Hometown
I was born in Lancashire, but my family took me to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as a two month old baby. We returned to the UK when I was 11. I lived in several places in the UK as I grew up from semi-rural to urban but have now lived in Matlock, Derbyshire for many years.

What do you do?
I am the administrator for theatre in education organisation Tangere Arts. I am also a visual artist and take on freelance jobs in community settings both as an artist and in arts facilitation.

How long have you been at it?
I have been professionally working in the arts since graduating in 2003 but I have been painting since my schooldays and have been involved in organising arts events as an amateur since the late 1980s. I started working for Tangere Arts in 2004.

What was your very first role in theatre?
This is my first direct role for theatre. Previous involvement with theatre was more indirect and limited to organising theatre events as part of festivals.

What qualifications do you have?
Two degrees, both from University of Nottingham.
In 1977 I got a geography degree and then in
2003 I went back and got a visual arts degree

What did you do before you worked in theatre?
* Administrator/ receptionist in physiotherapy department in local hospital
* Computer programmer for a company specialising in software for the construction industry
* Playgroup assistant
* Law costs draftsman (I calculated and set out formally legal bills for court cases for solicitors)

How did you make the move into theatre?
At school I was academically able and enjoyed most subjects. At A-level I was torn between arts and science. The sciences were seen as more promising for a future career and I wasn’t at the time confident enough in my ability as an artist to follow that route. I reluctantly gave up studying visual art after my O-levels, but filled the space by going to art courses at Canon Hill Arts Centre in Birmingham (now MAC) out of school hours.

I married young and had two children in my 20s. As my children grew up I became more active in the arts at an amateur level, painting and organising performing arts events and a festival with my husband. I worked voluntarily in all roles from up and taking down, cleaning, stewarding, organising stewards, building the infrastructure, timetabling and booking the artists, and eventually directing a whole festival.

Although classed as amateur, our festival was run as a business. Working on it I gained a lot of useful experience and realised that I enjoyed my voluntary work more than my paid work.

As I grew older and more confident the drive to paint became stronger. I decided that I would return to education to study visual art formally. I studied part time for six years whilst working as a law costs draftsman to gain my second degree. My past working roles, both paid and voluntary, gave me skills in dealing with people, in organising and scheduling events and in using computer programmes to build administrative systems and databases.

I became involved with Matlock Live in 2004 and coordinated the first three festivals from 2004 until 2006. Through working for Matlock Live I met David Johnston who was looking for an administrator. I then started working for him at Tangere Arts.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I was not very clear. I knew I was drawn to the arts and particularly visual arts but really couldn’t picture how to get into the position I wanted so followed the science route initially.

As a young adult what I wanted to do became clearer and I developed both the confidence and drive to achieve my aim of working in the arts.

What do you do all day?
It varies depending on what needs doing. I check on what bookings have come in and process them. This means preparing an agreement if it is a school booking or checking the contract if it is a theatre booking. I may need to ring bookers for information or to check details. New dates are then added to schedules for each tour.

* I schedule tours (dates and details and what needs doing and when in preparing for a tour)
* I prepare invoices and process payments if any need doing
* I have built databases to store information Tangere Arts needs and now keep them up to date with any changes. I also build spreadsheets if needed.
* If we are booking up a tour my days can involve ringing schools to see if they are interested in booking a play or workshop
* I assist with setting out press releases, programmes and reports and then circulate them

What’s the best thing about your job?
I like the variability in each working day, the organising of tours into their final format, keeping things tidy and seeing things running smoothly

And the worst?
Sometimes lots of things can need doing at once and sorting them all out to make sure everything is done well can be challenging

What’s your dream job in theatre?
I am doing it because:
* I enjoy the administration side of theatre
* I enjoy being part of the process that brings theatre to the public
* I like the fact that I can vary my administrative working days if necessary to fit in with my painting and exhibiting
* I think it is a positive to be involved in different art forms because it enriches my own creativity and I like the fact that I can separate theatre administration from my own visual creativity
* Painting can be very isolating and I find it is good for me to have an outside role
* I like the variability of my working week
* It is a role I know I could happily function in full time if I wanted to

Got any wise words for someone who wants to be where you are now?
Don’t be closed in your mind with what jobs might get you to your goal if you can’t get the job you want straight away, but be careful not to lose the focus of getting to where you want to be.

When I was stuck working as a costs draftsman I knew I was on the wrong track for me and that I should be doing what I enjoyed as an amateur and that was painting and working in the arts. I decided I needed to go and get myself formally trained as a fine artist because I felt that I needed an arts degree to get taken seriously as a painter and arts worker. I accepted that it would take longer part time but I always held onto the vision of my ideal working week, painting and doing other arts related work.

If you are a young woman who has her children near the beginning of her working life then don’t feel that that will limit your future options for career. Get into courses or attend centres or volunteer for work where you can gain the relevant experience. Remember that some job skills are transferable and that all experiences can be built on.

I use the skills I built up in different roles over the years in my current work and my various work experiences to inform how I work now.