My Story

Originally from England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 I lived for over a decade in Perth, Western Australia 🇦🇺 before moving to France 🇫🇷 four years ago. I live in Provence with my partner and our two young kids. I love running, travelling, and being outdoors - especially near the beach. I am terrible at skiing, but very much enjoy being in the mountains, posing for photos and trying to look like I know what I am doing. I am sober and proud 🫖

My professional background up to this point is centered around the English language:
👩‍🏫 Teaching English to speakers of other languages
📚 Editing and proofreading fiction manuscripts and academic theses
🖊️ Writing web and social media content for small businesses
📆 Working as a coordinator on a team producing English language assessment material

So, this is a big change for me: my first tentative steps into the world of tech in my forties. I have never been a "computer person". I didn't have a computer growing up, I don't game, my career has been based around words and books, my degree majors were Writing and French, and I only learned to copy and paste in my thirties (I remember the day well). But I believe my strength in this industry will come from these perceived weaknesses. As someone starting from zero, learning to code has been incredibly challenging for me. But everything I have learned, I have learned carefully and thoroughly; I can explain concepts clearly without technical jargon. Every decision I make comes from a user's point of view. I am not here to dazzle with my technical know-how; I just want to make the user's interactions as straightforward, intuitive and pleasant as possible.

I am confident that everything I have acheived in my career and my personal life so far will be a massive help as I transition into a front-end developer role. As a teacher, I am passionate about content, learning, accessibility and diversity. As a proofreader/editor, I am meticulous and used to working to deadlines. As a writer, I am creative and an excellent communicator. As a coordinator, I am organised, efficient, adaptable, and a strong team player. And as a parent, I am patient, resilient, proficient at multi-tasking, and very skilled in negotiation.

I have spent the last year training to become a front-end developer, graduating from the SheCodes Bootcamp, and also completing projects/courses with OpenClassrooms and Front End Masters. I am excited to apply all the skills I have learned during my training, and to expand on those skills in a collaborative and progressive environment. My professional goal is simple: I want to work on products I am passionate about - products that make the world a better place and make people happy.