Career
I left university with a degree in German and, quite frankly, very little idea of what I wanted to do with myself. After a year spent in Austria as an English language teaching assistant, I knew I wanted to work in environments that would challenge me and give me access to different languages and cultures. I started as a summer intern at a AAA games studio, transcribing audio, writing subtitles, and getting my start in quality assurance. This led to my next five years in the games industry as a QA tester, then a QA lead. Working in games across console, PC, and mobile, I always had an interest in the proper running of projects, and in 2018 I found my opportunity to start working as an associate producer. Working on multiple titles, within a year, I got my chance to lead on a title myself and became a producer. During this time, I certified as an Agile project manager and forged my attitude towards project management.
Working in games was a wild ride, but I found that I was allowing myself to get too narrow in my focus and wanted to branch out. Taking the chance when it came along, I hopped industries to scrap metal recycling. It sounds like a big change, but I was still working with a digital development team, delivering projects to please customers and stakeholders – this is where I learned that the fundamentals of project delivery never change.
After five years in this role in an ever-growing team, I took a redundancy as an opportunity to re-evaluate my situation. What do I want? What do I enjoy about what I do? How can I get more of this and less of what I do not value? Throughout my career in tech, I had maintained a career as a freelance translator, but I knew I did not want to drop all of the experience I had accumulated in project delivery and my industries.
I took a contract as a digital asset manager and used the language skills I have, as well as the SEO experience I gained while working in digital development. This has been an incredible chance to prove to myself that the skills I accumulated over the years have paid off. I took to this new avenue with great success.
Working now as a contractor across project delivery, Agile coaching, digital management, and translation, I have realised the joy of the new work ecosystem we find ourselves in for someone as lucky as I am to have been in so many industries: I do not have to choose!
Life
Originally from the glamorous metropolis of Bedford, I went to university in London. After spending some time living in Germany, Austria and Denmark, I came back to London, where I settled for some time. A few years ago, my partner and I relocated to Brighton, where I now spend my time playing rugby with the local LGBT team, the Brighton and Hove Sea Serpents, as well as spending time on the beach with friends and family. My partner and I are hoping to get a cat soon! Updates will surely follow…
