In conversation with Julie Orme, Katchr's high flying Data Analyst.

Many of us have our phobias that we wrestle with whenever the situation arises. For Julie, her biggest fear is heights and/or flying and that’s understandable for someone who spends their day interpreting facts and data. To have such clarity of thought over the work that passes your desk is in stark contrast to the fear of letting go and falling, the polar-opposite to control. But, when that starts to affect your desire to fly to all those wonderful destinations we have on our bucket lists, many people try to take charge of their fears. In Julie’s case, she jumped “in at the deep end”, deciding to throw herself out of a plane. In anyone’s book that is an epic act of bravery, especially for someone so utterly terrified of the potential pitfalls. You may be expecting a great outcome to this story but as Julie herself puts it, “It didn’t work” although apparently the middle bit when she was essentially weightless, was breath-taking and wonderful. Julie faced her fears. We are seeing more and more strong women making a success of their careers in technology and Julie’s story certainly has positivity at the core.

Like a great many people working for technology companies today, Julie didn’t take the direct route. She started her working life in hospitality in London from where she fell into a technical role on the IT support desk of a tech company offering services to the hospitality industry. This is a common story because often, people have such great experience of workflows that they bring a real-world background of knowledge to companies who are streamlining and improving those same processes through useful tech. After realising how much she enjoyed the challenge and knowledge acquisition, Julie did a part-time HNC in Computer Studies. As she herself admits, she didn’t have her first PC until about 35 years old so Julie is a great example of how the technology industry today is particularly interested in people who are adaptable and eager to embrace the new.

Julie became involved with Katchr very early and that has always been a driving factor in her sense of ownership of the product. In her own words, “I like our product and our clients. I enjoy the challenges of my job and I have flexibility around my working hours, Katchr is great with work life balance.” This very much echoes Richard Branson’s sentiment about looking after your people, something the Managing Director, Graham is passionate about.

Shared outcomes in their life goals is a feature of working at Katchr. As a company, they understand that people work to live and that happy, relaxed people are more productive and upwardly mobile in their roles. That’s why, recently, Katchr announced that for every five years you complete with the company, you get an extra two week holiday as a thank you. That’s a chance to go and explore your dreams, throw yourself out of an aeroplane or take part in that special marathon. Julie opts for the latter these days, preferring 26 miles of terra firma to a sudden plunge into an abyss.