I am a Director at Deloitte. Before the pandemic I worked in our London office, but now we work in a hybrid environment so I only head to the city on certain days. I’ve only worked at the one company since I graduated, but I’ve had so many different jobs and roles along the way! Picking Deloitte after university was an excellent choice. I can't lie, it can be really tough - especially serving clients in such challenging operational times - but there is such a variety to the work. A job as an auditor may not sound the most glamorous, but it gives you a sound business grounding that can't be found elsewhere!

I left SWPS in ’99 and for my degree I studied Geography and Oceanography at Southampton University. In my final year I wanted to find a job with a reputable company in Southampton as I sailed and didn’t want to move to London. Deloitte at the time had a small office there and I fancied the idea of learning some business skills. I qualified as a chartered accountant with them and whilst it’s hard work taking exams at the same time as working full time, I haven’t looked back.

I joined Deloitte in audit and from day one was spending your time with clients and very much learning and being coached as I worked. Auditors get to ask the management in the entities they are auditing the difficult questions, we keep probing and being sceptical until we have sufficient knowledge. It’s interesting and different each day and you have to learn fast. Clearly it is hard work too, but I think worth it.

These days I spread my time across our firm’s national office and our capital markets group. This means that I work in risk management. I am responsible for ensuring our audit teams deliver the best quality of work across our North and South Europe firm. I spend my days dealing with difficult questions from partners and directors and until recently travelled extensively.

I have been back from maternity leave for a few years now and for the most part have been able to find good balance in my role. The pandemic helped everyone learn to work in an agile fashion and in a household where both parents work full time in senior roles that's essential. I'm very lucky that this summer I'm taking a full month off as a time out to just 'be Mummy'.