Coffee with Victoria Marshallsay - from publishing to nursing
Intro
When friends told me that Victoria had left publishing to become a nurse I knew I had to speak to her. The idea of going back to school in your mid-40s and starting right at the bottom again seemed slightly crazy and extremely brave. As Victoria admits it was very scary but also invigorating. Victoria is proof that we can do hard things at any age.
Victoria Marshallsay
Age 49
From book agent to nurse
London Zoom coffee
Describe your career path in two or three sentences including any twists or turns ending with where you are now.
I started my career in a Bond Street art gallery doing painting restoration. I was there for a few months and then I had the idea to write a book about all the restaurants in London where you could bring your own wine. This was 20 - 25 years ago before the internet when a book like this was pretty useful; nowadays you would just google it.
I cycled all over London to compile the information, wrote the book, had it edited and found a designer to lay it out. Then when it was time to print, my dad very sweetly said he would pay for the printing. He has always been very supportive of anything my sister and I initiated and just wanted us to try stuff.
When it was printed, I sent copies to magazines and had it reviewed by The Observer and Evening Standard. We sold loads of copies. It was such an exciting experience that I thought maybe this is what I want to do and so I started applying for entry-level publishing jobs. When I turned up to the interviews with this book in hand, people thought it was amazing and it turned out to be easy to get a job on the back of that.
IDEA TO STEAL:
A side project like Victoria’s BYOB Restaurant book is a great way to open up new possibilities and unexpected opportunities. These project can help to expand your worldview, test new skills and in the words of 50:50 Project friend Rachel Schofield allow “Future Me’s” to emerge. Plus they’re fun and energising. And a good way to get out of a rut if you are in one - Hello The 50:50 Project.
I stayed in publishing for the next 20-25 years and published hundreds of books for big publishers including HarperCollins, DK and Carlton.
About 10 years into my publishing career, I had children and became more of a freelance commissioning editor, coming up with book ideas and approaching people to collaborate with like Transport for London. I was working independently on big projects and it was an exciting time.
I also became a book agent and did a bit of freelance copy editing and then I landed an amazing job as a commissioning editor at Eddison Books publishing books on health and well-being. It was a dream job - I could walk to the office and work part-time but then COVID happened and 18 months after I started, the company was sold and all the staff was let go.
This was in 2020 and I decided to take a break, enjoy the summer and think about what I was going to do next. I had loads of different ideas in my head, thinking, maybe it was time for a change. I found being a freelancer quite lonely - it was fine when the kids were at primary school and I could have a break and a chat with others during the school drop off and pick up. But once that ended and the kids went to secondary school, I was spending long days on my own. I really didn't like it and I thought, do I really want this the next 20 years? It felt a bit depressing.
Leaving publishing is one thing but deciding to retrain as a nurse is quite another! How did you decide on such a major pivot?
The idea of a degree came into my head, but then I thought, ‘What am I doing a degree for? Where will it take me and how will I pay for it?’ Then the idea of nursing popped into my head at the end of the summer. Forever, I have been fascinated with anything to do with the human body, anything medical and I loved the idea of working in a hospital. Before I had time to think too much about it, I secured a university nursing place through clearing!
What I'm pleased about is that no one suggested the idea of nursing to me; it was my idea and it felt right. Looking back now, I think it was important for me that my next move came from me.
I told my husband I was considering this and he was hugely supportive. He’d been in the army for seven years and knew what it was like to be at the frontline of life and death. He knew what an opportunity it would be.
I looked into it more and realised I could get a student loan and a grant to help for the first few years so it wasn't going to cost us the earth. I wasn't going to earn anything, but it wouldn’t cost us and it meant for the next 20 years, I would be having this very exciting career so it was worth the sacrifice.
What decision or experience proved to be most helpful in your career?
As a result of working independently, commissioning books and approaching big organisations, like Transport for London I learned how to be tenacious and resilient. Over the years I’d become quite thick-skinned and comfortable approaching high-up people.
What advice would you give your 20-year-old self knowing what you know now?
