Careers

Mum’s the word…

Abby-lee Widger, recently crowned PQ of the Year AT our awards, describes in her own words her life, loves, career and hopes for the future

I started my career in theatre administration and my duties included book-keeping. The accountant, Lynn, who did the VAT returns, said I was good at bookkeeping and suggested I study for my ACCA exams like she had done. I was 22 and had no intention of studying anything other than ‘How to party’ and ‘How to find a husband’! But Lynn and I became friends, she taught me how to do VAT returns and it went from there.
I did find myself a husband and we had four children very close together, from 1997-2001. During that time I found part-time jobs doing bookkeeping and payroll and it was much easier doing lots of little jobs with lots of little children than trying to do one full-time job. I carried on like this until 2007 when I had a blip in my employment and found it really hard to get a job. By this time I’d done financial controller-type jobs for small arts-based charities (I only do small arts-based charities!). So no one wanted me as a bookkeeper – I was way too experienced – but no one wanted me as a finance director as I wasn’t qualified! This was the kick up the backside I needed to make me start studying. Lynn tried hard not to say, “I was nagging you for a reason!”
Lynn was ACCA-qualified and all the other accountants I had ever
met were ACCAs, so it just never occurred to me that there were other qualifications. I knew about City & Guilds bookkeeping and AAT, but I knew I ultimately wanted to be an accountant. Scary but true to think that one day I will really be able to call myself an accountant.
I haven’t got very far with my studies – I’m going slowly but surely. The first shock I had was discovering I was a ‘mature’ student, so this meant I had to do the MSER entry route. Also, because I had no other qualifications, I didn’t get any exemptions. I had to do F2 then F3 and most recently I did F1. I hope to start studying F4 in September.
I found F2 really scary as it wasn’t the sort of thing I’d done before, so I was surprised that I got 78% on the CBE. I found F3 easy and logical – it was the sort of stuff I worked with on a daily basis. Unfortunately, that made me over-confident and I didn’t study so hard, so I was shocked to only get 53% for F3. But it taught me a good lesson.
I found F1 very challenging as it is very wordy and I’m a bit dyslexic, so I did study a lot and was really pleased to get 70% for F1. My tip for studying is, yes – do study! It might sound daft but if you don’t do it, it ain’t gonna happen. There is nowhere you can’t study. I sat in the car with my laptop doing test questions while my daughter was at her music lessons. I took study texts to read at my little boy’s physio sessions. I’m sure we’ve all read the little flip-books on the tube, but the queue in Tesco is a good place, too. Also in the bath, in bed – anywhere!
I used BPP classroom courses for all my study. I knew that with the children at home there was no way I could be motivated enough to get things started on my own. The classroom courses made me study and gave me an excellent framework for continuing the study at home. I really don’t think I could have managed without the framework and study support materials. Everything is included in the course fee, including telephone and online access to your tutor. Also, as a self-funder, once I’d paid for my course it would have been on my conscience if I’d have wasted the money. Another tip: study while your children are small. It does not get easier as they get bigger.
People ask me how I balance work, study and children. How do you cope, they ask. Cope! Is that the thing where I have to be organised and everything runs like clockwork and the kids go to school clean and fed and I trot off to work happy as Larry, do a fulfilling day’s work, come home, cook the tea, smile at my husband, pop the kids into bed and then have a jolly night’s studying after nipping to the gym and doing the shopping and the washing? Yep, that happens occasionally, but mostly it’s a case of ‘keep calm and carry on’. It is all ridiculously impossible, especially as my little chap has Asperger’s Syndrome and I spend rather too much time at various specialists (but I take a study book or PQ mag to read!).
I guess you just have to have a sense of humour, a sense of perspective and not get stressed when your kids sleep in their uniform and go to school the next day wearing it. It saves so much time and washing!
I have four jobs at the moment. I am finance director at Discover, the children’s story building centre in Stratford, east London. I love working there. It is the most magical place, where children aged 0-11 years can come and play and be inspired to use their imagination. I first came across Discover when it opened in 2003 – my then three-year-old daughter’s class was the first school ever to visit the centre. I have visited many times since as a parent. It is such a privilege to work there. I am also finance officer at the Council for Dance Education & Training, the body that accredits the dance awarding bodies and the vocational dance schools. I love working there as my background is in dance; everyone knows everyone and I love my tiny office in Covent Garden. I am also finance officer for Yellow Earth Theatre. British East Asian actors, writers and directors are under-represented in this country and it is amazing to work with a company that is supporting emerging artists. Also, I manage payroll for the Drill Hall theatre. I have been associated with the Drill Hall for 11 years, in various roles. They champion the work of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and do a lot of work raising awareness of issues such as homophobic bullying. There is never a dull moment in any of my jobs and I am lucky to enjoy my work so much.
I hope to be fully qualified in five years (or at least very nearly). It would be nice to think I’d still be sharing my skills with small arts charities, but it would be nice to be earning a bit more money, too. I do imagine myself being able to take a nice long holiday in a warm country!

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