As part of my 50th year and this ‘Daily thoughts’ series, I aim to appreciate important people in my life and celebrate them.
Today I’m celebrating someone who I’ve known for almost thirty years. When we first met I had just left university and was working in a bank to save money to go travelling. Just after I started we merged with another bank which had a branch in the same town and she was Branch Manager. I was moved there and loved it from the start. She enabled a really great environment where everyone was able to flourish. The team was welcoming and friendly and in her I saw a great example of a good manager – supportive, encouraging, approachable and fair.
When I came back from my travels, I got a job as a temporary music teacher (which I ended up doing for a year and a half!) and worked at the bank on Saturdays. I maintained this for a couple of years until I started doing weekend shifts for BBC Five Live and Grandstand (as by then I was working at BBC Sport).
After finishing at the bank we kept in touch, developing our friendship over the years and once in a while we meet for coffee and put the world to rights. She has been an invaluable ear for me when I’ve needed to talk situations over, and vice versa. It was great to catch up today and I hope our friendship endures for many years to come!
Elizabeth Mooney 