New season, new habits…

It’s fair to say I’ve had quite a bit of time away from LinkedIn these last few months.

I went AWOL again.

Some of it's been fun, but most of it not to be honest…

As the saying goes, if you don’t make time for health and wellbeing, make time for sickness.

While everyone was out soaking up the sporadic odd days of so-called summer throughout June, July and August, I was for the most part, on multiple occasions, watching it from the window and on the TV while recovering from whichever virus decided to lick me down.

However, a new positive habit I have introduced for the better is taking time off when I’m actually sick rather than trying to play super woman pushing myself to keep going and making it worse.

KMT... This time I stayed in bed.

Getting to the acceptance that the mountain workload will still be there when you get back and no-body will die or get hurt if you don't get it done has been liberating.

I've come to the realisation there really is no point killing yourself to push through when your body is saying no. Proper rest and recuperation when you are sick is the fastest way to get back to full health and full steam to pick things back up again as soon as possible.

It’s nice to feel better just as summer is coming to an end.

September is now here, and as it's a new month I decided to take on a new challenge and make a new habit of creating something to share every day for the next 30 days.

I'll be sharing successes, failures, wins and lessons along the way, and reflect on some past experiences that have opened my mind to new ways of thinking around tech career and life. 

They say it’s good for your mind, body and soul. It's also good for relationship building and engaging with like minded people.

So for day 1 of this challenge I thought I'd start with a proper introduction considering I never really introduced myself when I started publishing content on LinkedIn 3 years ago, and given the variety of new followers who have connected with me recently this seems like an ideal time to re-introduce myself.

I'm Dionne Condor-Farrell, Keynote Speaker, Tech Career Coach, and Senior Application Development Manager with a passion for diversity in tech.

I achieved a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors in Business Information Technology at Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Beckett) before starting my career in the tech industry, however actually started off this tech journey in an unconventional way through failure and perseverance.  I managed to turn things around, graduated and made my family proud.

I love travelling and discovering new places, and I’m on the hunt to find the best vegan food available around the UK and the world.

My claim to fame was contributing to and featuring in the #1 best selling book Black and Great in 2022, featuring in the Voices in the Shadow volume 1 book in 2021, and I think I once starred in a print advert for HSBC when I was 18 lol.

I was a software developer for the longest (over 15 years), mainly Java development then later pivoting to Android mobile development and explored a variety of other technologies. Then 3 years ago I made the crazy decision to transition into leadership and become an Application Development Manager moving focus from what I loved to do on a day to day basis (coding), to mix it up with my other passion for helping people develop their tech career to where they want it to be and developing digital products that make a different to real people.

Two years ago I launched as a Tech Career Coach taking on another challenge to pursue my other passion to help more women find the confidence to make a career change into tech or progress their existing tech career.  With a focus on building a strong mindset, identifying limiting beliefs, utilising existing transferable skills, creating a realistic action plan and keeping them accountable, it’s had a profound impact on the clients I’ve worked with so far.

I’m also super passionate about helping organisations attract and retain diverse tech professionals and supporting their employees to create their version of success.

With all these experiences, I’m proud to be a keynote speaker and share the highs and lessons of my non linear career journey in tech.  I talk about topics such as unconventional tech career journeys, unleashing leadership potential and discovering the hidden leader within, and building a personal brand to progress your career.

If you'd like to book me for speaking engagements at your organisation, events or conferences, or to collaborate on a tech career related campaign please email: contact@dionnecondor-farrell.com

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