From her first job, at 11, cleaning a factory floor, Anne-Marie Newland has always worked – as a choreographer, as a drummer for Toyah and as a yoga teacher – while raising four children. Then, when Covid struck, her life took yet another turn
Anne-Marie Newland is a mistress of career change. By the time she opened her shop, Sweet Charity, in Kensington Market in 1982, selling psychedelic clothing to, among others, Annie Lennox and Kim Wilde, she was 25 and had already pursued several paths. At 19, she had choreographed dancers for Vangelis and covered classes for Arlene Phillips, who had taught Newland at the London Contemporary Dance School. She was a youth worker and played drums in bands, briefly with Toyah Willcox. Later, she became a “stay-home mother” to four children, “the highlight of [her] life”, and for many years she worked as a yoga teacher and trainer. But it still feels surprising to hear her say that, at 66, she qualified as a security guard.
As about-turns go, the yoga mat to the security tabard feels like a sharp one. “It is all about psychology,” Newland says. As a security guard, “you have to be very observant. You have to be willing to challenge, without being aggressive. I have had antiterrorist training, terrorist-awareness training, how to arrest people, how to de-escalate.” And she has found she is good at it.
