“Hi I’m LJ and I’m a Product Manager at Joyous. Joyous was my entry point into the tech industry in 2018. How I landed here was very random, but the outcome has been extremely rewarding.

I spent 7 years studying, and started my career with typical student jobs. Waitressing, sandwich making at Subway, selling tickets, nannying etc. At one point, I was working five jobs and studying full-time. I was a sucker for punishment.

At university, I studied psychology and statistics and went on to complete a Masters in Organisational Psychology. After my Masters, I did 18 months of contract work with various companies. Through one of these companies I was connected to Mike Carden (Co-founder of Joyous). Mike was particularly interested in the research I had done during my Masters which closely aligned with the research that Joyous were conducting.

I was initially offered an 8-week contract during which I produced research and content for Joyous. At the time, the company was small and couldn’t keep me on full-time, so I went on to do a role in social media marketing. Fast forward a year, Joyous reached out and offered me a full-time position as an Analyst.

It was an easy transition for me as I knew a lot of the team already and was well supported during the onboarding process. Because Joyous is a start-up, there is so much to learn and help with, and so my role has since evolved into Product Manager and I couldn’t be happier.

Now I spend my days learning and creating in a space that I feel I’m meant to be and that aligns perfectly with what I studied at university - how many people can say that!”

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