Starting out in the tech world. What’s the worst that could happen?

With a career spanning different job titles, different industries and quite a varied skillset, I think it’s safe to say I’ve not followed the conventional career path I expected. Retail, operations, management, travel alerts - the one thing that has been consistent is my growth and passion for marketing. Having built up a substantial portfolio in blogging, social media, public speaking, and working hard to establish my personal brand within the world of travel, I was ready to take on the next challenge and move into something new. I wanted to really push myself to my limits, test my resilience and also, be part of something bigger.

It was time to move into tech.

What I wasn’t anticipating is how hard it would be adjusting to being from at the top of my game, to having to – almost – start from the beginning. Regardless of the different sectors I’ve worked in, in the past, there is something very different about being in tech. Ironically, it was always a place I had felt very included. However, being new to the role, to the industry, I did find myself struggling to find where could I fit in. It’s difficult to know where to learn the technical basics, where would you even start? Content writing doesn’t work in the same way, is it even possible to create evergreen tech content? And the community seemed so tight knit, how on earth is a non-techie - an outsider, supposed to fit in? All of these questions played on my mind as I tried to establish my position and still find the opportunity to show off why I belonged here.

Earlier this week, I attended Reframe WIT, a community not-for-profit conference hosted by Beckie Taylor from Tech Returners, an event geared specifically towards changing the narrative of women in tech. I attended with my company Mobica as a sponsor of the event, as we are committed to supporting the tech community in Manchester and want to help be part of the change that encourages more young women to come into the industry. The event was jam packed with talks from inspiring women sharing their journeys and how they found, or even in some instances, forced their way into the world of tech.

Having no real ‘tech’ background, I was starting to feel like I would never catch up and that maybe, just maybe, I had misjudged my ability to soak in the information I required to not just do my job, but to really do it well. And then Claire Reckless hit the stage to share her insight into ‘imposter syndrome.’ And from that point on everything else seemed to fall into place. One after the other, speakers hopped on stage sharing nuggets of gold for us to takeaway on issues such as changing industries, business leadership, diversity, inclusion and reflect on quotes such as ‘comparison is the thief of joy,’ ‘Be authentic, focus on your strengths’ and a killer line from Penny Haslam, ‘don’t sit in your own pee for too long’ (you probably had to be there for that one).

It was exactly what I needed to hear to remind me why I and so many other women choose this path. I wanted to be part of a company that is helping to build innovative technologies; be part of a community that is contributing to our digital futures; and land a role where I am able to learn something new every day.

Reframe was also an opportunity for me to see Stacey Copeland, someone who I’ve spent a fair bit of time with, but never had the opportunity to hear her present (on stage that is, seen plenty of her presenting in a studio!). She’s the kind of Manc we should all be proud of and take the time to see and meet at some point. She pointed out that as humans we have two fires inside us – the fire of injustice and the fire of passion.

With several personal tragedies having taken place over the last few months, it’s been very easy to slip into a mindset of feeling like my close friends and family members have been dealt some serious injustices that have consequently impacted upon me heavily too - especially as I try to navigate my new job. But I’ve also discovered that my personal drive and passion to excel has enough fire to keep me going and after a solid six hours of motivational female insight – I plan on definitely knocking it up a few notches and really make myself at home within an industry that I already love, doing a job that I am absolutely capable of.

For anyone, in any industry, looking to work in the tech community, here’s my tuppence to share: Don’t worry about what you don’t know – you will learn. Trust in your values, your skill set and make the effort to immerse yourself in the constantly evolving nature of the tech world.

Take a leap of faith and have confidence in your own abilities to deliver.

I mean... what’s the worst that could happen? 

To donate to the Reframe WIT chosen charity, Pave The Way click here > https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-support-pave-the-way?pc=&rcid=r01-157227910622-62a5c8096b944bbe

Thank you to Beckie, Natalie and everyone who was involved in putting this event together.