Next on the blog we have Iain Douglas Steven.
Please get in touch if you wish to share your story ‘after Heriot’s’.
What is your current role?
As of October, I’ve started a new position as a Fundraiser for the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC). I’m still finding my feet, but my role will involve working across a range of different funding streams, from corporate to community fundraising and events.
The role of a fundraiser is relatively straightforward on the surface: we look for opportunities to bring in donations so that ECHC can continue to support children, young people, and their families. In practice, this involves building strong relationships with new and existing donors, working closely with volunteers, and creating new fundraising events throughout the year.
At its heart, it’s a job for those who love working with people, but you also need to have a keen eye for inefficiency. Resources are tight, and your aim is always to maximise the potential good that your work generates. This means looking for opportunities to build awareness and bring in support without requiring a disproportionate outlay of time and expenditure.
The day-to-day varies a lot, which I like, and since our office is now based at the hospital itself, I’ve been able to spend a lot of time with the families and children we support, as well as with the teams of volunteers, performers, support workers, and NHS staff members who look after them – this will really help keep me motivated.
What was your journey to get there?
It would be fair to say that I didn’t really have a plan when I left school. I was young for my year and didn’t want to turn up to Freshers’ Week at 17. I decided to defer university, worked at John Lewis, and did some travelling.
Once I arrived in Glasgow, I studied Economics, Politics, and Philosophy, although I spent my first three weeks at university attending the wrong lectures by accident – much to my parents’ displeasure. Eventually, I got on track, dropping Politics and graduating in 2020 with an MA in Economics and Philosophy, still without much of a plan.
During university, I worked in hospitality each summer at the Edinburgh Fringe. Unfortunately, due to Covid, the festival was cancelled, leaving me and several colleagues at a loose end. This turned out to be a catalyst for the next three years of my career, working for a sustainable delivery start-up in Edinburgh called Farr Out Deliveries – founded by my friend Alex Fitzhowle. In essence, we made local deliveries for businesses in the city using electric cargo bikes, which was much easier in the summer than in the winter.
Running a small business was a huge learning curve: law, finance, operations, marketing, staff training, client acquisition – it was all great experience. Being able to do things our own way was exciting, and as the business started to grow and garner positive attention, we all felt a deep sense of achievement. A funny coincidence was that we eventually moved into premises next to the school at 141 Lauriston Place. Here, we helped to set up Scotland’s first cargo bike hub alongside our charity partners, Cargo Bike Movement.
Freedom is a double-edged sword, and being a director can be extremely stressful, with constant worries about payroll and profit margins. Eventually, a guaranteed salary became highly appealing. I managed to find an opportunity in Sales & Marketing within the fitness industry and, to my relief, they were happy with my unconventional experience. I spent the next year and a half fighting to win public sector contracts to design and fit out gyms. It was challenging, but my new boss was very supportive, and the satisfaction of winning big tenders kept me pushing forward. I loved seeing a successful bid turn into sales figures, purchase orders, and eventually a sleek new facility.
My current role as a fundraiser for ECHC might seem like a surprising move, but it made sense for me in more ways than one. Being self-employed had forced me to try my hand at many different things. At the time, this felt inconsequential, but ultimately that range of experience is what made me effective in my next role. All experience is good, and much of it is extremely transferable.
Professionally, I could see how to apply what I’d already learned to the world of fundraising, and working in the charity sector would also give me a massive opportunity for further growth. I was now less intimidated by steep learning curves and starting to narrow down on what I was naturally good at. I’ve always loved talking to people – as my teachers would note at parents’ evenings. This role provides me with a platform to put that skill to use and hopefully do some good with it.
Personally, having experienced the impact of an unexpected cancer diagnosis on family life at a young age, the idea of helping others facing similar difficulties filled me with a strong sense of purpose. Having a solid ‘why’ has always been essential to get me out of bed.
Leaving school and getting older can be a bumpy road at times, but I’m starting to realise that your ‘journey’ often makes more sense in hindsight. I’m becoming a bit more comfortable with making it up as I go along – you can always just claim it was part of a master plan afterwards.
What are your achievements?
In school, I did help to break a sporting record for one of the biggest losses in Brewin Dolphin Cup history while playing against Merchiston’s Under-16s – I think it was something like 72–0 at half-time, and I’ve yet to break any other records.
Helping to set up Farr Out Deliveries was a big achievement, despite it not ultimately succeeding as an independent business. We won a couple of awards and managed to onboard about 50 clients at our peak. It was all quite chaotic, but I’m happy we gave it an honest go.
I’m proud that I’ve kept in touch with my mates from school – some of whom I’ve known since nursery. All the holidays, parties, and stories are what really stick with you.
Hopefully, in the years to come working for ECHC, I’ll have some more things to feel proud about!
What are your favourite memories of Heriot’s?
I was at Heriot’s for a long time, so there are way too many memories to choose from. A few did involve getting into trouble, so maybe those aren’t appropriate.
In short, here are a bunch that come to mind: Mr Nuilala’s P3 class and the visit from Blue Peter, games of football on the tarmac, tuck shop bacon rolls, people fainting at June Day, playing house 7s at Goldenacre, Mr McCabe’s history classes, Guitar Hero in the common room, dripping the excess oil off a Pizza Paradise slice, acting out Shakespeare in Advanced Higher English classes, the France water sports trip in S3, and playing rugby on waterlogged pitches around Scotland on Saturday mornings.
Any top tips for current pupils when planning their future?
I find this a funny one to answer because, obviously, it’s very easy to say ‘follow your dreams’ or something like that. That is largely true, but everyone says it, and I’ve always preferred more practical advice. Also, I’ve never really had a concrete dream, so the idea of planning ahead was always a bit daunting.
Honestly, if I were to reflect on what would have benefited me to hear when I was still at school, I’d say that it’s just as important to build your resilience to setbacks, rejection, discomfort, uncertainty, and failure. Life has a habit of not caring about your plans, so you need to develop the skills and wisdom to remain agile and positive when things go wrong. I didn’t really have this mindset when leaving school, and it takes a while to reprogram your brain.
The only real way I’ve found to develop in this capacity is by having experiences, both good and bad. Reflect, learn, and move on. If you can start to view the world through a lens where there is always an opportunity to move forward, even – and especially – when the circumstances are bleak, you’re onto a winner. As far as I can tell, this is one of the biggest factors in determining whether you will be ‘successful,’ but more importantly, content.
Also, take the pressure off yourself as much as you can. It’s very easy to get stressed about what you’re going to do next, and most of that anxiety is wasted energy. Try to be honest about your authentic self and what that person needs to be happy, and make sure your plans include as much fun as humanly possible – what’s really the point if you’re not having any fun?
