Who Am I? A big question that I’m not planning on pondering too deeply here! This post is to introduce me and what my interests are so you can decide whether you want to listen to what I have to say!
I’m an active, enthusiastic and empathetic person who loves learning and creating. I love talking to people, understanding what makes them tick and helping them figure it out for themselves. Some of the main areas that really motivate me (that I’ll be blogging about) are Innovation, Teams, Development and Adventure (not necessarily in that order). There’s an interesting space where these overlap… and that’s where I sit!
For those of you interested what my spin is on each of these – here goes:
Innovation
I’ve always worked at the front end of technology, where new, innovative ideas are emerging. I love working with the sparkiness and creativity that exists in these environments. I started my career as a software engineer, and loved programming and making concepts come to life in code. As I began to understand the importance of delivering value, my interest in people’s motivations also grew, drawing me along a path of people management and business development. Over the last 10 years, I’ve held a variety of roles, from managing a group of highly innovative engineers to spinning businesses out from the University of York and, most recently, setting up Digital Creativity Labs, a world-class research lab, from scratch.
Teams
I get a fantastic buzz when I bring people together, help them understand one another and see the creative process start. Ideas which would never have come from one single person start to emerge. People with different perspectives start to tackle a challenge and create new approaches that they would never have considered on their own. I love facilitating this process, helping new teams form, creating new connections, and then observing where things go next – turning these ideas into something tangible, understanding their value and helping the world access them. I’ve been lucky enough to work and play in some high performing teams and I know how different it can be when everyone clicks together and the results seem to effortlessly appear.
Development
I love to learn new things and find that learning is even deeper when I translate this on to others. While my schoolwork and degree were all very technical and mathematical, I’ve also found coaching and Neuro Linguistic Programming fascinating, bringing a deeper understanding of how people learn and develop. My learning in these areas has taken me further into more spiritual learning (such as Reiki healing) as well as on a wide range of personal development courses. I’m open to new ideas and have a strong belief in building a personal world-view and connecting with communities that support us. I find the breadth of my interests brings quite a unique perspective and understanding – and I love translating ideas from one area to the other.
Adventure
I grew up in the countryside and always loved exploring and discovering new places. I use 
my connection with nature to ground myself and reconnect with my needs. I love camping, climbing, mountaineering, swimming and the immersion you get from sport in general – freeing the mind to be creative while it focuses on something else. I’ve also found that considering any challenges I’m facing as adventures makes them easier to work with and more enjoyable – being the star of your own adventure encourages you to trust that you’ll find a way – and invariably you do!
So that’s a starter at me and my interests! I like who I am – I’ve learnt how to! At the end of the day, we’re all unique, travelling along our own journey, experiencing life from our own perspective in our own world (which we’ve created for ourselves). So if I don’t like what I am then it’s my responsibility to change my world, my beliefs and my actions to something I do like… 🙂
Over the course of this blog, I’m hoping you’ll get some unique insights from bringing all these areas together – let’s see how it all develops!
I hope this resonates with you as you read this – and encourages you to think about the what your main passions are. How would you describe yourself? Where does your inspiration come from? Please do share in the comments box below!