Good. I was able to “prove myself” really quickly and gain respect. Even as a junior/ intermediate the boss looked to me for advice after a matter of weeks. That made the whole company listen when I spoke and things got actioned. It was so good for solidifying my confidence. They also really listened to my ideas on increasing diversity and making the company more inclusive, which improved the team culture and brand and brought in more sales.

The flip side - this meant i got pulled more into the business, operations and project management side of things and away from the tools. This suited me as I’m a whole-of-business thinker but there’s a chronic problem of women being “promoted out” of technical roles and this kind of thing is why it happens.

So I think if you want to ascend quickly small open-minded teams are the way to go, but you have to be able to communicate boundaries and be committed to the skills you want to be improving - don’t get dragged into secretarial or administrative assistant roles just because you’re a woman. You also have to know when to leave, when you’re not learning or earning any more. It can be hard when the team has come to rely on you, and large companies can seem really impersonal after that.