August 18, 2025 • 25 mins
The brilliant Hannah McLean joins the We Are PoWEr Podcast – bringing a story of bold career moves, northern pride, and learning to back yourself even when self-doubt kicks in.
From a history degree to becoming Information Security Officer at Manchester United Football Club, Hannah proves that breaking into male-dominated industries isn’t always about being the most technical person in the room – it’s about problem-solving, communicating, and negotiating with confidence. She shares how she lifted herself up to apply for her dream role, why she believes education is key to breaking barriers, and how celebrating your wins through the Northern PoWEr Women Awards is about so much more than the ceremony itself.
A proud Mancunian and new mum, Hannah opens up about the reality of motherhood versus expectations, her hopes for her daughter’s future, and the moments that make her most grateful to be from the North. From Barry’s Bootcamp to brunch in the Northern Quarter, she champions her city while working to make the online world a safer place.
In this episode:
- From history graduate to cybersecurity at Manchester United Football Club
- Why you don’t need to be “tech-minded” to thrive in tech
- Breaking barriers in male-dominated industries
- Motherhood, reality vs expectations, and learning to love deeper than ever
- Celebrating yourself and your achievements with the Northern PoWEr Women Awards
- Pride in Manchester and its world-changing innovations
- The role of education in breaking barriers and creating opportunity
Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast.
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the podcast for you, your careerand your life.
We release an episode everysingle Monday with listeners in
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(00:21):
As we Are Power is the umbrellabrand to Northern Power Women
Awards, which celebrateshundreds of female role models
and advocates every year.
This is where you can hearstories from all of our awards
alumni and stay up to date witheverything.
Mpw Awards and we Are PowerNever imitated, never replicated
(00:41):
singularly wonderful,everybody's wonder girl.
Well, hello, hello.
Today I'm delighted to be joinedby Hannah McLean, who is the
Information Security Officer atManchester United, currently on
maternity leave, though, indeed,indeed, yeah, now, probably not
(01:02):
a place I'd normally start, butwe always love a bit of a fun
fact, right.
So I've've got to ask yourfamily once auditioned for
Gogglebox, which I've really gotinto.
I don't watch a lot of telly,but I've become a bit the the
brother sister from Blackpool.
I love them, love them anyway.
Aside from that, tell us aboutthat.
What happened, would you?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
do it again.
Oh, 100%, in fact, the onlyreason that we didn't really
pursue it we actually got quitefar as that my dad got really
concerned about fame changinghim, and he was like, hannah,
we're going to end up with ourown talk show, it's all going to
get to our heads and I'm justnot ready for that.
And I was like Dad, it's fine,we're not going to be that big
cheese, it's going to be okay.
(01:39):
But yeah, yeah, it was.
We did all right.
Yeah, one of our friends waslike he's sort of a producer for
it, put us in touch and like,just enjoyed our dynamic and
yeah, we could.
You never know I could havebeen having my own talk show.
There's still time, though youknow Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Never say never, right, but yeah, I love that
Google box fantastic.
So for people who might notknow and might not associate um,
what does your role asinformation security officer at
man United look like?
Yeah, because you're notkicking a ball right, no, 100%,
not um.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
So my role in in, in a nutshell, is everything cyber
security, so that is, across umprotecting our network data and
systems across um our operations, e-commerce, our players and
(02:32):
our academy players as well, soour youth players.
So, yeah, it involveseverything that you might
associate with the football clubin terms of, like, protecting
us from outside threats and yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And we always talk on the pod about there never being
kind of one straight line inanyone's career.
Yeah, how did you find you know?
Because careers guidance isquite challenging and I know we
talk a lot about STEM the worldtalks a lot about STEM out there
but how did you find your routeinto cyber?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, so it's not the traditional computer science
route, which a lot of peoplethink.
That's what you need to work incybersecurity.
I did a history degree Never.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
In fact, I probably was what you need to work in
cyber security and I did ahistory degree um, never in fact
.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, 100% in fact, probably not a very tech minded
individual.
Um graduated I?
Um didn't know what I was goingto do.
Everyone was sort of applyingfor graduate schemes and I
started doing businessdevelopment at KPMG um, and it
was at the time when there was alot of um, cyber was a massive
growth area in the business, umand GDPR was.
There was a lot of cyber was amassive growth area in the
business and GDPR was coming ina lot of like compliance
(03:30):
legislation around cybersecurity.
And I moved into that like sortof tapped the partner's shoulder
and was like please give me ajob.
And then moved into that.
And then moved into the moretech space doing loads of
projects around cyber maturityand how businesses can implement
technologies.
And then sort of got approachedfor the Manchester United role
and sort of went from therereally.
So, yeah, not not from a techbackground at all, actually.
(03:52):
And what do you love most aboutthe role?
It's just so interesting andever-changing.
It's never, no, two days arethe same things.
There's always new threats,there's new technologies and new
problems we have to solve.
Um.
So it's actually more.
It's less tech focused andactually more problem solving,
(04:13):
which I don't think everybodyrealizes that.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
So, um, yeah, I love it, I really do I think that's
one of the opportunities, isn'tit that you know you are a role
model because you're on anotherpower awards um future list and
once you're on our NorthernPower Awards future list, and
once you're on it, hannah,you're always on it in the gang
wearing the badge.
You know, always wear the badge.
