An Insider’s Story – Yoga teacher

Part of our growing Insider Stories, where professionals in all sorts of jobs, share their advice and experience

Hi. My name is Sarah and I teach Yoga.

I had been practicing yoga for a few years when one of my teachers suggested that I qualify to teach it. I undertook the intense training and have been teaching now for over 5 years.

Initially, a passion for yoga was the catalyst for the career move from fashion but since then, I have also been motivated by the other skills that are needed to run successful classes. I have learnt skills that I’d never had an interest or experience in before such as basic accounting, advertising (with the use of Google Adwords) and I have even build my own website. I have become self-employed which felt risky at first but I now love the freedom and self-worth that it gives me and has meant that I have had to push my limits and take on new challenges.

No day is the same and I especially enjoy the group classes that I teach – many of my students have been attending class for a few years and each class has its own dynamic and community.

www.yogawithsarah.co.uk

Our contributing writers are professionals who have valuable advice to offer. We assess and approve all our contributors to ensure their content is expert and relevant.

An Insider’s Story – 5 top tips about writing for the theatre

Part of our growing Insider Stories, where professionals in all sorts of different jobs, share their advice and experience

1. Plays take a long time to reach the stage, usually at least two years. so avoid being too topical. e.g. many writers will be using the 2012 Olympics as the base of a drama, so maybe avoid that one. Present your play professionally. Most managements have a panel of readers and nobody feels well disposed towards the grimy script with the coffee stains on it. Number the pages and staple or bind them. And be sure to list your contact details.
2. When you write your play, be mindful about the size of the cast. Everybody has to be paid for rehearsal and performances, so each character should be essential to the plot. A small cast will increase your chances of placing your play.
3. Investigate your sources. There is little point on sending a 40 minute one act to a management famous for staging West End extravaganzas. Attend theatres whenever you can.  And check on the web to see who has produced what.
4. Be patient. Remember that new work is the life blood of producers. So far from wanting  to block you, they are but always hoping to discover new talent.  Take rejections in your stride and move on. If your work is original and has merit, you will get there eventually.
5. It’s hard to get an agent at first. But when you get one, don’t just sit back expecting things to happen. Consult your agent often, offer suggestions and ask for feedback. And take your agent’s advice about revising your work. You have to – because an agent cannot feign enthusiasm about a play he thinks needs fixing.

Geraldine Arons is an award-winning Irish playwright. Her plays show worldwide to great acclaim and 12 have been performed on TV or radio.

Geraldine Arons, Playwright

Our contributing writers are professionals who have valuable advice to offer. We assess and approve all our contributors to ensure their content is expert and relevant.

An Insider’s Story – Marketing manager, International education

What is your job?

Travel Guides (Photo credit: Vanessa (EY))

I am the marketing manager for an International Education Group. Based in London I meet with students and representatives looking to send students from all over the world. Every few months I am required to make a business trip to one of our main markets and meet the reps there to encourage greater student numbers.

How did you get into it?

I moved to Australia immediately after finishing University in 2010. After 6 months on a farm there and travelling I was in need of a job and a friend from university introduced me to her mother in Melbourne who is now my boss. After my visa expired in Australia I moved to the British side of the company.

What do you enjoy about it?

Being in International education you get the chance to meet with a wide variety of cultures. I get to travel regularly and I rarely have a day when I’m sitting solely in the office in front of a computer all day. I do enjoy the pressure but it is long hours and the responsibility sits squarely on my shoulders.

Working for the Australian side of the company I did roughly 6 months in 3 different roles in 3 different cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane) and now I’ve done 6 months so far in the London office. I’ve loved the chance to do that, it means in each place I’ve been able to meet more people and try my hand at something different.

What do you wish you had known before you entered your industry?

A bit more about the cultures I work with. It’s been a pretty steep learning curve, on the visas and the culture, and its best to have exposure to the industry before you set out. My major industry now is selling English courses and if I were to start all over again it’d be great to have some other applicable qualifications like a CELTA English course.

Top tips for someone wanting to start out in your sector

I don’t think there’s anything specific you need to know. I think that you need to be interested in the sector. If you’ve thought about being an English teacher but you’re business minded, then it would be a good sector to get into. There’s a lot of international travel, and a lot of growth potential. Also it gives you the opportunity to meet people from all over the world both in London and in their home cities. You have to be independent and self-reliant and more often than not a problem-solver, try getting to 20 meetings in Moscow without speaking Russian.