Odd jobs

I often wonder what my life would have been like had I chosen a completely different career – one with less time spent tapping away at a keyboard and more thrills and adventure. But I love my job, so if I were ever to step into someone else’s work shoes, it would have to be doing something that has always intrigued me, or a job that I didn’t even know existed. We chatted to seven women who are doing just that.

MERMAID TALES

Nadia Walker and Izelle Nair, the mermaid coaches

AS a child, Izelle loved swimming and mermaids – she watched The Little Mermaid at least a hundred times. ‘I’m blonde, but I dye my hair red, and I’m sure it can be traced back to wanting to be Ariel growing up!’ she says. Her childhood dream has essentially come true: Izelle teaches mermaiding: how to swim just as gracefully as the majestic mythical creatures she grew up admiring. ‘It’s for fitness, it’s for fun, it’s for fantasy, it’s therapy – but most of all, mermaiding is a sport,’ Izelle says.

Mermaiding was classified as a sport in Europe in 2019. Izelle first saw a mermaid coach on TV in 2019,