Clothes.

Welcome to the Asos Tech podcast, where we are continuing to share what it's like to work inside a global online fashion company.

Perfect.

You may have bought some clothes from us, but have you ever wondered what happens behind the screens? Hi, I'm Adrian, and my pronouns are he, him, and I'm an engineering manager at Asos. In this episode, we are continuing our day in the Life series with Mita, who's a solutions architect. Hi, Mita. Could you introduce yourself and tell us who you are and what role you do?

Hey, Adrian. My name is Mita. My pronouns are she and hall. I am a solutions architect at Asos, working within the commercial tech department.

Cool. And normally how we set these episodes off is we do a bit of an icebreaker. So I've got one for you. If you weren't currently working at Asos as a solutions architect, what of a career would you pursue?

I think if not asos tech, I would definitely be doing something within space technology because I'm absolutely fascinated by the universe, by space, because there are just so many unknowns. So definitely something within space technology area.

Are you going in for rocket scientist or astronaut?

Not exactly astronaut. More like scientist.

We're not ready to send you off to Mars just yet.

Not yet. I love my art, I think.

Cool. So let's get in. Before we go for how you got to Asos, let's go back to the very early days of your life, and what was your favorite subject or class at school?

My favorite subject was math. I always loved math, I think because it's either right or wrong answers and there's no fuffing about. You either get it right or you don't. And also, I think I would admit I have a bit of a lazy streak, so I would rather solve a math problem quickly rather than write, like, pages on pages related to language or history. That's how my brain works.

Yes. I think a lot of engineers can relate to that. There's definitely will make things better and faster because we're a little bit lazy. And how does that lead on to what was your earliest tech memory?

So my earliest tech memory was in primary school. I remember when we first had computer science as a subject and the very first time I remember having introduction to physical Computers, like physical PCs, and we were allowed to tinker around with Microsoft Word. And I still remember a very cute, like, this paperclip smiley logo that used to come bouncing on the screen and then just doodling with paint. So I think those are like, my earliest tech memories.

I think Clippy has a lot to answer for of, like, spending many hours.

It's really cute.

He's got to come back, right? AI has got to bring back Clippy at some point.

I would love to have it back.

I think that's definitely what we need. So that's primary school. So quite a jump ahead. Can you tell us the story of how you came to work at Asos?

Sure. So I started off my career in technology after I passed out of Uni. So I have an engineering degree and then coming into Asos Tech was with my previous job I thought I had reached a point where I thought my capabilities or skill sets were not being utilized to their potential. So I was just looking around on LinkedIn and found this job at work from Asos. They were recruiting for this very exciting transformation program that was taking place there and I applied for the job and got through. When I joined Asos Tech I joined as part of a transformation program as a solutions analyst and then grew from there in my career. The solutions architect role was an opening that I applied for a few years into the solutions analyst job and the reason I applied for it was at that point I had already been doing certain aspects of the job and I was quite enjoying it. So I just thought that was like the natural progression for me. So when an opening came up I was excited but also a bit hesitant to apply because I wasn't quite sure. Like being a woman, when my female dreams kick in, I look at the job description, I look at all the things that I can't do and the criteria I don't meet rather than what I am actually able to deliver. So I did need a little push from the leadership team around me who were like, you know what, go for it, we have confidence, we know you can do it. So that's how I actually found the confidence to apply for it. Yeah, a little bit of Imposter syndrome there, but I think I had a really good support network around me to push me on in this journey and I'm so glad that I did and I was very pleased when I got this job.

Brilliant. Yeah, a nice little story about coming through asos of joining and then being promoted through. So that's a nice place and getting that leadership support that you've got there and clearly it shows that you can do the job now as well. So you clearly don't need that Impostor Syndrome, although I think it affects a lot of people. And then if you had one wish of how you change the tech industry, what would it be?

I would love to see more women in tech. I think it is a problem that we all recognize and I think the one change that I would love to see is just more women being interested and joining tech. There are a variety of roles that exist so when people hear Tech they really shouldn't be patrol or be scared to say that you have the image of a very, I don't know, like a naughty person just sitting in front of a very scary looking screen it's not all about that. There are various capacities and roles that exist within tech and it is a very exciting industry to be in. There are new technologies that come up every now and again so that's one place you are never going to get bored. There's so much to learn, so much to experiment and I know like for women it is a bit daunting because this comes across as one of the industries that is very male dominated. But just know that there are so many areas in which we can contribute and it's just about taking that first step, that leap of faith and just going for it. And I'm sure once you are in there you would really enjoy yourself.

