After a four week hiatus, episode 6 and the first of 2022 is finally here. It’s worth the wait, I promise.

Our guest is Alistair Barton, a Project Director in a Medical Communications agency. What does that mean I hear you cry?! Well, I didn’t know either and it’s probably not quite what you expected either.

This conversation and Alistair’s career is a peek behind the curtain into a sector that in many ways has been unavoidable through the pandemic. But for which very few of us really understand what’s going on behind the scenes. This conversation explains some of this and shows the enormous lengths and thousands of people involved in every single medical trial.

You can hear in Alistair’s voice just what an incredibly warm and conscientious person he is. He describes himself as ‘paid to be a control freak’ and runs a podcast called Picking at Perfection (more about that in this episode) so you can imagine the high standards he holds himself to. Despite this, Alistair was completely open about the highs and lows of the industry, which is truly refreshing.

Just a heads up, there are a few moments of slightly glitchy audio, sorry for that!

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Episode 5 here and this week we talk to a doctor in the NHS. 

Our guest is Dr Matthew Swain who also happens to be my husband. It’s really difficult to interview your husband! I know so much about him and his journey and in many ways we’ve been along a lot of it together. As we enter another Christmas in which we’re all scared of another snap lockdown and not spending the time with our loved ones, this conversation really doesn’t focus on the pandemic at all. While it will continue to change our lives, and certainly the lives of doctors, ultimately the role of a doctor will not waiver from the need to diagnose and treat. So, instead of covid we spend a lot of time talking about the process of actually applying; it is long, arduous and all consuming. And we also talk about what it takes to be a good doctor, what drives Matt, and what could make the profession better. 

Matt is a man of few words normally; we don’t talk about work because - as you’ll hear - he strongly compartmentalises. I think you can hear that speaking at length about himself isn’t his comfort zone, he takes his time to find the right words and to be considered. With that, I’m enormously grateful that he shared this experience and I hope for those of you planning your future in medicine that you take this in the spirit it is intended; to help you go into it with two eyes open. 

Something I find particularly impressive is that Matt was the first in his family to go to university, his parents had no experience, knowledge or real understanding about what was needed and yet Matt worked it out, constantly went the extra mile and used the support around himself to make it happen. 

More and more people are going to university, 38% of 18 year olds this year are going straight into university, so of course there are a lot of people who, like Matt, don't have that kind of support. If that's you, I hope this is helpful, and if you have more questions reach out on Instagram, @destinationunknownpod

Whoops! I call this episode 3 in literally the first sentence… of course it’s episode 4! Anyway… today’s conversation is with Frankie Crewe, a sportsperson, dog parent, artist and all round life-enthusiast. I can only describe Frankie’s career path as ‘portfolio’. She does lots of things at once but has also, over many years, has not only tried her hand at many other things but has also become both proficient and professional in them all. This is another conversation that took place during the UK’s winter 2021 lockdown, unlike our past guests, Frankie hadn’t been plunged into either unemployment or long-term furlough, but the nature of her teaching role meant that she wasn’t able to give her students the best of what she thought they deserved. We talk about what’s great about education and ways it could be improved. The hidden value of sports and physical education. How she has consistently followed her passion and while she may have made mistakes, she has no regrets. While Frankie is a life-enthusiast, I am a Frankie-enthusiast and am so deeply inspired by her personal goal: be happy. Nothing can top that. Just listen and enjoy.

This conversation is with Rhiannon Carter, an English language teacher, business owner, Theology graduate, and an endlessly curious and intellectually lively person who is also - on top of all of that - a wonderful friend. Once again this conversation took place in UK lockdown. During the pandemic Rhiannon lost her job; the school she had been working for essentially lost all its students, rendering its teachers redundant. Another example of the devastation the pandemic has wrought. But Rhiannon took this opportunity and pivoted it to become her own boss, and to teach the way she wanted to teach. The way she saw her students get the most value from her. She has found in her career what she most loved through her own education; big ideas and a safe space to talk about them in depth. Being her own boss also means taking time for herself. I find the internet is full of alls-or-nothings. Either a true hustle culture that admires a 24hr work day, or a stream of ‘relax relax relax’. Both of which are valid and I think Rhiannon has found a way to hustle and relax; a most essential balance. Her business has truly gone from strength to strength and you can follow her on instagram @rhiannonelt or check out her website at www.rhiannonelt.com I do hope that you enjoyed it. Please do like and subscribe. Check us out on instagram @destinationunknownpod If you’d like to be a guest I would LOVE To hear from you. If you have career paths you’d like to hear about please let me know. We’ll be back next week with another quietly amazing person. For now, fellow travellers, thank you for listening and see you down the road. Lastly, I would like to send a huge thank you to Gordon C. Wake who created the music in this episode.

Music and Barnsley football club were Sam’s first loves. So perhaps it’s unsurprising that he’s now Head of Operations at a large music and event venue in the north of England. Sam is a music and philosophy graduate, and he actually credits the skills he learnt in the philosophy half of his degree as being part of the essential skills to his role now. But, it was the opportunities afforded him on a university campus that opened the first door to the industry. This raises a point about the value of university; not limited to hard skills, university is a space to jump in two feet first, connect with people who are like you and develop all the soft skills that every career will benefit from. This conversation took place mid-lockdown in the UK, during a time that Sam was on a long-term furlough, unable to work while all live events were cancelled. As you’ll hear in this conversation, not working is something that Sam is not used to. Regularly pulling 18 hour days and working weeks on end - just as I remember him while we were at university - to not work at all is alien for him and for the entire sector. It’s unsurprising then that this conversation does focus a lot on work-life balance; how to get into the industry and how to protect yourself through it too. I have to say, I had rather a little more anxiety editing the episode for someone who is such an audiophile but he has been very generous in not asking me to tinker further. I loved speaking with Sam about his journey and I hope you enjoy it too. Subscribe to the podcast for weekly instalments of Destination Unknown, follow us on Instagram @destinationunknownpod and let us know who you’d like to hear from in the future. Lastly, I would like to send a huge thank you to Gordon C. Wake who created the music in this episode.

To quote our very first guest "It's really easy to live in the fear of 'I need to get a sensible job'." This is the first episode of Destination Unknown, a passion project from me - Lorna Greville - about the lives and careers of quietly amazing people.  This conversation is with Kerry; a picture editor, an art history graduate and an incredible human who has taken her destination into her own hands in so many ways.  Destination Unknown sheds a light on people and career paths that are perhaps unknown or unheard of, it explores what makes people doing those roles successful and how to get into the career in the first place.  We are in the midst both of the 'great resignation' as well as young people the world over looking to their future with confusion and fear.  The world is strange and changing so use this podcast for some great ideas and some good conversation. You can find us on instagram @destinationunknownpod.  The book referenced in the podcast is called Grit, by Angela Duckworth (who I referenced as an economist but is, in fact, a Psychologist! so sorry - I just associate her so strongly with freakonomics). Lastly, I would like to send a huge thank you to Gordon C. Wake who created the music in this episode.