But how would you describe thatto your younger self?
Because I think you know, ifyou've got people out there
(04:36):
thinking, god, I don't know whatI want to do, but maybe your
path, I'm going to do historybecause you, you know, and how
would you describe it to someonewho's like thinking of that?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
you talked about being problem solving yeah, and
it is kind of that when youbreak it down.
I think a lot of people think,god, if I'm going to go into
cyber security, I'm going to bea hacker or a pen hacker, slash
pen tester, so I'll be skulkingaround in comms rooms with black
hoodies and have that sort ofskulking that's the word.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Skulking sort of have that sort of Skulking.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
That's the word Skulking, sort of have that
persona and it couldn't befurther from the truth and, in
fact, like the field is so vastthat there's technical roles and
non-technical roles and itactually is just problem solving
, you know, whether it's abusiness trying to implement a
new technology, whether someonehas hacked us and we need to
defend against them, and all ofit is like very dynamic and like
(05:24):
um, being responsive to things.
So, yeah, it really is likeproblem solving and superhero
mixed into one.
Right, you are a protector anddefender, exactly, exactly.
But yeah, no, it's and it'sgreat.
And the other thing as well isI think a lot of people don't
realize is, um, it'scommunication, whether that be,
you're working with likenon-technical audiences and sort
(05:45):
of digesting that technicalinformation and and sort of
displaying it back to thoseaudiences, or very persuasive,
so you might be trying toconvince teams or leadership to
implement certain things orprotective measures.
So a lot of it's actually aboutnegotiation and communication,
which, again, I don't think manypeople realize that they think
it's just all about people inblack hoodies skulking around in
(06:07):
King Kong's rooms, and thatcouldn't be further from the
truth, and you're also workingin the world of football, which
is obviously a massive globalindustry, obviously massive in
the north of England as well.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
So it must come with great opportunities but also
maybe some challenges along theway.
What have you learnt most aboutthe industry and what have you
enjoyed most?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
um, I think, with football in particular, I think
what people might think when,when they're like, oh you do
cyber security at a footballclub, is that, oh, it's just 11
lads kicking a ball around on onon Saturday, that kind of
situation, and it's not reallymuch more than that.
What have you got to defendagainst?
Actually, we have 70,000 peoplewho come to our stadium.
If the turnstiles go down, thatbecomes a health and safety
(06:49):
incident very quickly.
If e-commerce goes down, welose revenue.
If we are buying new playersand they send the payments to
the wrong place, that's amassive problem from share
prices.
So actually, I think a lot ofpeople think we're not targeted
by many threats.
Actually, we're targeted by somany threats and actually that
(07:10):
role itself is quite hard todefend against, because how do
you prioritize your time, um, soyeah, it's.
It's definitely more eyeopening than anything, and
because it's such a big brand,we attract so much good
attention and bad attention.
So yeah, it's a.
It's been a learning curve, forsure.
And are you a football fan?
I am a football fan.
I'm living my dad's dream,because he is a diehard United
(07:34):
fan and he had the MUSC tattooon his forearm not so long ago.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Actor, talk show footballer dad.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100% yeah.
And then I've started playingwhilst working at United,
playing football with the ladson a Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So, um, I've got actually into it myself and were
you, was that something youmight have pursued, or is this
one of the opportunities thatit's given?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
one of the opportunities.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Um yeah, I don't think I would have pursued it
otherwise and you've also led amassive uh cyber transformation
project, haven't you?
Since you've been there, thatmust have been a great
opportunity.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, 100%.
So I was sort of brought inafter we'd had suffered a
massive breach and we were sortof implementing a big cyber
transformation program to sortof bring in new technologies,
particularly around like how wedetect threats.
So people are trying to hack usand yeah, it's been a busy
(08:25):
couple of years, for sure, andit's yeah, it's great it's gone
from strength to strength.
So, yeah, really pleased withthe work we've done there.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
And you do work in two quite male-dominated
industries.
Obviously, we know the rise ofwomen's sport is pretty
phenomenal, and has beenphenomenal over the last decade
really.
But you've you're talking aboutfootball and cyber security
sometimes.
You know god help us.
We talk about.
You know there's that there's alot of talk about pink and blue
jobs out there, but sometimesthat wouldn't, that doesn't
necessarily fit, does it what?
(08:52):
What do you think each worldcould learn from each other?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
football from cyber and cyber from football oh, I
think, um, I think a couple ofthings really around how, with
football, obviously there's alot of team focus, performance
driven, and actually that doestend to translate in
cybersecurity.
So, for example, like Imentioned, cybersecurity is
(09:16):
problem solving.
I say to my teams all the timeI don't expect you to know the
answer, but I expect you to beable to find the answer.
And actually you do need thatteam mentality and also, like
from a network perspective, likeknowing who you can reach out
to to find the answer, tosupport each other, because
actually you actually aren'tgoing to achieve a decent cyber
security posture like workingalone.
(09:38):
So there's definitely thingsyou can sort of like learn that
way.
Um, and then vice versa fromlike, how could cyber security
influence the football teamright now?
Um, I mean, I don't know.
I think, um, oh, I actuallydon't know.
To be fair, no, that's a trickyone, isn't?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
that is a tricky one.
I'm an Evertonian.
I'm sure we can learn lots fromany kind of sector.
Transfer of knowledge yes, 100%.