I think it can be very hard to take that first leap, especially when you say you don't meet all of the requirements that are on the list.

Yeah, absolutely.

Have you got any tips or advice for people in that situation?

Yeah, I would just like to say that it is very hard and I've gone through it myself and it doesn't matter how many really good talks and conferences you may have been on imposter syndrome, it is one thing to hear about it, but we all go through it and there is no shame in admitting it. I know that I have it, but just know that it is always good for your growth to put yourself in uncomfortable situations because if not, you would never be able to challenge yourself and know what you really are capable of. Yes, even if the job description seems very scary, just go for it. That's how men work. They would see two things out of ten that they can do and they have absolutely no doubts about it and they go there with all the confidence in the world. So there's something to learn maybe from a male counterparts and just go for it. It's hard to put yourself in a very uncomfortable situation but unless you do that you wouldn't really grow.

Yeah, I totally agree and yeah, it is much easier. I definitely applied for jobs in the past where maybe I like tick half the boxes but I feel well, I've ticked half so I'm halfway there or maybe I've only ticked a few. So yeah, it's really important just to apply and I know we're trying to as a company trying to make that easier to get more people in and there is a big women in tech community within Asos which is really good to see, as we've seen on previous episodes of the podcast.

The other thing I would like to add is that usually we women are quite scared to make mistakes. We always aim for perfection in everything we do and maybe that's just like our general characteristic, that's how we are. But I suppose the other thing I would say is don't be scared to make mistakes. You wouldn't know until you have tried. So it's okay to keep trying and it's okay to fail as well. But unless you've tried, you just wouldn't know what you've missed. So rather than living in regret, just try it out. If it doesn't work, that's okay. You carry on.

Yeah, sounds brilliant. Okay, so we've talked a bit about how you got to Asos tech and a bit about the tech industry. Can you talk us through typical day in your role of solutions architect?

Sure. So typical day in a solutions architect generally involves a lot of meetings and that is because our role requires us to be having lots of conversation with different kinds of people with different types of teams and for different purposes. So say for example, when a new project or initiative comes along, we are pulled in to understand what the requirements are from the business, what the needs are. Once we've got the requirements, then we go draft of a high level solution and then talk to our teams about it that hey, this is the requirement, this is what I think we need to be doing. What do you think? And then once we talk to our teams, then we refine the designs and then make sure that all the stakeholders involved in the project are up to date as well. There may be instances where we have to push back on requirements or change the approach we have taken. So it's just having lots of conversation with different sets of people. So that's hence the number of meetings in a day. But when I'm not in meetings, I'm like exploring new technologies because when different business cases come up I need to ensure that I have the knowledge to match up the right tech for the problem that I'm solving. So I also then experiment and explore new tech that's out there just to make sure that I keep myself up to date with the latest technologies that are around. So that when the use cases come up I do have the knowledge, I suppose I've got the right information to then solutionize a problem.

Cool. And is it much hands on with writing code or is that just left to the engineers?

Most of it is left to the engineers but I wouldn't say I'm completely hands off because I come from an engineering development background so I quite enjoy that. So I've tried to keep myself hands on as much as possible but though I do not have the time now. But usually architects are quite hands off on direct coding. As such, we leave it to our wonderful engineers to tackle that brilliant.

And can you tell me about what's the best part of working in tech at Asos?

