Want to follow your passion without leaving your day job? Meet a banker and a bookkeeper who are doing just that.
When he’s not monitoring cashflow, Victor trains as a full time athlete and running coach at City Running Club. He’s also in charge of getting his daughter ready for nursery (hair and all).
While Frances juggles a high powered role as Head of UK and Offshore Corporate Investments at Barclays with personal training…
Victor Nutakor. Part time bookkeeper. Full time athlete. Running coach at City Running Club.
Tell us about your job(s)…
In addition to working as a Part-Time Bookkeeper, I train as a full time athlete. My event being the 800m where I represent my club in the British Athletics League, Premiership division.
I am also an Athletics Coach, providing a range of sessions including 1-2-1 sessions for runners of all levels aiming to improve their fitness, technique in addition to a regular dose of motivation.
I lead City Running Club, a group of runners that train at Regents Park twice a week. Another Coaching gig I do is a running group organised by a charity near Westminster Abbey. This encourages inactive participants and parents an outlet to be part of a running group during the daytime.
Describe a typical day…
A typical day involves an alarm sounded by my 3 year old daughter. I usually get her ready for nursery, (hair and all) for 8.30am.
I set off from West London for my morning training session at Mile End stadium. A beautiful facility nestled in the hustle and bustle of the east end. This is where the majority of my energy levels get sapped in no time by a gruelling mix of warm up, drills, speed and endurance sessions, finished off with weights and circuit exercise until around 12pm. Refuelling with a cheeky Nando’s or pre-prepared lunch is essential by now!
1pm – 3pm is where I fit in my Bookkeeping work from home or a library. I am pretty mobile in terms of working.
3.15pm is School pickup time. The next 2 hours involves spending some quality time with my daughter whilst preparing some food until my Partner gets in from her Teaching Job.
From 5pm I set off for some coaching sessions, either a 1-2-1 or the group session at Regents Park. What is interesting is I tend to bring some elements of something I might have done or learnt in my training that day and re-jig the session I had planned.
I usually get back home for about 8pm following coaching and I spend some more time either on Admin or outstanding work I need to catchup on.
I do some essential body maintenance and stretching from about 10pm to 11pm whilst probably watching Law and Order or CSI.
By this time I am a zombie and can sleep standing up!
How do you balance your time between your multiple jobs?
Planning is critical in order to manage my multiple roles throughout the day. I tend to have a steady timetable and tweak things here and there each week.
I have great relationships with the people I work with and coach. It’s essential to have a great support network because, even though I train in an individual sport, it’s very much about teamwork in order to make things happen.
Having a can do attitude and positive mindset is also essential to navigate potential challenges because these are all part of life. I go by the philosophy of enjoying the journey is just as important as the destination. Taking time to relax and slow down at the weekends is essential for preparing me for the busy week.
I think my multiple jobs help balance what I’ve always academically good at whilst fulfilling a passion of helping people thought the power of sport.
In our modern age having multiple careers is something I think is healthy and offers the benefits of really enjoying what you do, how many times do we hear of people not enjoying their work, yet its often the longest part of our lives.
I believe it’s just as important to work hard as it is enjoying what you do, if that means multiple careers, then that maybe a way around that.
I also love the transfer of skills between my two jobs, such as my attention to detail from bookkeeping and motivation from Coaching and Athletics, they become synergetic.
Do you advocate a single career or juggling multiple projects?
Working within multiple careers has come about partly by chance. It was not the plan but the benefits are amazing both professionally and psychologically.
I am always open to change and flexibility so I can’t ever rule out going back to working in a single career. But living in a wonderful city like London shows the possibilities of successfully working in multiple careers, transferring the skills and building great relationships with people.
I believe it makes us better and happier people to juggle two careers and expose ourselves to different worlds around us.
The percentage of time dedicated to each career is something that probably will change constantly spending on the demands of the career and the progression within it.
Follow Victor on Instagram: @victorsgramm
Frances Kinloch – Head of UK and Offshore Corporate Investments at Barclays and part time personal trainer.
Describe a typical day…
I wake up at 7:30am, shower and I’m out the door in less than 30 mins. I work normal hours 9am to 6pm and try to pack in as much as I can in my day at the office.
I’ll be with our clients for 1-2 hours in person or on the phone and then I spend time with my wider team physically or virtually figuring out how to improve market knowledge, client service levels, innovate or enhance what we do strategy wise every day. Many are based in Glasgow, so I’ll be on conference calls for several hours a day. I try and stand as much as I can.
I’ll usually squeeze in some yoga in between or a quick 20 – 30 mins workout at Third Space. I get home at 6:45pm and then the next job starts. The 7 – 10pm job.
I try to connect with up and coming brands during that time looking for collaboration ideas, talking to bloggers about new content or look at digital marketing for My Favourite Sale.
I’m also launching a new exclusive Women’s Finance and Fashion network called Elle Privee. I try and fit my entrepreneurial work in for 2-3 nights per week. The other nights are all about friends, quality time with my husband and workouts.
I try to kill two birds with one stone and hit any class that works with my timetable in there somewhere, then go out to dinner with friends or my husband.
1 – 3 weeknights a month I’ll make time for networking as I love to meet new people across the finance, fashion and fitness industries. I am also interviewing to become a trustee for a charity, which I am sure will turn all of the above upside down.
On the weekends is when I teach Ride at 1Rebel. My clients there have slowly become my family and I love seeing them every week. I am obsessed with their positive energy. It keeps going throughout the week to come.
How do you balance your time between your multiple jobs?
I balance my time by being an efficient multi-tasker but I always ask for help and delegate when I need to. That means I love the idea of having a portfolio career but I realise i can’t do everything myself, so I try and find great people to work with, who I trust and who I know share similar values. That is the key. That free’s me up to relax, workout and spend time with the people I love a few nights a week.
What do you love most about your job(s)?
The people, the people, the people. I really enjoy banking because you get to meet all sorts and I learn something new everyday from them. It allows me to share my knowledge and learn from others.
This type of career outlook has allowed me to progress quickly too. At My Favourite Sale, the bloggers I work with are intensily creative. I love seeing them grow and love to read their work.
At 1Rebel, a totally different crowd, I enjoy motivating and pushing them past their comfort zone whilst still having a shed load of fun in the process.
What does the future hold?
I’d love to become a board member of a charity or a corporate. I’m great at juggling a million in one things and I will never stop that. It’s a part of my DNA.
I always wanted a portfolio career, it was just that back in the day when I start in the city, it wasn’t widely accepted. Now it’s the norm amongst millennials, so I’m going with the flow.
I guess it was a case of right time and right place. I try and keep an open mind and take opportunities as they come. Some end well and some don’t, but it’s all about the learning process and the journey.
Follow Frances on Instagram @frannyrhk
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