Strategic Development Manager

 What is your current role?

I’ve recently taken on a new role as Strategic Development Manager for children not in school at the council. I have a small team who covers various aspects. One aspect is supporting children and young people who are unable to access mainstream schools for various reasons.

Sometimes, they're either too ill to go to school, or they've been permanently excluded, and sometimes children arrive in Southwark – either from other countries or a different borough altogether – and they're at the last part of Year 11.

Another part tracks all children who are missing education and ensures they are moved quickly back into education as well as supporting parents with children who are being electively home-educated. We also issue child performance licences for roles in the theatre or on TV.

Whatever the circumstances, our main focus is to make sure that they're making progress in their education.

Tell us a bit about your career journey

From four years old I wanted to be a dancer, so I went to a stage school alongside my mainstream school. I was really inspired by Top of the Pops, and I also watched lots of old black and white films that had tap dance. I began to realise all of the dancers on TV and around me were non-disabled, and I have a disability. I couldn't do all of the dances in the same way that other children could, but I loved to dance, and I was passionate about it, so I kept going. When the time came to make decisions at school about what career I might want to pursue, I began thinking whether my disability would mean I would not get auditions and so maybe dancing was not the best career option.

I wasn't massively academic, but I got five GCSEs. I knew getting my GCSEs would mean I would have options, and I always wanted to have options.

I went on to study a year-long course at the London College of Fashion, where I learnt about fashion styling, artistic makeup and fashion makeup, and it included an element of dance. When it was finished, I knew that I wasn't going to pursue fashion. It was really interesting, but very exhausting, and at the time, I felt like I needed something concrete.

Dance was still my true passion, so I decided to either apply for the BRIT school or study a Performing Arts BTEC National at Hammersmith and West London College that covered dance, acting and music. I applied and auditioned for the BRITs and got in, but I didn’t accept my place because I still was not seeing disabled dancers. (Bearing in mind the world was still very small and social media didn’t exist). I saw the lack of thriving disabled dancers as such a massive barrier, and I couldn't see how I was going to overcome that.

I really loved the BTEC course. While at college, I got a place on the BBC mentor programme and worked with someone in the industry on many TV shows and children’s programmes. I also volunteered at Lewisham Youth Theatre, where they trained me to be a stage manager.
After completing the BTEC, I still felt performing would not lead to a well-paying stable job, so I took a gap year and applied for university.

I studied Arts Management at Southbank University, and it was fantastic. I thought I was always going to be on the stage but finding an alternative that I really was passionate about was great, and I could make money.

After graduation, I got an administration job at Lewisham Youth Theatre, and I worked part-time for Lewisham Council in the Adult Education department. I later took a receptionist job at the council, helping people  with adult courses, before taking a full-time role within the inclusion team, which involved getting the adult education classes out into the community. I absolutely loved it. It gave me such a thrill that I was happy to do dance and drama on the weekends. I loved seeing the difference that I could make, so I did that for a good number of years.

I became interested in how the arts could be used in healthcare and went on to a management role that involved getting arts programmes to people that were suffering from depression and anxiety. They could attend the courses for free as a means of uplifting them.

My passion for supporting young people began when I ran a Prince's Trust enterprise programme. I was working with young people that were not in education, employment or training, helping them to set up their own social enterprises. It was a brilliant experience, and it went so well that I helped set up something similar in Wales and Brighton.

I enjoyed working with young people so much that I left to join Southwark Council’s Connexions career service as a personal advisor, working in a secondary school. (Although I moved from a management role to a personal advisor, it was more money than what I was earning at the Prince's Trust, and seniority was completely different). They gave me so many opportunities to work with children to deliver lessons. I learned from my own experience of putting up barriers, so I wanted young people to have as many options as possible. I did that for five years with real passion, then progressed to team leader and then Connexions manager.

The funding for Connexions got cut, and I found myself in a completely different role called alternative provision. I was matched into it, and I'm really glad that happened. Although I didn't know anything about the role, having risk-takers, and creative managers that understood that you can learn and grow in a role, was important. You do not need to know how to do every single thing on the job description. If you've got the willingness and the mind to learn and grow, you can do it.

I continued to progress, becoming the Alternative Provision Manager, and now, the Strategic Development Manager for children not in school.
 

What do you think are the secrets behind getting to where you are today?

1. Being a genuine person and getting on with people. A lot of the opportunities that came my way were from adults around me that I was myself with.

2. Risk-taking, because when you take a risk, sometimes an opportunity opens up.

3. Hearing what other people say about me and claiming it as my skills and personal attributes, rather than discarding it. 

Are there any books, audiobooks or podcasts you're currently reading or listening to for personal development?

How to Be Awesome at Your Job is a good podcast. They have guests that have a specific kind of expertise, like how to sell yourself during interviews, how to negotiate and how to compromise.

I also like The Anxious Achiever podcast because people who have anxiety speak openly about their experiences. As someone with anxiety, I have come to learn that being open about these things helps you. Now I talk more openly about when I feel anxious, even more in the workplace than I did before, so that has helped me.

Who or what inspires you?

My family, especially my parents and son. My grandmother, for example, left Grenada and went to Aruba for work. She would have got on a boat or ship, sailed miles away with no mobile phone to contact her children, and worked and saved money to eventually settle in England and then send for her children to join her. How can you not be inspired by that! 

What advice would you give to a young person starting out?

I would say keep your mind open. Think about what you would like to do if anything was possible – forget about societal limitations, family expectations, your own anxiety or doubts. Just get it out on paper and consider all opportunities.

Take a look at our list of websites to find work experience opportunties.