International Women’s Day: Attia’s journey

For the third instalment of our International Women’s Day celebrations, we’ll be focusing on our Billing Manager, Attia Ahmed’s journey. Attia joined the team last year and is already making waves.

Attia’s story

My career really started back in university in a customer service environment, then going on to work at a call centre as a Contact Centre Agent. I found that I enjoy working with people and quickly became a Team Manager at the age of 21, which was a real achievement after leaving university. My career has largely been in energy, with a quick break to work for a medical-based company, but I find you never really leave energy once you get started.

Once I moved back into the energy sector, I began managing a call centre which was an exciting experience. I had a great team at the time and even trained to be the head of the department. Unfortunately, this was my first experience of facing the glass ceiling that many women experience at work. While I was successful and worked hard in my role, it became clear that the progression I was seeking was not going to be available to me.

These situations can be frustrating, but it did push me to be the best I could be in my role. This was when I started to look for opportunities elsewhere and began my time at Amber. Working at Amber for the last 7 months has been such a different experience and has made me feel like I have healed a little from past toxic leaderships. It’s important to remember that while you may find working in some roles to be extremely challenging, you build resilience – it’s not going to be the same everywhere.

Now I find that I can be myself, working with honesty and transparency, and I really enjoy working alongside the people I manage and leaders. My career has taught me the value of giving your team the praise and recognition they deserve, as well as giving honest feedback in a kind manner when necessary. Sometimes women feel like they must sacrifice a lot, so it’s really important to make sure that every woman knows her worth and how much sharing positive energy can have an impact on everyone, including yourself.

Celebrating each win regardless of it being big or small is pivotal as women in a corporate role hold many different titles outside of work which can become tiring to say the least. It’s important that you take time for yourself, talk about your successes and challenges, and most importantly share your experiences and knowledge with others –proudly rooting for everyone’s success.

Keep showing up, and make sure you know your worth.

Attia’s IWD tip

My advice is just keep showing up and be your own cheerleader.

Don’t always seek for validation from others – you are doing the best you can do. Don’t be scared to ask for help or for someone to accommodate to your requirements, especially if you are a younger women who is starting out on their career path.