JULIA STEPHENSON, 41,
worked at Universal Music and went on tour with Nelly Furtado as a Road Manager, before joining the BBC as a Publicist. She retrained as a lawyer and has combined her old and new careers as a Legal Advisor at ITV plc. As soon as I walked into ITV I knew it was the right place for me. There’s a diverse mix of nationalities, races and backgrounds, and being back in a media environment felt like home. Working with like-minded people in an intellectually stimulating job is more important to me than money. I could work at a leading Magic Circle law firm and earn £100K, but wouldn’t have time to spend it.
I’m a creature of habit: I get up at 6.30am and go for a run. As soon as I arrive at the office, I run through my to-do list. I adore my team. We’re currently six women and very chatty, usually about our latest Netflix binge. We’re collaborative and solve problems together. We’re all at different life stages: some have children, others are dating or single. We’re from different backgrounds but are great friends and go out for dinner regularly.
Our team director makes sure our successes are celebrated and we have a monthly meeting where we nominate someone to win the ‘Top Dog’ award. My colleagues are important to happiness. It’s the opposite of the temporary role I took while transitioning to law, which was so negative that I left before I had another job. I found out the next day I had aced an interview at the BBC – sometimes you have to have faith. Life is too short to do something that doesn’t make you bounce out of bed.
WORK IT Julia’s career top tips
Outline your agenda early.
Don’t set a precedent of working late when you start a new job or people will expect it.
Be yourself.
It’s exhausting to put on a ‘work persona’ so find an environment where
you’ll be accepted for who you are.
It’s never too late to change careers.
It was a big challenge being a trainee lawyer at an older age and I had to battle my own insecurities. You have one life and you can do as many things as you want with it.
Take time to reflect.
Turn off your phone and ask whether what you’re doing is making you happy. If it’s not, ask what you can do to change it.
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