Did you enjoy school?
I loved everything about school. I particularly loved the social interactivity with the other children, teachers and wider support staff, including the Catholic Nuns who led my secondary school. They were fierce women, totally dedicated to providing opportunities and improving the lives of the girls in my school and wider community, which included a few deprived areas.
What qualifications do you have?
My highest formal qualification is a BA in Geography, which feels like a lifetime ago now. I do believe in continuous learning even if what I am studying doesn’t come with a formal qualification. Stay curious!
Has your career path been a smooth transition, a rocky road or a combination of both?
Looking back, I don’t think I can say I had a clear career path in mind. I have navigated my way into digital and leadership with one common denominator – solving problems using solutions which often have digital as part of them.
I started my career doing admin for an organisation who trained unemployed people in Liverpool and then found them jobs, it was so rewarding. I then moved to doing similar but for graduates leaving university.
My sales career started in 1998 at Xerox, knocking on doors of businesses in Manchester selling photocopiers and printers, which I can honestly say set me up with the skills of asking questions, being curious and looking for problems I could solve.
For the next 13 years I was selling e-learning solutions and found a love of working for healthcare customers, where I truly felt our solutions were having organisational and societal impact, which gives me great satisfaction. In 2013, I moved to IBM and stayed for nine years, initially selling HR software and services, before becoming a client executive with a set of healthcare customers, where I could orchestrate the full IBM portfolio of solutions to drive digital transformation.
In 2022 I moved to DXC remaining focused on healthcare and in 2024 I became the leader of the Healthcare business in the UK, working with a fantastic team of colleagues who design and deliver digital solutions and services for our customers; driving excellence in all we do and enable our customers to digitally transform and reap the benefits that digital solutions bring them, their workforce and their patients.
What is the best career advice you can give to others?
Find something you are passionate about and you get joy and satisfaction from. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or make mistakes; they are all opportunities to learn and grow and be curious to learn from others.
If you had to pick one mentor, that had the biggest influence on you, who would it be?
I’ve had so many people who have influenced me over the years, but if I had to pick one, I would say Janine Cook, who was the leader of public sector at IBM. She was the catalyst to my leadership journey, and her actions, words of encouragement and support will stay with me forever. I cannot stress the impact mentoring has on both mentor and mentee. I mentor a few other women, making sure they have a safe space to grow, and I can honestly say the reverse mentoring I get especially from the younger women is priceless.
From where do you draw inspiration?
I draw inspiration from so many places, but mainly from the users of our services and solutions as the impact we have is truly inspirational. The diverse team of people I work with; my Powerhouse Circle of women who support me and other women around us and my family, who inspire me to make a difference and to face challenges with determination, humility and kindness.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced to date?
I would say finding a balance between work and family life and that continues. It’s not always easy to have a balance, but if you can accept that sometimes work will trump family time and sometimes family time trumps work time it makes it easier. Don’t feel guilty about making hard choices, make them with conviction and see them through; do what works for you. Another challenge I continue to face is having to intentionally step in as the only female leader at the table in a male dominated industry. The number of female leaders at the table is improving, and we must encourage and support more women to step in and step up.
What qualities do you feel makes a good leader?
I believe a good leader has compassion, empathy, clarity and hope to inspire others. A good leader knows the types of people in their team and understands how to get the best out of everyone: who needs a cuddle and who needs a kick up the bum if you like! They support diversity and inclusion and allow people to contribute, have a voice and feel appreciated with an open-door policy that is non-judgemental.
One of the most important qualities that makes a good leader is the ability to drive the team in the right direction by using the experts around them and accepting they alone don’t have all the answers. I also believe a good leader brings good energy when the energy from others is dropping or has dropped, the ability to elevate is an important quality of a good leader.
From a work viewpoint what has the last 12 months been like?
It’s been exciting, and at the same time challenging. I have been embracing many opportunities to drive forward a series of initiatives to support Women in Tech in public sector and healthcare roles via the DXC #LeadersLounge events which are safe spaces for women to share, discuss, challenge and network with other women, these run quarterly.
I was a panellist on the Women in Project Management Conference for International Women’s Day, which was amazing to be part of and surrounded by such creative women from different organisations and backgrounds. I am part of the #BeBold Women Leadership Coaching Programme, which is a DXC programme created by two amazing strong women Marion Barlas and Amy Mulford, which is all about how being bold empowers women. I have given talks to Years 8 and 11 in my daughter’s secondary school sharing what a career in technology looks like to encourage young people to consider a career in digital; this is both exciting and scary at the same time but always rewarding.
The challenging parts of the last 12 months have been losing a large contract which came to a natural contract end and seeing a large team broken up and scattered to other parts of the organisation, leave the organisation altogether, or move to new suppliers. Having to fill the gap this has left in my business is a challenge, but on the positive side the ability to spend more time with new prospects and customers and create new solutions for them has been exhilarating.
What would you say are the biggest tech-based challenges we face today?
Speed of change is the big challenge we face today. AI is driving exponential change, yet organisations are struggling to keep up with it. It is far too common to hear AI is the answer, but what is the question? People are worried AI will replace their jobs, so we need to allow AI to demonstrate it can reduce admin burden, the mundane and human heavy tasks and then retrain or educate the workforce to work higher up the stack to validate, govern and train AI, whilst ensuring there is human in the loop for those situations that need a contextualised view. Embracing AI and proving it’s worth will give assurance and drive acceptance, we must support people to change their skillset and not feel threatened.
A big tech-based challenge in healthcare is the amount of change that usually comes with a new digital transformation, or solution, yet the lack of provision to address this change. Being aware of this and ensuring the right people with the right skills, expertise and experience are part of the project team co-designing and collaborating and are given the time and encouragement to contribute will help address this challenge and go a long way to ensure a successful outcome.
What can be done to encourage more women into the industry?
I believe the more women there are the more women will be encouraged into the industry; we can and should be our own influencers! I am a firm believer that by sharing our experiences, our achievements, and our struggles with others they will realise it’s not all balding middle-aged men, but a diverse group of women who are hugely successful in the tech industry and we are all from diverse backgrounds, educational levels and experiences.
We must demonstrate that the myths about working in the tech industry are just that, myths. Programmes like the DXC Digital Futures Academy (DFA) is a secondary school age programme which brings several schools together from an area of deprivation to join an outreach STEM programme over a four year period, we ensure 50 percent of each cohort are female. I believe specific programmes like the DFA and our STEM ambassadors and school careers talks are essential to encourage young women into the industry from an early age. Ensuring we promote gender diversity in our talent acquisition processes, promoting flexible working locations and patterns and sponsoring Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that generate community and encourage women to have a voice, feel heard, supported and encouraged will all contribute to encouraging more women into the industry.
Give us a fact about you that most other people wouldn’t know.
I wear my heart on my sleeve, so most people who know me know lots about me, there isn’t much else to share. However, most people wouldn’t know I have a thing for true crime and when I grow up I want to be a real-life detective. Always solving problems!
