𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱…

I was delighted to be asked back on the “𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗖𝗠𝗢” podcast recently, talking about my early life, and it hit me – my career path reads like a rejected sci-fi plot:

𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝟭: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗺 📚 Picture teenage me in Cardiff, pocketing lunch money to buy Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov novels. My mum thought I was eating. I was actually consuming alternate universes. (Sorry, Mum!)

𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝟮: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻 ⚡ Decided to combine my love of music with electronics. Built my own synth. Got a massive electrical shock. Lesson learned: Maybe stick to the pre-built keyboards. Also learned: Man vs Machine is more exciting when the machine doesn't try to kill you.

𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝟯: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🎸 Discovered Rush's "A Farewell to Kings" – this mind-blowing, theatrical masterpiece that transported me to mystical worlds far away from grey suburban Wales. Years later found out it was recorded just 40 miles from my home. So much for escapism. 😂

𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝟰: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁 💼 After uni: "I never want to solder another microchip or program assembly code again!" Also me: immediately goes into tech sales. The pull of long-term marketing however lured me away from the hamster wheel of monthly quotas. Been translating tech into human ever since.

The punchline? That science-fiction-obsessed, synth-building, lunch-skipping creative scientist kid who got career advice from "whoever I sat next to in class" ended up leading marketing in companies from startups to Microsoft.

Oh, and the person who gave me my first break? Bumped into them years later. They didn't remember me. 🤷‍♂️

Sometimes the best careers aren't planned – they're improvised like a prog rock keyboard solo. Just try not to electrocute yourself along the way!

For more, listen here (BTW host Alastair has the perfect podcast voice. I, however, sound like i’m ingesting Helium 🎈):

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