Celebrating International Women’s Day 2021 with the ONS Women’s Network

Do you have a role model who inspires you?

When I joined the Civil Service I met a dear friend of mine, a union member who drinks straight whisky and loves old-school rock music. She is unapologetically true to herself every day, and brightens up every conference room she enters. She empowers people through her one-off communications as well as her union work, and is a respected professional women. I find that when we enter the world of work it can be easy to lose your ‘fire’ and bravery to challenge when we fall into routine, especially if we are afraid that we won’t be accepted or will be considered difficult if we disagree. She reminds me every day to stay true to myself and that my personality doesn’t need to be non-existent for me to be professional.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to follow your career path?

The main advice I would give to anyone in their careers is to stay brave, practice self-love and keep challenging yourself. You never stop learning, it’s important to keep an open mind and keep growing through every opportunity or challenge you commit to.

How will you challenge yourself this year?

As co-chair for the ONS Women’s Network, one challenge I set myself when joining was to ensure we join up across other networks like LGBTQ+, BAME, and disability networks to ensure that we have inclusive content that is representative of our diverse members and allies. We are all unique with our own challenges but what we have in common is what unites us on International Women’s Day, and that is how we live in this world as women, or as an ally for women.

Do you have a role model who inspires you?

I often think of my old physics teacher when I think about my attitude to success.  It was the day before parents evening and I had some homework, I don’t remember what the homework was but I do remember getting every single answer wrong.  I found out I had gotten everything wrong while sat in front of my teacher at parents evening with my hopeful parents.  He didn’t focus on my failed attempt, he focused on the fact that I had tried.  It was a new subject which I clearly knew nothing about but I gave it a go unlike many of my peers.

Then in 2019 when everything around me felt like it was going wrong, I had a chance conversation with former National Statistician John Pullinger  and he said to me ‘if it doesn’t go wrong and we don’t make mistakes – we’re not trying hard enough’.  Albert Einstein is also quoted as saying ‘anyone who never made a mistake never tried anything new’.

I spent so much time focusing on my failures, my mistakes, the things that didn’t go as planned!  These quotes changed my whole thought process.  When I learnt to walk, I fell and I kept on falling until I succeeded.  The important thing is that I didn’t give up, I didn’t berate myself for not getting it right first time, I rose to the challenge.  These two quotes now adorn my noticeboard to remind me that I don’t have to be perfect to succeed and that mistakes are a natural part of life.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to follow your career path?

Self-care is not selfish – taking care of yourself means that you can not only take care of others but you can take care of your career.  Some times self-care means taking a days leave or saying no to doing that extra task and working late but with the greater good in mind, sometimes it means saying yes to something that pushes you out of your comfort zone.  Looking after yourself both mentally and physically is really important to succeeding at life and achieving your goals.

How will you challenge yourself this year?

This year I am saying yes.  I habitually talk myself out of doing things but this year I am saying yes to at least 3 things a month that I would otherwise have created a reason not to do . So far it has led to a temporary promotion, getting accepted on the high potential programme, entering an art competition, discovering I do like watching football (occasionally) and completing the first 3 chapters of my book.

Do you have a role model who inspires you?

I would like to suggest Emma Pendre for my role model , whom I have respected for over 20 years in ONS, when I first joined she was a very successful EO team leader, I have watched from a distance how she has grown roles and developed her staff many of which have gone on to become senior leaders.

Although I have never worked directly to Emma, her example and ethics have always been admired by myself and other in the support roles across ONS.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to follow your career path?

Don’t sweat the small stuff, go with the flow even if you don’t totally agree, ONS is a like a big tide and if you fight it you will drown, be patient and eventually the bigger picture will become apparent and it will all make sense. Don’t be afraid to try new things and to change posts, every posts brings new skills and experiences, so don’t get stuck doing the same job even if you love it, otherwise one day you will find life had passed you by and you are just a spectator.

How will you challenge yourself this year?

This year my aim is to be more flexible, change roles and to learn Welsh.

Do you have a role model who inspires you?

My previous manager, the Finance Director, when I worked in a global law/business services company. Despite her senior level in the company and her tremendous workload, she had time for everyone and was incredibly approachable and supportive. I admired her ability to maintain that positive attitude throughout any work challenges and she inspired me to always demonstrate kindness and be a real team player in my career as your contributions to your colleagues is a significant measure of success.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to follow your career path?

My career footsteps have been all over the place and, objectively, do not show much direction or focus. However, my various roles and false starts have provided valuable experience and I would advise anyone that it’s never to late for a career change and not to feel stuck in any one field or role.

How will you challenge yourself this year?

Becoming a student again has been a challenge and it will continue to be so throughout the year – I’ve been relearning how to write essays again! Succeeding academically alongside working in the ONS will be my challenge this year.

Do you have a role model who inspires you?

I was inspired by an old line manager. She is a brilliant single mum and still managed to be utterly amazing in her job.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to follow your career path?

I would always say to dream big. Don’t let your imagination be limited.

How will you challenge yourself this year?

I am choosing to challenge myself by making time for me. This is something I have struggled with since becoming a mum.

Do you have a role model who inspires you?

Lack of a role model was my inspiration in my career. I am from a society where sons were more important than daughters, and I was one of 15 girls out of 100 boys when I studied my Engineering degree (this number was reduced to 5 in my third year). In my early days and career I was told not to raise my voice and not to be too opinionated.

The role model imposed to me was a perfect house wife, whose main focus should be her children, husband and family-in-law, or a super woman, who should be a perfect house wife and a capable employee, who would not use childcare as an excuse of early leave.

I refused to accept both role models that the society was pushing to me, which was also a reason to leave the country where I grew up (only to face another type of challenges.)

What advice would you give to someone wanting to follow your career path?

You trust your own voice, not the voice people expected from you or wanted to put on you. We are all individuals with our own thoughts and characteristics before being a woman.

How will you challenge yourself this year?

I don’t normally like seeing myself in the mirror, and if I do, I often tend to be self-critical by saying ‘I look too old, fat, ugly, etc.’. I shall challenge myself to send positive messages to my reflection in the mirror this year – saying ‘I look fine/good’ instead!