Insight

This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating the theme of Give to Gain, and for us at Thinventory it felt like the perfect opportunity to shine a light on something we believe in, the power of collaboration.

We’ve sat down with some of the incredible women across our business to hear how they’ve given their time, knowledge and support to the people around them. Whether that’s through mentoring a colleague, sharing their expertise, or simply showing up for someone who needed guidance.

In our first interview, we speak to Product Owners Lauren Douglas and Nic Atkins.

Here are their stories: 

Tell us a bit about yourself

Lauren Douglas: I’m a Product Owner, responsible for our order management system. This means that I look after all the different ways that a customer can place an order into our system.

Nic Atkins: I’m also a Product Owner, looking after the application responsible for distribution into our lockers, after order placement.

Lauren Douglas: I live in Edinburgh and collect taxidermy (although I’m a vegetarian!) and enjoy hot yoga as well as gardening. I’m also about to self-publish my own poetry book. Nic is the first person who has read the book.

Nic Atkins: I’m very proud of her writing! I love reading in general and set myself a challenge last year to read 100 books, which I met. This year I’ve lowered the target a little. I live in Leamington with my two daughters, Luna and Wren. And in my spare time I also enjoy playing Dungeons and Dragons and board games.

Share your career journey so far

Lauren: My first degree was in Environmental Biology and I’ve always had a keen interest in rewilding and environmental restoration. I’ve tried to pull this through to my work in supply chain and software.

Nic: Lauren did an interesting talk at one of our ThinX days around ‘The cost of our paperless world’ and how many cups of tea could be made for the energy it takes to store emails. It lead to me deleting several years’ worth of historical emails.

Lauren: Before joining Thinventory in 2022, I worked in Supply Chain Transformation at Morrisons and Boots.

Nic: I had so many emails as I have been at Thinventory 13 years now. I started in a customer service role and progressed into App Support. I always wanted to work in web-development but after my college course didn’t go as planned, I pivoted. But I am happy to be back and working in technology.

How would you describe working at Thinventory?

Lauren: I would say fast paced, chaotic at times, but it has a family feel to it. My development team are very close and supportive.

Nic: I’d agree, hectic, fast paced, constantly changing and evolving but a great support network.

How did you start working together and how do your roles fit in with one another?

Lauren: I first met Nic on a Triage call when she worked in Application Support. It became very evident that most of the tickets that were raised and discussed came from Nic and they were all rich in detail.

Nic: We worked well back then to reduce some of the bugs that came through from App Support. The ease of our communication meant we were able to talk about impact of bugs and prioritisation more effectively. Then when I joined the Product Team, Lauren was around to show me the ropes and support me.

Do you have an example of a time when you have supported each other, either professionally or personally?

Nic: We support each other all the time. Lauren is my go-to person in the product team and is always super helpful. When I joined the team, I really doubted myself at the beginning and Lauren was always there to raise my confidence and help overcome the imposter syndrome that I felt.

Lauren: Nic is incredibly ambitious and her attention to detail has made her such a wonderful member of the product team. I would say that Nic has supported me by providing logic and perspective on issues. I can be hot headed, especially when I feel strongly about something so Nic is a safe person to bounce ideas off.

How do your different strengths complement each other?

Lauren: As when we first started working together, Nic is incredibly technical. The amount of knowledge she has on specific issues and customers is incredible. She can recall changes from years ago that have been made.

Nic: I can no longer validate these beliefs after Lauren made me delete all my emails. I think Lauren has great people skills and her organisation skills are much better than my own. I think we balance each other out well.

What does it mean to have a strong female colleague supporting you in the business? Has it made a difference to your career at Thinventory?

Lauren: With so few females in our industry, having someone who understands your perspective and can reassure you is invaluable. Being a woman in a male dominated industry can be challenging and having that person who understands you makes you feel validated.

Nic: Everything Lauren said! I’ve worked in a number of male-dominated industries, and there were times when it felt like my ideas or opinions were seen as less credible than those of my counterparts. So having someone in your corner makes a real difference.

Has there been a piece of advice either of you have given to each other that has stuck?

Lauren: I don’t think there is a specific piece of advice we have shared. What I will say is that Nic is such a judgement free safe space.

Nic: We are constantly supporting each other; we are there for each other.

How do you navigate different perspectives, whether between yourselves or with members of your team?

Nic: We have never butted heads or disagreed so far. We will often sound board to get each other’s perspectives if we are confronted with something.

Lauren: Like Nic said, we use each other as a second pair of eyes and sound board to share perspectives.

What do you hope other women across the business will take away/ take action after reading this interview?

Lauren: You don’t have to be a particular fit for this business, and you don’t have to have every qualification and dilute yourself to be accepted. Be authentically yourself. I think working remotely, there is more importance to find other ways to connect with people and have fun. There is no 5-minute chat whilst making coffee about what you did at the weekend, so you need to create that.

Nic: That everyone needs a Lauren in their lives, but you can’t have mine!