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.