As you're sort of likenavigating your career adventure
, has there been any points sofar along the line where you've
kind of had to go?
I've had to back myself on thata little bit and really think,
god, this is something likereally interesting that's come
(10:20):
up, but I've gone.
You know what I can do this,and have you kind of really
backed yourself in that?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah, I mean, to be honest, going for the role at
Manchester United.
It was a time in my career Iwas approached for the role but
I remember saying to my husbandI was like I'd love that job,
but I don't think I'm ready forthat job.
And I was like, but nothing badcan come from that interview
process.
I'll either find out, get thefeedback that I need to grow and
improve to then get that role acouple of years down the line.
(10:46):
And then I was like, no, justgo for it.
And then, going through theprocess and I was like, wow, I
think I might get this.
So, yeah, I mean, yeah, I justthink sometimes you've just got
to go for it really.
And I do think sometimes womendo sort of like tread with
carefully and think, oh, am Iready, is this right?
And actually you just need togo for it and just find out and
have you had role models alongthe way or mentors?
(11:09):
Yes, I've had a couple, and invarious different sort of how
they look and feel.
Really, I think my first evermentor was my first boss, like.
he's called Dave Crowther and heum, sorry, rob Crowther, and he
um supported me moving intocyber and I remember like in
meetings he'd like nudge meunder the table say something
(11:29):
and I'm like okay, like, andit's just, I think having that
supportive, like backing is likeso amazing, especially when
you're so early on in yourcareer and finding yourself, um,
yeah, it was really powerful.
So, yeah, a big, big shout outto him.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
To be fair, and you're, you're, you're a big
advocate now as well, having hadan advocate and having have
advocates around you, becauseit's really important.
You're a massive kind of umadvocate for women in tech,
aren't you?
Uh, because it is so manydifferent, million roles, it's
not just one role, is it for all?
Every woman in tech is the same, right, yeah, yeah, um, what
you know?
What's the one thing that youthink could really make a
(12:06):
difference?
Now?
Have you had that magic wand inthe industry or the sector?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
so I I very much think it starts from, like,
education and awareness.
Um, I think that, um, when Ithink, think back to like my
education, education and what wewere learning about from a
technology standpoint, it was sobasic and it doesn't reflect
the workplace.
In the field of tech alone,you've got app development,
(12:32):
engineers, data science, blah,blah, blah, but I was sat in an
IT thingy learning how to doPowerPoint presentations and it
just didn't reflect the world ofwork, and I think that's a
massive point in encouragingboth women and men into the
industry.
But also understanding whenpeople think about cyber
security.
It isn't it isn't alwaystechnical roles.
The industry is so vast.
(12:52):
You can do non-technical andtechnical roles within there and
I think if people knew that, um, they probably wouldn't feel so
scared about the barrier toentry.
Oh god, I need a computerscience degree.
Therefore, I can't do it andthat's just not the case.
Um, so, yeah, that's what.
I would definitely sort of wavemy magic wand to find out.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I love a magic wand.
I wish we all had a magic wand.
You were doing a man Unitedfootball club project, weren't
you?
And you wrote a letter to your15 year old self, which was very
inspiring to hear.
What did that feel like?
Was that quite sort ofcathartic to write that?
Speaker 2 (13:25):
yeah, 100%, it was quite emotional actually and
yeah, it was really just, oh god, it took me back to that place
of like I feel like I had somuch ambition and so much like
hope, but I didn't know how tolike achieve.
It felt very intangible.
So, like sort of reflectingback and be like it'll be okay,
that that was like yeah, it'squite emotional actually.
(13:46):
And then, obviously, sittingdown and recording it, you're
just like, oh, I've like rightwhere I thought I was going to
be and that, and that's a reallynice feeling.
So yeah, it was good, andyou're a new mum.
I am indeed seven months.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yes, what have you learnt most?
We?
Need a list, not enough sleepin the day.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Oh, I think just yeah , an appreciation One for, like,
stay-at-home mums, because,admittedly, I had that naive
view that I'd be like I'm goingto Matley, what am I going to do
all day?
Like I can do shopping I can.
Like I'm going to do I had thisin my head I'm going to learn
Italian, I'm going to do so manyexams and I've like poor, my
husband coming home and beinglike I've not had an hour to
(14:28):
myself or showered.
But yeah, I think it's justthat one that your heart can
expand to places it's never been.
But also you can be challengedin ways you never thought before
.
So I think I'm definitely amore rounded individual and I
feel like I've now accessed,like now I'm in the mum club
when I see other mums and I'mlike why did nobody tell me
(14:49):
about this?
So, yeah, it feels uh.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
yeah, it's nice, it's amazing, I love it so much and
what do you hope the future willlook like for your daughter?
What's her name?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
uh, florence, oh, beautiful little flow, yeah.
So, um for her, oh god, wheredo I start?
I mean um it.
I think it's such a key time atthe moment in terms of the
narrative around like women'srights going forward, and I just
think that I hope that she hasthe freedom, the the agency, to
(15:23):
go and make the changes that shewants.
And you know, I actually feelmore strongly than ever about,
you know, women's rights andsort of supporting women and
levelling up and things likethat, because I, yeah, I want
that for her.
I feel like I'm doing it on herbehalf.
So, yeah, that's what I hopefor.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Because there's a challenging world out there at
the moment.
