The Ability to Change is a Seriously Underrated Talent
Let’s be honest - humans are creatures of habit. We like our routines, our comfort zones, and that one coffee shop where the barista knows our order by heart. By nature, we’re hardwired to resist change. It’s evolutionary, really. Our ancestors survived by sticking to what they knew: safe caves, familiar hunting grounds, and definitely not wandering into unknown territories where saber-toothed tigers might be lurking.
But here’s the plot twist: in 2026, the saber-toothed tigers are gone, and the ability to embrace change has become one of the most valuable skills you can possess.
From Cattle to Code: A Journey of Perpetual Reinvention
My career path reads less like a LinkedIn profile and more like a “choose your own adventure” novel that couldn’t make up its mind. Let me take you on the scenic route:
Australia: The Beginning
It started with mustering cattle in the Aussie outback. And yes, actual cattle often herds of five hundred plus, under the scorching Queensland sun, with dust and flies everywhere. Then came a stint as a horse trainer, because apparently, I hadn’t had enough of being humbled by large animals yet.
The Hospitality Chapter
Next up: waitressing and working as a barmaid. I learned that people skills are universal and probably the most valued skill I’ve collected to date.
The Corporate Machine
I pivoted hard into the corporate machine at Rio Tinto HQ in Melbourne. Enter the world of suits and spreadsheets, where I witnessed the terrifying level of loyalty humans show to a mining giant that, let’s be honest, would have replaced us all with a particularly efficient Excel macro if it meant the stock price went up by half a cent. Loved the socials and made good money so who am I to complain!
Back to the UK
Back to the UK to get a degree in Agricultural Business Management because why not combine my rural roots with business acumen?
The Barista Years
Financially supported myself through three years of university degree as a barista. Yes, really. If you want to talk about “transferable skills,” try making twelve different coffee orders while a line of people stares at you with the vacant, slightly aggressive gaze of the un-caffeinated. It was a three year internship in crisis management and multitasking. I learned more about human psychology from a 7:00 AM rush than I did in most of my lectures, mostly that “pre-coffee humans” are a special category of chaos that requires expert–level diplomacy.
Events Management
Fresh from Uni, I moved into new territory as a club and events manager at a well known english gunmaker and shooting ground. Orchestrating experiences and managing vendors, logistics and the ever evolving art of marketing.
Teaching in China
Then came a complete pivot: teaching English in China for a year. Do I understand Chinese - no, did I really want to live in China? - actually no, not really. But have I always wanted to experience living in a different culture - yes! So when the opportunity came along and it was good money plus only a year commitment, I thought why the hell not? I truly believe teaching is something everyone should experience, it is the most humbling role I’ve ever undertaken.
The Digital Transformation
Now starts what I’m framing as the ‘Digital Transformation’: Off the back of teaching in China I became a self-employed online ESL teacher. My core students were from 3-16 years with some adult learners thrown into the mix. It taught me about entrepreneurship, self-discipline, and the joys of working in pajama pants.
It’s 2018, China shuts down all teaching institutions with foreign teachers and closes ranks effectively wiping out access to 90% of my clientele overnight. The pandemic hit, we went into lockdown. I’d had a taste of working fully remotely from anywhere so I decided to learn to code.
The Tech Ascension
Now we enter my tech ascension, I earned a data-focused degree with the incredible CFG (Code First Girls) organization that’s focused on getting more women in the tech industry. I snagged a role as a Data Engineer at Redkite, a London consultancy startup. By sheer luck I entered the industry at the perfect time, the sweet spot where business was booming and AI wasn’t quite there yet. It was the perfect nurturing environment with a wide range of projects that allowed me to hone my engineering skills rapidly.
And then, the acquisition happened. Redkite became part of Accenture, and I found myself right back in the belly of the corporate beast. It was the ultimate “full circle” moment: I was back in the world of global giants, only this time I was parsing Python instead of organising agendas. The exposure was world-class, working at that scale is like a PhD in how the modern world actually functions. But long-term, that level of corporate structure can be a bit like a well-tailored suit: it looks impressive to everyone else, but eventually, you just want to take it off so you can breathe (and maybe code in your pajamas again!)
And that brings us to now, I’m contracting as a data engineer while vibe-coding websites and apps on the side and dipping into content writing. Livestock to live data. Pouring pints to parsing Python. Teaching English to engineering data pipelines. It’s all part of my evolution.
