Riding that wave to success

Behind the lanyard - So today, for my last 3 months in Cancer Programme Management, we are preparing for a team away day where we will be revisiting our ‘why’ and building on our ways of working so we can develop a behaviour framework.

We have all been asked to share their career journey, with a view to sharing more about “who you are behind your lanyard”. The aim is to discover more about colleagues in a safe space as well as exploring your ‘why’.

So in true fashion of me helping you Find Your You, I’ll have a go! I am thinking actually I’ll just enhance my timeline journal which is explored in Step 3 of “Find Your You”:

I started working at 12, we lived in a rural community and a neighbour owned goats; aka my first paid job was a goat milker!

I needed more than just 2 hours a week, in my eyes my parents are poor, therefore I added to my skills by becoming a chambermaid at the weekends. A 5 mile bike ride there and back to get me to my destination.

I got promoted, babysitting duties for holiday makers, 2 holiday homes to clean which then led to shop assistant at a “all things a fishing pier shop needed”.

Left home at 16 in school holidays to become a silver service and bar food waitress carried this on until I left home permanently to move to the big city and study.

To subsidise the study and a roof over my head I had three jobs to balance between college. Chambermaid, Cocktail Bar maid and nightclub bar staff.

This moved on to temping jobs; data entry, secretary, personal assistant (PA) which when finishing and successfully passing my study I fell into a Marketing PA as my first proper career.

Mum died after this time so I can’t remember if I had already moved jobs to an IT systems administrator as it paid better or if I was this before I went to Australia for a year. All I can remember is going to Australia and then mum dying within 2 weeks of me returning home.

I worked, progressed my career but in a haze of bereavement.

I fell in love and moved to a new location. With my IT systems experience I bagged another IT role which progressed to Group communications co-ordinator. I loved this role. Manufacturing product was shipped all over the world. The company had sites in Boston, Chicago, Kuala Lumper, Calcutta, UK. I was flown all over to help build IT systems and Virtual Private Networks. I was coming out of the bereavement haze and making lifelong friendships.

8 years and it was all over, redundancy due to a merger acquisition. Time to start looking for a new role and that is when the NHS fed my need to do something for the people. The draw of what Nurses do empowered me so I wanted to give back. I dropped my salary and became an Arts Design and Environment Project Manager.

Progression and change took me through multiple posts, Hotline, Deputy Service Manager, Specialist Palliative Care, Gorlins, Acute Oncology, Mentoring to Innovation and that is where I sit now, but not for long!

The questions for this task to help prepare were:

Q. How did you decide on your career path?

I stumbled and sought value where possible. What I qualified in wasn’t where the money was at that time.

Q. What led you here to this role today?

A huge winding journey of progression, bereavement, divorce, undervalue, self-development, desire, need and change.

Q. What decisions did you make along the way?

There is a (must be) a reason for it all.

Q. Why do you get out of bed in the morning?

We should be thankful for each new day you are still alive. Many people aren’t still alive, many people wish they weren’t. However, there are many caveats to this for many people.

Q. What helps you to be your best at work?

Feeling and being valued and recognised.

Q. When did your values clash or be supported by your environment?

To be answered face to face!