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16.04.2025
Dan Jermy’s Sabbatical from Wilton & Bain
Taking Time to Recharge: A Q&A with Wilton & Bain’s Dan Jermy.
After 12 years at the company, Partner Dan Jermy took a well-earned sabbatical from Wilton & Bain to focus on personal goals, family time, and launching a new community initiative. From qualifying for the Boston Marathon to founding Dadspace, Dan’s time away from work was packed with personal milestones and reflections on balance and life outside the office. As well as what’s next for him now he’s back at work.
In this Q&A, Dan talks about his sabbatical; his achievements, and the unexpected lessons learnt along the way.
What inspired you to take a sabbatical, and how did you plan for it?
I knew I had a sabbatical in the bank, based on the amount of time I have been at the firm. However, there never seemed to be the right time to take it. However, I was fortunate that at the end of 2024, to land the largest placement of my career, and this, combined with a slower market in professional services, suggested that I had definitely earned a break!
Did your perspective on work-life balance change whilst you were away?
I have to admit that it has been very nice not having to commute or go to an office for a few weeks. The truth is, though, that by the end of the time, I was missing being in the city and around colleagues. I have certainly loved being able to spend more time with my young son, taking him to his daycare, midday “boobs and babies” classes at the library, clinic appointments and so on.
In fact, I got into a great routine of dropping him off in the morning with the nanny, and at the same time bringing my dog along too. She has seriously benefited from lovely long walks and particularly at a time of day when there have been few others around and we had the trails to ourselves.
This experience has allowed me to really appreciate what might be regarded as the smaller things in life, but which have actually proven to be very special.
You accomplished so many things during your sabbatical from Wilton & Bain. Was there one experience that stood out the most?
The two weeks spent back home in the UK were amazing. We travelled there at the end of February, and we were unusually fortunate with the weather. It must have been the only two weeks ever where we had almost uninterrupted sunshine. My wife and son came too, with my wife flying back earlier to start a new job while my son and I stayed on for a further week.
We were based not far from Oxford and thoroughly enjoyed the peace of the greenery and countryside as well as precious family time. Although this experience culminated in an 11-hour flight back to the USA, with a tired and fractious 16-month-old. I’m not sure I’ve recovered from this experience yet!
Tell us more about Dadspace. What inspired you to start it, and what do you hope to achieve with it?
DadSpace started with four friends and their young kids running around the lake on a Saturday morning. Quickly, it evolved into a core part of the weekly schedule that we all very much looked forward to each week. As a result, we had the idea to open it up to other dads and kids.
Our vision was simple: to create a welcoming space where dads and dads-to-be could meet up, connect, share experiences, and build friendships. As fathers, we recognized that men often find it harder to open up, to form strong social networks and to access the kind of support groups that mothers have. By coming together, through a shared interest in running and good coffee, I feel that we’ve built more than just a running group — we’ve created a space for conversation, learning, advice and physical and emotional support.
We now have a group of around 30 dads who come along for a Saturday morning run, followed by coffee and breakfast tacos. We hope to continue to grow awareness of our community and encourage more dads and kids to join us.
How did it feel to qualify for the Boston Marathon?
It felt like a great achievement. I’ve long had a personal goal of running a sub-3-hour marathon. My training was going well, and my goal until about 3 weeks before the race was to complete the marathon in 3 hours and 15.
I was feeling in really good shape, and my training runs were getting faster. On the day of the marathon, I finished with a time of 2.57, which I was delighted with. The Boston Marathon is the most iconic and highly regarded event on the calendar, since you can only become eligible to run the race with a qualifying time. This makes it exclusive, as well as fast. I’m excited to get back to training and try to break the 2-hour 50 barrier.
“I’ve always had a goal of running a sub-3 hour marathon, and this one somewhat snuck up on me.”
My big dream, though, is to run London one day. Whilst Boston may be an athlete’s dream, London is a Londoner’s dream race!
Breaking your leg must have been a huge setback! How are you dealing with the forced change in plans during your sabbatical?
This was incredibly frustrating, and I still don’t think I have fully processed it. The main focus in my life over the last few months has been on training for the Ironman event taking place in April this year. I had been training 5-6 hours a day, across swimming, running, cycling, gym, etc with a goal of getting as race fit as possible. To have lost the opportunity to participate because of my injury has been incredibly disappointing. I have put an enormous amount of energy and time into getting to this stage of readiness, only to have it snatched away from me.
I guess that a (very small) silver lining is that the accident happened at the end of my sabbatical rather than at the start. If it had been the latter, then I might have spent the entire time in recovery and rehab, which would not have been fun! Although perhaps I would feel more rested and refreshed!
We know giving back is something you really value. How did your sabbatical help you get more involved in volunteering or charitable work?
Another benefit of the sabbatical was being able to spend more time volunteering for a number of causes close to my heart. This is something that over the last few years has become a key part of the lives of my wife and I.
We have supported several animal rescue and welfare charities locally, however the time commitment has become more difficult with a little one at home.
Thankfully, the sabbatical opened up extra hours in my week and I am grateful that I could spend time with some charities that we already know, as well as getting to know a couple of new ones.
These experiences really help to put things into perspective and have made me realize how fortunate I am.
What were some unexpected challenges or lessons you took away after your sabbatical from Wilton & Bain?
Launching Dadspace has been a great success and at the same time something of a learning curve, especially in terms of the ‘paperwork’ involved. For instance, we have been required to create and register the company so as to legitimize our community, as well as for reasons of public liability.
This demonstrated to me that starting something entrepreneurial is definitely possible, and the next step for us is to continue to grow our community and possibly to diversify into associated apparel/retail. We are currently working with a manufacturer to produce running shirts and hats. So I am getting to understand the tariff situation firsthand!
At the same time as all this has been happening, my brother and I have also been exploring the option of starting up another kind of side hustle in the fitness industry. We had contemplated launching a padel and wellness center locally, but sadly, the permitting process and bureaucracy was simply too painful and expensive! After writing out the business plans and turning our minds towards financing, we decided to curtail the project for now.
Disappointing of course, but nevertheless good experience. One for the future…
Do you think more companies should encourage sabbaticals for long-term employees?
Absolutely! The most precious commodity we have is time. More often than not, what we do with our time isn’t our choice. The freedom I have felt during this experience has been just fantastic. It’s given me an idea of how it must feel to be retired, and now I’ll be hoping I strike it lucky and earn myself an early one!
- It feels good to be back in the swing of it with work, and I’m excited to continue to support all of our current clients as well as look forward to partnering with new clients in 2025 and beyond.
- Getting fit again is a priority. Fortunately, the leg break isn’t as bad as it could have been and so it’ll be a case of; fix the leg, fix the bike and get back out there.
- Expanding and continuing to develop Dadspace and seeing where this leads. Who knows, we could be the next Park Run, so watch this space.
- We have baby #2 on the way in September, so we’re making the most of this relative calm before the storm.
- No Ironman medal this year, but I intend to resolve this one – at some point.
This sabbatical has helped me to genuinely understand that time is our most valuable resource. Being able to offer even a small portion of it to a cause in need is one of the most meaningful and impactful gifts we can give. One of my take aways from this experience is to try to do more of this as well as encourage others to dedicate a few hours to support causes they care about—you might be surprised by how deeply rewarding it feels!
Dan is back in the office and keen to reconnect with clients and candidates old and new, please email on dan.jermy@wilton-bain.com.
Dan Jermy | Partner
