I’ve just finished reading ‘The Beast’ - the story of Burnley’s cult goalkeeping hero Brian Jensen. It made really interesting reading to get an insight into the day-to-day life of a ‘real’ footballer - a job that millions of young boys across the world dream about. Despite our perceptions of all the money involved in the modern-day game, the book proved that even footballers experience the same personal insecurities and financial worries that us ‘normal’ people do. It’s also refreshing to learn that there are still honest, hard-working blokes who genuinely care about the game and that no matter what your profession is, you always have to give it your best, 100% of the time in order to achieve success. Yet ...as we all know too well, you can never quite give your best unless you're truly happy.
I always have a book ‘on the go’, but I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that they're very rarely novels! I really enjoy autobiographies, mostly for the inspiration they provide more than anything else. With Christmas just behind us, I now have a number of books to choose from including Lord Sugar’s memoirs - but Chris Evans’ second autobiography is leading the pack.
Whilst inspiration is just what I need at the moment, I’m actually beginning to wonder if starting a book right now is actually a wise idea…
People talk about their ‘heroes’ all the time and like many others, I list the likes of David Beckham and Liam Gallagher amongst mine. However, when searching for personal inspiration, I really couldn’t look any further than Chris Evans …the life of whom I would love to mirror.
I read Evans’ first book “It’s Not What You Think” whilst on holiday last year. It tells the story of how the council estate lad made good, coming from very humble beginnings to become an icon of his generation . Having lost his Dad at a young age, Chris started working at 13 years old and managed to hold down 20 different jobs by the time he'd left school.
His entrepreneurial spirit was borne out of learning the value of the pound at a young age and he wasn’t afraid to work his ginger balls off in order to achieve his goals. I loved reading the tales of how he used to graft through hour upon hour of the most boring jobs in the world, with the radio as his only companion. The time when his grumpy boss confiscated his radio off him for no apparent reason, despite his meticulous work and commitment to his early-morning role, really struck a note with me.
I had no trouble picturing him sat in his bedroom as a teenager, as he tuned into Timmy Mallet on Manchester’s Piccadilly radio. As a teenager myself, I always preferred the wireless over TV and spent hours listening to the radio and creating mix-tapes. I even had a little side-line business of my own at high school, selling tape recordings of CD’s on to my mates. I’d buy a 5-pack of TDK’s every time I bought a new CD and almost made enough money off the recordings of it to purchase the next album for my collection.
As Chris developed a passion for radio, he almost hunted down Timmy Mallet in an attempt to get some work experience. Finally, after doing every job in the radio station from taking phone calls to making the brews, he landed the overnight ‘grave-yard’ shift and slowly but surely, had a show of his own. The rest as they say, is history.
The 90’s was an amazing decade and I feel privileged to have grown up during those halcyon days of Britpop, The Big Breakfast and TFI Friday. I had an amazing soundtrack playing backdrop to my high school and college days, my first job, my first England game, my first nights out and my first love. Chris Evans was one of the lead characters of the ‘Cool Britannia’ era and became the most widely acclaimed broadcaster of his generation.
Of course, he went on to have high-profile relationships with some beautiful women, rise all the way to the top, almost lose everything again and then become a multi-millionaire through his acquisition and sale of Virgin Radio. But it’s Chris Evans’ early days that bring about the focal point of my blog today.
One of my dream jobs was to become a radio DJ and in particular, I’d love to present a ‘late-night love-in’ slot, playing slushy songs and laid-back classics, whilst playing cupid over the airwaves. However, as much as I’ve been complimented for my DJ’ing over the years, I’ve also been criticized for my mumbling, so I’m not entirely sure if my deep, northern mutterings would have provided the right kind of tone for radio waves in the end.
Closer to home, I can look to former Rock FM DJ Adam Catterall as inspiration. The Blackburn lad is actually a couple of years my junior, and like me, started off DJ’ing in pubs and clubs around his home town. …But didn’t he do well? An award winning and acclaimed breakfast show DJ, who went on to land many coveted roles and is now the voice of Foxy Bingo and ITV2. The only way is up for this fella and it just goes to show where hard work, determination and a great personality can get you.
Perhaps it’s already too late for me to follow my dream into broadcasting, but with the right qualifications, a whole lot of hard work and a little bit of luck, maybe I’ll one day be known as a local guy who came good too?
On the job-search front, I’ve actually started to feel uncomfortably anxious and a little sick over recent days. The heart skips a beat when the phone starts to ring and I’m conscious that the passing weeks are about to turn into a month. As always, I’ve been working hard and spent a couple of hours yesterday perfecting my CV.
A few tweaks here and there were required to justify my words with work-related examples and I thought a change of font, colour and layout might just help change my luck.
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| Diana Vickers: An unlikely good luck charm? |
I also took the brave step of hand-delivering a CV and cover letter for the vacancy at Bowker Mini today. I’d already e-mailed my CV over to them last week but as I hadn’t heard anything, I thought it wouldn’t do any harm if I combed my hair, threw on some smart threads and popped down to show my face.
As it transpired, the gentleman at Bowker recognised me as soon as I walked through the door. Back in November, he was the driver of Diana Vickers’ BMW when she came to switch on the Christmas lights in Blackburn town centre. During the night, I happened to be responsible for looking after Diana and the other acts on behalf of the council, so we had a little chat about cars (and stars!) on the night. He was a really nice guy and the chance meeting we’d had a few weeks previously provided common ground to have a chat again today. ...I’m not sure if semi-knowing someone ever helps in these circumstances ...but I was pleased to learn that although interviews have been taking place, the position has yet to be filled.
Finally, I can’t end today’s blog without serving my egg sunny side up! Yes, being unemployed sucks and yes, I’d love to have a job right now. But it isn’t all bad you know!
Being a jobless wonderpants this afternoon allowed me the opportunity to attend a meet-and greet with the new Burnley Manager this afternoon. I congratulated him on his appointment and of course, it would’ve been rude not to ask whilst I was there: “Got any jobs going mate?”!
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| "Sign him up"! with new Burnley F.C. Manager Eddie Howe |
Thanks for reading and God bless you all,
Jason
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