What is your current role?
Furniture Designer and Maker
What does that involve on a day-to-day basis?
I am lucky enough to have a job that varies massively day to day. I am predominantly based in the workshop; building bespoke cabinets and doors from scratch, and then spray finishing things in the spray booth in lovely matte paint of the customer’s choice. But then I also have a few days a week doing design work. This includes creating 3D models of new designs on the computer and producing photorealistic images of the proposed design.
How did you get started working in STEM?
Both of my parents have been involved in the furniture industry for many years, so I naturally picked up skills and interest from them along the way, and I used to tinker in our workshop at home in my spare time. But leaving school, and even university, I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to go down in my working life. It wasn’t until I had my first job, that I knew for sure that I wanted to be in a job that allowed me to use my hands, and have a mix of design work too, to allow me to have some creative input.
What qualifications did you take or gain along the way?
I left sixth form with 3 A-Levels, including one in Design and Technology, and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree in Product and Furniture Design from Northumbria University. I did a three-month internship with an architect’s firm in Seville, where I was working on CAD (Computer-Aided Design) which was organised through a scheme linked to the university. This helped me get my first job as a kitchen CAD designer, but I realised I was missing being in the workshop. I took on an evening course at Sheffield College in furniture making, which allowed me to touch up the skills I had learnt at university, so I had the confidence to apply for more hands-on roles.
Why do you love working in STEM?
I love the variety it brings and the new challenges you face daily. In this industry you are always learning, which is so rewarding! There is also something extremely therapeutic about working with your hands and getting absorbed in the task in front of you.
What challenges have you faced in your career? And how have you overcome them?
I was denied entry to an internship for a company in Prague who made bespoke furniture, their reasoning was because there was a lot of heavy lifting on the job, and they did not want to employ a woman into that role. This made me furious, but it also made me determined to prove this company, and others who think alike, wrong. I used this as fuel to find the right job for me – I now work for an employer who treats me with respect and as an equal.
What advice would you offer for someone joining the STEM sectors?
I would advise anyone looking to join STEM to not give up even if faced with discrimination as that isn’t a workplace you want to work for. Move on and find somewhere that values you!
What do we need to do as an industry to attract and keep more women in STEM?
The industry should try to use gender neutral terms in their application process, along with within the workplace – avoiding referring to people in the workshop as “lads”. I strongly believe in positive discrimination to hire more women, and people from minority backgrounds, into these industries in order to give a foot up to those who are already battling so many obstacles.
