Jessica Turnbull finding the balance between dual careers

This National Careers Week (NCW), Squash Australia is celebrating the hard work athletes are doing off the court to pursue their dual careers. 

Australian national senior team member Jessica Turnbull had spent the best part of six years juggling life as a professional athlete and university student. 

More recently, the Queensland-based athlete has started work as a customer service consultant for an insurance builder, where she spends most of her working days doing general administrative tasks. 

With a family heavily involved in the sport, Turnbull grew up playing squash from a young age.

“I love the community, the friendships and relationships squash has brought me,” she said. 

The sport has now become Turnbull’s main job, having recently returned to Australia from playing on the PSA Challenger Tour across Europe and North America. 

Turnbull spends around 4-5 hours a day, six days a week training excluding non-physical parts of training. She then splits her time 1-2 days a week, working at the insurance builder around her training commitments.

“I'm very new to it [balancing work and sport], I studied for six years and balancing study and squash was much easier,” Turnbull explained. 

“I am fortunate to have a very flexible employer who supports my professional squash career and understands that squash is my priority so being able to be honest about my needs is a huge help in balancing the two.”

A day out of the office, sees the World Doubles silver medallist try to squeeze in three training sessions - a one-on-one with her coach Nathan Turnbull, either a gym or conditioning session and taking her dog out for a walk or run. 

However, trying to balance work and being a high-performance athlete isn’t always easy and the 26-year-old says she has to be self-disciplined in the way she balances everything.

“It's completely up to me how hard I work, how hard I train, and how many sessions I do,” Turnbull said. 

“The hardest part about balancing is not dropping commitment or standard in squash when you are so tired from work but I’m very lucky to work where I do.”

What has helped Turnbull in finding that balance has come from the lulls she had in between her sessions.

“That motivated me to want to get a job, and wanting to work and occupy my brain helps me want to do both,” Turnbull said.

National Career Week aims to celebrate careers, career development, and career development practitioners.