Homeworker Sarah-Jane Brooks tells Juliet Dennis how she found her perfect work-life balance when she moved to Tenerife and joined Personal Travel Consultants.
Q. Where did you start your career?
A. I was a Youth Training Scheme agent at Lunn Poly straight from school. It was a great business to start working for. I worked my way up to assistant manager and shop manager at the Tunstall branch in Stoke-on-Trent. I’ve had a few breaks over the 28 years – I’m a professional singer as well and have done a bit of travelling. Before moving to Blue Bay Travel, I had only worked at Tui. I didn’t really enjoy management and wanted to go back to sales, that was my passion. I love the industry but needed a new challenge. I was a salaried Personal Travel Advisor (PTA) in Blue Bay’s call centre for five and a half years.
I’ve had a few breaks over the 28 years – I’m a professional singer as well and have done a bit of travelling
Q. What prompted you to move jobs within Blue Bay from PTA to self-employed homeworker (PTC)?
A. It was a new challenge. I was ready to make the move and set up my own business. It meant I could get a work-life balance because I like to have time to do my singing. About a year before I become a Personal Travel Consultant, I began to work a little from home to get some experience of homeworking. It was a bit like training to get ready for being on my own. I already knew about the opportunities for PTCs at Blue Bay but I was still a little apprehensive, especially given the challenges the pandemic presented for the industry as a whole. But as a PTC if you feel isolated there’s always support. There’s a weekly call with the team where we all get to chat as a wider team about any issues. It helps me feel not only like part of a team, but part of a family.
About a year before I become a Personal Travel Consultant, I began to work a little from home to get some experience of homeworking
Q. Why did you move from Stoke-on-Trent to Tenerife?
A. My in-laws live over here. They were struggling a bit and my husband Brad said what do you think about moving out here? We were always planning to retire abroad, but it was a bit sooner than planned! I approached work. I expected them to say “sorry”, but instead they said “we’re going to make it work”. I had been working from home so it didn’t matter if I was in Stoke-on-Trent or Tenerife. We came here in October 2019. I moved as a salaried advisor then eventually made the transition to self-employed while in Tenerife.
I approached work [about moving to Tenerife]. I expected them to say “sorry”, but instead they said “we’re going to make it work”
Q. What was it like living in Tenerife during the pandemic?
A. We went into a strict lockdown on March 14, 2020, in Tenerife and it was a case of all tourists out. The lockdown lasted five months. We could not go out or exercise. If you wanted to go to the supermarket you’d be stopped by a policeman and had to prove you were going there. We stayed with my hubby’s parents for a year and a half, longer than planned due to Covid. Now we’re renting in the Del Duque area of Tenerife. Brad manages a bar and we’re looking for somewhere to buy, but we don’t want to rush into anything because of the pandemic.
My main claim to fame was singing with Matt Goss, of Bros, live on stage at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas
Q. Tell us about your singing career.
A. I’ve been singing for my whole life since I left school. I became a professional singer at about 18. I’d just done my YTS at Lunn Poly and started out singing at weekends at cabarets, shows, working men’s clubs, holiday clubs and then military bases in Germany. I sang with Antony Costa from Blue, but my main claim to fame was singing with Matt Goss, of Bros, live on stage at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Brad was a real fan and proposed to me at one of his shows there. We went back to get married and to see his show. I had my red wedding dress on and, at the end, he asked us if we’d just got married. He started to sing a song for us and I was singing along and he put the mic in front of us. We’ve been friends ever since and every time we go to Las Vegas we meet up. In Tenerife, I’ve done some singing in my husband’s bar and other bars. I like to do a couple of nights a week because it’s my passion, but my travel work takes priority. If you’d asked me 10 years ago, I’d have said singing was the most important thing to me, but it’s changed as I’ve got older.
In Tenerife, I’ve done some singing in my husband’s bar and other bars. I like to do a couple of nights a week because it’s my passion
What’s your work-life balance like?
In Stoke-on-Trent it was a case of scraping the car window every morning and sitting in traffic to get to work.
In Tenerife I can have a nice walk on the beach with my 13-year-old dog Billie, stop for coffee and then start work at 10am. You feel so refreshed and ready to go. I work until about 6pm. Being in Tenerife I’m able to balance my work and my singing.
When you’re in the office in the UK you look out the window and it’s grey. Here you can sit around the pool in the sunshine in your break
Although Sunday is my usual day off, if I need to I can take a day off during the week to sing or catch up with friends and family. I’ve got the flexibility to do that. It’s liberating.
The fact I can work and still do what I love is incredible. When you’re in the office in the UK you look out the window and it’s grey. Here you can sit around the pool in the sunshine in your break. We literally live across the road from the most beautiful beach, so when life gets a bit hard I can walk along the beach and feel better.