Dan Hillier

Age at time of shift

33

Gender

Male

Education level

Graduate

Universities attended

Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge

Shifted from

Charity Fundraising Manager

Location

?

Salary

£20,000-£30,000

Years in old career

4

Shifted to

Artist

Location

?

Salary

£20,000-£30,000

Years in new career

6 months

Year of shift

unknown

What was your role in your old job?

Managing teams of street fundraisers.

What is/are your new role(s)?

Making art.

Why did you change?

I was sick of the work, my creativity had been stifled for a while and I felt I was wasting my time doing repetitive stuff that had an increasingly mind-numbing effect on me.

Are you happy with the change?

Very.

What do you miss and what don't you miss?

 I miss the day-to-day camaraderie a bit, though this is made up for by some part time work that I do from time to time, and I now look more to my social life to get this, which feels healthier.I don't miss the day-in-day-out routine, the crap windowless office space I worked in, the stress, the continual running around after people to do their jobs properly and the feeling that I was wasting my time...

How did you go about making the change?

  I looked into what I needed to do to get a market stall from which to sell my art, looked at what prices I thought people would pay in that environment and used a selection of my pictures printed from the computer to sell as numbered limited edition prints.I ran the stall for a few weeks before leaving, though had already given my notice, which came about from just not being able to carry on in the job due to boredom.I didn't really plan the leaving, just jumped and put trust in what I was doing.  It felt very right and I trusted to that and worked hard to make it happen.

What was the most difficult thing about changing?

 Some worry about income, as the first weeks were slow, but I found ways of bringing in bits and pieces of cash to cover the slow market days (I only do it one day a week). Apart from that it was a sweet delight in every way.

What help did you get?

Support from friends, but no financial aid.

What have you learnt in the process?

That it's good to take risks when you feel something is right to do. That life will conspire to help you when you put trust in it. Bringing in a regular income is all very well, but we don't need as much as we think most of the time and in truth, quality of time as well as the feeling of being independent and that I'm following what I'm meant to be doing, far outweighs the benefits of knowing the paycheque is coming in at the end of the month.

What do you wish you'd done differently?

Planned to have left my job with at least a little bit of money in the bank...Spent a bit more time planning.

What would you advise others to do in the same situation?

If you 're not enjoying your job and have an ambition to do something important to you, I'd say it's not a bad idea to consider the fact that you only have a few years of life and you can choose what you do with it.  Trusting in yourself and going with your heart is far better than sitting and wondering what might have happened...