It’s about 2013, I’m a recent university graduate, a wide-eyed and keen emerging producer in my early twenties and listening to a talk with an established producer who tells us about a turning point in her career. “I took my show overseas to Edinburgh Fringe — I knew it would do well there,” she tells us, “And from there the touring opportunities opened up and the show took off.”

It’s an idyllic success story, but I was concerned not with the show’s subsequent touring but the key programming decision on which so much was initially risked.  “How were you so certain it would succeed in Edinburgh?” I asked.  To which she replied, “I’m not entirely sure. I just knew.” “I just knew”?!  At the time I wasn’t satisfied by that answer, but I didn’t have any other, so I shelved the question and allowed it to pop back to the front of my consciousness each time my developing experience could contribute a piece of information towards an answer. I think now, somewhat further along in my producing and programming career, I’m able to articulate what was meant, and hope it might help some others navigate their paths.  ...