You know there's certain partsof the world where you just
think, gosh, are we going back?
You feel like sometimes it'stwo steps forward and ten back.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
at times yeah, 100%, 100%.
And I think you've got to keeplike.
For me, you know, in the worldthat I work in, you've got to
like sort of be a bit of achange maker and just keep
pushing on because otherwise,like, the more you're able to
break the barriers or like, orchallenge the stereotypes, the
more it becomes the acceptednorm.
And yeah, I just hope, yeah,hope, I just hope that it'll be
(16:15):
all right.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I think we've got to have hope because sometimes you
sometimes you can't look at thenews or you can't scroll too
much because it can be a littlebit like oh, I know, I know it's
so depressing and that isanother aspect of like my role
in like cyber security.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Um, is that like a lot of like online safety and
how things are purported onsocial media and presented.
I don't think people arenecessarily aware around.
You know misinformation,challenging sources of
information, of where they'regetting them from and being safe
online.
You know when you put somethingout there, it is there forever
and protecting yourselves andyour identities, it's just a
(16:51):
huge topic, especially for, likeyoung individuals these days.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
I was interviewed by the wonderful Ella Grace and her
mum on the podcast a few weeksago and you know she talked
about her friendship and she'sin her very early 20s and she
talked about it's like 70% ofher friendship group would
prefer not to have a phone.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Considering we have this computer now system, don't
we?
It's no longer the well maybethis is my age group there were
no phones or there was bigbricks, but now we have a mobile
computer at our hands.
I'm conflicted by that, becausewe want the ease of access of
information, don't we?
We want that knowledge and beable to give or gain.
But I find that quite sort ofdistracted me really, because
(17:33):
I'm like wow, how would we live?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
No, 100%.
And I think as well, like how,like you say, it can be such an
enabler, the information you'vegot, even from a safety
standpoint, I can see as aparent, you're like, well, I
know where they are, I know whatthey're doing.
But I think even parentsunderstanding different social
media platforms, how they allinteract and how people God like
, yeah, how they can be used, isjust it's just a whole new
(17:56):
world.
And like I think also back tothe days, like, where we didn't
have phones with us all the time.
You know, if something badhappened at school, like you'd
get a break for it at home, butwhereas now it's on your phone,
you're on Snapchat, da-da-da.
So it's like, yeah, it's ascary time for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
And you're going back from leaving a few weeks' time,
aren't you?
Speaker 2 (18:21):
What are you excited about?
Um?
I'm excited for adultconversations.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Can't practice any Italian, though, can you?
No, no, no, italian has beenlearned.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
In fact, I've gone backwards in English, um, so I'm
hoping to be able to string asentence together.
Um, yeah, I'm, I'm reallyexcited to just like like crack
on again.
Like I do have bounds of energyand positivity, particularly
about what we do at United, so Iam really excited to get stuck
back into it.
Um, and, yeah, a bit, but it'sa bit apprehensive how I'm going
(18:47):
to manage everything, but we'llfigure it out and is there like
a quotation or a mantra thatyou live by?
Speaker 1 (18:56):
is there a favorite one out?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
there um, it's not, I don't, I wouldn't say it's,
it's probably a famous mantra.
But, um, someone once said tome and it's a favorite one out
there um, it's not, I don't, Iwouldn't say it's, it's probably
a famous mantra.
But, um, someone once said tome and it's a Yorkshire term shy
barns get.
Now.
And it's like, if you don't ask, you don't get.
And actually at a lot of keypoints in my career, I've just I
just hear that ringing in myear, which is shy barns getting
out.
Um, so if you don't ask, youdon't get.
And it, and it served to bequite true, you know, just go
(19:20):
for it.
Like, actually, what is theharm in not doing something?
Speaker 1 (19:24):
And often the positive outweighs the negative,
so yeah, and the awards thisyear Northern Power Women Awards
we're about to open fornominations again Now.
We always have to do somecorralling around the
nominations because, as you know, you get nominated and then you
have to fill in some of thosequestions and they're often
pushed to the side becauseyou're busy.
(19:44):
Well, actually, probably at thetime you were, you were just
about giving birth, potentially,actually, when that was coming
in.
So it's a fair call.
What would you say out there toanyone who is either
considering self-nominating ornominating someone else?
There is a an importance aroundnominations and celebrating and
recognizing those achievements.
That's why we created it.
(20:05):
You've got to agree me now,because I didn't really give you
an opportunity to say no there,but you know, but why are?
Why is that recognition soimportant and why would you
encourage people to kind ofengage with the nomination?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I think um for me personally, you know I I've
never been a nominated for award.
This is my first time doing apodcast um, which is crazy who
gave me a microphone, um, pry itfrom my dead fingers.
But, um, no, I mean, look it,it's so fantastic to sort of sit
back and reflect and go, wow,someone's nominated me, or you
know.
(20:35):
You know I'm gonna put myselfforward because why not?
You know Shybound's getting outum and um and and sort of like
sit back and and celebrateyourself and those achievements,
um, because you know, if you'renot celebrate yourself like you
say it's, it's, it's a tall askfor others to do so too.
So you know to back yourselffor that.
And I think also the networkthat you've created, um, you
(20:56):
know you've got the whatsappgroups.
