Sara Domville (née Evans, class of 1984) – Life After Merchants
Life has an interesting way of twisting and turning to craft a journey that I would never have imagined when I joined MTGS in 1977. As I look back from my home in Cincinnati, Ohio surrounded by my 4 sons, having survived cancer and an exhilarating media career, I am reminded fondly of my time at the school. There I made great friends, with whom I am in constant contact thanks to Facebook, was educated to the highest level, but most importantly, I was given the opportunity to aim high and thrive. The unquestioning ability to be the best version of yourself instilled on me by my inspiring teachers is an attitude that has stayed with me from these early impressionable days and allowed me to prosper in the professional world.
I ‘graduated’ in 1984 and went onto Lucie Clayton’s College, London where I discovered the publishing industry. Happily I found my sweet spot by combining financial acumen and creativity and thrived. I initially joined Penguin, went on to Macmillan, worked for the Tolkien Estate whilst at Harper Collins before being made a Rights Director for Reed Consumer Books at 27. There I worked with the top children’s authors and licensed properties in the world including Thomas the Tank Engine, Winnie the Pooh and specialized in negotiating deals as I became a frequent globetrotter! Wanting to learn more, I decided to expand my expertise into Adult books and joined David&Charles in 1998 in the West Country as their International Sales Director responsible for adult and children’s books. I soon became the Publisher, progressed to Managing Director as we created a global publishing programme and transitioned the company. With a new distribution deal in place, I then sold the business to F+W based in Ohio but with 18 offices around the US, became the President of F+W Book Division in 2005 and subsequently the President of the whole company. It became imperative to continue to transition and use change as a competitive advantage as we evolved the business from a print company to a content and ecommerce company employing 800 people worldwide and focusing on four key pillars ‘content, community, curation and commerce’. After 17 happy years, I have just left F+W and as a new American citizen have just started my own media business, Domville Media LLC so a whole new learning curve as a new chapter is just beginning…
MTGS taught me so much more than how to pass exams, they taught me to live to learn and never stop trying to be the best version of who you are. Find your passion and follow it, treasure your friends and family along the way and embrace the challenges you encounter as they will help you grow and will enable you and others to fly.
Sara Domville (née Evans, class of 1984)
