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Posts Tagged ‘pyjama drama’

  1. New year, new you

    January 17, 2014 by Amy Hansford

    Well that’s a load of twoddle. I’m the same Amy that I ever was, just with a little more experience, a longer relationship and a slightly older daughter. The good news is that I’m pretty happy with all that!

    I Googled 'Twoddle

    I Googled ‘Twoddle”. This came up. You’re welcome.

    So what’s coming up in the world of Awakey for 2014?

    Pyjama Drama will be growing (hopefully) throughout the year to the point where I may be a millionaire.*
    I’ll be organising a massive birthday party for our daughter**
    I’ll be appearing as Jan in Dreams ‘n’ Wishes production of Grease over the summer. Shout if you want tickets.
    We’ll be going to a super geek convention and even running some massively geeky Pyjama Drama workshops.
    We will be going on holiday! We will be remaining local, but yay for opportunities to get out for the day.
    And much, much more! ***

    What are your great plans for the year?

    *Factually, a lie.
    ** May actually be “cake and a playground”
    *** A bit more.


  2. “You knew what you were getting into…”

    November 26, 2013 by Amy Hansford

    I’m ill. Not ill ill. I am mobile and quite awake. But I have lost my voice. And when your job is to sing and talk and giggle, losing your voice means you can’t do your job. And when you are self-employed, you no longer get paid for sitting at home and recuperating. Yes, I knew what I was getting into when I jumped ship for this life of improv, but a damaged throat* damages my bank account too, and that’s not a great thing.

    sore-throatSo while the next two hours will be spent continuing to work on my business/marketing plan for Pyjama Drama, there is also a niggling question in the back of my mind; how can I stop this from happening again?

    I can’t magically never be ill again. I’d love that, but it’s not going to happen. Not being able to work due to illness is inevitable and I’m quite frankly damned impressed that I’ve been doing this job for for nearly nine months straight without taking a sickie.

    So what can I do if I fall ill again in the future? Two options.
    1) Cancel the day’s sessions to recuperate (no point making it worse)
    2) Get someone else to run the session.

    Option 1 is a short-term fix. Quick and easy, but it’s not ideal.
    Option 2 is something that I would be looking at doing eventually, so perhaps it’s time to start looking into it now? It would mean consistency for all the families/centres, more opportunities for adding more sessions, and while it would mean a big new outgoings column, it’s better than a big old loss and lots of disappointed kids.

    Food for thought.

    * Do not do a Google image search for “sore throat”. You’ll vomit.


  3. September 21, 2013 by Amy Hansford

    I know it’s been quiet here. Pyjama Drama is a full time job, and by full time I mean I have been spending every spare moment publicising where I can and learning lesson plans, as well as being my own finance and HR department. It’s knackering, but I still wouldn’t change it for the world.

    Life in brief:

    Little L wears glasses now. Glasses are cool.
    One year married – yay!
    I’m debating selling all my costumes in the garage (and returning those which I curate). Thoughts appreciated, full blog another time.
    Go and read A Thrifty Mrs‘s blog as it is brilliant.
    I’m in Mother Goose as Glinda the Good Fairy. This one, right here. You should come and see it (I know where you live*.)

    mg

    *I don’t.


  4. Pyjama Drama Is A Go

    April 12, 2013 by Amy Hansford

    UntitledI’m 6 weeks into my new job. In case you’ve completely missed it this far on the blog, I’m the manager for Pyjama Drama in Milton Keynes, having had a chance encounter with an advert seeking franchisees. The resulting trip to Wales gave me a glimpse into one of the most wonderful activities for children I have ever seen, so good in fact that I quit my job to bring the idea to my home town.

    I’m 6 weeks into starting a new business. I have an office area upstairs, I have a gosh-darned-fabulous Pyjamobile, I have a parachute in case I fall out of a plane (or maybe it’s for games, I don’t quite recall) and I have more time to spend with Little L.

    I’m 6 weeks into a world of delightful admin. I’m not kidding you – I love admin. Freakin’ love it. If I can colour code a spreadsheet, I’m full of glee. And now I have a whole wealth of admin that’s mine, all mine.

    I’m 6 weeks into self employment, and self-earned income. I’ve only run two sessions so far, so you can probably guess where that leaves me at the moment.

    I’m 6 weeks into my new way of life and, while I do look back (of course I look back, it’s been brilliant), I can’t help but look forward to everything that’s happening.

    I’m 6 weeks in.


  5. Life advice #2: When in doubt, just take the next small step.

    January 19, 2013 by Amy Hansford

    Life advice from a 90 year old? I’ll take it.
    Backstory blog can be found here.

    cv gag copy2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

    Every now and again, we all have a look on Reed* to see how green the grass on the other side is looking. I think it’s a bit like that with jobs. You may be one of the lucky ones, doing something you love that pays as much as you need it to. You may be doing something that’s alright and working out if this is your career path or whether there’s a better offer out there. You might be one of the unfortunate ones, having been handed your redundancy notice. There’s a lot of it about.

    Over the last couple of months, I found myself in the middle one and on the edge of the latter. Nosing around for where I might have a better fit, coming across something quite extraordinary, and receiving a request for voluntary redundancies in quick succession.

    It was a normal evening, surfing around Reed and Monster to see if there was anything that might be a better option. Apart from a surprisingly tempting offer from Affairs4u** nothing caught my eye. Cue a Google search for ‘drama teacher’, just for the hell of it. A sponsored ad from Gumtree appeared. For laughs, I clicked through, expecting a job for experienced drama teachers to deliver leaflets/earn money from home/make quick $$$ etc.

    But I was in for a surprise.

    A company called Pyjama Drama was looking for franchisees in my local area. Was this it? Was this the job I was looking for? Or should I retreat back to the relative safety of my desk job? There we have it ladies and gentlemen – doubt.

    What to do, what to do, what to do. Chase or hide from the opportunity? I didn’t want to jump in too soon. I didn’t want to fire off an application form. I didn’t want to give up on a three year start to a career without good reason. So a smaller step.

    I sent a quick email showing a bit of interest. Asking for more information.

    Taking this small step gave me the information I needed. The confirmation that yes, not only was this the right step to take, it was the step I’ve been waiting for.

    And that small step has since turned into an almightly leap.

    But that’s a blog for another time.

    *Other job search websites are available
    **This is a real thing. Also, I am referring to a job, not utilising their services.