It's not just the awards, it'safterwards, like there's other
opportunities, there's thenetworks, there's the roadshows
that happen, and you meet somany amazing like-minded
individuals, especially in theNorth as well, which is
fantastic.
So, yeah, just go for it.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
And how important has being Northern to you, oh God
it's like it's my whole identity.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
It's my whole identity.
It's, oh God, I identity.
It's my whole identity um it's,oh god, I'm so passionate about
the north in particular.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I could get on my high horse and talk about do it
get?
Speaker 2 (21:26):
on fantastic man like .
Sometimes I get drunk atparties and talk about all the
things that manchester'sinvented and it's a long list.
I'm like did you know weinvented, like we've entered the
railways and they're like god,hannah, shut up.
So no, it's.
It's such a big thing and likeparticularly in, like my world
as well, where we're being seenas like a tech club outside of
London and all the greatinitiatives that are happening.
(21:48):
It's just amazing, like I lovebeing from Manchester.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
What's your favourite Northern fact?
You've just said inventedrailways.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
There we go Invented railways.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
You didn't invent delays though, did you?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
No, I'm not taking ownership of that one, I mean
the first computer, alan Turing,and I think there's another one
, baby as well, which was thefirst computer storage.
That was invented in Manchesteras well.
So, yeah, we've got a big techhistory and it's just great to
celebrate that and see differentinitiatives that are coming up.
(22:18):
You know, gchq have got officesin now, um, and they have loads
of cyber programs as well.
So, yeah, I think that's one ofit's a proper pride, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I think I know when we first set up Northern Power I
mean, we did a survey out thereand the two things that really
jumped out was that proud ofbeing northern and proud of
being able to drive theircareers in the north, because I
think the start of when Icreated this, there was still a
lot of people, you know, havingto run to London, having to run
overseas, having to developtheir career.
(22:48):
It's not like that anymore,isn't it?
There's great.
What are you most optimisticabout the future of the North
from?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I think it's exactly that.
You know, at the start of mycareer it was very much like if
you want to do this, you've gotto go down to London.
And I've spent my time down inLondon and it's great that you
can sort of replicate thosenetworks and replicate those
opportunities in the north.
And you know, I just reallywant to see more of it, even
just at a basic level.
You know, connectedinfrastructure that doesn't take
an absolute time and a leg toget to, like different northern
(23:17):
cities, like different northerncities and but, but seeing more
businesses move up north, andyou know, the BBC moving up,
that was a huge thing, massive,massive, like brands coming up
to the north and attracts theright talent.
our universities are likespitting out loads of really
like talented graduates and it'slike how do we harness that in
the workplace?
Um, in fields like cyber, whichis famously like
(23:39):
underrepresented, like we'recrying out for resources in that
field.
So I just want to see more ofthat and more diverse
individuals moving into myindustry and sort of pushing
them forward.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
So yeah, it's exciting, isn't it?
I think it's exciting times.
I know there's challengingtimes out there, which we've
talked about, but I think theexciting hub that the north can
create and and the fact of youtalked about like the BBC moved
moving up here.
Gosh, it's been nearly a decadenow and there was the
assumption that people were justgoing to commute.
What's your favorite day out?
(24:13):
What's your favorite day out inthere in Manchester, it's going
to be a bar, isn't it?
I know it's going to be a bar.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I mean it's going to be a bar, isn't it?
I know it's going to be a bar.
I mean it's going to bemultiple bars, I don't know how
to narrow it down.
Favourite day out, I mean, I amactually a bit of a fitness
girl, so I enjoy a littleBarry's Boot Camp, then probably
a brunch at Caravan orsomewhere in Spinning Fields.
I always enjoy the Lawn Cluband all the hendoos that are
dancing on the tables at 1pm andI'm like, yes, I love this
(24:38):
energy.
But yeah, I'd probably head upmore towards the northern
quarter and like Mackie May isgorgeous and yeah, like, yeah,
love it around there.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
It is.
It's just amazing.
Well, hannah, thank you so muchfor joining us.
I look forward to followingyour adventures.
Let us push to get more amazingtalent into the world of cyber.
Let us hear about yourimproving football skills as
well and and talent into theworld of cyber.
Let us hear about yourimproving football skills as
well, and, I think, get backinto Gogglebox.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
That's what I say.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Thank you so much for joining us and thank you so
much for being one of ourfantastic future listeners.
Perfect, thank you for havingme Subscribe on YouTube, apple,
amazon, music, spotify orwherever you get your podcasts.
Leave us a review or follow uson socials.
We are Power underscore Net onInsta, tiktok and Twitter.
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(25:28):
Power on YouTube.
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast.
If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is
the podcast for you, your careerand your life.
We release an episode everysingle Monday with listeners in
over 60 countries worldwide,where you'll hear personal life
stories, top-notch industryadvice and key leadership
insight from amazing role models.
(00:21):
As we Are Power is the umbrellabrand to Northern Power Women
Awards, which celebrateshundreds of female role models
and advocates every year.
This is where you can hearstories from all of our awards
alumni and stay up to date witheverything.
Mpw Awards and we Are PowerNever imitated, never replicated
(00:41):
singularly wonderful,everybody's wonder girl.
Well, hello, hello.
Today I'm delighted to be joinedby Hannah McLean, who is the
Information Security Officer atManchester United, currently on
maternity leave, though, indeed,indeed, yeah, now, probably not
(01:02):
a place I'd normally start, butwe always love a bit of a fun
fact, right.
