We’ve had a few weeks to recover from the buzz of Leeds Digital Festival and all the incredible events that popped up around the city. The highlight for me personally had to be our very own She Does: A Day in Digital; an event to showcase some impressive women in the industry, and what it’s like to spend a day in their shoes. It was my first event as part of the She Does Digital team and really showed me the effort that the team put into such an event, and the rewarding feeling when it runs seamlessly.
Our first speaker was Laura Parker, a freelance copywriter. She talked around imposter syndrome and overcoming self doubt in the workplace. It was fascinating (and selfishly slightly reassuring!) to hear that 70% of successful woman will face some form of feeling inadequacy, despite evident success, and is something I can certainly relate to at times in my career. Her tips around managing these feelings, such as complimenting good work, sharing your fears and accepting that you won’t know everything (and that that’s ok!) sound simple, but are things I will now consciously remember.
It was fascinating (and selfishly slightly reassuring!) to hear that 70% of successful woman will face some form of feeling inadequacy, despite evident success, and is something I can certainly relate to at times in my career.
Second to the stage was Beth Gildersleve, Head of Technology from Sky Bet. She talked us through her unexpected journey into technology, with a non technical background from her university days and shared some valuable advice she’d have given her younger self if she could do it all again!
Next up we had Natalie Lovett, who’s brilliant talk followed on nicely from Laura’s theme, as an inspirational reminder that hard work, commitment and genuine interest in your work really does pay off, and importantly, that you don’t have to be overly technical to work in tech; as long as you’re passionate enough to gain context and learn from your experiences, you can succeed.
After a short break (and a catch up with some familiar faces at the bar!), we had our fourth talk of the evening. Kelly Weston from Jaywing spoke about how motherhood took her by surprise, but also led her to the high profile role she now loves and successfully balances with her role as a Mum! Her slogan of #BeMoreRose (a tribute to her daughter and the childhood traits that we can all learn from) certainly went down a treat with the crowd.
Hard work, commitment and genuine interest in your work really does pay off, and importantly, that you don’t have to be overly technical to work in tech; as long as you’re passionate enough to gain context and learn from your experiences, you can succeed.
Emily Hutton & Laura Hustwit from Brass were next to the stage. For me, it was really interesting to hear from two women in similar roles to me, but from another agency. I could certainly relate to some of the challenges they discussed about their day to day work, and it was good to see them sharing advice around overcoming these.
The grand finale was one of our very own founders; Annie Moss-Quate. Her talk was funny, relaxed and aspirational (and genuinely very Annie!). It was brilliant to hear about her digital journey, and how she’s doing so well at the BBC since she’s departed from agency life. The team were all very proud!
At the end of the night I felt lucky to work in an industry I love, and proud of myself for what I’ve achieved so far, but equally driven to push myself further.
I’m more excited than ever to be part of She Does Digital, and can’t wait to share what else we have in store for 2019. Watch this space!
