My love for theatre blossomed at The Grange and let me to starting my own business when I was just 19.
I studied Music, Drama, Spanish and Religious Studies at A level after not really knowing what I wanted to do. Initially, I went off to University in London to study Drama & Hispanic Studies and quickly realised this was probably the wrong course for me; a decision I had made simply because I didn’t know what else to do.
I had a gap year in 2008 which was invaluable and spent some time doing work experience in different areas determining what I enjoyed and what I really wanted to do. Whilst at school I had always enjoyed drama and the addition of the theatre facilities and new music department only encouraged this.
In Sixth Form I had worked part-time at Stage School teaching Speech and Drama and I was encouraged to set up my own school which I did in 2008 whilst on my gap year. Little Stars Stage School was born and I have loved every second of developing this business and where it has taken me over the last 12 years. We are now a school of over a hundred pupils, a centre of excellence for Trinity College London and have a thriving casting agency.
As a teacher, I’ve been in the audience at the Palace Theatre (Manchester) and watched my students on stage. I’ve also watched as one of my students won Best Young Performer at the British Soap Awards. I achieved both of these before the age of 25. We’re based in Appleton and I currently teach a number of pupils from The Grange School and it’s lovely to hear about what’s going on there.
I went back to university and studied for a BSc (Hons) in Speech Pathology and Language Therapy alongside running my stage school. I currently work privately as a Speech Therapist in the North Manchester area two days a week during term time and both jobs work marvellously with being a Mum. Having flexibility and fitting a term time working pattern means I can enjoy school holidays with my daughter.
I loved my time at The Grange and I definitely think it gave me the confidence to pursue the things I was really interested in. I wasn’t phased as I set up my own business at the age of 19. I didn’t necessarily follow the same pattern as a lot of my peers who all knew exactly what they wanted to do and went straight from school to university with a clear career path in mind. I think it’s important to remind students that it’s OK if you don’t know what you want to do at 18 and take your time and work it out. I never thought I’d end up running a successful casting agency but I couldn’t think of a more perfectly suited job for me!
Lauren Kelly
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