So I've've got to ask yourfamily once auditioned for
Gogglebox, which I've really gotinto.
I don't watch a lot of telly,but I've become a bit the the
brother sister from Blackpool.
I love them, love them anyway.
Aside from that, tell us aboutthat.
What happened, would you?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
do it again.
Oh, 100%, in fact, the onlyreason that we didn't really
pursue it we actually got quitefar as that my dad got really
concerned about fame changinghim, and he was like, hannah,
we're going to end up with ourown talk show, it's all going to
get to our heads and I'm justnot ready for that.
And I was like Dad, it's fine,we're not going to be that big
cheese, it's going to be okay.
(01:39):
But yeah, yeah, it was.
We did all right.
Yeah, one of our friends waslike he's sort of a producer for
it, put us in touch and like,just enjoyed our dynamic and
yeah, we could.
You never know I could havebeen having my own talk show.
There's still time, though youknow Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Never say never, right, but yeah, I love that
Google box fantastic.
So for people who might notknow and might not associate um,
what does your role asinformation security officer at
man United look like?
Yeah, because you're notkicking a ball right, no, 100%,
not um.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
So my role in in, in a nutshell, is everything cyber
security, so that is, across umprotecting our network data and
systems across um our operations, e-commerce, our players and
(02:32):
our academy players as well, soour youth players.
So, yeah, it involveseverything that you might
associate with the football clubin terms of, like, protecting
us from outside threats and yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And we always talk on the pod about there never being
kind of one straight line inanyone's career.
Yeah, how did you find you know?
Because careers guidance isquite challenging and I know we
talk a lot about STEM the worldtalks a lot about STEM out there
but how did you find your routeinto cyber?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, so it's not the traditional computer science
route, which a lot of peoplethink.
That's what you need to work incybersecurity.
I did a history degree Never.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
In fact, I probably was what you need to work in
cyber security and I did ahistory degree um, never in fact
.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Yeah, 100% in fact, probably not a very tech minded
individual.
Um graduated I?
Um didn't know what I was goingto do.
Everyone was sort of applyingfor graduate schemes and I
started doing businessdevelopment at KPMG um, and it
was at the time when there was alot of um, cyber was a massive
growth area in the business, umand GDPR was.
There was a lot of cyber was amassive growth area in the
business and GDPR was coming ina lot of like compliance
(03:30):
legislation around cybersecurity.
And I moved into that like sortof tapped the partner's shoulder
and was like please give me ajob.
And then moved into that.
And then moved into the moretech space doing loads of
projects around cyber maturityand how businesses can implement
technologies.
And then sort of got approachedfor the Manchester United role
and sort of went from therereally.
So, yeah, not not from a techbackground at all, actually.
(03:52):
And what do you love most aboutthe role?
It's just so interesting andever-changing.
It's never, no, two days arethe same things.
There's always new threats,there's new technologies and new
problems we have to solve.
Um.
So it's actually more.
It's less tech focused andactually more problem solving,
(04:13):
which I don't think everybodyrealizes that.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
So, um, yeah, I love it, I really do I think that's
one of the opportunities, isn'tit that you know you are a role
model because you're on anotherpower awards um future list and
once you're on our NorthernPower Awards future list, and
once you're on it, hannah,you're always on it in the gang
wearing the badge.
You know, always wear the badge.
But how would you describe thatto your younger self?
Because I think you know, ifyou've got people out there
(04:36):
thinking, god, I don't know whatI want to do, but maybe your
path, I'm going to do historybecause you, you know, and how
would you describe it to someonewho's like thinking of that?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
you talked about being problem solving yeah, and
it is kind of that when youbreak it down.
I think a lot of people think,god, if I'm going to go into
cyber security, I'm going to bea hacker or a pen hacker, slash
pen tester, so I'll be skulkingaround in comms rooms with black
hoodies and have that sort ofskulking that's the word.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Skulking sort of have that sort of Skulking.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
That's the word Skulking, sort of have that
persona and it couldn't befurther from the truth and, in
fact, like the field is so vastthat there's technical roles and
non-technical roles and itactually is just problem solving
, you know, whether it's abusiness trying to implement a
new technology, whether someonehas hacked us and we need to
defend against them, and all ofit is like very dynamic and like
(05:24):
um, being responsive to things.
So, yeah, it really is likeproblem solving and superhero
mixed into one.
Right, you are a protector anddefender, exactly, exactly.
But yeah, no, it's and it'sgreat.
And the other thing as well isI think a lot of people don't
realize is, um, it'scommunication, whether that be,
you're working with likenon-technical audiences and sort
(05:45):
of digesting that technicalinformation and and sort of
displaying it back to thoseaudiences, or very persuasive,
so you might be trying toconvince teams or leadership to
implement certain things orprotective measures.
So a lot of it's actually aboutnegotiation and communication,
which, again, I don't think manypeople realize that they think
it's just all about people inblack hoodies skulking around in
(06:07):
King Kong's rooms, and thatcouldn't be further from the
truth, and you're also workingin the world of football, which
is obviously a massive globalindustry, obviously massive in
the north of England as well.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
So it must come with great opportunities but also
maybe some challenges along theway.
