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I came to the technology world late in life but it has not diluted my passion for it. I had a thriving coaching business in Dublin, Ireland after getting a business visa for many years through my business plan. I worked hard to keep the business going along with doing a lot of voluntary work for the International Coach Federation in Ireland. (I was the founding President of the Ireland ICF chapter.) I worked 24×7 and when I took a weekend off to visit friends in Paris, I often fell ill. I met an Irish man who had been involved in Internet Marketing in the early days when it was multimillion dollar business. We had a couple of brainstorming sessions about online business in particular online matchmaking & internet dating. It planted a seed in my mind, online business could be the way to go. As I was a mature woman 24×7 working one to one with people was exhausting and I imagined making money while I slept- mmm! This was the beginning of my entry into the technology world. This is my post for Ada Lovelace Day.
That was 5 years ago at the end of this month & I have followed this dream since. I moved to London and set up a business. I worked hard during the week days for others to pay to start my own online business. The learning curve was often steep but I love learning. I got up at 4am some mornings to work on my own server and came home in the evening to answer emails. Weekends I worked on the server & business accounts. I learnt to work with programmers who were often relating-challenged. I mainly learnt the hard way.
I started writing a blog and using Twitter early 2007 and found a great passion arise through writing and technology. I remember pitching to an Women’s Angel group. There was only one woman present and I gathered that she was the token woman. The man in charge said to come back once the business was making money. I was confused – I thought that you went to Angels before your business was making money. When the token woman walked me to the door at the end of the pitch, I asked whether she had many women come with technology business. She said no – that they mainly saw women in fashion or baby clothes?????
I have never learnt code officially but have garnered a lot of information from the web and from programmers who were willing to educate me. I still work 24×7 but not at the people coal face, now at the web coal face. I still dream of the day when I can cut back & have a life again like others & am sure that that day is not too far away. The foundation of hard work & focus on an online business have changed me in so many great ways. I am grateful to be a part of the technology community
