Graham Russell

If I'd taken the advice of my career master at school I would be in banking, because I was good at adding up. I had thought of acting but the grown-ups thought that would not be a reliable source of income so I stepped into hotel management. There were onstage and backstage similarities but the lack of creativity felt suffocating. Hotel work took me to Bermuda and Switzerland and the sense of adventure and being immersed into different worlds was exciting and thrilling. When I returned I wrote as a drama critic for local newspaper and then ran off to drama school for three years studying set design. That landed me a job as the resident stage manager with the Soho Theatre Company in London. I was immersed in new writing and it was refreshing to be working with new and emerging talent. I then moved into television, working on TV series such as Brookside Hollyoaks, EastEnders, The Bill and other independent productions. After twenty years in business I took a career break and with a crazy leap of faith I found a job where I could travel, experience the world and glimpse at the bigger picture of life as cabin crew. The more I discovered about people the more I realised that we're all an endless supply of stories. People fascinate me and my next sojourn was into life coaching and leadership where I explored even more intricacies of being human. Alongside my coaching, I am now embarked on another journey, I am studying for an MA in screenwriting. My life has not being a straight line, I'm not someone who has had a career cocooned in an office. I have taken risks and make mistakes. It has had twists, turns and dead ends. All of that richness and shaped me, my writing and fingers crossed, onto the screen.