You Want To Do What?

We chat with Giles Paley-Phillips about life as an Author. Giles started writing when his wife was pregnant with their first child, as he had a real desire to craft a story for his soon to be son. Giles tells us all about the realities of being an Author, from the process of writing the book, getting it into a publishers hands, the marketing and promotion as well as earning potential. Giles gives some brilliant advice to any budding authors about the actual process of writing a book and the process of getting it peer reviewed and then published which can be a long process, sometimes it can be years from finishing the book to it getting published. Giles is also the co-host of the Blank Pod, which is a show all about those moments in life when things are not going so well and how people deal with these moments. A pleasure to chat with Giles about his career, a really honest insight into the life of an Author. 

We chat with Mary-Ann Ochota about life as an Anthropologist and Broadcaster. Anthropology is is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, and societies, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour and cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. Mary-Ann had originally wanted to become a vet but after watching a documentary about mountaineering archaeologists finding an Incan human sacrifice she was hooked on the idea of uncovering peoples stories and the differences between cultures. Mary-Ann has had some amazing opportunities in her career so far such as working on a number of tv shows, one being Time Team, making radio documentaries and writing three books, her latest being "Secret Britain" which explores the mysteries behind more than 70 of Britain's most intriguing ancient places and artefacts. Mary-Ann makes a very good point about the need to develop good communication skills whatever career you go into, even those in academia and research where the need to convince organisations or the government to fund projects is just as important as doing the work itself. Brilliant advice for anyone thinking of going into Broadcasting or an academic subject like Anthropology. A real pleasure to chat with Mary-Ann who has had an incredibly varied and interesting career so far. 

We chat with Samantha about life as a Director/Producer. Samantha has always had two passions in life, one was cars the other filmmaking, the influence for both coming from her family, her dad was a mechanic and her uncle worked in the media industry traveling the world making tv shows and documentaries. Samantha was able to unintentionally combine her two passions into a career when after attending college and university studying TV and media production she landed her first real job for Dennis publishing which own auto express and car buyer, after climbing the ladder at her first job Samantha decided she needed to take a risk and move on to climb the career ladder, ending up at Carwow producing and directing the content for their youtube channel which at this date has 4.64 Million subscribers! In her role at Carwow Samantha has had to adapt her skills for the new short form digital content we all consume on our mobile phones, it has to be fast paced and fun to keep viewers coming back time and time again. Samantha's career has been all about putting her hand up and saying yes to new opportunities when they arise, even when she wasn't 100% sure what the opportunity would entail she said yes and did her upmost to succeed. We really enjoyed chatting with Samantha who has a real get up and go approach to her career, if your thinking about getting into the world of tv or digital media this is a must listen.   

We chat with Dillon about life as an Evolutionary Biologist. From having a real fear of nature until the age of thirteen, Dillon did a 180 degree turn and decided to dedicate his career to understanding the evolution of animals specialising in reptiles and amphibians, to this day Dillon is not really sure what happened to his fear of nature. Dillon comes from a family of nature lovers, so much so that they own a pet store, so one way or another nature has always payed a role in his life. University consisted of going out into nature and looking for the species that Dillon had been learning about and then attending lectures on the nature and causes of evolution as well as learning about how to do effective research. Dillon has already had some amazing opportunities such as going to Belize to study different turtle species. Another great career choice for anyone who loves nature and science. A pleasure to chat with Dillon. 

We chat with Nick Howes about his incredibly varied career, a mixture of Astronomy, Music and Engineering. Nick has had numerous and extremely cool jobs ranging from working for the european space agency in holland to working on the square kilometre array which was at the time the biggest science project on earth, to working at Yamaha's research and development team for sixteen years building synthesisers and instruments. Nick currently works at BMT researching and developing new technologies in the space engineering sector. Nick has been lucky enough to meet and become friends with some of the Apollo astronauts at events he has either attended or organised, i think he probably has one of the coolest contact books going having the likes of Buzz Aldrin on speed dial! Nick was also responsible for hunting and possibly finding the Lunar ten module snoopy. 

We discuss Exploration and how it seems to be hardwired into our DNA, just like our ancestors modern day astronauts are willing and ready to undertake future missions to the moon and mars, we just need to figure out how we are going to get them there, from future propulsion methods such as Ion engines to Nuclear fission and fusion reactors to provide energy for the journey as well as thinking about the mental impact of being confined to a small vehicle for years at a time. 

We also talk about the importance of having great scientific communicators such as Brian Cox, Bill Nye and Neil Degrasse Tyson in the public eye, teaching and conveying the knowledge of the scientific community in a way that engages and excites the general public. Nick is incredibly passionate about science and furthering our ability to explore space, if you are a bit of a science or engineering geek like myself and Jules, this is a must listen. (we also give you a great argument to use on your boss next time you want to work from home) 

We chat with Nicole who is currently at university studying Neuroscience with the hopes of taking her degree into behavioural economics. It was fascinating to talk to Nicole about her favourite area of neuroscience, one being neuroplasticity which is the ability of the brain to change through growth and recognition, which is essentially building habits through long term potentiation, i.e if you feed your brain with positive thoughts and reinforcement you will build positivity into the brains neural network and the same goes for negative thoughts, so think positively people! Nicole also tells us all about her interest in pharmacology (the affect of drugs on living organisms) and how certain drugs can be used to treat psychiatric disorders. There are so many different modules and areas of neuroscience you can specialise in and careers in which neuroscience could potentially take you in the future. 

