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After leaving school, I tried 6th form college but didn’t feel it was for me so I went to a vocational college instead. There, I received a distinction in pre-uniformed public services. After a short stint in the army I was medically discharged. I tried university but felt completely lost, so I didn’t complete my degree.
After a few jobs, I found my feet in an estate agents, where I progressed through on-the-job training and qualifications to become a mortgage adviser.
Now I help to look after all the Equity Release advisers under the network – there are currently around 90+ of them and I oversee those in the West of the country. I conduct one-to-ones with advisers, help with the trainees, run role-plays, conduct pre-recommendation reviews, and help with adviser queries and dealing with vulnerable customers.
At 6.30am I wake up, have a cup of tea and do my daily puzzle. Having recently been diagnosed with autism, suddenly my love of routine all makes sense.
With autism (for me) it’s all about routine but also I can hyper-fixate on certain new things, so this week it is playing on the Nintendo switch when I wake up!
Then at 8am I do yoga, have breakfast, shower and start work at 9am. I start with emails and then preparation for the various meetings throughout the day.
As I am in and out of meetings for most of the day, the afternoon is broken up a bit to address queries that crop up throughout the day.
I am definitely a morning person as I have a lot of energy first thing! If the day has involved a lot of talking, I really flag later on and value the quiet evening time.
With this role, I’m allowed to manage own diary and plan a good balance so don’t feel overwhelmed. If someone needs me, I will work later but my employer doesn’t expect it, which is lovely.
This role, unlike when I was an adviser, means I have my evenings and weekends back. I try to be strict with logging off on time and I always take the whole weekend to fully recharge.
Grind culture is really not glamorous and all it does is cause burn outs for me, which I’ve suffered with in the past.
Meetings with my advisers. I am also involved in various committees and compliance meetings, which I enjoy too, but interacting with and supporting the advisers is really the best part.
I meal prep on a Sunday for the week ahead – I’ll make the same meals over again (I don’t mind that its repetitive) and work out what is best for me to fuel my running and to get the right macros.
Lunch is always home made soup, seven days a week. Pea & mint is the current soup of the month!
Dinner is slow cooker jackfruit and bean chilli with rice. Friday is pizza night. Weekends I may mix it up, but commonly it’s the same thing.
Meal preparation and repetition, for me, makes life easier as I don’t need to worry about thinking of different meals. If I’ve had a difficult day mentally, I really don’t have the energy to think about what to cook, so having it ready there is so helpful.
My main hobby is reading – usually around 60 books a year! Trail running is another hobby (I try to run at last three times a week) and I also enjoy crocheting, along with spending time with the dogs (both rescues from Greece).
To advocate for yourself if you need additional support, or if you learn differently. I spent many years unhappy because I didn’t know how to, or feel that I could, properly speak up for myself about not being okay and needing to work a little differently to everyone else.
VERY! In previous roles, when I was struggling, my husband and family were always there supporting me – I know I am very lucky to have such a good support network. In my current role, however, I am the happiest I’ve ever been – it’s such a great place to be and I am part of a wonderful team. It really is invaluable having a manager that I can talk to and who supports me. It makes me much more productive, and much happier!
