Mum gets Glastonbury Festival DJ slot after quitting £50k job

A former property sales manager who earned £50,000 a year taught herself how to be a DJ and be showcasing her talents at the Glastonbury Festival this month.. Sammy Dean, 50, rekindled her passion for mixing songs during the lockdown after ditching her professional career of over two decades.

Having performed at several festivals, she gave up her job and dove headfirst into being a full-time house music disc jockey. Following her last year's performance at the famous Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, Somerset, she's been asked back for an encore.

The mother of two expressed her gratitude for her previous experience at the festival. She said: "I played in one of the bars and I was really grateful to have that opportunity."

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Recalling her initial gig, she stated: "When I started playing, there was only around 40 or 50 people but by the end of my two-hour set, it was absolutely rammed and you couldn't get in. It proper went off - it was so good."

She added, "I've managed to get myself another set and play again so I'm just working my way up."

Sammy acknowledged the challenge of bagging a slot at Glastonbury: "It's so difficult to even play at a bar at Glastonbury because everyone wants to play, whether it's in a bar or a stage."

She used to mix tracks as a teenager and even played at small venues but had to quit when she became a mum to Maddox, 21, and Rhea, 18. But she rediscovered her love for DJing during the lockdown while isolating in her Warrington, Cheshire, home.

She recalled her early days and said: "I taught myself how to mix but I only ever really played at house parties and then I played at a few small venues in London in the nineties. But I never pushed myself to be a DJ so I missed the boat really and then I had children."

"Everyone was saying I should DJ again but I didn't have time, and then we went into lockdown so I had the time to pick it up again."

Sammy made the decision to leave her previous job, which paid around £50,000 annually, due to insufficient holiday allowance for attending various festivals. She recalls how 'everyone thought she was mad' when she shared her plans - but she felt compelled to follow her passion, recognising that life can be 'cut short' at any moment.

Sammy explained: "I was going to different festivals and was using my holidays and then I would go to another and that was another week off work. I was like 'I've not got enough annual leave to do this' and if I'm going to do it, then I knew I would have to leave my job.

"I'm a bit impulsive and I was going to Ibiza and I was like 'right I can't do a job as well, I'm going to have to quit' and everybody said I was mental.

"I wasn't thinking 'I'm going to be a superstar DJ' - I just realised that my life can be cut short at any time."

Now working as a freelance estate agent, Sammy is planning to release another track this summer and hopes to perform at more festivals this year. She says she loves playing for the crowds because it's 'a really good feeling' and 'there aren't many other jobs that give you that. '.

Sammy said: "When you get a really good crowd and you can see people dancing to the music you're playing, then it's a good job satisfaction."

"And you can see people vibing off you and that makes you vibe even more. Then people come up to me and say I was brilliant or people message me and say my set was one of the best from the weekend."

"It's a really good feeling - there's not many other jobs that give you that."

Sammy has urged others to not worry about their age and if they want to do something, then they should do it anyway.

But she wants to remind people that she does most of her gigs for free and wouldn't tell someone to quit their job, unless they had 'money behind them to do it.'

Sammy said: "A lot of this is unpaid to start with - I don't want to give the illusion that this is an easy ride and you will get loads of money. For the most part, most of the gigs you do are for free. But there's no cheap way of doing this - music production is expensive and going to Ibiza is.

"When you start doing the gigs for free, you spend a lot of money so I wouldn't advise anyone to give up their job unless they had money behind them to do it. It doesn't matter how old you are, if there's something that you want to do then do it because die with memories, not dreams."