The Back Story – Katy Hughes

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The Back Story – Katy Hughes
We sit down with Katy Hughes, one of our senior team in Australia for our monthly interview series The Back Story.

Our Monthly interview with one of the ADAPTOVATE team. Each month we ask one of our team from around the world to answer a few questions. While not in the same league as The Proust Questionnaire – we think it’s a great way to share our stories with you.

Katy Hughes

1. First up – how long have you worked with us?

I joined in 2019.

2. Why did you join us? Were you in the industry previously, or looking for a new career direction?

After living in London for over 8 years I wanted a change of scenery, luckily, my partner got offered a fantastic job opportunity in Australia, 5 weeks later we had moved! In London I had worked as a consultant and knew it was the career path I wanted to pursue. With so many great opportunities for growth ADAPTOVATE was a perfect fit!

3. How has your previous experience and career helped define where you are now? Would you have done things differently?

I came into the industry straight out of university, joining a graduate scheme at a large company. Being exposed to so many different types of people, opportunities and ways of working meant I learnt an incredible amount in a very short period of time. Working in such a large organisation across a variety of projects I quickly learned the basics of project work, what I did and definitely didn’t want to do and what kind of person I aspired to be. Personally, I don’t think there’s much I would have done differently career wise. Having early exposure to some incredibly talented people made me understand the value of respect, integrity and hard work in this industry so I make sure I carry these values with me every day.

4. How do you balance your work life with your ‘real’ life – Do you have a good balance and how important is it to you?

Work / life balance is really important to me. Even throughout busy periods in work I try to maintain a good routine of; 1. Exercising – making sure I can exercise 3-4 times a week really helps me focus and release any stress! 2. Working from the office instead of home – as much as possible I work from the office, even if it means staying late! This enables me to separate my home life from my office life 3. Understanding and respecting my teams’ commitments – at the beginning of each project, we get together as a team to outline our team norms, ways of working and commitments. Understanding these upfront and respecting them when they occur ensures the whole team have a good work /life balance!

5. With so many of our team remote working, we always like to ask how do you have your home office/desk set up? Organised or chaos? Any top tips?

I like to think of my workspace areas as organised-chaos especially when I am focused and on a roll! My top tip for keeping on top of your tasks is to take 5 minutes at the beginning of your day to make a mini Kanban board, writing down all of your ‘to do’ items on post-it notes, moving them to ‘doing’ and ‘done’ when completed. This way you, and those around you, know exactly what you are working on at any one time and you feel great every time you move a task to ‘done’.

6. Do you play music during your Agile workshops with clients? What do you recommend on your latest playlist?

Sometimes, music is a great tool for inspiration and focus but you don’t want it to act as a distraction, so getting the balance right is key. I will often ask attendees to write down their top 3 songs for inspiration and use these to build the workshop playlist as we go!

7. How do you think technology has best helped humanity and do you have any concerns about our future?

Technology has helped humanity in more ways than I can possibly describe or do justice to in this short interview – it impacts almost everything we do on a day to day basis. As someone who lives in a different hemisphere to most of my friends and family, the ability to feel connected to them is what I value most, and technology allows me to do so. I don’t think technology should be something humanity feels threatened by, if it is treated with the respect it deserves – it should be used to enhance our lives do not replace humanity.

8.What does success mean to you personally?

Success to me is enjoying what you do and doing it well. As long as I am enjoying what I do I will consider myself successful!

9. Finally – You’ve time travelled back to your 10- year old self – What advice would you give?

Always be polite, ask lots of questions and travel as much as possible!

Locations

CANADA

110 Cumberland Street Suite # 307

Toronto Ontario M5R 3V5

Canada

+1 647 631 1205

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

Sydney


Simpson House, Level 5, 249 Pitt Street

Sydney NSW 2000

+61 2 7200 2530

Melbourne


L7, North Tower, 276 Flinders St

Melbourne VIC 3000

+61 2 7200 2530


Auckland (Tāmaki Makaurau)

Level 4, ACS House, 3 Ferncroft Street,

Grafton, Auckland 1010

New Zealand

UK

5th Floor, 167-169 Great Portland Street

London W1W 5PF

+44 20 3603 1662

SINGAPORE

3 Temasek Avenue #18-01 Centennial Tower

Singapore 039190

+65 9012 8992

POLAND

ul. Czackiego 15/17 street

00 -043 Warszawa

+48 505 626 416

USA

695 Town Center Dr Suite 1200,

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

USA

+1 424 543 2623

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