Sanjay Seetanah

One of the four founders of Octane back in 2003, and still running the advertising department 20 years on

FOR ME, WORK doesn't feel like work. I feel blessed to be in a job I enjoy and to have worked with so many amazing people, all within the world of cars. As a child I'd see my father meticulously caring for his MG Magnette; his brother owned an immaculate Hillman Californian and I am sure they competed over which was best-kept. Dad let me steer it while sitting on his lap. I was ten and became hooked. This was in Mauritius, where I was born. We relocated to London so that dad could work for the Mauritian Embassy.

I passed my test at 17 and, while my friends had weekend jobs in retail and hospitality, I bought and sold cars instead - until I saw a job advertised at the Guy Salmon dealership in Thames Ditton. The job was to drive its rented cars to all their pick-up locations. Guy Salmon only rented prestige cars and I found myself driving brand new Porsches, Jaguars, BMWs and Mercedes to Marble Arch and Heathrow. I was in seventh heaven.

While at college in the early '80s I saw a job advertised on the canteen noticeboard for parttime staff to work on a new magazine called Classic and Sportscar. It involved calling people who were advertising cars for sale in other publications and persuading them to buy an ad in the new magazine. That's when I discovered that I had the gift of the car gab. I managed to convert more opportunities than anyone else and, after about 12 months, they offered me a full-time job. Mum and dad were not best pleased, as I was two years into an accountancy course, but I really enjoyed it and was soon promoted to advertising manager.