I currently work as a Compliance Co-Ordinator for Taylor Hopkinson. When I left school I moved from Greenock to Aberdeen and started a degree in Artificial Intelligence. I would later switch over to an English Language and Literature Degree which in hindsight partly came about because I was the only woman in the AI course and this made it difficult for me to be confident in studying it. During my degree I started working at a cinema in the city, later becoming part of the management team.

When I finished university, I moved to Japan and taught English to elementary and middle school students for a year. This required a big cultural adjustment and during this time I became more interested in learning about feminism and inequalities between the genders. I returned to Scotland after my contract to take up a cadetship in the merchant navy and was again the only woman in my class but this time did have the background knowledge to help me combat the low confidence that could cause.

Given that the industry aligns itself with most people’s moral code, I think there will be a great deal of enthusiasm from people to get involved if they are presented with the means to do so. I would call myself an intersectional feminist and my knowledge is mostly in gender issues. My biggest blind spot is probably the discussions that are happening now around ableism and how best to tackle this, but I am trying to educate myself to get a better understanding.