Humans of Analyze - Norma-Jean Samuriwo's Story

“I remember a lot from my early childhood. It was a happy, expansive time – full of adventure, travel, learning, and that sense of limitless possibilities. These are the memories that feel especially engraved in me, perhaps because they are the only part of my story that my dad still lives in.

Losing him at the age of seven was really tough. Yet his impact on my life has never left...

Like his strong sense of justice. I can still see him marching right into my preschool headmistress’s office after I casually mentioned that I couldn’t sit with my friend at lunch because all of the white kids ate separately. We never set foot in that school again.

He was always like this: our strongest supporter—instilling in us kids an unshakeable belief in ourselves and our place in the world.

He believed in us, he believed the best in people, and he always stood up for what he believed in.

Like my dad, I’m also passionate about what I believe in.

In my case though, it’s not just people, but process optimisation.

At its core, process optimisation is really just about helping people to get the most out of their tools, work and lives.

I’ve always looked at the world like this. If I walk into a shopping centre, and there’s a handle on a door that says ‘Push’ – it really bothers me! If a door is meant to be pushed, why does it have a handle on it at all?

I walk through all of life thinking, “How could this product/place/process be tweaked to make life and work easier instead of harder?”

And I’m not afraid to get stuck in. I love to fix things, especially complex problems. That’s how I stumbled into my career actually...

After studying economics, I got the opportunity to intern at an organisation. They didn’t have any one specific thing for me to do, so I just went from one department to the next, naturally gravitating toward the problems. I’d work out what wasn’t working well, then go back to my supervisors and suggest a solution. After a while, they broke the news to me: “Norma-Jean, you’re not an economist – you’re a business analyst!”

Sometimes we’re just too close to see what’s right in front of us.

While I may not have come from the typical tertiary background of most business analysts, I think this has served me (and my clients) well. It’s allowed me to approach things from a different angle. I don’t tend to look at things the way everyone else does—and I’ve learnt this is a strength, not a weakness.

After several years honing my skills, I joined the Analyze team at the end of 2019. Everything came together so easily. I could immediately tell that this was an organisation that had a real heart for people, and that really struck a chord with me.

These days, I’m grateful that I get to bring all of me to work... my analytical problem-solving skills, my creative side, my ability to create a space for everyone in a project to feel heard and seen, and my love for connecting with people.

By bringing my whole self to work, I hope to inspire others to do the same.”