From accounting to creative: Sam's Story

From accounting to social enterprises to setting up his own creative company, life has been one long career change, and there is more to come, he’s sure!

What sparked the initial change

The most significant career change was ditching accounting and moving abroad to an entirely new industry.

I had worked in a Big 4 accounting firm whilst doing my accounting exams in Dublin. Working in restructuring during a period of recession was not a particularly positive environment to begin with, but it allowed for lots of learnings about how companies work. But I felt like such a small cog in a big machine in KPMG. I moved to a smaller firm doing a similar role, but it was the same and didn’t feel very impactful!

2 years later, I handed in my notice there with no job lined up. When I started to dread Monday mornings and wasn’t my full self, along with starting to think very short term, "just get through this week. Next week will be better", I knew I had to leave. Everyone thought I was a little mad leaving a job mid-recession in Ireland, but I needed some time to think deeply about my next step.

I moved back home and ended up volunteering full-time in a great social enterprise in Dublin called Camara Education, which provides digital literacy skills to children across Africa. I spent 6 months there helping out with all sorts of things, and I loved it! It felt really great to be part of something meaningful again, and setting up a start-up operation helped boost my confidence.

When an opportunity came up to move to London to set up their UK operation, I jumped at the chance! And so off to London I went with my huge suitcase, having only properly been there once for the free Rage Against the Machine gig they did when they got a Christmas number one - remember that?

Startup dreams

I always had dreams in the back of my mind to set up my own business one day as it’s something my Dad and brother had done. I decided my 20s would be to try different jobs that added to my skill set that will eventually enable me to set up my own thing.

When Camara was successfully set up in London, I decided to move back to Dublin as my Dad became very ill with cancer. He sadly passed away the day after I got home, but I’m very grateful I got back in time to say goodbye. I then spent the next 6 months at home with my family and picked up a short term project treasury accounting role in Dublin City. Having the accounting qualification has been useful to fall back on when needed.

After 6 months, I moved back to London. Just before I had left to go home, I had met my now fiance there, and love was calling me back! It’s amazing how life and your career are so intertwined!

When back in London, I joined Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit entrepreneurial arm of the Virgin Group, where I could learn all things startup. They are an incredible team, and the MD Andy Fishburn is now a really good friend. Shout out to Andy!

The power of connections

So, up to now, each previous step made the next step easier, new connections were built, I grew in confidence and kept learning. I must admit, a lot of my roles came through connections to get me to an interview.

Connections are so important, and it’s always great to be conscious of maintaining them. Social mobility is a thing for sure, but there is hope. Thanks to the internet, there have never been more MeetUp and online groups you can join to meet people, along with projects and organisations like Onetech supporting the under-represented. Escape the City is also a brilliant platform for roles, and there is a great community around it. I always rush to it when I decide I need a change (and list roles for my own projects).

Setting up my own business

Eventually, after nearly 2 years in Virgin StartUp, I decided I needed to make the leap of faith again, this time to set up my own business and to practice what I was preaching to all the entrepreneurs I was advising.

At that point, I had no idea what the business might be and had just hit 30. I totally stripped back my expenses in the months before this, saved as much as I could and secured some freelance work from Virgin 2 days a week, then gave myself 6 months to find the idea I wanted to commit my life to. I read books on things I thought I may be interested in (blockchain being one - grrrr I never pursued that right? Ha!), met lots of people, kept my eyes open to opportunities, immersed myself in startup land even more, then eventually went down the path of setting up M.Y.O with my now fiance Diana after going on a creative date to try painting together and loving how relaxing it felt. So, we decided everyone should get the opportunity to explore their creative side in a fun and chilled out way. I was also involved in a music project for a little bit around then too, but I felt the adventure of setting something up with my partner was too much to skip and making people happier every day through creativity is brilliant!

It’s now 4 years since we set up M.Y.O, and it’s going great despite the pandemic, thankfully. It’s been such a colourful and creative journey. We recently launched a new sister brand called Creative Jungle Company, which sells creative kits and has a podcast.

My partner and I have also dipped into full-time jobs since we set up the business, as we are stubbornly self-funding it. We want independence in the long run from doing that. Diana got a job in finance for a year, and I recently worked for 6 months project managing the set up of a co-working space called Better Space for social entrepreneurs and change-makers for City, University of London.

The present and no regrets

Having now worked in big global companies, startups, small practices, social enterprises and a university on this squiggly journey (shout out to Amazing Ifs Squiggly Careers book), it’s given me new and unique insights into how different organisations and people work, along with new skills and friends. All my previous experience is in action each day, and I wouldn’t change anything. Chopping and changing is possible until you find the thing you may want to spend lots of time on.

Key lessons I have learned on this meandering journey

Do your best and learn as much as you can in any role you have.
Proactively keep the connections you pick up into the future. You never know when you may be able to help them out and vice versa.
If you’re taking a leap into the unknown and quitting as I did (caveat - not that I would recommend it!), give yourself some runway (living costs) if you can, at least 6 months. I moved home at one point and moved into a big flatshare at another point to reduce my costs and spent a long time on Huel over the years to keep food costs down!
Once you get clear on what you want to do, keep your eyes open, read, join groups, meet people, follow up with them and be open. Opportunities will arise - believe.
‘Pigeon holing’ is not a thing. You can change careers if you have the determination to. You may need to move to a lower position or salary initially, but if it’s what you want to do, you’ll work your way up again as you’ll be so passionate about it - it’s about the long game.
If you are good and organised, you can learn any job. Employers are increasingly open-minded to new hires being a cultural fit and committed to their mission, rather than having every single hard skill on their job spec, which should give you hope!
In the long run, if you don’t get a role, in my experience, it is always the best thing to have happened. I’ve had interviews and not got the job a few times, only for something more aligned and better to come along. So keep the faith! I’m a firm believer that the right role finds you, but you have to be out there searching, so you cross its path. Any way of being seen by the company then is essential. So do your research, make your application relevant and enticing, search for connections through LinkedIn or friends of friends if you can.
You can volunteer in charities or social enterprises, or community groups to pick up certain skills you feel you may be missing and give back along the way. Win-win.

I’ve been working now for over 15 years and am sure I’ll change again - bring it on! Life is an adventure, right?

To find out more about me or to get in touch, check out our website and Instagram. Or drop me a message at any time on Sam@MYO.Place.