What was your dream career when you were younger?

Rollercoaster designer and tester.

What subjects did you study at school?

Maths, English, Drama, Physics….and Computing!

Who or what has been your biggest inspiration?

I'm inspired by companies that create technology products that are fun and enjoyable to use. Apple are a great example of this.

How have the subjects you studied at school helped you in your career?

Working in technology requires you to have a good understanding of sceince and technology skills. However, it's imporatant to have knowledge and skills of other areas and subjects- after all, you're building technology for lots of different types of people form different backgrounds and experiences.

What has your STEM journey been since leaving school?

I studied Computing Science at Glasgow University, and afterwards got more interested in technology education and how we can teach these skills better. I worked in a tech role in industry for a short time, but I didn't enjoy it, I preferred being able to try new things rather than follow an established process.

Alongside others I started the CoderDojo network in Scotland, a volunteer run coding club. From there I got funding to start working on that full time for a few years, and this then led me to starting my own digital skills company working with a variety of companies across the UK and internationally.

What skills do you utilise most in your career?

My key skill is being able to make complicated technical concepts easier to understand.

What advice would you give to any young people considering a STEM career?

A career in STEM can give you lots of options and opporuntities to work with a variety of companies, and if you end up not enjoying one path then your STEM skills can let you switch to another. We need more people with these skills.