Glasto 2024: Mum who quit top sales job to be a DJ is performing at Glastonbury Festival

Sammy Dean, 50, was a sales manager at a newbuild property developer for more than 20 years - but she jacked it all in to be a DJ. And after performing at Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, Somerset, last year, she's been invited back to play for the second time.

Living the Glastonbury dream

The mum-of-two used to DJ at house parties but stopped when she had children. But, she still had the vinyl decks in her house in Warrington, Cheshire, so decided to re-teach herself how to play the music during lockdown. After playing at a few festivals, she jacked in her job to pursue her passion of playing house music full-time.

‘Everyone wants to play Glasto’

Mum-of-two Sammy said: "I played in one of the bars and I was really grateful to have that opportunity. 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. I've managed to get myself another set and play again so I'm just working my way up. 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."

Sammy decided to leave her old job, where she earned around £50,000 a year, because she didn't have enough holidays to keep going to different festivals. She says 'everybody said she was mental' when she told them her plans - but she wanted to do it because she realised her life could be 'cut short' at any point.

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 adds: "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. There's no cheap way of doing this - music production is expensive and going to Ibiza is.”