Experience is something you get just after you need it…

“What do you want to do as a career?” - asked my careers advisor at school

“I think I’d like to be a careers advisor” - I replied…?

…stunned silence and some awkward looks later I settled on the more socially acceptable answer of Top Gun pilot. Thankfully (for our economy and defence capabilities) I became neither!

Career is an interesting word, it ultimately derives from the Latin 'currus' referring to a chariot.

Some people have pre-defined routes for their chariots and others tend to string up some wild horses and see where they end up. I have always veered towards trusting my skills as a charioteer rather than sitting back and relaxing in my chariot seat, so I thought I’d try and explain how I got here, some things to watch out for on the way and what I would’ve told myself 10 years ago (apart from “buy bitcoin in 2013 and sell it in Sept 2021”).

An abrupt entrance to the chariot market

I started my career before I meant to, due to having my first son whilst still at uni, in an unplanned turn of events that is also by far my best accident ever. This meant a quick change to my prior life plans and backpacking dreams as I secured a job as a “scientist” at the Plymouth fish market. It was pure glamour, starting at 4.30 am, coming home smelling of fish and covered in otoliths (tiny inner ear bones that are akin to slicing a tree across to gauge growth rates). My career was off! (or was that the fish…)

Following this abrupt entrance to the chariot market, I started working as a fisheries officer at the Environment Agency. This brief stint taught me a valuable lesson in career paths. The EA had a dual-track option for anyone, either a people manager or a technical specialist (sometimes a bit of both). This is an approach I’ve continued to implement as it means those technically gifted aren’t automatically encumbered by managing people and those whose skillsets fit a more empathetic role can call on technical skills appropriately, but, critically, both routes have the same seniority. It also means people aren’t promoted into roles that then stifle the skills and aptitudes that let them shine in the first place.?

I set up my own company. It failed.

At the same time as I was electrocuting fish and defrosting otters (stories for another day), I set up my own company with a business partner I’d been to the pub with a few times. It failed.?

We didn’t know what we were doing, but there were great lessons. For example, I managed to get a quarter spread advert for our company in a leading magazine by knowing slightly more than the publishers about carbon footprinting and securing a unique offset agreement for the ad which covered the cost of posting it in the 3,000 prints of the magazine (possibly the world’s first carbon offset magazine ad, although I’d never claim that…). Suffice it to say they didn’t repeat the offer and business lessons, such as “we’ve never worked with a client as big as you”, contributed to the company ultimately not working out, however, the lessons stayed.?

Fast forward a few years

Fast forward a few years and I found myself completing environmental audits for the environmental charity Global Action Plan, but I was getting frustrated that great projects never even got started because of a lack of funding. There was the intent but the technologies didn’t have the benefit of being considered “normal” (the ultimate aim for most innovations!) and without finance the projects stalled.

This frustration ultimately led to a position with Granted.

The point of Granted was, and still is, ultimately to make projects happen, to help ideas become reality and to make the novel or new become normal. To offer good advice at the right time to help innovators succeed.

2023 brings an exciting new lap to my chariot race; Granted’s successful acquisition by Catax and Ryan. This has led to a sense of introspection and thoughts about my career, but how do you grow a company from a tiny cupboard in Exmouth to an acquisition by a billion-dollar US PE-backed corporate? That particular Circus Maximus will be the focus of my next post.