"I joined PwC as a Mendix Developer in July 2023 and within a few months moved into a
platform and portfolio-focused role. In August 2025 I was promoted to Manager, with the plan
being to split my time between Mendix and Power Platform, focusing on technical operations.

 

Shortly after my promotion, a large round of voluntary layoffs reduced my team from four people
to just me. I never actually stepped into the role I'd been promoted into — instead, I felt I had to
cover everyone's responsibilities. I was overwhelmed, and honestly quite hard on myself. I tried
to brute-force my way through everything, which meant long nights and working weekends. I
was overworked, unclear on the direction of my role, unsure which tasks actually mattered, and
had no sense of what leadership wanted me to focus on.

Manikaa approached me at exactly the right moment, though I didn't realise it at first. I wasn't
sure this was the support I needed — PwC can be complex to navigate, both politically and
technically (fortunately, Manikaa had worked there before!). I already had a career coach
internally, but despite asking multiple times for guidance and resources, I never got anywhere
long-term.

It took a few sessions just to unpack everything I was dealing with, and it was a relief to be able
to be completely transparent. Early on, Manikaa asked me a big question that turned out to be
the foundation for everything that followed: "What do you actually want to do? What would your
ideal role look like?" My area realistically needed four people to run it, from commercial through
to technical platform management. I was trying to do everything, and I couldn't. More
importantly, I was stretched so thin that I had no headspace to grow into the role I actually
wanted.

Once I was clear that I wanted to focus on platform strategy — from governance through to
market focus — we looked at where my time was actually going. We laid out everything on my
plate, scored each piece of work by its impact, and asked the honest questions: What don't I
want to do? What has no real value? What's genuinely mandatory? Seeing it all laid out was
night and day. The majority of my time was going to work I didn't want to be doing.

 

From there, things clicked into place. I finally understood who should be doing what —
developers should develop, project managers should manage — and I was able to explain to
the portfolio manager overseeing our global initiatives that I couldn't be 30% of every role and
still run the platform. Together, Manikaa and I developed a project initiation document covering
objectives, stakeholders, RACI, and outcomes. I've now submitted and gained approval for
multiple projects using it, and I've even used the same approach to drive operational change
across multiple lines of service. It's been a genuine success — I'm now involved in the projects
that matter, with the ability to drive strategic change.

I've gone from saying "I need more staff" to "I have an idea that will save us X — here's the
resource required and here are the outcomes." It sounds simple, but without someone looking at
your career from different angles, you can be blind to it.

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What made the difference with Manikaa is that she helped me genuinely understand what was
going on and how to approach it. I'm not the most articulate person, but she's brilliant at
unpicking what I'm saying so she can understand my situation and help me better. This is the
kind of career coaching people actually need — not just someone to help you tick the
mandatory boxes.

Honestly? Work doesn't feel stressful anymore. I have the headroom to think about the
outcomes I want for the platform. I go to work, catch up on my projects, and I've finally had the
chance to make my work more visible. There's still more to unpick as I settle into this new world,
but I know that will come with time."

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