Age: 36

Role: Senior relationship manager, small business centre, Bank of Bermuda

What is your job? My team and I assist clients of the bank with starting and running a small business. This includes a wide range of activities including: establishing and maintaining an account, reviewing and approving loans or overdraft requests and providing clients with the right banking tools to help them grow and develop their small businesses.

What is your favourite part of the job? The best part of my job is meeting with new entrepreneurs and helping them set up and grow a small business. It is very rewarding to see a small business start from scratch and then walk by their shop or see them on their job site with a big grin on their face and hear them say "this was my dream and thanks for helping me to get there". That is one of the best feelings in the world.

What is your least favourite part of the job? Telling someone "no" to their loan request. Boy, it can sometimes be difficult, because many small business entrepreneurs hold their business ideas very close to their hearts. This means, when you are saying "no" it is like telling them that their dream won't be realised in the way that they have dreamt all along. However, some people use this as an opportunity to reinvent their idea and come back stronger than before. That is the true definition of making lemonade out of lemons.

What is your most interesting experience at work? One of the most interesting experiences in my working career was getting my tie stuck in a shredder. It was my first office job and I was shredding documents when my tie was pulled in. I managed to pull the plug out of the shredder before it strangled me to death, but it had shredded the tie almost up to the knot. Fearing that I would be fired for being an idiot, I put on a coat in the middle of August and walked around the office to hide the shredded tie. My boss saw me and demanded that I remove the jacket and because I feared for my job I stalled in taking it off. When I finally took off the jacket he laughed, told everyone and then told me to go to HR and get a requisition for a new tie. So, I ended up with a new tie for being an idiot. Not a bad deal.

What would you be doing otherwise? Sitting on a beach renting beach umbrellas and chairs. Also, a scuba diving instructor sounds like a good job as well.

Interview by Alex Wright