Musician ➔

Educator ➔

Career Catalyst

I didn't start with a plan.

I started with a teenage decision.

Rebel against the somewhat limited school careers advice: "Don't study Music".

So I studied Music.

Three great years at university.

Then I hit a wall. I had no idea what came next.

So I went looking for a ‘proper’ job. I fell into the corporate world. First accountancy, then software engineering.

Back then, falling into a corporate job was something that actually happened.

Unlike now, when young people face high competition, soul-destroying ghosting, and the challenges and opportunities of AI.

Both taught me valuable skills, but neither was authentically me.

Each role helped me refine what mattered.

Each step narrowed the focus.

The Musician

I grew up surrounded by educators.

So I did the obvious thing: I blew my own trumpet. For years.

Music was freedom. Friends. Flow.

I didn’t know where it was going. I just knew I didn’t want to be told where to go.

So I followed the sound.

Somewhere along the way, I found myself in front of a class, teaching Music in two challenging Bristol schools.

Let’s just say it was a crash course in teenage psychology. And my first taste of what purpose might feel like.

The Explorer

Turns out, not all detours are scenic.

I started out at Deloitte, training to be a chartered accountant.

It lasted just long enough for me to realise I didn’t want to spend my twenties in an airless third-floor office in Woking, wondering why the windows didn’t open.

So I pivoted. Again.

This time, software engineering. Three years of code, coffee, and conversations with my keyboard.

It was intellectual work. Just not human enough.

Eventually, I missed people. Real ones. With faces.

A chance role at Millfield School pulled me back into teaching.

And just like that, I was back where I belonged - in a classroom, not a cubicle.

The Educator

Classrooms, code, and a crash course in humanity.

After several years of talking to machines, I found myself back in front of actual humans.

A pivot to teaching at Millfield School - one of the UK’s sportiest boarding schools - came at the perfect time.

By day, I taught Computing and IT. But what I really loved was working evenings in a boarding house with nearly 60 teenage girls.

Later, I moved to Godolphin School, where I stopped falling into jobs and started building a career.

Teacher. Head of Computer Science. Director of Digital Strategy. Deputy Head Innovation.

But the most meaningful part of the job was helping students discover who they were, and guiding them toward futures that made sense for them.

The Leader

Strategy, systems, and the spark that changes everything.

I didn’t chase leadership. I chased impact.

It started with building things that worked - for students, for teachers, for schools trying to keep pace with a changing world.

I became Head of Computer Science. Then Director of Digital Strategy. Then Deputy Head Innovation.

Each role gave me a bigger canvas.

More space to design systems that actually served the people in them.

More freedom to ask: What if we did things differently?

I led school-wide digital transformation.

Not just tech upgrades - mindset shifts.

From compliance to creativity. From standardisation to personalisation.

Along the way, I spent time in a special school.

A place where students faced profound challenges - physical disabilities, life-limiting conditions, and complex learning needs.

I wasn’t there long. But it changed me.

Those students taught me more about purpose, resilience, and human connection than any leadership course ever could.

It reminded me that real innovation isn’t about shiny tools.

It’s about designing with empathy.

Building for every kind of mind.

And never forgetting who education is really for.

That’s the kind of leadership I carry into OneBigNext.

Not just strategic. Human.

Because helping young people launch their lives isn’t about telling them what to do.

It’s about building the systems that let them figure it out, and thrive.

The Career Catalyst

Purpose. Pivots. A plan for growing up.

By this point, I’d taught in state schools, independent schools, a special school, and a university.

I’d led strategy, built departments, and racked up more letters after my name than I knew what to do with.

But something was still missing.

I kept meeting brilliant young people being told to shrink themselves to fit a system that didn’t see them.

And I kept meeting parents desperate to help, but who didn’t know how.

So I did what I always do when the system doesn’t work.

I built something better.

Turns out, growing through music, accountancy, software engineering, and education is exactly what you need to help young people figure out and build their future.

It’s the sum of all the pivots, the purpose behind every detour, and the clarity that only comes from living the questions and listening hard for the answers.

Not just a way into work. A way into life.

Growing up deserves a game plan.

Together, we’ll make yours.

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