CEO Today - July 2022

THE CEO INTERVIEW www.ceotodaymagazine.com 14 Tell us your story. My story has a very shaky structure and plot. When people ask me about my business journey, I find it difficult to retrace my steps – I’m not sure, given 100 goes, I would end up in the same position again. I was always drawn to work. Throughout school and university, I was constantly coming up with ways and schemes to earn money. I just loved working and did everything from hairdressing, to waitressing, to car washing, to bar work, to office temping. I even applied to be a milkman at one point because I figured I could fit more hours of earning into my day! I liked earning money, and I like adventures. I liked the freedom that having my own money brought and I would regularly disappear looking for the next adventure or opportunity to learn. I worked and travelled aroundAustralia at the age of 18, went Interrailing alone, went to Spain to study Spanish (I was terrible), I worked as a journalist in China and tried to learn Chinese (I was terrible), I trained as a yoga instructor in Bali (slightly less terrible). I also did some very sensible things that made my parents proud – I somehow got into Cambridge University to study English and worked very sensibly as a Strategy Consultant at Deloitte for four years, which really became the foundation of my business training. I really had no idea what I wanted to do and why. I just knew that I wanted to do something that meant something. I was happy to work hard, I loved people, and when I put my mind to something, I can usually make it happen. What brought you to founding _nology? I had been running Opus for a couple of years and two things became very apparent. Firstly, as an English graduate and die-hard maths class dodger at school, I realised I’d bought into the rhetoric that tech was terrifying and only for people who really liked science and hoodies. I remember going to my first client meeting at a tech startup and being asked to remove my shoes at the door. I took off my brand new Louboutins (the most expensive thing I’d ever bought myself) and left them by the door in a pile of smelly size 11 Converse, and just thought: “I don’t think this is going to work”. What I came to discover from being immersed in that world was that tech isn’t an“other”. It’s just a skill that allows you to dive deeply into any sector you’re passionate about. Whether that’s science… fashion… finance… healthcare or anything at all. Tech is away to truly understand how that industry works, how the customers think, and how to improve it and make it more sustainable. Tech roles are creative, about design, innovation, problemsolving, building things, testing things, selling things, continuously improving things. Not only are so many people missing out on this great career path because they have no idea they are suitable, but also companies were missing out on brilliant talent with different ways of thinking. The other thing – but totally connected - was that demand “ We are giving people a route into a career that can change the course of their, and their family’s lives. And the confidence and support to flourish in potentially intimidating corporate environments. “

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