WHAT’S MEANT FOR YOU WON’T PASS YOU BY, AS THE SCOTTISH PROVERB GOES.
In life, as in investing, it’s important to work hard and pursue your chosen path with determination. But you also need the flexibility and awareness to know when it’s time to change course – to get where you’re meant to be going.
IN WINTER 2014, I WAS IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND PERFORMING CHERUBINO IN MOZART’S THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO WITH A SMALL TOURING OPERA COMPANY. After one performance, it was late, it was cold, it was dark and I faced a long drive home to Glasgow. I got into my red Ford Ka and turned the ignition – only to find the headlights weren’t working. My fee was modest and there was no allowance for travel, let alone a hotel room. I’d recently paid for an MOT, and further car maintenance costs were not in the budget. All at once, things fell into place in my mind. I wasn’t upset or emotional. The decision just happened: a headlight-bulb moment!
EARLY AMBITIONS
Growing up in Fife, I always wanted to be a singer. There was lots of music in my life. My mum is an excellent fiddle player and was in a traditional Scottish band with my grandad and uncle. I started piano lessons at the age of six and singing lessons aged nine.
Actually, I loved competing. I would perform at regional festivals and enter just about every category going: Scots song, piano solo, duets, ensemble, choral, even Bible and poetry reading. Unlike many good musicians, I really relished the performance. It’s not that I don’t feel nervous, I just like the sensation – the adrenaline rush. The responsibility of carrying the attention of an audience focuses me and helps me deliver.
I was accepted into the National Youth Choir of Scotland and joined the chorus of a local amateur opera company, performing annually and taking on small roles over time. I was in the children’s chorus of La Bohème and then in the full chorus for Aida, Carmen, Macbeth (when I also made my solo debut aged 13 as Third Apparition!), La Traviata, The Magic Flute and Suor Angelica, among others. This was where I learnt to love opera.
My parents were always supportive and encouraging. For years, they drove me to rehearsals, paid for lessons, attended concerts and competitions and invited me to sing at family gatherings. (As the mother of two young daughters now, I have new-found respect for their commitment!)
RETAINING OPTIONALITY
I enjoyed school as well. My sister and I were the first in our family to go to a fee-paying school, so there was an expectation that we made the most of the opportunity.
My aspirations of becoming a musician were the subject of some debate in the family. Perhaps it would be wiser to get a ‘proper’ job and sing as a hobby? Being young and headstrong, I adamantly disagreed. I was academic, though, so I chose a broad range of exam subjects, including maths and physics, to ensure I would be well prepared to pursue alternative paths, if necessary.
My singing teacher was a formidable lady who had a lot of influence in my life, and her three sons all studied singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). That provided a pathway for me to follow initially. So I found myself in 2008, 19 years old, starting a Bachelor’s degree in singing.
LIVING THE DREAM
The conservatoire is a bit like Hogwarts for the arts. I did breathing classes and Alexander technique, learnt French phonetics and studied the history of music. Each week, there were a series of classes where you would perform repertoire for a professor and the rest of your year. They would then critique your vocal technique, interpretation, communication, phrasing, language, diction, even posture.
In my youth, I had been ‘mis-diagnosed’ as a mezzo soprano. It took three singing teachers and three years to make the transition to soprano. However, as mezzos are rarer than sopranos, I enjoyed plenty of additional performing opportunities along the way.
The conservatoire was intensely competitive, but there was a great sense of camaraderie, too. Putting on productions, you spent a lot of time together – in the lead-up to a show you would do three three-hour rehearsals a day. It was a lot of fun.
MAKING SACRIFICES
One challenge I faced was managing my vocal health. Some people can drink wine, have a late night and still sing the next day. Sadly, I can’t. Committing to singing meant a lot of sacrifice on the social side of things. I frequently missed family gatherings and holidays because I had rehearsals or performances coming up. After my undergraduate degree, I auditioned for a Master’s course and was offered a place. However, it wasn’t free and wasn’t guaranteed to enhance my career potential. I had witnessed friends pay upwards of £10,000 for a Master’s only to earn around £15,000 a year (before tax) as professional singers thereafter. I made the choice to work instead, while continuing my singing lessons at the conservatoire.
For two years, I was a freelance singer, chorister and teacher. Highlights included touring Poland as the soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and singing as a soloist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. I was also privileged to perform at Glasgow Cathedral for the late Queen on her Diamond Jubilee tour in 2012 and, two years later, for the then Prince Charles to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War I.
What did these two years teach me? I love performing. But I don’t love teaching – or having to advertise myself to make a living.
LESSONS IN FINANCE
I was fortunate that my parents supported me financially – but didn’t undermine my understanding of the value of money.
In July 2008, right before I started at the conservatoire, they generously gave me the deposit to buy a flat in Glasgow. Readers of this publication will probably note the unfortunate timing – to which I was entirely oblivious at the time.
Being prudent, we selected a five year fixed term mortgage (at 6.75%), just before the global financial crisis. My first brush with investment was certainly not successful – despite what many people seem to believe today, you can lose money on property, in nominal terms, over a ten year period!
But this was a blessing in disguise. Every month, I saw the mortgage payment leaving my account and was acutely aware of the earnings required to offset it. This was a reminder of the opportunity cost of the path I was on. The lack of financial security began to bite. Meanwhile, my non-conservatoire friends were beginning to climb the career ladder in their chosen professions.
OPERATUNITY COST?
Back to my Ford Ka with no headlights. Like Cherubino seeking to escape from the jealous Count, I was ready to make the leap. I wouldn’t gamble with my future any longer. In singing, too much is left to fate – and it can feel like the success of your career is not in your own hands. It matters if you get sick and miss auditions, if you aren’t in the right place at the right time, or if your rapport with the conductor isn’t as good as the next soprano’s. Your age matters, how you look matters. You can make good money in one year, but that doesn’t guarantee as much work – or higher fees – the following year.
I’ve always been comfortable with uncertainty; you deal with lots of it as a performer. You prepare for weeks, then you roll with the punches on the night – the show must go on, and all that. But this felt like uncertainty for its own sake. I longed for a more tangible sense of progression and belonging, and welcomed the notion of being challenged academically again. Plus, I could always keep singing as a hobby. Some lessons have to be lived to be learnt, I guess!
I phoned my mum from my Ka to tell her I was giving up singing and ask her advice on next steps. She suggested I should become a chartered accountant. I could work while qualifying, she said, so I wouldn’t have to go back to university. And thus my metamorphosis began!
FINDING A NEW HOME
The journey from there involved a hop, skip and a jump from a graduate scheme with one of the Big Four accountancy firms to an Investment Associate role at Ruffer in 2017.
I arrived having never studied economics, unless home economics counts (I was abysmal by the way). But following a less well-trodden path into the world of finance means I feel less encumbered by conventional thinking. This puts me in a great position to come at things from first principles and challenge consensus. As Ruffer is a firm of contrarian investors, diversity of thought is highly valued here. That is one of the reasons I feel so at home. What I lacked in received wisdom I have endeavoured to make up for with keen interest and curiosity. And I have been endlessly rewarded. I get to work alongside exceptional people in a hugely interesting and stimulating profession, in the service of our clients.
Do I still sing as much as I’d like? To be honest, life currently gets in the way. But the decision to follow my ambition was the right one as it led me to where I am today — just as the Scottish proverb suggests. ⬤
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