Meet Sarah
In our latest blog we caught up with Sarah McDonald
Tell us about yourself
I was living in London, got a teaching degree but didn't want to be a teacher once I'd done my six months experience in a school. I loved literature and reading and wanted to get into publishing so I had a few jobs in London for the big publishing houses, and then I got taken on as an editor at BBC Education. I did that for a couple of years, and moved up a bit in the publishing world at various companies in London, and then Oxford.
After I had my children I then went freelancing as an editor for about 12 years. Eventually I had had enough of working at the kitchen table and tried to get back into publishing. I thought about finding a job in Reading where I could work on a part time basis but I quickly realised it was going to be hard with the family. I also couldn't do what I wanted to do, things had changed and I had changed so much. I realised I wasn’t actually enjoying the editing anymore, I didn't want to do that for the rest of my working life, I wanted something that was a bit more compatible with my family.
I knew I didn't really want to work in an office five days a week. I didn't really know where to go, what to do. Even writing a CV and applying for jobs was all a bit overwhelming. I felt like a bit of a failure and didn't really quite know how to break the cycle to even explore what was out there that I could do. Luckily the Digital Gum course came up.
How did you find out about the course?
A couple of friends had done it and it was also advertised on Facebook. I'd heard of it so when it popped up, I just thought to myself “go for it”. As it was within school hours I could attend without any issues, it felt like just the right time commitment that I could manage. I had seen other courses but they were either too expensive, or had far too many or all of the learning self study online.
Were you one of the students that did your homework straightaway or were you the night before or sat in the classroom.
I work best to a deadline so it was always the night before. I never saw the homework as a problem. I was always thinking about what had to be delivered even if I wasn't actually doing it. It wasn't a big stress point but I do remember being part of a group meant you didn’t want to let the team or the charity down, so contributing was important.
How did you feel about the pitch to the charity.
Unfortunately I wasn’t there for the actual pitch as I had a holiday booked but it was fun working on the build up to it. I wish I had been there with the group pitching at the end.
Now you’ve had time to reflect what was the biggest benefit of going on the course?
Realising that the thing I thought I wanted, I didn't want at all. I liked Louize's advice and input - her understanding of us as people and her honesty. I remember we asked her what she thought we should be doing and she took one look at me and said “do something yourself”.
I hadn’t been confident enough to do that but when someone says it to you it makes you just realise it’s time to be brave. Being among other people on the course who were so supportive was also really helpful. There were lots of people from different backgrounds on the course and receiving opinions from people who I wouldn’t normally meet was hugely valuable.
It also gave me the time and the headspace to actually think about what I wanted to do and how I was going to get there - really analyse how to get there. If I hadn’t been on the course I think life may have got in the way and maybe stopped me from going for it.
What elements of the course did you enjoy?
I loved the practical learning, whether it was building a website, social media, PR or marketing which really helped me absorb all the new things I was learning, it kept it really alive, really real. I liked the fact that we learned about lots of new things, some of them really took me out of my comfort zone but that was a good thing. I still remember really clearly what we did in all our post-it notes sessions, I loved generating ideas with my group. It felt like being back at work, a genuine workplace activity with a team of people. I think walking away with a digital footprint to show employers after five weeks is invaluable. After a career break it is sometimes really difficult to have genuine experience to talk about at an interview.
So what are you up to now?
I launched Barefoot Yoga, it started quite small and slowly built up with lots of enquiries coming through my website. I’m really proud that I built the site myself using WordPress and that was a real take away skill from the course. I did most of the build and then handed it over to an expert to finish up and tidy up the technical things.
I started working with a life coach and friend, Sarah Leach from Stride Consultancy, and ran some corporate events. I think the course gave me the confidence to get out there and just start trying new things with the business. It’s about two and a half years since I started, I’ve had a few hiccups along the way. Losing venues and having to move, but fundamentally I have run the same classes, the amount of work has just been building up and I have also taken on more one to one clients.
How has lockdown been for you?
I remember initially wondering how this was going to affect the business and if everything would just stop. But after my initial panic I just jumped on Zoom like so many others and I’ve been running my sessions there ever since. I've lost a couple of people who prefer face to face but then gained a couple who live in London so it’s really got me thinking that there is a place for both - in the future I will continue to mix it up. So, I’m pleased to say it hasn’t been the nightmare I thought it might be. It opened my eyes to a group of people who maybe have anxiety or can’t leave the house for other reasons but would love to join a yoga session. There's a whole other market out there if you've got online content. I’ve also been offering access to recordings of the sessions to those who feel a group yoga session is a little daunting.
It’s also been great that I don't have to stress about venue overheads. The kids are home, and I also haven't got to worry about my husband getting back from work in time to watch the kids.