I am by nature a competitive being, not sure if it was something instilled in me, or just something I felt growing up. It was simply that I had to do well, excel and be better than others. This was not in a bad way, but rather I measured my success on where others were at. This was to also play a part during my career. I often felt that women had to go above and beyond what men did or over achieve to be seen as successful. I started my IT journey in the 90s – it was a time of high interest rates, high unemployment rates – the recession hits hard, families start to lose jobs and their homes. One morning I began the process of looking for work. Failing to find a role suitable to my qualifications (BA (Hons), Post Grad in Criminology, ) I became a bit despondent. I held two degrees but no role to be found, yet there was water everywhere (in a vast pond called Information Technology), but not a drop to drink for me.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row]
I am by nature a competitive being, not sure if it was something instilled in me, or just something I felt growing up. It was simply that I had to do well, excel and be better than others. This was not in a bad way, but rather I measured my success on where others were at. This was to also play a part during my career. I often felt that women had to go above and beyond what men did or over achieve to be seen as successful. I started my IT journey in the 90s – it was a time of high interest rates, high unemployment rates – the recession hits hard, families start to lose jobs and their homes. One morning I began the process of looking for work. Failing to find a role suitable to my qualifications (BA (Hons), Post Grad in Criminology, ) I became a bit despondent. I held two degrees but no role to be found, yet there was water everywhere (in a vast pond called Information Technology), but not a drop to drink for me.
So I decided to complete a Post Graduate in IT. I remember my first few weeks in front of a computer, I cried, not understanding the machine in front of me and I questioned whether I was ever going to conquer it, what was I thinking, how was I ever going to get this computer to do what I wanted it to do- run the program I just created.
So did I over come my fear of computers, well conquer it I did. As the passion for IT grew, I was excited, I was on the cusp of the IT revolution, I was in the forefront of something big and I couldn’t wait to learn more. I could write programs in a structured technique and it would work, I could use the computer to design any system I wanted, even a restaurant menu sales system to support businesses. I saw the possibilities and it fired off my career. There wasn’t anything IT couldn’t do. I felt I was ahead of everyone else, especially those in other industries. Yes, IT was the place to be, I wanted to live and breathe it and I still do to this day. I have never looked back on my decision to leave the Criminology/legal field. And I don’t think I ever will. You can see IT for me was always challenging, complex and broad enough to work in the field and never have the same job twice. You can clearly see from the variety of roles I have had.
- IT Technical Change Manager
- IT Disaster Recovery and Security Operations
- Solution Manager
- Project Manager
- Program Manager
- Head of Service Optimisation in Cloud
- Business Transformation and Global Delivery
I became passionate about IT and its opportunities; so much so that I sought to help other women consider IT as a career. I wanted to give back to an industry that has given me so many opportunities and promises to continue to do so.
“Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels.”Faith WhittleseySo Today, I have been
– Board member
– Mentor
– Blogger
– Go Girl Program Director
– Senior IT leader
– A mother
– A wife, a friend, a colleague
Tomorrow, I want to
– Leave a legacy behind, that I have made a difference to those coming after me