Why This Works in the Age of AI
Here’s where it gets interesting. We’re living in an era where AI can write code, design graphics, analyze data, and even compose music. The tech landscape is evolving faster than a chameleon on a disco floor. So why does a winding, seemingly chaotic career path like mine actually make sense?
Because AI can’t (yet) replicate the human experience of adaptation.
The Modern Advantage
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Diverse Skill Collation: Every role I’ve held added tools to my toolkit. Customer service from hospitality. Project management from events. Cross-cultural communication from teaching abroad. Technical skills from data engineering. These aren’t separate careers, they’re layers of expertise that compound.
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Pattern Recognition Across Domains: When you’ve worked in multiple industries, you start seeing patterns. A data pipeline isn’t that different from managing an event flow. User experience design draws on the same empathy I used when teaching. These connections are invisible until you’ve lived them.
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Rapid Learning Muscle: Each career switch forced me to learn quickly. That muscle gets stronger every time. Now, when a new framework drops or AI capabilities expand, I don’t panic, I adapt. It’s what I’ve always done.
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Future-Proofing Through Flexibility: AI will automate many tasks, but it can’t automate adaptability. The jobs of 2030 might not exist yet. But if you’re comfortable with change, you’re comfortable with the future.
The Secret Sauce: What Actually Matters
After all these career pivots, I’ve identified what truly makes the difference:
1. Collating Skills, Not Collecting Titles
Don’t think of your career as a ladder, think of it as a skill tree in a video game. Every experience unlocks new abilities. That time as a barmaid? Unlocked: conflict resolution, working under pressure, reading people. Horse training? Unlocked: patience, non-verbal communication, trust-building.
Each role isn’t a detour; it’s an expansion pack.
2. Developing People Skills (The Ultimate Transferable Asset)
Technical skills are important, but they have expiration dates. Programming languages evolve. Tools get deprecated. But the ability to communicate, collaborate, and connect with people? That’s timeless.
Whether I was teaching English to Chinese students or explaining data architecture to stakeholders at Accenture, the core skill was the same: understanding what someone needs and delivering it in a way they can grasp.
In an AI-driven world, the human touch becomes more valuable, not less.
3. Getting Comfortable with Change
This is the big one. Change isn’t just inevitable - it’s constant. The tech industry moves at warp speed. New tools, new methodologies, new best practices emerge monthly.
But here’s what I learned: change is only scary the first few times. After you’ve reinvented yourself once, twice, ten times, it becomes… kind of fun? There’s a thrill in not knowing exactly where you’ll be in two years. There’s freedom in knowing you can figure it out.
4. Not Fearing the Unknown
Fear of the unknown keeps people in jobs they hate, in careers that don’t fulfill them, in comfort zones that become cages. But the unknown is where growth lives.
When I decided to learn to code with zero technical background, it was terrifying and believe me there were a lot of frustrated tears. When I applied for my first data engineering role, imposter syndrome was real - in fact it still is! But on the other side of that fear was a whole new world of possibilities.
The unknown isn’t a threat - it’s an invitation.
The Evolution Mindset
So what’s the takeaway from this meandering career journey?
Evolution isn’t just for species - it’s for careers too.
In a world where AI is reshaping industries overnight, where remote work has dissolved geographical boundaries, where the skills needed today might be obsolete tomorrow, the ability to evolve isn’t just nice to have. It’s essential.
Your career doesn’t need to be a straight line. In fact, the most interesting paths rarely are. Each twist, each pivot, each “wait, you did what?” moment adds depth, resilience, and a unique perspective that no one else has.
Embrace Your Inner Chameleon
The art of evolution is really the art of staying curious, staying humble, and staying open. It’s about collecting experiences like some people collect stamps, and trusting that they’ll all connect in ways you can’t yet see. From cattle to code, from outback to office, from teaching to tech - every step made sense in retrospect, even when it felt random in the moment.
So if you’re standing at a crossroads, wondering if you should make that leap, learn that new skill, or pivot into something completely different, let me offer this:
Change isn’t something to fear. It’s something to master.
And in this rapidly evolving world, the people who thrive won’t be the ones who resist change - they’ll be the ones who dance with it.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some code to write and a website to vibe with. Who knows what I’ll be doing next year? And honestly, that’s the exciting part.
The only constant is change. Might as well get good at it.