Explore every episode of the podcast The Professional Hobbyist

How bowling helped Chizu turn a big, unfamiliar London into a city full of familiar faces.

Moving to a new city as an adult can be lonely. When Chizu moved from Manchester to London for work, he found himself navigating a city where the usual routes to friendship of school and university were no longer available. In a city as big as London, it can be easy to feel lost in the crowd. So, he took an unconventional route to finding his people: bowling. This became his launchpad to make London somewhere he could navigate with ease.

Chizu has always been an avid bowler but after work games with Hook Lane in Finsbury Park were not only a way for him fed his competitive spirit. He was soon able to recognise familiar faces from the club at events, making it easier and less intimidating to branch out to more opportunities for connection because he knew there would likely be someone he'd know. Having a recurring third space also meant he could slowly build genuine friendships naturally around shared interests with other attendees instead of rushing to network at an event.

This episode focuses on how best to make friends when starting over, the power of consistent third spaces, the benefit of coming together around niche hobbies and some tips to get more strikes!

You can do everything right in life. You can get a high paying job, buy a house and thrive academically in STEM but you may still crave the need to discover yourself and feel truly challenged. But with the stakes so high to maintain all of his achievements, he had to look to drumming to satisfy this need for more.

This hobby has forced him to be bad at something - a feeling he has not been exposed to since he was a kid. Sitting with that frustration but having a safe space to improve has allowed him to deal with his ego and feel free of the pressure that has come with people a man in a high achieving field. Taking out the frustration of a long week on a drum helps as well.

As he grows in the drum circle, he has learnt how to have conversations through music, connect more with his African heritage, learn about panafricanism and learn from the elders from the Caribbean community in London

As a consultant, Koko found herself with up to 6 hours to herself on travels weeks to client site. Instead of relying for screens for her entertainment, she chose to start binging books instead.

Despite the rise and grind propaganda pushing self help, productivity and money making books as the best way to read, Koko chooses to fill her time with fiction books. She loves all things romance, thriller and mystery because she prioritises enjoying the books and relaxing through them more than ROI.

Listen to learn how to get back in touch with your inner reader

Ayo describes himself as a stereotypical software engineer - an introvert that got into coding at a young age. So at university, he took on salsa as way to get him out of his shell. Through dance, Ayo has been able to be more confident both socially and at work, get leadership experience, learnt how to handle rejecting and been brought him closer to his Yoruba roots while getting some major cardio. 

It wasn’t easy for him initially. The nerves followed him throughout his salsa journey. From going to his first class, to leading in a pair, to going to socials to becoming a salsa teacher. Yet in each step he talks about how addicting he now finds each part of what makes salsa so good. He uses this to talk about how grateful he is that he took the leap.

In this episode, Ayo talks about how interconnected salsa has become in his life. He shares how learning Spanish allowed him to appreciate the songs more and see how Yoruba culture is entwined in South America. 

Listen to Ayo speak about how he started, the best way to learn in London and why salsa is the great way to be more social and get over imposter syndrome. 

Emma had an unconventional route to her job but her love for dancing has always underpinned her life. As a child in Nigeria, dancing was her way to let loose and discover herself and even now she uses dancing to get breaks from her sometimes 24/7 corporate job.

As an outlet for life, she has joined dancing groups and performed on stages, been taught by the choreographers she had spent her whole life looking up to and you explored the different genres that allow her to move her body the way she likes.

Dancing is a confidence boost for Emma as it helps her own the stage or let the stress of work wash away from her. The Euphoric feeling dancing gives her is second to none.

Listen to hear about Emma's journey, her advice for new dancers and what she thinks about TikTok dances.

Edited by Zahra Abiola

Music by Wona Igiehon

Temi used to spend a lot of his time looking at screens. Between working as a software engineer, catching up with loved ones in different countries and scrolling on TikTok, the need to get away from the hustle of his life only grew.

He has managed his urges to escape the stress of life through hiking. He has gotten many benefits from the activity. He loves the beautiful views of nature that he believes you can only truly appreciate in person. He says he can even feel the difference in air quality compared being in London that immediately lifts his spirits. Hiking and being alone with nature allows him to completely disconnect and gives him perspective on life.

Listen to hear how he finds his trails, how he managed his hikes and how he has managed to micro dose the masculine urge to disappear.

Editing by Zahra Abiola

Music by Wona Igiehon

What started out as a way for Emeka to easily find badminton opponents has gotten a mind of its own and grown to a 90 members strong community in just a few weeks. Ready Rally’s reception has been strong, with tickets for weekly sessions selling out in minutes. Emeka played a lot as a child in Nigeria and wanted to rekindle his love for the game as a way to keep fit in the winter month yet most people in the group are completely new to the sport. He’s found that people are willing to pick up new things to meet new people and are seeing the same benefits he realised in his childhood.

He has little experience organising a society but members have also been happy to split the admin so it runs smoother. The success of Ready Rally shows that there is no hobby too niche to create community from. This episodes highlights the impact of creating what you think is missing from your life and the truth of the phrase, “if you build it, they will come”. This is a testament to how putting yourself and your passions out there attracts the right people to you and to not estimate how eager people can be to get involved in new things. 

Listen to hear Emeka talk about where his inspiration for a community came from, his simple marketing tactic that proved too effective and how to start your own group with no experience. 

Editing by Zahra Abiola

Music by Wona Igiehon

Lami has always been a creative. From drawing comics in secondary to acting during university, he has always been interested to story telling. But it was when he got his first proper camera when he moved to the UK that he was able to take his love for imagery further. What started as a hobby outside of his finance role has lead to brands paying him and covering flights and hotels for him to shoot trips and experiences.

But before Dankie Sounds and Out Of Office Collective, there were his friends helping him market his work organically. They saw his talent first. They were his first customers for birthday shoots and parties and his willing models as he honed his technical skills. Though he makes money from his passion now, what underpins his photography is the joy it gives him. He will always try to make time for a collaboration that challenges him artistically because at the end of the day, he’s doing this because he loves it. No matter the work, time and learning he needs to put into it, he’s glad he can get paid doing something that brings him genuine joy while still keeping his corporate job.

He shares how others can reach their goals in photography (even with just their phones), how to get more experience and how he thinks his day job in finance makes him a better photographer.

Resources mentioned in this episodes:

Tech @ fisayofosudo

Photography community @ uk.shooters

Editing by Zahra Abiola

Music by Wona Igiehon

Desola doesn't think of herself as someone with a green thumb but has managed to grow everything from tomatoes to carrots to okra to pumpkins over the last 2 years. All on her balcony in her London flat.

Growing her own produce has given her a sense of accomplishment and responsibility that keeps her nihilism at bay and allows her to have harvest dinner parties with her friends of some of the best tasting food they've had in London.

Listen to us talk about her journey, what it has taught her, some tips about food and gardening and how to get started on your own produce gardening.

Music by Wona Igiehon