A Career Pivot That Changed Everything
A few years later, while working as a corporate English trainer for a Ukrainian tech company, Erin received an unexpected offer that would reshape her future. “One day, they just asked, ‘Would you like to try being a project manager and work for us as a project manager?’ I said okay – I like communication, I like working with people.”
That transition into tech project management opened up a whole new world. Working with international clients on creative design projects, Erin discovered her passion for product development. She soon found her first role as a product manager at a tech startup, where she spent two years building products from conception.
Then came February 2022, and everything changed.
Starting Over: Finding Community in Crisis
Arriving in the UK as a refugee meant starting completely from scratch. “I’m in a new country, I don’t know anyone, no connections,” Erin remembers. “Although I’d been learning English since I was a child, you don’t really understand the business culture.”
But rather than retreat into isolation, Erin made a crucial decision that would define her success: she sought out community. “The first thing I did was join groups and attend networking events. I just started talking to people.”
That decision to engage with the tech community paid off remarkably quickly – Erin found her first UK job in less than two months. “Everyone said, ‘Oh really, that quick?’ It was quite surprising, but I think what helped me was the community.”
The transition wasn’t without challenges. British business culture proved markedly different from what she knew. “Starting small talk – for Ukrainians, that’s a real challenge because we don’t have small talk in our culture. Everyone was really confused when conversations started with discussing the weather!”