How did you feel the moment you graduated?

A huge sense of relief. I remember coming off the stage after shaking hands and getting my certificate and just thinking, my goodness, I can go and relax and not worry about anything for a while. It was a lovely feeling.

So what job industry were you planning on going into?

I went into live events and started off freelancing at outdoor music festivals. Now, I'm the Venue & Events Operations Manager at Aviva Studios in Manchester, which is a 13,000 square metre multi-user arts and events venue. They do things like film and fashion shows but also 5,000 capacity club nights and art shows, all sorts of interesting things. It's a very fun venue to work at, so I've stopped freelancing for now and work full time with the team there.

Was this your original plan or did a new opportunity lead you in a different direction?

No, I always knew that I was gonna go into event management on some level. I didn't think that I would find myself working full time at a venue though. I was pretty set freelancing at festivals because I really enjoyed moving between different sites and meeting new people each time I went to a new place.

I came across Aviva Studios because I applied for a freelance job with them, and then didn’t hear back until a few months later. They called me up and asked if I was still available for work. They had a new job coming up and thought it would really match my skill set. I said yeah sure, of course I'll come and get involved!

Fantastic, how did you feel about the prospects of starting a new job?

I was very apprehensive but also really excited about getting to know a team of people I could work with each day and that didn't change with every freelance job. It was great to think about everyone knowing how the place was run and if I needed help with a certain aspect, I'd have someone to ask, so I'm able to learn a lot too.

I've been on lots of training courses and finding the experience of being able to sleep in my own bed each night, a real bonus. When I worked at festivals, I was sleeping in tents, so I'm enjoying staying in one city for a prolonged period of time. It's been rewarding.

What does your role involve?

I run the venue when it's open to the public and liaise between departments like security or technical stage management, bars at the front of house, pretty much anything that happens in the venue. I have oversight of everything that goes on, including any issues that get escalated to me.

I'm mostly responsible for things like visitor experience, crowd management, and health and safety really, so I make sure that everyone that comes into the building is safe and having a lovely time.

What does the future look like for your career plans now?

I want to specialise in crowd management and safety, so I'm going to do some qualifications around that eventually. I would quite like to be an Event Safety Advisor and go to various types of events to support them in that role. I know it sounds a bit dull but it's actually something I find quite interesting.

What do you enjoy most about your current job and style of work?

I think the variation every day is amazing. There's always something different on. Often there's multiple things happening at the same time, so for example, last week we had Tangerine Dream who are a band from the late 1970s. They do psychedelic rock music and were performing at the same time we had a production of Hamlet on the other side of the building going on.

It's amazing to see two very different types of audiences mingling together in the foyer at the same time. I think my favourite thing is to see so much diversity coming together.

What would your advice be to a current student or recent graduate now?

I would say just get out there and do things. I worked in all sorts of different places, from doughnut shops to cafes, to festivals to bars, across different locations. But it was only through experiencing all these different environments that I realised where I wanted to be. I think you can't just sit at a desk and ponder on what you want to do. You need to get out there and see examples of what's on offer for yourself.