Guy Gardener
Current Employer/Organisation Name
Finimize
What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?
In the years after graduating, I jumped between different roles as I was figuring out what I wanted to do. After taking some time out to travel, I did an internship at a museum in Cornwall, some freelance journalism work, and eventually settled on the audio industry, moving to London to do an MA in Radio at Goldsmiths University. After that, I started the role I’m now in at Finimize, at junior level.
Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?
I wanted to explore my academic interest through a creative lens. I had an inkling I wanted to do something in the creative industries towards the end of university, but never explored this possibility until just before Covid. I decided that audio journalism would be a way to explore my passion for history in a role that gets me ‘out and about’ a bit more.
Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?
The Falmouth Anchor, The Poker Society, and briefly, the basketball team.
What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?
I loved that it taught me why History was so important, and I got my passion for it over the course of the programme, rather than coming to university with it. I left university reading far more than I did before, and so – cliché as it sounds – I’m immensely grateful for the sense of intellectual curiosity it gave me. The degree was incredibly rudimentary in it’s routine in a sense – reading, writing, reading writing, rinse, repeat. I struggled with that at times during the programme, but in hindsight am so grateful for the fundamental skills it’s given me in critical thinking. My lecturers were (and still are) some of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met!
What did you most enjoy about studying here?
Where to even start on Cornwall? Such a beautiful place, and the dynamic of sharing a campus with Falmouth University students meant I got to interact with people studying the arts. I don’t think I would have considered a path in the creative industries without meeting those people.
Why did you choose to study at Exeter?
I actually got my place through clearing. Results day was a stressful one, and the opportunity to study on a course like that, at a university like this, was not to be turned down. To be candid!
What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?
Skills in reading and writing. These are skills we take for granted, but to do it well – with a keen, critical eye – is underestimated in my opinion. I think they’re the fundamental skills which most other skills offshoot from.
What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?
Fall head first! Don’t be afraid to lean into postgraduate courses or other such programmes to give you a bit of structure when you ‘don’t have it figured out’. I certainly wouldn’t have been able to get into my industry as quickly as I did without my MA course, or if I’d chosen the freelance route. I relied on that course to give me structure and just jumped into it, even when I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted to do it. The path is supposed to be messy!
What are your plans for the future?
My dream is to work at the BBC World Service. After it feels right to move on from my current role, I’d like to pursue work at a publication like The Economist, and continue to earn my stripes. But for now, my plans are still firmly in audio production.