The best part about the tech and Asos is that I have never felt bored a single day ever since I've joined. Because Asos, as a company is such a happening place to be, there's something new always in the pipeline that's waiting to be picked up new ideas that need to be implemented. So it's a really exciting workplace and atmosphere. It also gives you the opportunity to experiment and fail if needed because that's the work culture here, which is absolutely vital if you are in technology, there is freedom to explore and try things out, which I really love. And another thing that I really respect about Asos is that when they say that Asos is a place where everyone can be who they want to be, they really mean that. So I know that ever since I joined Asos, I did not come with the view that architecture is something that's what I want to do or that's where I want to be. I did try out a few things. I went on some say management courses for example, but I was never questioned. That okay, if you're an engineer, why are you trying to do a management course? How is that related to your job role? Whenever I wanted to learn something or do a course, as long as I showed why I was doing it, that was fine. I think there was never a question about we wouldn't let you learn this because it's absolutely unrelated to your role. That is something I am very grateful for because I have been able to pick up skills that I don't think I would have had the opportunity to pick up if I was working maybe in some of the traditional companies that I've been with previously. I also love the fact that there is quite a diverse and I know we are working to improve that, but there's still quite a good diversity in terms of ethnicity, race, gender, age, you name it. Compared to some of my previous workplaces where probably in a team of 20, I was like the only woman of color and probably the youngest person. So that's how I think Asos has been a brilliant workplace and this is like the longest I've ever stayed with the company.

Good. Hopefully that will still continue as we go through after the podcast. So you talked about technologies changing and having to use new technologies and obviously the pace being quite fast. How do you keep up with these new technologies and learn new things?

So within asos Tech, every month, the last Friday of every month, we have a dedicated day of learning which is called Tech Develops, which is a brilliant way for the whole of Tech to be investing time in learning and developing so that we take some time out consciously out of our work week and actually invest it in our learning. This has been a brilliant initiative in my opinion because sometimes you just get carried away with your work priorities and it's very hard to actually make sure that you are investing time in learning. And technology, I feel, is one area that you have to always keep learning because there's something new around the corner every day. The way I do it is I make use of tech, develop, stay, but as part of my role, there is a requirement for me to do it anyway. So there's a lot of self learning, online tutorials, YouTube videos, LinkedIn, so there are various resources at our disposal and Asos tech. But I suppose it's just that it's not only for the sake of doing it, but it's also I am quite passionate about technology. I like to learn new things, so I make sure that I am reading up and I'm exploring new tech all the time.

Cool. And what do you wish, sort of if we went back to the start of your career or the start of Asos? What do you wish you'd have known when you first started out?

I think I wish someone had told me that nobody is perfect. All of us, every day, we are learning things. We are learning something new from each other every day. And no one is in the job knowing everything. So it's okay not to know things, and it's okay to admit that you do not know things. And it's also okay to admit when you've made a mistake and own up to it, because that's how we all learn. It's just that if you have made a mistake, make sure you learn from it and also share your knowledge, because it's very surprising the kind of experiences that you gain over the years and how one fine day when something similar happens, the memories just joke back and you know exactly what you need to do. So I suppose just that perfection is not something that you need to be worried about. It's okay to fail. It's okay to make mistakes and just own and learn from them.

Yeah, I totally agree. I think the best skill we can learn is that it's okay to fail and it's okay to ask questions and not know the answer to everything straight away. So on the sort of the opposite side of that, talking a bit of, like, failure and things not going so well, what are you most proud of in your time at Asos?

My proudest achievement in Asos were probably in the project when I joined. We were implementing multiple Oracle retail applications, and for various reasons, the application I was working for was one of the first to go live. So before everything else around us went live, we had to put it in production. And in a very short span of time, we had to come up with a solution that would work for an interim period and then switch back on to the end strategic state. So I suppose that's my biggest achievement so far, because in a very short amount of time, I, along with my team, managed to deliver that very successfully, to the extent that once we had switched on our production system, we had all the Asos commercial teams on there and everything went so smoothly like clockwork that by second day we were all prepared to support them in any way and provide hypercare. But there were no issues at all. And we were there having general team lunches and retrospectives. So I think that speaks volumes of how well that went. So I'm really proud of that.

Yeah, I think that's definitely something to be proud of there. Okay, so I've got two final questions for you. Let's start with one. Have you ever been to a sample sale?

Yes. Absolutely love it.

And what is your favorite sample sale purchase?

I really couldn't pick out a favorite, but I have managed to get my hands on some really good deals, like really nice coats and shoes. Yeah, I really can't pick out a favorite.

I think one of the requirements once you've been at Asos long enough and been to enough sample sales is you have too many coats throughout the year than there are months in the year. That's definitely a piece of.

I agree.

Okay, and to finish up, can you give us a song that sums up working at Asos Tech?

Sure. It would be unstoppable by the score.

Nice. That's a really good one. Thank you very much for joining us today. It's been a pleasure having you on.

Thank you, Adrian. Lovely chatting to you.