Meet Debbie

In our latest blog we caught up with digital explorer Debbie.

 Tell us about yourself 

 I was brought up in a small town called Boston in Lincolnshire, England.  I didn't go to the best of schools (I was the only person to go on to do A levels in my year), but I enjoyed learning and subsequently secured a place at the University of Coventry to study a degree in Technical Communication. 

When I graduated, I got a job as a technical author before moving on to Nokia Mobile Phones. My degree helped me a lot because it was all about translating technical information into everyday language. At Nokia I combined technical specifications with graphic design, which I loved!  

 The role quickly developed into that of a UX Designer, designing the user interface of mobile phones that were being used by millions of people worldwide. At that time, Nokia was the Apple of it’s day and I felt proud to be working for such a highly respected brand. I stayed at Nokia for over 10 years, ending up in the global design management team.  

 Once I got married and had my first child, I went back to work three days a week. Within about three months I was pregnant with my second child so I took eight months maternity leave and at that point I decided to pause my career.  

 After about a year of being at home with our children, an unexpected opportunity came up, freelancing for a company called What Users Do (WUD). It was a Usability Analyst role - analysing videos of people using digital platforms (websites, apps etc) and making recommendations on how the digital experience could be improved for the user. The operating model of WUD suited me down to the ground, it was home-based (ahead of it’s day!), freelance, offered flexible working hours and was a natural fit with my past career. 

How did you find out about Digital Gum? 

 It was my husband who heard about it and suggested I give it a go. I had gotten to the point where all three children were in school and I just thought, you know what, it is time for life to be more about me. I’d invested 10 years mainly on the kids, I was turning 40 and so in terms of the timing it was just perfect.  

 The fact that it was aimed at people wanting to get back into work, it was kind of like fate. Had it come along the year before I wouldn’t have been mentally ready for it.  It wasn’t just about digital skills, it was about gaining the confidence that I needed to get me back, having the time to think about whether I really wanted to go back to full time work with a company instead of the ad-hoc freelancing. It was also an opportunity to go out and meet like-minded people - I was thinking if I can push myself to do that then perhaps, I can push myself to start my career journey again. 

How did you feel day one?  

 I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to day one, but I attended an intro session where you could learn a bit more about the course. I just remember Louize saying to everyone “just say your name and who you are”… but I couldn’t! I never said my name and I never said who I was.  

 As crazy as it sounds, I didn’t have the confidence to introduce myself to a room full of ‘strangers’. I remember coming home and being very cross with myself and thinking maybe I can't do this - I’m not ready - but after some soul-searching I became even more determined to make a go of it. 

I was a little nervous day one, but I was ready for it. Everyone was just really nice and friendly, so I was quite relieved and thought I’m going to be okay. 

 It’s hard to pick specific bits of the course as my favorite parts, I just loved the learning. I really enjoyed the Canva and social media elements and I still I remember doing some really creative Facebook posts. I also enjoyed the Wordpress part, creating my own website - I didn’t need to do it, but it was fun to do.  

 I enjoyed the different companies coming in and talking to us about their workplaces and company cultures. I actually spent a week doing some work experience with one of the companies which was brilliant and a great way of preparing me for the next chapter in my career. 

Were you one of the students who did their homework straight away or the night before?  

I have to confess - I was one of the students who did their homework straight away. I really enjoyed the teamwork aspects, working together, and that reminded me why I wanted to go back to work in an office. It wasn’t necessarily about being in an office but being part of a team. When I was freelancing it was really just me producing work for somebody and there was no real feedback. 

 How did you feel about the pitch back to the charity? 

 Whilst I loved working on the digital audit of our charity as part of the course work I was terrified about the pitch. It was a good experience though and I can definitely understand why Louize makes us all do it. I remember I was in a team with Emma and she was really supportive. 

 What are you up to now? 

I really got my appetite to find a job after completing the course and I’ve been working at Sage for over two years now. It was really helpful to talk through my CV with Louize and we had a call before the interview as well, to help me prepare. As it was my first job interview in years, I was delighted to be offered the role and couldn’t quite believe it. It’s a full-time job - I have gone from ad-hoc freelancing to literally full-on, full-time nine-to-five, almost overnight, but Sage has been fantastic and I was recently was promoted to Senior User Experience Researcher. 

 Getting back into the workplace has boosted my confidence in so many ways. Whereas I couldn’t bring myself to go into London on my own previously, now I have the confidence to fly to the US on my own.  

 How has lock-down been for you? 

 Lockdown hasn’t really affected my job because we are always online anyway. We've now started working a lot more closely with an American team, so my days are becoming longer because of the 8hr time difference.  The worst part about lockdown has been home-schooling. My eldest has had so much homework and he is not a massive fan of studying at the best of times - so it's just been a bit of a battle. 

 Why would you recommend Digital Gum to someone?

 It offers a unique blend of digital skills, soft skills and networking. The people you meet are like-minded and everyone is very welcoming. Different people will take away different positive experiences from Digital Gum. For some it may be a boost of confidence, for others it could be making new contacts or gaining new skills. Whatever your reason, I would just say ‘go for it!’.