1

What do you like most about Berkeley?

Probably the thing I like most is that it doesn’t necessarily feel like a firm of management consultants!  I see Berkeley as a place full of smart and down-to-earth people who want to do a cracking job for their clients, help the firm grow and have lots of fun along the way.  Being surrounded by those sorts of people is infectious and makes you want to get up in the morning. And I do really think that everyone buys into that ethos, which is why there’s a really genuine, authentic feel to the place, as opposed to some organizations where you might feel like you’re just a small cog in a big wheel.

2

What types of work projects excite you the most?

Definitely big delivery and in particular anything that is at the coal face for the client. I do really like strategy work, but sometimes strategy and operating model assignments don’t find their way off the page, if there’s a change in emphasis or a change of sponsor, and that can be frustrating. Big delivery, when you’re really accountable for transforming something, is exciting, gets the juices flowing and can be quite scary sometimes - which I guess appeals to the masochist in me! I think they are the jobs you learn the most from as well, not just technically, but in terms of learning about yourself and the people you work with, although sometimes you really have to put the hours in!

3  What might people be interested in knowing about you?

I’d like to think there are lots of interesting things about me, but one relevant to the workplace that people might be interested to know that I don’t like tea or coffee. Honestly, I cannot stand the stuff and have never understood the appeal. I tried them both when I was younger and just thought they were horrible. I even persisted with tea for a while and it just didn’t happen for me.

Anyway, it’s mildly interesting because of course so much conversation at work happens when you “go for a coffee”, so whenever I “go for a coffee” with clients it ends up with me just drinking water, or maybe hot chocolate or something, so then people want to know why you don’t want a coffee and, well yeah, round and round that conversation goes. It just seems dead normal to me to not drink coffee, but I think a lot of people I’ve worked with think I’m a child. I just consider myself lucky that I don’t need a cup of something to get out of bed in the morning.