Hi, I’m Naomi.
I’m a software engineer at Moonpig. Over the past four years, I transitioned from being an ESL teacher in Beijing to a software engineer in Manchester!
I never thought I would have a technical job, be in a STEM role, or be any good at it.
As a woman, and a member of the LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse communities, the path seemed even more daunting. I was scared of failure for a long time. I avoided difficult subjects in school out of fear of failing. I dismissed the idea of ever being an engineer, architect, or any job I wasn’t naturally good at. Anytime I thought the risk of failure was too high, I avoided the situation. I jumped between many jobs that played to my natural strengths, and when they got too challenging, I moved on. I played it safe.
But playing it safe only gets you so far, and in reality, it’s pretty boring. I really needed to overcome my fear of failure. How else was I going to grow? So, I enrolled in a coding club, a very small one with 6-7 people. I was filled with the fear that I was not going to be good enough, I wouldn’t understand anything, and I was going to look foolish. But attending this class made me realize I’m not stupid; this stuff is hard for everyone! I failed and got questions wrong, but so did everyone else. It didn’t matter. Everyone else knew just as little as me. By the end of the first class, I was so excited about what I had been able to build and felt a sense of achievement that I hadn’t experienced in a long time. I had an epiphany: “That’s it! That’s how I cure that boredom. That sense of achievement was what scratched the itch!” That proved to me that I needed to put myself in difficult situations and stop avoiding failure.
Failure is a necessary part of achievement. I now knew I wanted to face failure; I saw the value in it. Failure means there’s an opportunity to achieve something, an opportunity to grow. But… that doesn’t stop it from being scary. So, how do you stop being scared to fail? You break down the problem to mitigate the risk, give yourself the patience to learn, and more than anything, feel the fear and do it anyway! To all the women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and neurodiverse people out there: your uniqueness is your strength. Embrace your fears, face challenges head-on, and know that your diverse perspectives are invaluable in the tech world and beyond. Your journey may have unique hurdles, but each step you take is a victory. Together, we can redefine success and pave the way for a more inclusive future.
