From Sport to Teaching to Finance: How Ryan Long Found His Next Career Passion

‍"If an opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”

I am from a small village in South Buckinghamshire in the U.K. but ever since I was a child, I have always been somewhat obsessed with following my passion, perfecting my craft and seeing where it can take me. I have been on several journeys throughout my life, across different careers and continents and it has all led me to being a Wealth Manager at Melbourne Capital Group.  

Professional Sport

I come from a family of footballers who have played in the English football leagues for clubs such as Watford, West Ham, QPR and Crystal Palace, so sport has always been a huge part of my life. Although I was pretty good at football, I loved rugby more and pursued a career chasing a different shaped ball to the rest of my family. I was fortunate enough to join the London Wasps academy programme at age 14 and continued with them until being contracted to play for the senior team in 2010. Following this, I also had the opportunity to play professional rugby for a year in New Zealand which was an unforgettable experience and provided many memories that I still hold dearly.  

Finding a new passion

After I returned to the U.K., it was clear that rugby was no longer going to be a viable career option for me, so I began the search for a new career that had a long-term future, while continuing to play rugby in a semi-professional capacity. I tried several careers including logistics, credit control, recruitment and personal training, but I had not yet found the satisfaction I was looking for. I decided to build on my passion for sport, got some coaching qualifications and began coaching rugby to children; this eventually led to an opportunity to work in a school as a sports coach.

Becoming a teacher

I had found my new career and quickly decided that this was my future. However, as I went straight into playing rugby after secondary school, I had not been to university and did not possess the qualifications to become a teacher. I researched potential qualifications and found a distance learning degree that I would be able to complete in my own time, so as not to affect my employment. It took 3 years of spending my evenings and weekends studying and writing essays alongside a full-time job and rugby commitments, but I became a fully qualified PE teacher.

A successful career in teaching

Once I was fully qualified, I had the platform to move up the career ladder and began to search for new roles and opportunities, including internationally. In 2019, teaching brought me to Malaysia, where I have since remained and now call home. During my teaching career, I worked in various schools with different age ranges and held many leadership positions, finishing my career as a Director of Sport & Enrichment at a reputable international school in Kuala Lumpur.  

Leaving Teaching

After being a Head of Department for several years, I did not see any further career progression for me in education; my motivation began to decline, and I decided that I had to look for my next opportunity. I still love teaching, I always will, but I was craving a new challenge and a renewed sense of purpose. I didn’t just want a career change; I wanted to continue helping people and tried to find a way of using my educational experience to do it.

Finding Melbourne Capital Group

At this point I had been close friends with Jamie Bubb-Sacklyn, Senior Wealth Manager at Melbourne Capital Group, for several years and had also recently become a client of his. My desire to find a new career away from the education sector increasingly became a topic of conversation between us, until one evening we dove deeper into the roles and responsibilities of financial planners. Like many, my opinion of people that worked in the financial sector was not particularly favourable, my knowledge of what financial advisors do was very limited, and I had also neglected taking good care of my own finances for much of my adult life.  

Although I was enjoying the conversation and learning some basic financial principles, I could never have imagined myself fitting into the world of finance. However, as Jamie began to explain several examples of how he helps and described the relationships that he develops with his clients, it all started to become more familiar to me. My interest had been piqued.  

A few more in-depth conversations followed. I met more of the team at Melbourne Capital Group and attended a client Christmas event. I spent the evening mingling with Wealth Managers and clients, trying to get a feel and understanding for the relationship that develops between the two. After hearing about the impact the Wealth team at Melbourne Capital Group were having on their clients firsthand, my decision was made, my new goal was set, and I was ready to jump headfirst into a career in financial services.

Becoming a Wealth Manager

It was 12 months ago that I made the decision to join Melbourne Capital Group. Again, I found myself in a familiar position, at the start of a new career with no experience or qualifications. It has been another challenging year of spending most of my free time studying and taking exams whilst continuing full-time employment as a teacher. However, in October 2024 I completed the CISI Level 4 in Advanced International Wealth Management and I am now proud to say that I am a fully qualified Private Wealth Manager with Melbourne Capital Group.  

What next?

The learning continues... I am committed to upskilling myself and developing my knowledge to become the best Wealth Manager I can be and to provide world class financial advice to help my clients achieve their financial goals.  

The education continues... Education has been such a big part of my life, and I plan to continue to support the education sector in any way I can. I have already successfully delivered financial education workshops for the students at several international schools in the region.

The growth continues... I am now looking to grow my network, connect with individuals and families and offer the much-needed service of personalised, holistic financial planning.  

The rugby also continues... and is still providing me with incredible opportunities, such as playing for the state of Selangor in the top league in Malaysia as well as various international tournaments worldwide.  

Connect with me, Ryan Long on Linkedin to stay updated with my journey as a Private Wealth Manager for Melbourne Capital Group and book a meeting to start securing your financial future.