Lawyer, teacher, accountant…there’s a list of jobs that careers advisors roll off their tongues like a well rehearsed script. But what if none of the usual suspects take your fancy? What if you want a job to make that seven am wake up call something to actually look forward to? Imagine, for example, a job where it’s acceptable to quaff wine at 9am. Yes, it actually exists. Or how about a career where you get to beat the hell out a piece of metal, and – instead of getting strange looks – people pay you for it?
Here, The Debrief speaks to two women with out of the ordinary, but utterly brilliant careers.
Alex Harper, 32, from London, is a wine taster
I was nearing the end of my history degree, without a clue what I wanted to do with my life, when my dad sat me down for a pep talk. He told me to find something I loved and make a career out of it. ‘But I love drinking!’ I wailed. ‘So do that,’ he said.
A friend of his worked in the wine trade and arranged a placement for me in Bordeaux. After three weeks on a vineyard, I was smitten. After graduation I got a three-month placement at a winery in South Africa, and ended up staying for three years. I learnt tasting on the job and in my spare time studied for a diploma with the Wine and Spirits Trust. Now I work for a company that imports wine, selling it to restaurants here. I also judge wine competitions and work with wotwine, an app where you scan in a barcode and get info on the wine. And I’m studying to be a Master of Wine – there are only 318 in the world.
A typical day can involve a nine am tasting, and sometimes five a day. A lot of friends think I swan around getting pissed – but I spit out everything. When you’re faced with 150, you have to!
Outside of work, I have the odd whiskey or beer but it’s mainly wine. I never get sick of it. The archetypical taster is a round red-faced man in a bow tie. There are still a few like that, but it’s increasingly a female industry. There’s a lot of travelling, though not all glamorous. For every trip to a vineyard there’s a slog across London carrying 12 bottles of wine. But all in all, it’s a pretty awesome job.
Lexi Straker Nesbit, 25, from Clapham, works as a blacksmith
When I tell people I’m a blacksmith, they’re equal parts shocked and fascinated. It’s seen as an old fashioned career – and a very male one. There is a lot of fire and beating bits of metal involved! I love it though.
I studied art at Reading University, where I first got into using metal to make sculptures. There was no metal workshop at my college, so I found a blacksmith’s in London, where I learnt the trade from a woman called Shelley Thomas.
After uni, I set up my own business. I make lots of sculptures of animals, but my main work at the moment is bespoke wine racks. By selling something functional I keep the cash flowing and get my name established. People come to me with designs they want – I’ve made racks in the shapes of a pig, a hare, and a rat. The strangest request was for one shaped like a baby’s bottle! It’s a very physical job. New technology has made the process quicker but I prefer using the old techniques. I’ve definitely got a lot stronger since I became a blacksmith. I work in a studio at the Kew Bridge Steam Museum Forge surrounded by 26 other artists. There’s a community spirit and we all help each other.
I love the feeling that I’m creating something unique from scratch, an original that has never been seen before. Most of my friends have all got office jobs but the thought of sitting behind a desk all day terrifies me. Like any business, it’s hard work and there are lots of sleepless nights. But I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. It doesn’t really feel like a job, and that’s the beauty of it.
See Lexi’s work here.
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Follow Clare on Twitter @thorpers
Picture: Teylor Stover
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.