What have you learnt most aboutthe industry and what have you
enjoyed most?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
um, I think, with football in particular, I think
what people might think when,when they're like, oh you do
cyber security at a footballclub, is that, oh, it's just 11
lads kicking a ball around on onon Saturday, that kind of
situation, and it's not reallymuch more than that.
What have you got to defendagainst?
Actually, we have 70,000 peoplewho come to our stadium.
If the turnstiles go down, thatbecomes a health and safety
(06:49):
incident very quickly.
If e-commerce goes down, welose revenue.
If we are buying new playersand they send the payments to
the wrong place, that's amassive problem from share
prices.
So actually, I think a lot ofpeople think we're not targeted
by many threats.
Actually, we're targeted by somany threats and actually that
(07:10):
role itself is quite hard todefend against, because how do
you prioritize your time, um, soyeah, it's.
It's definitely more eyeopening than anything, and
because it's such a big brand,we attract so much good
attention and bad attention.
So yeah, it's a.
It's been a learning curve, forsure.
And are you a football fan?
I am a football fan.
I'm living my dad's dream,because he is a diehard United
(07:34):
fan and he had the MUSC tattooon his forearm not so long ago.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Actor, talk show footballer dad.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100% yeah.
And then I've started playingwhilst working at United,
playing football with the ladson a Wednesday.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So, um, I've got actually into it myself and were
you, was that something youmight have pursued, or is this
one of the opportunities thatit's given?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
one of the opportunities.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Um yeah, I don't think I would have pursued it
otherwise and you've also led amassive uh cyber transformation
project, haven't you?
Since you've been there, thatmust have been a great
opportunity.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, 100%.
So I was sort of brought inafter we'd had suffered a
massive breach and we were sortof implementing a big cyber
transformation program to sortof bring in new technologies,
particularly around like how wedetect threats.
So people are trying to hack usand yeah, it's been a busy
(08:25):
couple of years, for sure, andit's yeah, it's great it's gone
from strength to strength.
So, yeah, really pleased withthe work we've done there.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
And you do work in two quite male-dominated
industries.
Obviously, we know the rise ofwomen's sport is pretty
phenomenal, and has beenphenomenal over the last decade
really.
But you've you're talking aboutfootball and cyber security
sometimes.
You know god help us.
We talk about.
You know there's that there's alot of talk about pink and blue
jobs out there, but sometimesthat wouldn't, that doesn't
necessarily fit, does it what?
(08:52):
What do you think each worldcould learn from each other?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
football from cyber and cyber from football oh, I
think, um, I think a couple ofthings really around how, with
football, obviously there's alot of team focus, performance
driven, and actually that doestend to translate in
cybersecurity.
So, for example, like Imentioned, cybersecurity is
(09:16):
problem solving.
I say to my teams all the timeI don't expect you to know the
answer, but I expect you to beable to find the answer.
And actually you do need thatteam mentality and also, like
from a network perspective, likeknowing who you can reach out
to to find the answer, tosupport each other, because
actually you actually aren'tgoing to achieve a decent cyber
security posture like workingalone.
(09:38):
So there's definitely thingsyou can sort of like learn that
way.
Um, and then vice versa fromlike, how could cyber security
influence the football teamright now?
Um, I mean, I don't know.
I think, um, oh, I actuallydon't know.
To be fair, no, that's a trickyone, isn't?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
that is a tricky one.
I'm an Evertonian.
I'm sure we can learn lots fromany kind of sector.
Transfer of knowledge yes, 100%.
As you're sort of likenavigating your career adventure
, has there been any points sofar along the line where you've
kind of had to go?
I've had to back myself on thata little bit and really think,
god, this is something likereally interesting that's come
(10:20):
up, but I've gone.
You know what I can do this,and have you kind of really
backed yourself in that?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Yeah, I mean, to be honest, going for the role at
Manchester United.
It was a time in my career Iwas approached for the role but
I remember saying to my husbandI was like I'd love that job,
but I don't think I'm ready forthat job.
And I was like, but nothing badcan come from that interview
process.
I'll either find out, get thefeedback that I need to grow and
improve to then get that role acouple of years down the line.
(10:46):
And then I was like, no, justgo for it.
And then, going through theprocess and I was like, wow, I
think I might get this.
So, yeah, I mean, yeah, I justthink sometimes you've just got
to go for it really.
And I do think sometimes womendo sort of like tread with
carefully and think, oh, am Iready, is this right?
And actually you just need togo for it and just find out and
have you had role models alongthe way or mentors?
(11:09):
Yes, I've had a couple, and invarious different sort of how
they look and feel.
Really, I think my first evermentor was my first boss, like.
he's called Dave Crowther and heum, sorry, rob Crowther, and he
um supported me moving intocyber and I remember like in
meetings he'd like nudge meunder the table say something
(11:29):
and I'm like okay, like, andit's just, I think having that
supportive, like backing is likeso amazing, especially when
you're so early on in yourcareer and finding yourself, um,
yeah, it was really powerful.
So, yeah, a big, big shout outto him.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
To be fair, and you're, you're, you're a big
advocate now as well, having hadan advocate and having have
advocates around you, becauseit's really important.
You're a massive kind of umadvocate for women in tech,
aren't you?
Uh, because it is so manydifferent, million roles, it's
not just one role, is it for all?
Every woman in tech is the same, right, yeah, yeah, um, what
you know?
