Do you have any regrets about leaving academia? 

None, none at all. Not even slight. I think I was actually relieved when I decided, you know, I'm not continuing these applications, and I was quite relieved when I came runner-up in the job I did apply for and I'm quite glad I didn't get it.  

Was there ever a moment of ambivalence about leaving the PhD and academia behind and moving into a different world?

Not really because I was quite lucky in that respect because the maternity cover I had at my first school teaching job actually came in the last term of my PhD I think so there's an overlap when I had both options going at once which was really useful because as soon as I did that teaching I knew exactly what I wanted and it wasn't academia.