CIEREN FALLON, 23
Champion Jockey
St David’s College, Llandudno
I won my first apprentice jockey title in 2019 and again in 2020. In 2021, I won my first race at Royal Ascot riding Oxted in the King’s Stand Stakes. I am currently riding as Qatar Racing’s First Jockey. However, I had no intention of being a jockey until I was 17 years old. St David’s College helped me develop the confidence to pursue my career. Before I went there, I couldn’t read and write, but during my time I wrote a poem and read it out to the whole school. I had zero confidence when I arrived at St David’s, but when I left I thought that if I jumped I could touch the sky and believed I could achieve anything I wanted. It’s all to do with the confidence the teachers instil in you. They believe in you and that means everything, and they are all very approachable and want you to thrive.
I loved every minute of my time at The King Alfred School, where I was treated as an individual, encouraged to try new things and wasn’t boxed in or expected to fit a certain mould. I left school with the confidence and self-belief to follow the path that was right for me, which led to me dropping out of King’s College, London after my first semester to join VICE as a full-time creative. I went on to work at the LADbible Group, the biggest social media property in the world for online video, where I led the creative content for a number of brands including Amazon and Sony. After spells at other leading agencies, I co-founded Arcade Media in 2021 to manage Europe’s biggest creators: The Sidemen (100m+ followers). In addition to launching three successful businesses, I’m proud to chair the Youth Council at Outernet Global, an immersive entertainment district in the heart of central London.