I got into it because I like working out how complicated things work. In my first data role, at a small fintech, I taught myself Python, SQL and data warehousing, mostly because the work needed them and nobody else was going to learn them.
Eight years later I run a data function. I'm Head of Data at PEP Health, where I report to the CTO, run the platform and the people who build it, and have a say in how the company makes money from its data. Before that I built or rebuilt platforms at The National College, Engie, NBrown and Civica.
The platform is usually the easier part. The hard part is understanding the business well enough to know what it needs from its data, and getting that ready before anyone asks. Most of the data problems I've been brought in to fix started with a decision made without that understanding: a tool chosen before anyone was clear on the problem, or a process adopted because that's how you're supposed to do it.
I'm still hands-on. I design and write a lot of the platform myself, and I think that's part of why engineers trust my judgement. But the work I'm best at now is everything around the platform: setting direction, hiring, looking after people when things are hard, and absorbing the pressure so the team can do good work.
I write about that on this site. Writing is how I find out what I actually think, and it's a better way to see how I work than a list of skills.
I play solo acoustic gigs around South Yorkshire, get out walking in the Peaks or the Dales whenever I can, and spend a lot of time being brought back down to earth by my two daughters.
I still like going back to fundamentals, whether that's maths, modelling or how teams actually learn. Most hard problems get easier once the basics are properly understood.