- Molly Lipson trained to be a figure skater and even appeared in Christmas pantomimes on ice.
- In 2017 she applied to be a marshal at a winter outdoor rink in central London.
I started figure-skating lessons at my local ice rink when I was 14.
But once I progressed to one-on-one lessons with a coach, I realized that my feet didn't quite do what I wanted them to, my hip flexors were too tight for the turnout that skating requires, and I was too scared to jump very high off the ice.
I started skating because I thought I'd be good at it. But when I started training, I loved it because I wasn't. It helped me deal with the pressures of school, and I met many great friends.
Despite all this, I maintained a consistent training schedule over eight years, skating between two and four times a week. I took part in a competition in 2008 and did my level-one NISA skating test.
But I didn't compete beyond that. I preferred to be in the background of Christmas pantomimes on ice, performing as Cinderella in 2007 and Peter Pan in 2008, where I melted into the background and simply enjoyed myself.
I quit skating almost completely when I moved away for university in 2012. I tried to keep it up in my first year, but there wasn't a rink nearby. Eventually, I let it go.
I only returned for a three-month stint a few years later when I was working for a social enterprise as an account manager, which made me miserable. I hated it and tried to rekindle the escapism I'd felt as a teenager.
But in 2017, the year after I graduated, a friend I'd skated with for years as a child encouraged me to apply to work at the big central London outdoor ice rink where she'd already been working for a few years.
To be selected, you need to be a skilled skater who's available for the seasonal work. When I got it, the on-ice first-aid training session was the first time I'd skated in three years. It was exhilarating. I'm now working my fourth season there.
In the application process, we were asked to upload a video of ourselves skating.
You need to have your own pair of skates and be able to skate forward, stop, and help people get up after they've fallen. The fact that I struggled to land a double axel wasn't a barrier.
The rink opens between November and January. Shifts are either for the morning sessions or the afternoon and evening, with each lasting between six and nine hours. Each session begins on the hour.
When we arrive at the rink, we choose a number that dictates the order in which we rotate between being on the ice or in skate hire.
Most sessions are sold out or close to it, so during each there are usually about 200 members of the public and five marshals on the ice.
We skate around making sure people are going in the right direction and removing anyone skating dangerously. We help people to take their first steps onto the ice if they've never skated before. We particularly help young children.
Sometimes we take on an unofficial coaching role if someone asks us how to spin or skate backward, and we offer tips to those wanting to improve their speed or stability. We might also act as physical cordons if there's an accident, liaise with the first-aid team, and ferry people off the ice at the end of the session.
In skate hire, we have between 15 and 20 minutes to exchange incoming people's shoes for skates and vice versa for those coming off the ice. Sometimes this involves us tying kids' laces and, far too frequently, helping a parent work out what size shoe their child is.
Everyone who works at the rink is a solid skater who comes from multiple disciplines. I'm one of a few figure skaters, but there are also hockey players, ice dancers, freestylers, and self-taught amateurs.
Most of us are obsessed with skating. I often work evening shifts and see marshals who worked in the morning stay long after their shift ends to practice. Because we all share a love for a sport that many of us no longer participate in seriously, the atmosphere is fun, joyful, and excitable, with a great sense of community and camaraderie.
Our pay is the London living wage, but because shifts don't take up a whole day and there's the option to work on weekends, many of us take on this role alongside studying or other jobs.
When I first started, I tended to work mornings as I tutored Spanish in after-school hours. Now, I work at the ice rink in the evenings so I can continue my freelance writing during the day. It can be exhausting, but I love it. It's the only time I still get to skate and the main time in the year I spend with my wonderful colleagues.
When I'm on the ice, I prefer gliding around slowly to attempting tricky jumps that I spent eight years trying to perfect.
(Editor's note: Lipson asked to keep the rink she works at anonymous for privacy reasons, but Insider has verified her employment.)