Delora has been a part of Endava for almost 8 years now. As a Senior Business Analyst, she is now the Product Owner for the Endava Workforce Acceleration Programme. Check out her story and find out how Delora learned that passions and work are more interconnected than she thought. Some things as simple as a sequence of training exercises that can teach you how to look for realistic goals, pursue them and keep setting higher ones.

Tell us about how you started your journey in Endava.

I started in Endava as a Business Analyst a few years back, in December 2012. I was struck by the cultural differences between the corporate environment I had been so familiar with up to that point and the people and values in Endava. I wasn't used to the easiness in approaching everyone around, from peers sitting right near, to middle and top management. Everyone was so easy-going and approachable, sharing family and personal experiences over coffee in the morning.

I started working as a Business Analyst on internal projects (HR, BWS, Purchasing, Appraisals) which I believe was a great opportunity for me to understand how Endava works and how it scaled so quickly and smoothly from a small IT business to a mature organisation. I grew along with the company, evolving into a Senior BA role. After that, I switched to commercial projects where I was on a Proxy PO role, but I always strived to get back at the core of Endava and continue working on internal projects. So here I am, back to the roots: I am working now as a Product Owner on the EWA (Endava Workforce Acceleration) program.

What drives you the most in your work?

The quality of a company resides in the quality of the people within. I guess this is the first thing that drives me. Throughout the years, I've never had the feeling that I am perceived as a generic resource. Endava is a place that allows anyone to develop and get involved as much as they want to. If you want to feel comfortable and safe working on a single project for 5-6 years, in a very settled and predictable setup, you can do that. If you want to be constantly challenged, quickly moving from one environment to another, go the extra mile, get involved in various activities that put you out of your comfort zone, you can do that, too. Endava has the tools and people that enable you to grow, and I believe it is a place where you can live the life you want to live.

How would your colleagues describe you in one sentence?

I think they would describe me as a well-organised person, who is punctual, finishes meetings with time to spare, a person who knows where to find what others need when they need it, and who quickly distinguishes between what is important and what is not.

What books or materials have helped you in your career development?

'The skill of self-confidence' by Dr. Ivan Joseph (Ted Talk) 'Outliers (The Story of Success)' by Malcolm Gladwell 'Good to Great' by James C. Collins. These books taught me that the most crucial ingredient that makes the difference between success and failure is, in fact, practice. After a long time of practising, our work becomes natural and steady.

What advice would you give yourself if you were joining Endava today?

Try to identify what you like to do most and then speak up, without waiting for anyone else to figure this out and draw your career path. It also has to be done realistically and step by step.

What are your passions, and how did they contribute to your day-to-day job?

I am passionate about sports, salsa, dancing and cooking. I used to teach cycling classes in the mornings when I was working in the CBC Office. I'm very interested in reading and understanding how our body reacts, adapts and develops according to how we train and what nutrition habits we have. I've never done a training without understanding why I am doing my exercises in a certain sequence.

I guess the main contribution of sports is that they taught me resilience and discipline. I don't believe in miracles, and I'm not driven by dreams that seem out of my reach. Instead, sports taught me to look for immediate goals, follow through on them and set new ones, higher than the previous goals I'd achieved. Also, one more thing that crosses my mind very often when running outdoor and that can be applied to our day to day lives: "most people think the hardest thing is to cross the finish line. But the hardest thing is, in fact, to get to the starting point".