Social media handle(s): LinkedIn
A few words about me:
I live in Bicester (near the famous Bicester Village Designer Outlet) with my wife, Sarah, and our 2 adorable Miniature Schnauzers, Milo and Izzy.
I love spending time with family and friends, and in particular, our 12 year old nephew. My favourite things to do are walking the dogs, entertaining, going to the theatre, live music and comedy.
We love to take the dogs away in the UK and have recently found a new happy place - Widemouth Bay in Cornwall. The dogs had a great time on the beach and it's a great place to visit other places, such as Newquay, Padstow and Bude. And the cream teas and pasties are amazing! We've already booked up to go again this year as well as next!
Are there any professional experiences you've had that are quite unexpected compared to what you do nowadays?
I wouldn't say that I've had any 'unusual' roles, although as I look back, they now feel very dated! For example, I used to have to log in manuscripts to the system for publishing - there were boxes of paper with manuscripts in everywhere!
Is your background more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) or non-STEM related?
Probably non-STEM - I would say my background is publishing and print until recently. Now I have moved over to the digital world!
Where did your professional journey start?
I went straight from A-levels into working full-time. I started my career at Elsevier Ltd, a publisher in Oxford. I actually spent a lot of my career there as I was made redundant from there twice. I started in a junior/assistant role and worked my way through various roles in the Production department there, working on books and journals.
I've also worked as a Marketing Executive for another publisher and for a printer as an Account Manager then more recently, back to Elsevier as a Print on Demand Team Manager where I managed a team who worked on the set up of books with printers, monitored TATs and customer orders.
I then I moved to Pearson, where I was a Delivery Manager for 3 years. And now I find myself working for a fabulous digital agency, where I'm learning lots about the public sector and all things digital/tech!
How did you get into tech and what motivated you?
I have been in publishing and print for all of my career and I wanted to transfer the skills and experience I've gained over the years and take it over into the digital/tech space. I was blown away by dxw, how they work, how they care about their customers, and the kinds of things that they do for both their customers and their employees. I was over the moon when I was offered this position!
Have you experienced any 'career in tech' challenges / stereotypes?
I think the main thing I faced over the years was redundancy! I have been made redundant 3 times, but I'm the kind of person that turns a negative into a positive and used that challenge to move onto something better and different, which has always worked out well for me! And I also take redundancy as a positive in the end, because it often means you're doing something so efficiently, that there is no need for that position/team in its current state.
"If you're interested in a career in tech, just go for it!"
What you wish you knew before getting started in tech...
There isn't much that comes to mind - I'm fairly new to tech and just enjoying learning at the moment!
What has been your biggest 'wow!' moment related to working in tech so far?
I think how committed everyone is to do the best job for customers!
What do you like / not like about working in tech?
I love to see what we're working towards and what benefits it will bring to people. We are generally solving problems for people/industries and that's a nice thing to be part of.
"Tech is what makes the world turn and it is being used more and more each day!"
What's been your favourite / most memorable / funniest 'career in tech' moment so far?
Too early to say at the moment but I'm looking forward to a funny moment !!!
And to wrap up, is there any advice you'd like to give to others interested in a career in tech?
If you're interested in a career in tech, just go for it! Tech is what makes the world turn and it is being used more and more each day!
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