A few years after I left uni I was working in the tech sector. I have always liked to solve problems and had some ideas I wanted to try, but I lacked experience and my manager was too cautious. After a year of this I moved on, but having learnt from this experience, I found a job at a company that was really struggling, in fact at the time, it was filing for bankruptcy protection. I figured, if I went somewhere that was in trouble and needed fixing I would get to try my ideas... and I did. I also found like minded colleagues and people who were willing to take a bet on someone with ideas and a desire to solve problems but limited experience. It was a huge unlock for me and I made friends for life.

Very early on I was involved in a piece of business that ostensibly went wrong, and I was heavily involved, and my manager said a few words that put me at my ease. He said, 'I've been in a few similar situations, and do you know what, I've never died in any of them.' This made me laugh!

The key lesson, and it's been with me ever since, is that on all major decisions, I always assess the downside risk (if it goes wrong), and if I can live with the consequences, then I go very big on the upside. This means I keep taking risks to move the business forward.

Genuinely haven't been given bad career advice. I have been incredibly fortunate from school, throughout my career, I have worked with some wonderful people who have provided great advice and been immensely supportive.

Find some problems to solve, keep learning, keep moving forward and give myself time to figure things out. I would also seek out advice from people I worked with that I admired or friends. In addition speak to my parents and siblings, they have always been a great source of counsel.

I want to begin by saying, everything has worked out, and I have found working hard, trying to solve difficult problems, taking some risks and working with great people has got me here.

In my younger days I didn't know much, so at school, a professional career was never discussed, it wasn't on the agenda, public speaking was not a thing and my first day at work after uni I didn't really have any idea of how to dress. So I turned up on day one with an ill fitting suit, and my lunch and a writing pad in a plastic shopping bag. As you can imagine I did not entirely fit in.

In those early days overcoming the fear and anxiety was a big deal. Looking back there was nothing to be worried about. I was at a great company with some superb people and some characteristics that are always in short supply: a phenomenal work ethic, a desire to succeed, a focus on solving problems and the ability to make friends and get on with people (even though I am an introvert).

I look on my start, I did not have people to turn to who were like me, who had my life experiences and had made it. Who could provide a few nudges that could have given me confidence or connected me with other people who could help. Everyone deserves a helping hand.