Don’t Give Up Your day Job: Oscar Kugblenu, Business & Audio Production Manager

Welcome to Don’t Give Up Your Day Job, a blog series where we will be asking our Stage & the City students a series of questions to find out more about their jobs. People often think that to attend one of the courses, they need to have a performing arts background or have an arts-related job, but that’s far from true. We want to show you that people from all walks of life can still enjoy the arts, it doesn’t matter if you work as a police officer or a marketing manager!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your day job: what is your position? 

My name is Oscar Kugblenu and I work in business development and marketing. I have my own company, Racso Consulting. I have been self-employed since March 2017.  As a company of 1, I am responsible for everything. Sourcing new clients, managing the existing clients that I have etc. I advise on business development  & marketing strategies, run social media channels, with a particular interest/focus on the creative service industries.

What would you say is the hardest/most stressful part of your job?

Targeting new clients, persuading them in order to improve their business etc they need to change their existing practices/habits & spend money in certain areas of marketing/business development. Also, having to be available virtually 24/7 can be quite stressful at times!

How did you hear about Stage & the City?

One of my friends recommended the classes to me.

Why did you begin taking acting classes with stage & the City? 

I wanted to try a different activity and learn some new skills which would help me at work. I often have to talk/present which can get tiresome and boring, so learning new skills to help me to become more fresh and energetic is very useful! Also, I to wanted a new activity to help improve confidence, to meet new people and to do something different as a way of having fun.

What was your impression(s) of the performing arts before you began the Acting for Beginners course? Have they changed at all?

Working in post-production, advertising, film, tv and other creative industries as a whole I have a good familiarity and understanding of the performing arts so I don’t really know how to answer this one! My impressions have not changed, although, with each new acting skill I am taught, I have a better understanding of the craft of acting as a whole, which I have found helps improve my understanding of performances.

In what way(s) has the Acting for Beginners course benefited you? Has it improved your performance in the workplace?

The course has definitely improved my confidence and has also improved my public speaking skills. I’m much more at ease when I am doing a presentation and chatting with people I don’t know at networking events.