A fresh START

Three women reveal why they swapped their conventional day jobs for a new and exciting career

- GILLIAN HARVEY

‘A plastic hoop changed my life’

Rachel Conlisk, 45, lives in Oldbury and is a circus skills trainer.

I catch the final juggling ball and grin as the audience cheer. Putting on a show, and bringing light and colour to people’s lives feels amazing every time.

One thing’s for sure, being a circus performer is a world away from my previous job as a data analyst in a school where I’d worked since 2009.

My adventure began in May 2013, when I went to Swingamajig festival in Birmingham and saw a group of hula-hoopers perform between bands. It looked such fun that I turned to YouTube tutorials at home to have a go.

I began to practise constantly – even at school during breaks. My confidence grew and my body shrank – I went from size 14 to a size 10 in eight months!

And when I heard about a local hula group in August 2013, I went along to join them.

As my skills and network grew, I was asked to run a Saturday hula class at a local centre in late 2013, and also began to help them adapt classes to suit people with disabilities. Then I performed at my first festival, the Lunar Festival, Birmingham, in 2014. There, I befriended fire-breathers, jugglers and acrobats.

By now, I’d decided to start my own company. As well as doing performances and children’s parties, I wanted to help people with physical and learning disabilities.