Member Article

So, what do you do then?

People seem to be obsessed with what you do, with what I do. Within seconds of meeting someone, within moments of starting a conversation, the subject always comes up, “so, what do you do then?”

Up to 12 months ago the answer was easy. I was the founder and chief executive of the UK’s leading supplier of waste and recycling containers. Credibility was added to this as most of the people I was speaking to had something I had made in their homes and expectantly rushed back to see if my name was on the lid of their food waste caddy, which of course it almost always was.

But last year I sold the business. The deal was concluded on the same day as my summer holiday started. I felt very optimistic about the future, I was about to receive a not inconsiderable sum of money, the world was my oyster a they say. But I had a niggling anxiety. What would I say if people asked what I did for a living? After some discussion with my wife, it was decided that I would explain that I had built up a business and that I had recently exited. This did the trick, but as time has passed by my present has increasingly come to be defined by my past.

You see, to explain the above is easy, it takes a few seconds and it gives the other party something to latch on to. Whatever emotions this might invoke: admiration; jealousy; curiosity - at least the same effect is achieved as saying, “I’m a doctor,” as an example. Now, one year post sale I feel I should be looking forward and not putting myself in a pidgeon hole defined by what I used to be.

But how to simply explain what I am doing these days is another story. Quite a story, in fact. I sit on five boards at the moment: one NGO; one social enterprise; one art gallery and two charities. One of the charities is my own trust and that is engaging in some interesting projects of which quite a lot can be said on its own. As well as this I am involved with a myriad of other businesses ranging from providing a listening ear and some helpful advice to taking a stake through investment to assisting with a formal fundraise. And on top of all that I am becoming a street photographer of some repute. (Check out Instagram @straightpix to see some of my work). On top of all of this I’m writing a bit, doing quite a bit of public speaking and working on some TV projects too.

So how do you sum that up in a soundbite? Not easy, and I think as people tend towards more plural careers, this is a problem that will not just be mine. How do you sum up a lot of things succinctly? Or maybe in time, people may have more sense than to ask. After all, asking someone what they do is a pretty boring thing to do. It is loaded with baggage, implying that you want to know how much money a person makes, whether they are above or below you in the perceived pecking order or whether they are fulfilling any useful purpose with their lives.

For the moment, I tend to gear the reply to the person concerned by making a decision about what element of my work might interest them most. I also tend to add an element of tongue in cheek humour to break the ice and to solicit further conversation during which time I can explain precisely what it is that I do. So I may be an “entrepreneur in recovery” or a “reckless investor” or a “maverick photographer” or best of all a “creative genius” if I think I can get away with it!

It is not easy for someone in my position to explain what I do without a few minutes to spare. It is probably worth bearing in mind that there is much more you can find out about a person in terms of who they are rather than what they are and this makes for a much more meaningful conversation.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jonathan Straight .