DON'T TELL ME I CAN'T… ...open a health retreat

Feeling unfulfilled in her job, Josie Buck decided to risk it all to follow her passion

- EMMA ROSSITER

Knotting the strings of my apron, I greet the latest group of guests at my retreat. All of them are here to learn how to improve their relationship with food – and, as I take my place at the front of the class, I still can’t quite believe that they are here to learn from me. After years spent working in marketing, quitting my 9-5 office job is the best decision I’ve ever made.

When I graduated from university in 1998, I moved to London from Devon with hopes of having a career in TV production. Yet, within a few years, I realised I wasfar more at home in the countryside, so I moved to East Anglia and started working in marketing.

For 11 years, I had a successful and happy career. I bought a house and enjoyed an active social life. But in 2008, during the recession, I was made redundant. I found another job in marketing, but the experience made me question whether this was the career for me.