Embrace experience. It's what makes you interesting.

Tips for teasing out the golden threads of your career journey

Admitting I’d had another career before becoming an interior designer was unthinkable in professional situations.

Did I believe that others would think less of me because I’d been a music teacher for 15 years before moving into this new profession? Did I worry they would think I wasn’t serious because I’d changed careers? Was I concerned they would consider my previous experience in teaching to be completely irrelevant?

I don’t know. But there was something stopping me from openly telling people that I studied music and had been a teacher.

I’m a member of the British Institute of Interior Design and they are a professional body which offers, amongst other things, a variety of CPD and networking opportunities and events. I’d signed up to one such networking event which combined plate painting with drinks and nibbles and the opportunity to meet and chat with other interior designers.

These kinds of occasions make me nervous. Making conversation with people I’ve never met before is hard, especially as a relative newcomer to the industry who feels like a bit of an imposter. In advance, I find myself rehearsing conversations in my head and thinking about how I want to present myself. What do interior designers wear? Should I take business cards? Will I be judged for only having worked on residential projects?

The main conversation that was going around in my head was the one about how long I’d been working as an interior designer. Perhaps it’s because the teaching profession in the UK is generally not viewed with a huge amount of respect, or perhaps it’s because I felt that being a music teacher seemed so irrelevant and disconnected to interior design that it would be too embarrassing to mention it.

Until I walked into Solus ceramics last Thursday evening.

Solus Ceramics was where the workshop was being held, and I was immediately greeted by a friendly face who checked me off the list and started chatting to me. Her name was Hayley and she swiftly introduced me to one of the showroom employees who wanted to take some details and add me to the mailing list. He then went off to get me a glass of wine and I resumed my conversation with the Hayley. Of course, one of her first questions was what kind of work I do, and how long I’d been a designer.

This was THE very question I’d been rehearsing in my head and slightly dreading, and it had come so early in the evening!

But, it had been asked in a genuine, kind and interested way and so I felt compelled to be absolutely honest about my journey to this point. So I told her that I had been a music teacher for 15 years before retraining and launching my own business.

“I bet you are incredibly organised” was Hayley’s first response. She’s right, I am super-organised and it’s a vital skill as an interior designer as we often juggle many plates all at once. This took me a little by surprise. She wasn’t frowning or asking why on earth I’d moved to interior design, instead she was joining the threads and teasing out the transferrable skills.

As this conversation was going on, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. There was a circular wooden table with tiles of different sizes and colours displayed on it. Not unusual in a ceramics studio, sure. Except this one had percussion mallets hanging from it, which seemed less usual. Was this some kind of musical instrument?

My excitement got the better of me and I cut in: “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but is that a musical instrument behind us?”.

“Yes! This is perfect for you…” Hayley excitedly replied. “We should take a picture of you playing it.”

I was handed the mallets and told to have a go on the ceramophone - a tuned percussion instrument made from porcelain tiles which had been specially commissioned by the studio as a collaboration between a musician and an architect. You can read more about it here.

Now, I’m not a percussionist (saxophone is my main instrument) but I have taught music in schools for 15 years so my classroom xylophone playing isn’t bad after many a demo, and I immediately commented on the pentatonic tuning of the instrument which received a confused “Ok, if you say so!” in response from Hayley.

My guard was down and I was in my element. Here in front of me was the physical representation of my two creative passions: music and design. Above the ceramophone were two hanging microphones that picked up the sound and linked to the lights behind. I had a little play and Hayley kindly took a photo for me as my glass of wine was delivered by the guy who worked in the studio. Hayley told him that I had been a music teacher and he too was really interested in my background and started to tell me more about the installation and the ideas behind it.

The rest of the evening flowed so naturally. We were shown techniques for designing and painting our plates (influenced by Bauhaus design) and we all got into our flow and chatted as we worked. It was incredibly civilised.

Here are some of the plate designs. Mine is the plate with triangles at the bottom.

The ceramophone stuck in my mind for days. It was like an awakening of realisation that my knowledge and understanding of music was linked so much more closely with design than I had previously allowed myself to consider.

Two days ago I started working with a new client who is looking for advice on how to reduce echo in their large newly extended kitchen/diner/living space.

Acoustics!

Another light bulb moment as once again I realise that this is something I perhaps have more understanding of than some designers because I have studied sound.

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So what are the takeaways from all of this?

We really must try not to under value the skills we have acquired throughout our lives, whether that has been in the workplace or in general life experience. Everything we have learned and absorbed, through success and failure, is what makes us unique and interesting.

If you are making a career change to something that seems unrelated, pause for a long moment and see if you can unravel a few fine threads from your previous work and start to weave them together with your new path.

Does your previous knowledge, experience or training give you a niche or USP in your new industry that others might not have? Can you focus in on that a little more and see if it could help you to stand out?

This week, I plan to spend a little time journalling on this for myself to see if Ican pinpoint my golden thread and I hope that reading this might encourage you to do something similar.

Hannah x

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