career away from football for a variety of reasons and, honestly, I miss it at times, but I chose to try something new and challenge myself. I then spent over 3 years working in the childcare sector with Fit For Sport, part of the Junior Adventures Group UK brand, and had the benefit of, again, working with some incredible people with the same passions for developing children and creating the right environments for them to thrive. This all led me to where I am today, which is a a story I’ll tell another time…

In short, I really understand the world I currently work in. I don’t think I’d have made the transition if I couldn’t empathise with our clients and candidates. But I’ve been there. I’ve travelled the endless hours, I’ve had to do hours of training, I’ve observed good and bad role modelling, I’ve managed a variety of people, I’ve led groups of peers, I’ve had a lot of success, and I’ve also made a lot of mistakes. I know what questions to ask and I truly want to understand the people I’m representing and working with. I’ve found it so rewarding hearing candidates say we’ve helped them land a role they’ve dreamed of or a client describe a candidate as ‘perfect’, and that’s what I’ll always strive to achieve.

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Steve