Joining Redsquid’s Board as it’s Very First Female Member, Adrienne Shows How to Make Big Waves in Senior Management

Why did you leave Chess? Why choose to join an organisation like Redsquid

At Chess, I was given the opportunity to work in several senior roles and gained many new experiences. These opportunities and experiences helped to develop my abilities, my strength, and my determination. And at the same time identified that I wanted a new challenge, one that wasn’t available at Chess. Therefore, I took a leap of faith and joined Redsquid.

I wanted to be a board-member with the ability to achieve more and have real input into the direction of change in a business, and Redsquid offered me that. They’re an acquisition led organisation, which I find exciting as it complements the experience I gained at Chess. Redsquid are focused on the connected world, on pushing innovative new products and services. Which in turn challenges the team’s knowledge and technical prowess and brings a different type of customer to the business. 

As part of the Redsquid recruitment programme, trial days are offered to candidates. These trial days allow the candidate to validate the personal and business match, if you like “walking in the shoes of the team” for two days. This was a powerful exercise and one that cemented my decision to join Redsquid. I had the opportunity to meet each team and identified that they were looking for someone to take them on their own journey, to grow and nurture talent within an already committed and passionate team. Which I absolutely love!

What would you say to anyone else looking to leave a large organisation to join a different kind of business?

Before joining a new business, ensure that you do your research and ask for a trial day, as it’ll help you to understand what it might be like working for them. It certainly made the difference for me.

You must be sure of your ambitions. You must be sure that what you’re looking for can be matched by your potential employer. You could be taking quite a leap of faith, so have some evidence to back that up.

It’s also important to be prepared for significant change. It’s not all going to be plain sailing, but that’s part of the excitement. Be adaptable and take it all in your stride.

What has your experience at Redsquid been like so far?

It’s been very exciting and motivational for me. Working with Redsquid has been a liberating experience, and one that’s enabled me to validate a lot of my own capabilities. I felt listened to and valued. That I’m part of something that’s changing and evolving in exciting new directions.

It’s been wonderful watching the team grow and develop. They’re now taking on new challenges they wouldn’t have previously attempted. Nurturing talent and potential is what I’ve enjoyed about working with Redsquid the most. Having the chance to make important decisions that affect the direction we take as a team, has been incredibly empowering for me.

What’s it like being the first woman on the board?

Redsquid have achieved many milestones over the last decade or so and hiring their first female member of the board will go down as yet another one. This is a company that’s all about progress, and not just the technological kind. So Redsquid are just continuing this journey in progress.

I’ve come from a business that was very encouraging and supportive towards female leadership, so joining Redsquid as a board-member has felt like a natural transition for me. It’s great to have the opportunity to bring an entirely new perspective to the business management.

Everyone at Redsquid has really enjoyed working with Adi so far, and we look forward to seeing what other exciting changes she has for planned for the business.

If you’d like to take your own Redsquid journey, take a look at our current vacancies.