We chat with Lara Jackson about life as a zoologist and conservationist. Like most that decide they want to work in these fields Lara has ben fascinated by nature since she was very young. Lara originally thought that she would like to be a vet but as time went on her focus at school changed and it led to her choosing to study oceanography in her first year at university, which didn't turn out to be what Lara had hoped so she changed to zoology for the second year and ended up doing a masters in research with a focus around field work, through this Lara has been lucky enough to work with Black Rhinos in Africa tracking what kind of Flora they eat, which will help conservation projects to protect the right kind of habitat for the Rhino. Lara is passionate about using her growing social media following to help to educate people on what they can do to help conservation efforts around the world, and also explains why eduction at both home and abroad is required if we are going to be be able to save endangered species. One of the most recent projects Lara has been involved with was in Zanzibar collecting data on Dolphins with the help of international volunteers, getting onto these projects requires experience and it can be incredibly competitive with hundreds of people applying for the job, Lara talks about how to improve your chances of being selected, through things like volunteering and running your own social media to educate people on the subject or project. An amazing career if you are passionate about the natural world and helping to protect it, a pleasure to chat with Lara about her career so far.    

We chat with Tyler Wells a Marketing and Business manager with a wealth of experience in the digital content and e-learning space, and had most recently tried his hand at teaching marketing at a university in Canada. Tyler's interest in marketing began in school when his teacher decided to do a class on advertising, and explained the theory behind the "Snap, Crackle, and Pop" Slogan, which in Tyler's own words "blew my socks off." From then on Tyler thought he would go through the traditional path of getting a job at an advertising agency but that wasn't to be the case, having graduated in 2008 just when the banking crash was taking affect finding a job at an agency when agency's were having to make many people redundant was an almost impossible task. Having moved back home Tyler found an opportunity with a company that was focused on e-learning and needed marketing support, over the years he helped to grow the business and honed his marketing skills. Most recently Tyler has been working with Matti Haapoja who is a youtuber focused on film making and photography, Tyler helps to deal with Matti's brand deals, business management and post production of the Matti and Pete show (podcast), as well as assisting some other youtuber's on branding and marketing. We also have a chat about the future of university and if in this day and age certain degrees actually do help to further your career opportunities or are just a piece of paper that society tells you, you need. (Their are lots of obvious exceptions... one being doctors, id like my doctor to be as highly qualified as possible!) Tylers experience in marketing, E-Learning, and business management has led to a super interesting and well rounded career, and only now are all these experiences really coming together and placing Tyler in a unique position to take advantage of the changing world of marketing, branding and e-learning.   

We chat with Oscar Duck about life as a blacksmith. At just thirteen years old Oscar decided that the stone tipped bow and arrow set he had made needed upgrading so naturally he dug a hole in the garden, built his own forge from a collection of house hold items including his mums hairdryer and set about forging his own steal arrow heads. In Oscars own words he was a "bit of a dangerous child." Over the past four years Oscar has spent every Saturday working part time with a very experienced blacksmith to learn and improve his own skills along side his education. 

There is a growing desire for more artisan and ornate hand made products in the UK and around the world, people are increasingly valuing quality and craft over mass produced goods and the age of social media such as Instagram and Youtube has helped to make blacksmithing more feasible in the 21st century with commissions from all over the world Oscar is able to build a business and create amazing metal work from his home forge. 

Oscar has plans to travel around the world, possibly starting with Russia or Japan, learning as many techniques and ways of working from master blacksmiths as he can to improve his own work. Blacksmithing is both a physical and creative outlet, it is a craft that requires years of dedication and improvement but it is a great community, helpful and friendly. If you are thinking about firing up your own forge give this a listen. 

We chat with Rory Cowlam about life as a Vet. Rory knew that he wanted to be a vet from the age of four, ever since he got his first dog, a great dane called Lulu. Being a puppy Lulu needed to go to the vets for he jabs and it was there that he was greeted with the quintessential "James Herriot" veterinary practice and met Mr Benson the vet that would inspire Rory to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. Rory talks us through his experiences at vet school, from exams and theory, to the practical side of learning to deal with blood and gore and being able to carry out operations. We also talk about Rory's career to date including his work for the BBC on the show "The real pets factor" and his first book "The Secret Life of a Vet" Rory gives a very honest account of what it takes to become a vet and the realities of the job once you are in the profession, it can be hugely taxing mentally and its important to know how to deal with the pressures and stresses of the job. However there is now more and more conversation around the mental health affects of the industry which is giving rise to real change and help for those that need it. We also discuss other doors that can open up to you should you decide to get a veterinary degree, from all kinds of roles in developing medicine, to working for the government and even going into the city. If you are trying to decide whether you would like to be a vet this is a must listen, a passionate account of an industry that can be hugely rewarding and hugely difficult at times, but hopefully one that is changing and moving into a better future.