Katie grew up in the East Bowling area of Bradford, and nobody in her family had attended university previously. Despite being considered a high achiever throughout her school life, and being encouraged to consider applying for high ranking universities, peer influence, substance misuse, and a lack of clear career aspirations resulted in Katie disengaging from school during her teen years. Katie managed to achieve good GCSE results with relatively minimal effort; however, the jump to A Level study was difficult.  During Year 12 Katie had a particularly difficult experience with drug use and was absent from sixth form for a period of time, eventually dropping out of sixth form after her first year exams.

After putting some thought into study options, Katie enrolled at Bradford College to study Reflexology and Aromatherapy Message, however shortly after starting the course Katie fell pregnant. At the age of 18 Katie moved out of her family home, completed her college courses and found work as a receptionist and finance administrator. 

Katie’s son was born just after her 19th birthday.  For the next three years Katie focused on pushing herself professionally in order to provide the best possible life for her son, she also studied with The Open University in her own time.  As a result of continued hard work, going above and beyond in each role she had, Katie was promoted to her first line management role at the age of 22.  During this time Katie was experiencing a very difficult and volatile home life.  Katie became a single mum at 22, and faced many financial and domestic difficulties over the coming years. 

Determined not to allow these circumstances to impact her professional life, Katie worked hard to balance work-life with life as a single parent, trying to set the best example for her young son and proving herself at work.  Katie continued to progress in her career, spending some time in commercial recruitment and employability roles, before securing a position at the University of Bradford where Katie now manages a team of 9 and is responsible for student recruitment and outreach activity across the UK & EU. 

Katie’s son is now a teenager and doing well at high school, Katie is married and still lives in Bradford.  To Katie, one of the most rewarding aspects of her current job is having the opportunity to reach young people who are experiencing similar issues that Katie did in her teens, young people who may feel confused or disengaged when considering their future options around careers and study choices.  Katie is passionate about ensuring young people are provided with quality information and guidance about their future options, and that barriers are overcome to ensure all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential.  Katie is also keen to engage with young mothers, and young females experiencing domestic violence.

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