I have experienced an unusual and unique career journey. I started my career as an economist working in the Commonwealth Treasury and then moved to GIO Australia as a senior economist. While there, I completed a graduate diploma in information technology at UTS part-time. I could see how important information technology would become in the workplace and life generally and I wanted to ensure I could participate in the changes that were coming.I was retrenched from my position at GIO Australia when it was purchased by AMP. I took this opportunity to develop my skills in software development with a range of positions over the last 20 years at organisations including MLC, Snowy Hydro and AFICO.With my background in economics, software and database development, I decided to undertake a Master of Data Science at UNSW part-time, as my skills form a core component of the data science toolbox.With this qualification, I am ready to begin a new phase of my career journey by assisting businesses in better understanding their data, creating machine learning models for analysis and prediction, providing insights and assisting in evidence-based decision making.