Benjamin Alexander is Jamaica’s first Olympic competitor in Alpine skiing. He took his initial ski lesson six years ago, aged 32, and lines up for the Giant Slalom in Beijing today. He is coached by Dudley Stokes, the Jamaican bobsleigher immortalised in the film Cool Runnings.

Born in Northamptonshire, he grew up with his Jamaican father and English mother. He DJ’d in clubs across Asia, America and Ibiza, including a 15-year stint at Burning Man. He currently lives in Austria, where he has been training for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

How did your upbringing shape your attitude to money?

My father, Keith, was one of ­Jamaica’s “barrel children”, where parents working overseas sent home barrels of goodies to extended family providing care. In 1961, he joined his parents in west London. My parents met while working in a factory. They moved to Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, to afford a property.

My father worked damn hard for very little money, and this inspired me to never be in that situation. The first time I worked in a factory holiday job, it was on a higher hourly rate than him. There was fire in my belly to do better based on not wanting the same income as my parents.

What was your first wage?

I had paper rounds earning about £5 per week, and at 12 I cleaned the shelves in our local corner shop. I was also good at convincing my parents into highly sophisticated loans. I ran rings around them mathematically from very young.

What was your first real job?

While at university, I was pulling 40 hours a week at an IT firm. Three days after my last university exam, I had a one way ticket to Thailand, with £250 in my bank account. I spent 10 years in Asia. I moved to Hong Kong, working in finance, and that’s where I started DJing, having abandoned it at uni.

Then I ditched the finance to DJ full time. In finance I earned low to mid six figures, but it’s a grind and you’re selling part of your soul. It doesn’t compare with being in a nightclub, playing music you love for other people, and to be the centre of attention and paid to be drunk.

How much did you make DJing?

I could make about $20,000 turning up with a USB stick for a night, playing someone else’s music. Flights and accommodation are paid for and typically dinner is included. After two or three days, you jump on a plane and do it again somewhere else.