Catherine's Experience

I started teaching fun language clubs in 1992. I read an advert in a newspaper in the business section which I usually totally ignore! But I was in the dentist waiting room and had nothing else to do. I had just been made redundant for the second time in two years and was desperately looking to be my own boss. I phoned the office and was told that every one had gone to a publishing conference so there was no one to talk to me right now but they promised to call me back. As a coincidence my husband who also was in publishing was going to the same conference that very morning; I thought it must be a sign. Surely I was meant to work for LCF!! So I asked my husband to check out the company for me. And the rest is history as they say.

I starting to grow very rapidly and soon employed around 10 teachers. The returns were quite good but a few years and two children later, it did not suit my life anymore as I wanted to be able to take my kids to after school activities or do homework with them instead of leaving them with a nanny. So I sold my after school clubs to my teachers and started again from scratch, organising my timetable so I was free to be with my kids after school. So I concentrated on nurseries and lunch time clubs which were a bit of novelty at the time. And with the emergence of in school curriculum clubs, I soon became employed full time, with the luxury of being able to be with my family after school.

It's what attracted me to the job in the first place and what kept me going all these year - the flexibility of it all. Being able to work term time only, being my own boss, freedom in other words. And the cherry on the cake is that the money was not bad either!

I love my job. My husband would say I love it too much! But how many people get to be well paid for playing with children, doing craft, putting up shows, dressing up, dancing and singing all day long?

Catherine Puyravaud