Phil puts best foot forward
UNIVERSITY SUPPORTS GRADUATE WITH CAREER CHANGE
A careers advisor has launched his own fitness business after ditching his desk job and following his own advice.
Bogged down with paperwork, tied to the office and feeling his life slipping away, Phil Holland decided it was time for a change.
At 37, the South Shields dad knew if he was going to take the leap of faith. He decided it was now or never, so left his job as a careers advisor with South Tyneside Council and worked to qualify as a personal trainer.
Now, with support from the Enterprise Place at the University of Sunderland, he is on track to a new life.
Phil, who took a masters in psychology at the university, said: “There are many different avenues in the personal training field I’m hoping to get involved with.
He added: “It’s a very broad spectrum and I want to explore that and use the skills I have learned through the psychology MSc, as well as my experience helping people, to move my new career forward.”
Phil, dad to Beatrice, five, says the Enterprise Place team has been critical in helping him get started.
He added: “It’s been brilliant, they told me how and where I could access financial support, they gave me a space to work from, so I wasn’t stuck in the house all the time, I’ve also been on a business enterprise weekend.”
Phil admits the past few months have been hard work as he establishes his venture, but says he wouldn’t change it.
The Enterprise Place is funded through the European Regional Development Fund and available to students and alumni of the university.