Lucy Neville's career path to becoming a Museum Development Manager for Climate and Nature. Lucy talks how the environmental sector wasn't an option at school, her experience switching sectors and how getting over her fear of speaking to people helped improve her work experience. Current Job Tell us about your current role I am a Museum Development Manager for Climate and Nature with Museums Galleries Scotland. I support any museum in Scotland in anything relating to the planetary crisis. Career Beginnings Layout section When you were 15, what job did you want and who did you ask for advice?Filmmaker or police officer. I asked the school career guidance teacher who said the options were doctor, lawyer or army. They didn't know how I could get work experience in the arts, so I didn't.Did you have an interest in the environment at this time?Yes but I never thought it could be a job. I just always felt better when by the sea.What were your first steps in starting your career? I studied film and history at uni, and still had no idea if it could get me a job. It couldn't... Career path and skills What does your career path look like? My path was non-linear but I'm as stereotypical an environmental worker as there is - white, middle class, female with parents who love nature. I ended up in theatre front of house, retail, counselling course, then museum education, then environmentalism in museums (with a lot of unpaid work and expensive courses to get there).What skills were important for you to develop in your career? Confidence in speaking to people - I use this every day with one to one advice sessions, organisational pitches, running training sessions, doing talks for hundreds of people. But you can't work front of house or retail without getting over your fear of talking to people and them maybe not liking you. This article was published on Monday 19 October 2026
