Olivia Brown, who started her time at Lincoln College studying Sport and Exercise Science, spoke to students during a virtual presentation.
Olivia spoke about why she chose to study at Lincoln College and how she went about deciding what career path she wanted to take.
“I did study a little bit at Sixth Form, but personally that wasn’t for me,” Olivia told students during the presentation. “There was too much book work and I wasn’t really feeling it – I wanted to do something more practical. So I transferred to college in my second year of Sixth Form.”
Olivia studied what was then Sport and Exercise Science and then went on to Sports Therapy Health and Fitness about six years ago. And Olivia says work experience was something she advises people to get involved with alongside their study.
“It teachers you a lot. When you are in an actual clinic in real life, working, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get – nothing is ever a textbook case or injury. So it’s things like that in work experience that put you on the spot, so I found all that really helpful.”
Olivia spoke to students about how in the first couple of years of her course she worked out which direction she wanted her career to go and then focussed on that. She said she spent time looking at numerous different sides of the sports therapy course, using the time and the range of course subjects to decide which areas interested her the most.
Students heard from Olivia how she set her business after graduating, working mobile to start with, to reduce the costs involved in setting up in an office space.
“It was quite difficult and hard work, but worth it in the end,” said Olivia.
Olivia said she continued to gain work experience and with her mobile business, but then made the leap to setting up in her own clinic.
“My confidence built up at this time because it was something I was doing myself,” she said.
Linzi Waite, Lecturer in Sport and Fitness, said the presentation was a valuable insight for students.
“Olivia was able to speak about her journey from Lincoln College to owning her own successful business, the challenges faced and gave advice to perspective therapists looking to work in a similar manner,” said Linzi.
“I asked Olivia to speak to our students as she has been in their shoes and she was able to provide really valuable feedback to all students here. The students were able to take away suggestions from Olivia and started to develop their own business ideas later in the day.”
