One year after On Purpose: where are they now? With Olivia Beecham

One year after completing the On Purpose Associate Programme, we catch up with our October 2021 Fellows to find out what they are up to now. Today, we're delighted to be speaking with Olivia Beecham.

Can you tell us about your background and your career prior to On Purpose?

Before joining the Associate Programme, I had a career in international development, primarily working for the UK Government. I was part of the Department for International Development and later the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office where I worked on various different policy and programme areas. Alongside my day job, I volunteered as a trustee for Plan International UK. The majority of my career was focused on supporting people in developing countries.   

Why did you join the On Purpose Associate Programme?

The Associate Programme was like a lifeboat for me. In my last 18 months in Government, I was working on a global health response to Covid-19, and prior to that I was a diplomat in Madrid trying to prevent a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. Both experiences threw up a lot of personal questions. I knew  I wasn't in the right place and felt stuck, but couldn’t figure out what to do next.

Speaking to various people, I realised that I didn't have to stay in international development, or in the civil service (it sounds silly but leaving wasn’t something I had seriously considered before!). Once I realised changing sectors was an option, I thought about what I’d like to do. I tried to go for something unlike my current job and applied for roles in completely different fields, such as food and beverage and consultancy. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t get anywhere. When I look back at that moment, it’s clear I didn't know how to market my transferable skills.  

I then came across On Purpose and everything just clicked. What appealed to me about On Purpose was that I’d be able to try out unfamiliar industries, roles and working cultures for six months at a time. I hoped On Purpose would help me rediscover the happiness, passion and sense of purpose I had earlier in my career. 

It's been one year since you completed the Associate Programme. What are you doing now?

I work for a not-for-profit called Heart of the City where I collaborate with small UK-based businesses and support them on their responsible business journey. I work with them on anything from community partnerships to social justice  or sustainability. It's a really varied job and I absolutely love it! I get to meet hundreds of businesses at different stages of their impact journey and see the difference that we’re collectively making. 

Can you tell us more about your placements?

My first placement was at a startup beer company called Pinter and I was tasked with supporting the organisation’s social impact vision, and their aspirations to become a B-Corp.

My second placement was with Big Society Capital where I worked with various teams. This included project managing a new e-learning platform to help diversify investment committees and developing tools to support systems change thinking in the social lending space.  

What’s the most important thing you learnt during your year as an Associate?

My year as an Associate really gave me the chance to reflect on who I am as a person, a leader and how I want to live my life . The year was much more of a personal journey than I was expecting. So I’d say one of the most important things I learnt is what makes me happy and thrive at work.

What support did you get along the way?

I found the On Purpose community incredibly supportive. Taking the steps to change careers is hard but doing it with On Purpose made things easier. The programme gives you so many different support networks and I felt very connected to my cohort. I think all of us cried (happy and sad tears) at least once during the year and our cohort was always a welcoming and safe space.

My coach, Patrick, who I was incredibly lucky to have been matched with via On Purpose, was invaluable throughout the year and helped me discover many life realisations.

The other thing was my support network at home, primarily through my husband Oli. Doing the Associate Programme comes with a big life shift and having someone there to support you through the ups and downs and possibly take the extra financial burden makes things a little easier. 

How did you approach finding a job after the programme?

I started looking for jobs whilst I was in my final months of the Associate Programme. I used the fact that I was on the programme to network and  reached out to people with unusual job titles or who worked in organisations that I was considering applying to and asked them for a chat. Importantly, I started these conversations before jobs were being advertised, giving me time to figure out whether it could be a potential fit. 

My On Purpose coach helped simplify my thinking on my next role and we established a succinct criteria I could map roles against. My new job would ideally have to: 

• Contribute positively to our world
• Have a supportive and fun team
• Allow me to connect and meet new people, rather than be fully desk-based 
• Be close to the ‘end’ impact so that I could see the difference my work was making. 

Having this list helped me focus my job search, realising the ‘how’ I worked was equally as important as to the ‘on what’. 

Despite my best intentions there were of course stressful moments of frantically trawling job sites at night, and becoming very anxious about what I’d do afterwards. This wasn’t helpful and just left me more tired and drained. 

In the end, my current job came up via the On Purpose Slack channel. I initially wasn’t too sure whether I should go for it but after speaking with the person who had posted the job as well as two other people within the organisation and realised that this role would be a really brilliant fit! 

What do you miss about your old career, and what don’t you miss?

Working in Government, I miss being part of something that made a difference at scale, such as poverty alleviation programmes that helped thousands, sometimes millions of people. 

However, I don't miss the uncertainty that comes with working in politics: the changes in ministers and political mood dramatically impacts your work as a civil servant. 

What advice would you give to others in a similar situation?

If you're looking for a career change, think about if there are aspects of your current job that you could change to make you happier at work. What I do now is work with businesses who are at the very start of their purpose journey. Could you help pivot your organisation? However, if you feel that you’ll need to leave your job to find your path, then I’d 100% recommend applying for the Associate Programme. Taking this leap of faith and moving from familiarity and stability, to ‘instability’ takes courage, but I encourage you to be brave and stay committed!

I’d also recommend volunteering your time for something you care about. This will not only help you start putting your drive and passion into practice, but it will also demonstrate that, when applying for a job (or the Associate Programme), you are committed to a cause or the development of a particular skill.