I’d remind myself that whatever I choose to do, it's not forever. Never think that one decision determines your path. This is what I'm trying to instil in my children as they face their GCSEs.
And doing anything is better than nothing so keep busy, talk to people, try out things, keep learning and keep growing. Do stuff and keep turning up.
If you're not sure, just go because you don't know what's going to happen and what opportunities are going to open up for you as a result.
Getting older doesn't mean you know more and need to learn less. On the contrary, there’s always more to learn so stay curious and be inquisitive.
How do you define success? Has your idea of success changed over the years?
It has definitely changed.
I used to think success was climbing a ladder from the bottom to the top. Now I think of it as doing something well, working hard and seeing the results.
For example, I've done really well in my course but in my first degree, I just drank my way through it, I was a bit hopeless. I just wanted to have fun. And this course, 30 years later is very different. I’ve worked so hard. And I've done really well and knowing that I have done something well and having my work praised and recognised has been very satisfying.
When you feel stuck or uninspired? What actions do you take? Or questions do you ask yourself?
My father died a few years ago. He always championed me and my sister. He would push us in a good way, not in a pressured way. So now when I’m stuck or unsure, I will have a conversation in my head with him and think about what he would say. He was very systematic and rational. Together, we’d weigh up the pros and cons to understand what was the right thing to do. And that’s what I try to do now.
Sometimes I just have to stop what I'm doing and do something different - go for a run or see a friend.
Other times, I just need to face it head-on. For example, right now, I'm about to start a job in the hospital as a healthcare assistant while I finish my dissertation. And I'm really nervous because for the first time, I will be paid and I’m petrified. So my way of dealing with this is to just go and do it and face my fear.
You can easily not do it and tell yourself it’s too much for me, so it's good to sometime push yourself. It is an amazing feeling when you put yourself in a position that's really uncomfortable and then it's okay. It's very empowering. And I know that doing difficult stuff has made me more confident.
In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour or habit has most improved your working life?
Understanding that you can learn something from everyone, for example, everyone in the hospital can teach you something from the porter to the lead consultant. It's such a new thing for me to learn and it changes how you look at other people's professions and skill sets.
I think you’re very brave. I can't think of many people who would be in their mid-40s and think, ‘Okay, I'm gonna go back to school and totally retrain and start at the bottom again’. What advice would you give people to help them think bigger about what is possible in terms of midlife career pivots?
It's really scary and this year has been the hardest because I'm getting nearer and nearer to qualifying and I'm really frightened. But everyone then says to me, being scared is good because you understand how important this job is and the responsibility that goes with it.
So as we get older, what this has taught me is that change is good - change is really really good. I think I might have averted my kind of midlife crisis somehow because this is so new and so exciting!
I would say to anyone, if they were thinking about a change, just go for it - be open to these new possibilities. Our brains are able to cope with all this new stuff.
And this may sound weird but I feel like I'm cleverer than I was two years ago - I feel my brain is more alive because I’ve had to learn so much that my brain is working faster, and harder than it was before when I was in a bit of a rut.
I also think that I could never have done this when I left uni, at 18 or 19 because I wasn't ready for the seriousness of it. So, I think it's important to do something that aligns with your life right now. I can do this kind of job because I don't have this wild, crazy lifestyle that I had 20 years ago.
If you could put one quote a piece of advice and a big billboard for everyone, well, we'll say, in their mid-40s and over to see, what would it be?
Don't stop. Do more. Keep learning. Love what you do.
Is there a book or podcast you'd recommend for somebody thinking about sort of designing their midlife career?
I just listened to Michelle Obama’s new book The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times and I would recommend that.
Change can be very scary and the book is a bit of a guide. You think that no one else is as scared because everyone looks very happy and like they are just getting on with their jobs. But actually, everyone is really scared and uncertain and there is comfort in knowing that you are not alone.
READ MORE about Victoria’s career change in Rachel Schofeild’s new book The Career Change Guide: Fives Steps to Finding Your Dream Job.
