What happens when life throws you curveballs that completely reshape your career journey?
Sue Hitchmough’s path from handling insurance claims to becoming a product manager at Mercator Digital reveals how seemingly unrelated experiences can become your greatest professional assets.
Sue never planned to work in tech. As a young person, she considered becoming a teacher or nanny – technology wasn’t on her radar. Yet her experience handling insurance claims gave her crucial skills in active listening, quick problem-solving, and customer empathy. These abilities became the foundation for her later roles as a business analyst, project manager, and eventually product manager.
The transition wasn’t always smooth. Sue describes having to prove herself in male-dominated environments, balancing motherhood with career ambitions, and navigating significant health challenges that required a complete reset of her approach to work and life. Through it all, she developed a philosophy of taking small steps toward big goals—what she calls the “stepping stones” approach to both career development and personal challenges.
Sue’s experience in both startups and large corporations taught her to be adaptable – a “chameleon” who can thrive in different environments while staying true to her core values. In startups, she wore multiple hats and learned to make quick decisions with limited resources. In larger organisations, she navigated complex stakeholder relationships and more structured processes. This versatility has proven invaluable throughout her career.
For those without traditional tech backgrounds or degrees, Sue offers encouraging perspective. She emphasizes that skills developed in customer service, retail jobs, or volunteer work – organisation, communication, collaboration – are highly valuable in tech roles. The key is recognising and articulating how your unique experiences prepare you for the challenges of product management or other tech positions.
Listen now to discover how to build resilience through career transitions, find balance between work and personal life, and leverage your non-traditional background as a strength rather than a limitation in the tech industry.
