Debbie Sales (45) - Now A Plumber
I am Debbie Sales, I'm 45 and I live in a small village in Essex. I've started my own business and now I'm a full time plumber. I wanted to become a plumber because my friends couldn't recommend a decent plumber; I'd had a bad experience and I thought that I could do a better job.
From dreading work to a Cheshire cat grin
I'd been working for about 25 years in a telecoms company, right from when I left school; I really got fed up with the corporate life and thought again about becoming a plumber.
New Career Skills came up, they seemed to have good testimonials and when I contacted them they sent a representative out to see me and what was really useful was when I could expect to start becoming an actual plumber and what to expect. It was really very well done. It really suited me the way the training panned out because obviously I hadn't done academic training for a number of years.
The theory I found that doing it on my own I was actually great because I could set my own pace so I could go quick when I wanted to and slower when I was struggling a bit and in the practical part it was fantastic because the people that I was working with were very supportive; the tutors were great, everybody there was very helpful and there was quite a bit of camaraderie so we all helped each other to get some of the practical's done and it was nice because we all seemed to be very driven towards what we were planning to do with our careers.
It has changed my life completely, I used to drive into work in dread of what was going to be the next initiative and now I have got a big grin on my face, like a Cheshire cat. I am proud of what I do, the people that I do jobs for have been really pleased with my work and they want to use me again and recommend me so I'm well working towards my dream I suppose, and I'm building up the business bit by bit. My ambitions going forward are that I can take someone one in maybe a few months time and to give them the same opportunity that I've had to learn a new trade and also that I really want to be the local plumber that people want to use.
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