I'm a Tea Sommelier turned Software Developer who is excited about life and solving problems. After several rewarding years working in the charity sector and tea industry I have decided to take the leap into tech. To me, the tech industry offers an innovative, creative and collaborative working environment where I can further my skills as a software developer and flex my problem solving muscle. The impact of technology can be immense and can make a real difference to so many people worldwide. I would love to be a part of a team that adds value to people's lives through technology.
What I'm all about | Where I've studied | Blog Posts | Who I've worked with | If I'm not coding I'm...
I believe that the best teams are full of positive, empowering and empathetic people. Who you work with hugely influences your overall wellbeing at work. I strive to be a supportive, empowering, and positive team member who celebrates the successes of others and brings people together as a team.
My dissertation was titled 'Does Consciousness Exist?'. To comprehend the concept of consciousness, I approached the concept from multiple angles using analytical thinking, diagrams, analogous stories, metaphors, innovative questioning, effective reasoning, and examination of empirical evidence. While I may never truly know if consciousness exists or not, I did learn how to communicate complex ideas logically and clearly.
Day to day our lives are improved by people solving problems behind the scenes. These people see a problem, and instead of waiting for someone else to fix it, find a way to fix it themselves. I pride myself on being one of these people. That's why at my part-time job at The Body Shop during university I created an Ethics and Values training syllabus to inform and teach other employees. It's why I became a Pioneer member of the European Tea Society, whose mission it is to create and inspire excellence in the speciality tea community through innovation, research, education and communication. And it's why I volunteered at Oxford Homeless Pathways where I ran a creative workshop.
Never one to shy away from new tasks and activities, I have always strived to expand my skill set and make the most out of my professional and personal life. Being inquisitive in my work and asking thoughtful questions has led to a deeper understanding of processes, customer needs, product requirements and workflow structure.
Makers Academy is an intensive coding bootcamp aimed at career changers. During the course I applied Agile Software Development methods and Pair Programming on a daily basis, which increased my pace of learning and prepared me to enter the tech industry. Dedicating four months solely to coding was a life-changing experience, and during this time I solidified my tech orientated values to produce high quality, tested, and maintainable code.
- I discovered my love for standups and retros during the Makers Bnb project.
- My eyes were opened to all the ways you could test code during the Acebook group project.
- See this tech test for an example of object orientated design and test driven development.
- The dreaded final project turned out to be a wonderful time with wonderful people.
It would be impossible to quantify everything I learnt at Makers Academy. The list below sets out the technolgies I learnt, but alongside those I developed a framework for taking on new challenges, a toolkit for learning new languages and the emotional intelligence to become a valued member of a team.
- OOP, TDD, MVC, DDD
- Agile, Pair Programming.
- Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, CSS, API, Bootstrap
- RSpec, Jasmine
- SQL
- Philosophy BA Hons, 2:1
- Plus 1 year of Music BA Hons
- Certified Tea Sommelier
Your Mental Health, in Your Words
Are we Good at Talking about Mental Health?
6 ways I managed my mental health whilst at Makers Academy
Understanding the Model, View and Controller Pattern Through the Medium of Art
I worked with The Chinese Tea Company, The European Tea Society, Mogok Tea and Good and Proper Tea. I supported and advised new tea companies during the initial set up of their businesses from one off meetings up to 3 months. I ran tea tastings, attended sales meetings, created content, performed tea analysis and feedback and managed tea shops. I remain on the European Tea Society's Marketing, Events, Education, and Membership Committees.
At my core, I'm a planner. I like to map out how I am going to achieve something, how long it is going to take and what resources I'm going to need. At St John Ambulance I scheduled the diaries of 50 trainers and all of the London First Aid Courses. Logistics and attention to detail were crucial to the organisation's success and aspects of the position that I got a real buzz from. This job was fast paced and highly pressured, this led to developing my innovative problem solving skills.
HOST UK is a small charity that promotes international friendship and understanding by arranging for international students at British universities to meet UK residents in their homes. I managed the student's HOST UK experience from their initial booking enquiries to collecting feedback after their visit. I worked hands on with hundreds of volunteer hosts and volunteer regional organisers across the UK. I organised 60 events in a 3 months period and line-managed the administrators at our head office.
- Playing jazzy tunes on the piano
- Giving new life to broken ceramics through Kintsugi
- Finding my zen at tea ceremonies
- Kombucha brewing, with varying degrees of success
- Trying not to lose at board games
- Attempting to recreate mouth watering dishes from around the globe.