"Sometimes it really does feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants"

Hometown
That’s a tricky one! I was born in London, moved several times and now live in Manchester.

What do you do?
Self-employed arts consultant

How long have you been at it?
Five years

What was your very first role in theatre?
My first full-time role was productions administrator at Illyria. Before that, I did part-time work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (various venues including the Fringe Club and Pleasance) in Edinburgh during the summers of 1996-99.

What else have you done in theatre?
* Administrator at Zion, a specialist youth arts venue
* Productions manager and administrator at Illyria, a touring theatre company, with me based in Manchester

Have you got qualifications?
An MA in politics from Edinburgh University

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I honestly don’t know or can’t remember. I did work experience with my dad in a property company and some work experience with a barrister. I also seriously considered being a civil servant while at university.

What do you do all day?
I do freelance project management, evaluation and fundraising.

At any one time I’m working on up to 10 client projects or pieces of work, although at the moment I’m only working on two larger ones which makes a nice change.

Some days I rush from client meeting to client meeting. Other days I’m stuck at my desk all day, typing documents, answering emails, fielding calls, researching, etc.

What’s the best thing about your job?
Flexibility. Working on lots of different things all the time, new projects with new clients, meeting new people, thinking of new ideas. I can choose who I work with, for how much, and when. Also, being a freelancer, when I take the risk, it’s me who gets the reward (or the failure).

And the worst?
Being responsible for scary things like tax returns, pensions, sick leave and the like. Sometimes it really does feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants, making it all up as I go along, and no-one will ever again offer me any work…but it usually all works out OK.

What’s your dream job in theatre?
I don’t think I have one any more. At one time I quite fancied being chief executive of the National Theatre, just because it sounded like the best job in the industry.

Got any wise words for someone who wants to be where you are now?
Be determined and work hard. And if you aren’t enjoying something or getting any satisfaction from it, then go and do something else instead. But don’t give up.

Laura Drane’s website