I’ve done lots of jobs through school and university: outside catering, driving vans, fitting rental skis, selling encyclopedias in the US, but I really thought I’d made it when I landed a job in consulting in my twenties. I soon discovered that you only get to see part of the company story when you’re consulting to them, and met my first private equity team on my first commercial due diligence project. I was hooked! A year later I moved into a US private equity fund, worked in Spain and the US for a couple of years, then came back to London and looked for the most positive and friendly PE firm I could find. I’m still working there!

I try to listen more than I speak, and I use areas where I have real experience and understanding to add value. In a lot of settings, having the right people in the right roles means I say very little and great decisions are made!

If I find myself at home of an evening with the animals but no other family members, I’ll buy a bag of lamb chops and a new jar of mint sauce and enjoy them watching (or rewatching) disaster movies. Most of my family are now vegetarian and dislike movies where everyone dies, but I find the combination very therapeutic!

The Matrix. I remember having my mind blown by the concept of a credible alternative reality when it first came out.

I would also say Interstellar, but whenever I rewatch it I’m still not sure I fully understand it!