My love for IT (Information Technology) started when I was 14. It was when I started doing it for my GCSE’s, I realised how much I loved having a task to do or a problem to solve! That’s what lead me to do IT in college and then at University, dreaming of a job in the software sector to continue tackling problems!

When I was coming to the end of my first year of University an email went round advertising a part-time job working in Marketing at a software company. My dream! I continued to work there throughout University and was then offered a role full-time when I graduated. I absolutely loved it! I went from working in Marketing to Operations because I am a bit of an addict for organising and planning things. I spoke at events, went to San Francisco, passed exams, became a leader of a community user group. It was awesome.

Then suddenly something changed. I was finding myself not feeling fulfilled at work anymore. I kept trying to get my passion back but it just wasn’t there. I’m someone who puts pours my heart and soul into what I do and when my heart wasn’t in it anymore it felt a bit empty. I’d see everyone around me get really enthusiastic for the things I used to love and tried to feel that too but it just wasn’t there.

That’s when I realised it wasn’t the job that had changed, it was me. My soul wasn’t in software anymore. And that is absolutely ok. Things change. People change. Jobs change. I had changed and it was scary to admit because working in software had become my safe space. I wasn’t sure who I would be without my comfort blanket but that’s ok.

I’m now 3 months post leaving my ‘dream’ job. I’ve since learnt to be more present in every moment. I’ve learnt I don’t have to label myself as anything, I am not my job title. I’ve learnt that you don’t have to know what’s next. I’ve become comfortable with the unknown. But most of all, I’ve learnt you don’t have to do something anymore if it doesn’t fulfill you. I have this one life and I’m not going to stay in the same lane because it’s safe.

Most of all, leaving my dream job doesn’t mean I’ve stopped dreaming.