I started my career as a professional rugby player. I’m originally from South Africa but spent a large portion of my sporting career playing for Racing 92 in Paris. Professional rugby is full-on, all the time, and I was lucky enough to have a long career, retiring on my own terms when I was ready.

Of course, a career in sport – by its very nature – finishes while you’re still relatively young. I knew I needed a plan for the future, and before I went professional, I was on my way to qualifying as an actuary. I always intended on transitioning into finance once my playing career was over, and I knew London would be a great place to do that. So, on my retirement in 2019, I moved to the UK to join LBS and study for my MBA.

I wasn’t completely green – I spent some time studying while I was playing rugby and gained a flavour of where I wanted to end up. But I do think that coming from a sports background gave me a lot of confidence and the ability to feel comfortable outside my comfort zone.

LBS was a great choice for me because you can explore everything you’re interested in – and this is vital for such a big career change. You have over 500 students in a cohort and you can find someone who’s worked in what feels like almost every single industry. That was an amazing way to get a feel for what I truly wanted to do. You could ask your classmates any question and someone would have an answer.

Difference is a priority, and every cohort looks a little bit different. At first, I wasn’t sure they’d accept someone with my experience but the more I researched, I soon learned that LBS takes people from incredibly diverse backgrounds. You realise that some things you’re ahead or behind on, and it pushes you to understand your strengths and what you need to work on. My year group had lots of students from South America – and it was great to see that some of my peers were South African, like me.

We also weren’t far off 50-50 in terms of gender split, and coming from such a male-dominated environment, it was interesting to work with more women and learn from their perspectives. My current office is like that too and it creates a different dynamic to a lot of the teams I’d spent time in in sport.

At LBS, a lot of effort was put into making everyone aware of unconscious bias. Both how it works and our responsibility to make sure everyone feels like they have a place in the workplace. How giving everyone a voice creates a positive impact.

I think what surprised me most about my programme was the three-dimensional approach to studying. You have the academic side, as you’d expect. But you also have the social and networking side, then the skills side that prepares you for your future career, including what to say on your CV and how to present in job interviews.

LBS teaches its students a huge mix of technical skills and interpersonal skills. These certainly helped me as I progressed into my new career. I work in investment management for a US asset management company focusing on fixed income. I did an internship with them while at LBS, which I secured through someone I met at the School, and then I was offered a full-time role.

Of course, there are times when I miss playing rugby. But sport is so intense and ‘efficient’. Your body always hurts, and everyone is committed 100% of the time with no slacking. Everyone pushes themselves to be better and everyone is a winner.

In a business environment, things are more balanced. In a sports career, you’re always building towards the end, whereas now in my career I’m building toward a future and that’s exciting.

I’ve been with my company for three years and I’m really enjoying the change. I’m looking forward to what the future holds – I don’t know what that looks like right now but I’m enjoying working it out. If all else fails, I’m sure people will still like wine. So maybe I’ll own a vineyard, or at least my own wine boutique. Who knows, but I know that LBS has definitely given me the skillset I need to make it happen.