June Profile: Gemma Raymond
"How on earth did you get that job?" is a question I get asked a lot, mostly by blokes who went to RAU, because I think the expectation is that the shoot account manager at GunsOnPegs would be a young lad who runs a shoot and lives and breathes shooting.
I actually studied Psychology at university, then worked as an Assistant Psychologist with children and adults experiencing mild to moderate mental health conditions. I did that for a couple of years before realising two things: it was quite lonely, and I wasn't building many transferable skills. So I started looking for something else, took a fairly scattergun approach, and applied for jobs that simply looked fun.
I grew up on a farm in Hampshire, where childhood revolved around riding and school to be honest. We went on a handful of shoots a year with other farming families, though I spent most of them in the beating line. So when I thought about what I wanted to do next, the shooting industry genuinely did not cross my mind.
GunsOnPegs wasn't where I expected to end up, but it's a fantastic job. Yes, it's shooting, but it's also sales, marketing, product development, and so much more. I've learned an enormous amount. Some of it is shooting-specific. I can give you the average price of a pheasant, hold my own on steel versus lead, or tell you how the grouse season is shaping up, which comes in handy when chatting to older guns who assume I just post a few things on Instagram. But mostly I've learned how to help run a business, and that continues to be invaluable. I’ve also met so many fantastic people through shooting now and been able to experience some fantastic things (ie, Grouse lekking at sunrise in Durham) and genuinely come to really enjoy and appreciate the shooting world, where I otherwise wasn't sure I belonged.
Nobody asked for my advice, but there's a phrase I really like: "you can't be what you can't see." I agree with it, and I'd also add that even if you can't see it, you can still be it. I never saw anyone like me in the shooting industry, and I never imagined myself in it. But that doesn't matter.
