Purposeful drifting
This month, I hit my two year anniversary with Blackmill and I'm stoked about it! I have learnt so much in this space of time. From parenting during lockdowns, engineering culture, leadership styles, best practices, to technical debt and product sprints. I never thought that I would do marketing for a software engineering consultancy. I was never a tech person. Talking about it felt like my head would explode. But here I am, two years on and I'm enjoying it. So much so that I recently completed my first coding workshop!
After 15 years of working in the Dermal Science and Marketing industry, whilst becoming a mum and running the family life, the itch for coding began over a year ago. I wanted to understand the engineering culture, its problems, and the challenges that engineering managers would face day to day, (and I also wanted to tweak the website). But along the way, lockdowns interrupted the work and life balance, a potential opportunity to start up my own marketing consultancy presented itself, and the desire to complete a mini MBA in marketing meant that coding was put on the back burner.
After contemplating my options for over a year, I decided to give coding a red hot go and did my first coding three-week workshop. I now know the basics of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and VS Code. The decision to do this wasn't straightforward for me. Most of 2022 felt like I was "drifting" along. I wasn't 100% sure about my current career path. But this "drifting" was necessary. It enabled me to question my values, reflect on my learnings, explore new possibilities and solidify my plan. It also allowed me to make sure that the decisions I make are for the right reasons, at the right time, and ultimately right for me. I believe that everything in life happens for a reason. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work at Blackmill and where it has taken me. My plan is to take on a course next year to eventually become a software engineer one day.
This sentence from Mark Bouris AM resonates with me:
Every single experience — no matter how irrelevant you think it is in the moment c is another building block in how you’re going to get to where you’re going to go. So whatever it is you’re currently doing, take the lessons from it because one day they’ll all count. Have faith that the dots will connect. Knowledge and experience is never wasted