In the limelight: our Leah

When did you start at innocent? 

Jan 2018 (is it bad I had to check LinkedIn?). 

Not bad at all. We can't remember what we had for breakfast. When you were little, what did you want to be when you're grown up?

A member of the spice girls.

What was your first role here? 

A Project Analyst in the IT and Business Change team (which is now known as Business Operations). Or as we like to call it, BisOps.

What roles or experience have you had since and what is your current role? 

I learned some SQL (a handy programming language) and started fiddling around in the databases of our systems, often trying to find out why data wasn’t appearing somewhere. From here I moved into the world of Business Intelligence and focussed more on creating new stuff which was quite exciting. Lately, I’ve been enjoying my role as a BI Lead and managing a team, thinking about where to take things in the future with new technologies like Fabric (look it up, it’s pretty cool).

If you had to explain what you do to a 10-year old, what would you say? Asking for a friend.

Saving the world, one spreadsheet at a time. 

What's been your innocent career highlight?

 When I was learning SQL, I took evening classes with a charity called Codebar. They provide free 1:1 coding sessions for underrepresented groups in tech. Eventually, I teamed up with Codebar and got the chance to host some events at Fruit Towers. I ran a few sessions before COVID hit, and it created a real buzz! Bringing tech enthusiasts into Fruit Towers and talking to them about the technologies we were using and what roles we had available, whilst also sharing some coding knowledge was a win-win. 

If you were a piece of stationary, what would you be?

Scented glitter gel pen in a jeans pencil case. If you know you know.

What's the best thing you've learned while working here? 

Go and find the answers instead of waiting for them to come to you. I started at innocent with the idea I’d get a list of tasks and if I completed them all I’d be bossing it, but I quickly realised that this mindset limited the potential value that venturing beyond my comfort zone could offer both to myself and the team. 

Thinking about your career with innocent, what's something you're most proud of? 

My manager Joe and I kickstarted the innocent BI team. We got handed a load of reports and data models with no documentation, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. We made some big priority calls which meant switching a load of them off and putting our focus into getting the business-critical reports supportable. We went through a rollercoaster of team changes, recruitment challenges, the whole shebang. And that all got us to where we are today. Now we’ve got a great team of developers, analysts, and project managers who are working together with the business to build and support our various data marts and reports. We hold ourselves to high standards, so high that the people who built Power BI said they were mightily impressed! So, I’m really proud that I continued through the wobbles to build the team we have today. 

What's your favourite thing about working here? 

The excellent tunes that Lewis plays on floor 3.

Favourite part of Fruit Towers or top tip?

Still finding hidden toy bunnies from the 2021 Easter egg hunt.

Are there any affinity groups, clubs, schemes, or any other ongoing activities you’re a part of? 

Since working at innocent I’ve dipped in and out of the netball club, cheese club, badminton club, proud-bunch (our LGBTQI+ affinity group) & theatre club. Who knows what next month will bring. 

How did you end up working in the tech space and what do you love most about it? 

I like structure, problem solving and diving into the detail which is what initially led me to more of a technical role I guess. innocent were great in encouraging me to apply for a technical role without having an IT degree (I studied science) but I still had to pass a challenge up against other internal and external candidates and then actually do the job which was pretty scary. Now, I know what I’m doing a lot more than I did then and have the confidence to lead in my area. I get to be at the heart of designing new architecture, working with new technologies and providing solutions to the business which keeps things interesting. 

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into technology at innocent? 

Start shadowing people in different roles so you can get a feel for what the day to day is like. When you have a better idea of what you want to do, start getting involved as much as you can and make everyone aware that’s the direction you want to head in. 

What's one bit of advice you'd give younger Leah about your career? Or life in general. Or both.

Eating five portions of fruit and veg a day doesn't mean five portions of fruit and five portions of veg. Game changer (but please get your recommended 5 portions in).

Ta very much, Leah.