~ Curator’s Field Notes ~
My advice on career transition
At some point in our lives, we decide that what we are doing as a job or career at the moment, isn’t the best for us in the future.
In 2015, after some 12 years in the military – itself a spur of the moment decision that I made when I saw how much friends were really thriving in it - I decided that I should try something new to support causes that I’m passionate about. I’d reached a waypoint in my career, although not achieved the things I’d wanted to – but realised that I had stalled and momentum in a new direction would help me regain the initiative.
This article came about as I regularly get asked by friends leaving the military, how transition works from someone who’s undergone many of them and how it can be more successful.
This is a simplified version of how I transferred from the Royal Marines into the BBC, an international media charity, going freelance, and then starting my own creative agency (Haus of Hiatus).
10 UK-based expeditions to take on in 2023 and beyond
During the lockdowns, I wanted to start planning endeavours for when they’d completely ended, so I compiled (and in some cases designed) a bunch of UK-based physical challenges that can be completed according to difficulty.
I started off with 5 ideas that soon sprouted and turned into 5 more – so I allocated them a difficulty rating along the lines of medal you’d get for completing them.
The reasons why I plan to have two, three, or four careers in my lifetime.
Popular media is full of people who are showing how healthy and able they are in their sixties, seventies and eighties these days. By example, just look at Ranulph Fiennes who at the age of 65 summitted Mount Everest, or Rosie Swale-Pope who ran around the world, starting at age 58!
Rowing across a current: A veteran’s thoughts on transitioning into the creative media sector.
In her article, ‘It’s Hard to Be What You Can’t See’, Marian Wright Edelman asserts that kids need to be exposed to a wide range of writing that reflect the true diversity of the way the world really is.
This perspective is useful to help explain why some veterans don’t venture far from employment that they know as a result of their service – and possibly why some organisations that have low numbers of veterans, may come to unfair assumptions of someone who has served in the military.
Increasing my Emergency medicine skills
My search for Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) providers started with the Australasian registry of EMT (AREMT) - this is one of the better-known registries that are able to validate your skills and quantify your knowledge. This led me to PPA - a medical training provider based in Denmark, led by Nick, a former close protection Team Leader with a hugely impressive CV of medical experience (which was bought out during the course in vignettes to add real life relevance to the learning).
Learning to fly: What it’s like to enter ‘the gig economy’.
Around 4 months ago, I decided to join the freelance community. I wanted control of everything in my life.
Earlier this year, I had decided to leave a career in the military and start a new path in a London-based global media organisation. Life was simple – you just turn up, do your job, don’t rock the boat too much, go home, get paid, buy nice things. It’s that straightforward. But simple isn’t always the best and by now, I’d had enough of my life being defined by a safe career path that led to an unknown horizon.
The artist and the scientist: My thoughts on the complexity of leadership
Naturally, It got me thinking about becoming a good leader in my chosen field. Not just an effective leader - that implies you're good effectuating other’s judgements even when you don't necessarily believe in it. A good leader knows how and when to push back. And so I realised the artist and the scientist metaphor of duality: