More about me

I start every morning with a cup of black coffee, a crossword puzzle and a quiet moment to reflect on what I’d like to achieve in the day. Though I love to strike out items on my To Do list, sometimes urgent things crop up that must be handled as priorities and I am able to respond to change easily – after all, a longer list means more opportunity for feeling accomplished.

I have spent the majority of my life living in Cape Town but in 2021 moved to Germany with my husband and have been delighted to discover that this country suits me perfectly. I love the people, the weather, the food, the outdoor lifestyle and most particularly, I love the language. I am still learning and often make mistakes (I recently told someone I am allergic to legs instead of bees) aber ich probiere.

Like many support people in the tech space, I found myself here after a winding route and learnt that it is an incredibly dynamic, vibrant and hardworking community filled with genuine people who are easy to love despite what a large section of society can sometimes say about traditional developer stereotypes. I went to university but I didn’t complete my degree; I had several roles early on which gave me an idea of what kind of work I am interested in doing and what I am good at; I got an opportunity to prove to myself what I am capable of handling, and the environment was such that I was able to see the beautiful unfurling growth that can happen to many types of people when they are in a safe space built on the ideas of support, kindness and celebration.

Categories I fall into

Let me start by saying that I don’t really believe that we can judge people by the categories they might fall into but as CVs are brief introductions to a person you might want to work with, I think they might be forgivable here, and these ones are generally accurate.

  • Enneagram personality types 2, 6, 9
  • Meyers-Briggs personality type INFJ (Advocate)
  • Chronotype Lion by nature (but Bear by marriage)
  • Cat and dog person (mostly cat though)
  • PC, Android, Google girl (not fiercely so)
  • Hufflepuff
  • Right-handed and middle-brained
  • Non-smoker
  • Pro-vax
  • She/her

Things I love

These bring me joy every time I interact with or encounter them, I try to include as much of this list as possible into as much of my life as possible. They are in no particular order.

  • Lists and spreadsheets
  • Word, logic and number puzzles
  • Building flatpack furniture
  • Rearranging furniture
  • Sewing and patternmaking
  • Coffee
  • Punctuality
  • Colour coordinating things (anything really)
  • Drawing and painting
  • Fresh food markets and culinary delights
  • Animals and their kissable bellies
  • History and random facts
  • Getting to know people (just not at parties)
  • Forests and mountains
  • Writing and story making
  • Noise-cancelling headphones
  • My family
  • Graceful machines
  • Driving
  • Reading (fiction mostly)
  • Cute little things to put on my bookshelves
  • Satisfying YouTube videos of people being really good at their jobs
  • Crows and how ludicrously smart they are
  • Sustainability and recycling
  • Visiting new places (and all the research that goes into it beforehand)
  • Cold weather