International Women’s Day with Rebecca Willis
What’s your name and job title at 6B?
Rebecca Willis, Commercial Director.
What does your role at 6B involve?
To manage the front office team in order to grow 6B in line with our 5 year plan, increasing turnover, profit and headcount. Doing this in a strategic and sustainable way by working with clients that align with our vision, culture and values, developing long-term partnerships to create positive change in the world through tech.
What do you love most about your job?
I enjoy the variety of people and organisations I work with. I love learning about other businesses and the innovative ways they are looking to improve outcomes for patients, whilst reducing costs or creating efficiencies within the sector. Even when working largely in the healthcare sector, you can still learn a lot as there are so many opportunities for embedding technology in this sector and still so many solutions to be developed.
How did you first get into the industry?
I previously worked in the nuclear industry, providing safety and control systems. Whilst this was interesting work, I wanted to work with technologies that were more cutting-edge and innovative and where there were more opportunities to problem solve in creative ways.
What are some of the common barriers / challenges you have had to overcome to carve out a successful career in tech/in general?
Being from a non-technical background you need to work harder to make sure you have the right information or can access the right information at the right time to help clients create a solution that works best for them. Working across multiple technologies can make this more challenging but also adds variety and keeps things interesting. However, a non-technical background also helps me to ask different questions than other people in the room and see things from a different perspective, which is often useful.
What advice would you have for someone looking to follow the same career path?
You need a lot of resilience and patience in commercial roles so celebrate the wins when they come. Build a strong network around you of supportive but not necessarily like-minded people. Care about your customers’ success more than your own and your own will come.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It’s a reminder to check in on what we’ve done as a business to improve DE&I initiatives over the last year and make sure we’re always moving the bar forwards.
Who are some of the women that have inspired you during your career?
Every day I continue to be inspired by the incredibly talented women I work with here at 6B.
How does 6B help promote inclusivity in the workplace?
6B always recognises that there is more that we can do, and Rachael Midgley, our Talent and Wellbeing Manager, is crucial to making this happen. With this focus in mind, we hope to see even more women in senior positions within the business than we already have.
Are you a woman interested in pursuing a career in tech?
Here at 6B, we’re always on the lookout for fresh talent to bolster our ranks.
