When I was at school we didn’t have careers advisors we just had folders full of job descriptions which sat on dusty library shelves. The job descriptions were two sides of A4 and listed the expected salary, pros and cons of the job and what qualifications you needed. I don’t ever remember seeing content editor or cheesemonger in the folders. Mind you, it was the mid-90s, there was no content to edit and I was hell bent on a career as a journalist, or maybe a barrister, or possibly a doctor.
Unfortunately boys, a smattering of teenage rebellion and a desire to earn money led me down different paths. And it wasn’t until I went to uni at the age of 33 (a ‘mature’ student) that I started to plan a ‘career’ rather than just ways to make money. I studied creative writing and then a masters in the business of food and wine. But, as per life, things didn’t quite turn out as I’d planned. This time it was being a ‘responsible grown-up’ that got in the way.
So, despite an extensive education in wine and food, I’ve spent the last twelve years working in web and comms teams for a science funder. And actually, I’ve quite enjoyed it. The work is interesting and ever changing, the people feel like ‘my people’ and I’ve had some amazing experiences. Food and wine have always been niggling away at the back of my brain, but I was comfortable and the job was as secure as any.
The computer knows best
But in the last couple of years things have started to change. Artificial intelligence (AI), that once hid away in the shadows of my role, has started screaming loudly and incessantly about how it can do my job better. The ‘tech bros’ have told us that AI will help us by taking away the ‘menial’ tasks, freeing us up to be better humans. Or some such drivel. I’m not anti-tech, I’ve worked in social media and content editing for over a decade. I’m just anti having no choice in my career.
It had to be food
After several months of feeling anxious about my role and its future, I decided to do something about it. I decided to go back food, but without the wine, as I’d given up alcohol in 2024 (don’t talk to my husband about this, he still has cold sweats about how much my wine education cost). But which food, what role? I wanted it to be something that made me smile in the way a 2007 Trimbach Riesling used to.
So, I attended several cookery schools, hoping that something would click, a taste would excite me and lead me in my new direction. And they were all wonderful days that left me buzzing, but nothing quite clicked. Until I walked into a cheese shop in Pangbourne and the smell simultaneously made me smile and tingled the hairs on the back of my neck. It felt like I was home.
That was last year, and I was attending the Academy of Cheese (AoC) level 1 course led by Jen Grimstone-Jones. Throughout the day I was reminded of all the things I had loved about studying wine – the science, history, culture (and of course the tasting). Something clicked. It had to be cheese.
But, of course, the anxiety about being in my forties and changing careers and life in general and climate change, wars and money got in my head. Could I really do this? Should I do this? So, I’ve spent the last few months reading about cheese, visiting cheesemakers and of course eating cheese. I needed to be sure. And now I’ve signed up for the AoC level 2 course. Cheese is the way forward. In what way, I’m not sure. There are so many options and as a ‘newbie’ to the cheese world I want to explore and learn before I decide.
So, hello cheese world. Please join me as I move from websites to Wensleydale, content editing to cheese eating, science communication to… ok, enough of that. Feel free to say hello if you see me out and about. I’m attending the AoC Affineur of the Year finals in June – I’ll be easy to spot, I’ll be the one with the never-ending smile asking countless questions.