What's the one thing that youthink could really make a
(12:06):
difference?
Now?
Have you had that magic wand inthe industry or the sector?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
so I I very much think it starts from, like,
education and awareness.
Um, I think that, um, when Ithink, think back to like my
education, education and what wewere learning about from a
technology standpoint, it was sobasic and it doesn't reflect
the workplace.
In the field of tech alone,you've got app development,
(12:32):
engineers, data science, blah,blah, blah, but I was sat in an
IT thingy learning how to doPowerPoint presentations and it
just didn't reflect the world ofwork, and I think that's a
massive point in encouragingboth women and men into the
industry.
But also understanding whenpeople think about cyber
security.
It isn't it isn't alwaystechnical roles.
The industry is so vast.
(12:52):
You can do non-technical andtechnical roles within there and
I think if people knew that, um, they probably wouldn't feel so
scared about the barrier toentry.
Oh god, I need a computerscience degree.
Therefore, I can't do it andthat's just not the case.
Um, so, yeah, that's what.
I would definitely sort of wavemy magic wand to find out.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I love a magic wand.
I wish we all had a magic wand.
You were doing a man Unitedfootball club project, weren't
you?
And you wrote a letter to your15 year old self, which was very
inspiring to hear.
What did that feel like?
Was that quite sort ofcathartic to write that?
Speaker 2 (13:25):
yeah, 100%, it was quite emotional actually and
yeah, it was really just, oh god, it took me back to that place
of like I feel like I had somuch ambition and so much like
hope, but I didn't know how tolike achieve.
It felt very intangible.
So, like sort of reflectingback and be like it'll be okay,
that that was like yeah, it'squite emotional actually.
(13:46):
And then, obviously, sittingdown and recording it, you're
just like, oh, I've like rightwhere I thought I was going to
be and that, and that's a reallynice feeling.
So yeah, it was good, andyou're a new mum.
I am indeed seven months.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yes, what have you learnt most?
We?
Need a list, not enough sleepin the day.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Oh, I think just yeah , an appreciation One for, like,
stay-at-home mums, because,admittedly, I had that naive
view that I'd be like I'm goingto Matley, what am I going to do
all day?
Like I can do shopping I can.
Like I'm going to do I had thisin my head I'm going to learn
Italian, I'm going to do so manyexams and I've like poor, my
husband coming home and beinglike I've not had an hour to
(14:28):
myself or showered.
But yeah, I think it's justthat one that your heart can
expand to places it's never been.
But also you can be challengedin ways you never thought before
.
So I think I'm definitely amore rounded individual and I
feel like I've now accessed,like now I'm in the mum club
when I see other mums and I'mlike why did nobody tell me
(14:49):
about this?
So, yeah, it feels uh.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
yeah, it's nice, it's amazing, I love it so much and
what do you hope the future willlook like for your daughter?
What's her name?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
uh, florence, oh, beautiful little flow, yeah.
So, um for her, oh god, wheredo I start?
I mean um it.
I think it's such a key time atthe moment in terms of the
narrative around like women'srights going forward, and I just
think that I hope that she hasthe freedom, the the agency, to
(15:23):
go and make the changes that shewants.
And you know, I actually feelmore strongly than ever about,
you know, women's rights andsort of supporting women and
levelling up and things likethat, because I, yeah, I want
that for her.
I feel like I'm doing it on herbehalf.
So, yeah, that's what I hopefor.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Because there's a challenging world out there at
the moment.
You know there's certain partsof the world where you just
think, gosh, are we going back?
You feel like sometimes it'stwo steps forward and ten back.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
at times yeah, 100%, 100%.
And I think you've got to keeplike.
For me, you know, in the worldthat I work in, you've got to
like sort of be a bit of achange maker and just keep
pushing on because otherwise,like, the more you're able to
break the barriers or like, orchallenge the stereotypes, the
more it becomes the acceptednorm.
And yeah, I just hope, yeah,hope, I just hope that it'll be
(16:15):
all right.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I think we've got to have hope because sometimes you
sometimes you can't look at thenews or you can't scroll too
much because it can be a littlebit like oh, I know, I know it's
so depressing and that isanother aspect of like my role
in like cyber security.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Um, is that like a lot of like online safety and
how things are purported onsocial media and presented.
I don't think people arenecessarily aware around.
You know misinformation,challenging sources of
information, of where they'regetting them from and being safe
online.
You know when you put somethingout there, it is there forever
and protecting yourselves andyour identities, it's just a
(16:51):
huge topic, especially for, likeyoung individuals these days.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
I was interviewed by the wonderful Ella Grace and her
mum on the podcast a few weeksago and you know she talked
about her friendship and she'sin her very early 20s and she
talked about it's like 70% ofher friendship group would
prefer not to have a phone.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Considering we have this computer now system, don't
we?
It's no longer the well maybethis is my age group there were
no phones or there was bigbricks, but now we have a mobile
computer at our hands.
I'm conflicted by that, becausewe want the ease of access of
information, don't we?
We want that knowledge and beable to give or gain.
But I find that quite sort ofdistracted me really, because
(17:33):
I'm like wow, how would we live?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
No, 100%.
And I think as well, like how,like you say, it can be such an
enabler, the information you'vegot, even from a safety
standpoint, I can see as aparent, you're like, well, I
know where they are, I know whatthey're doing.
But I think even parentsunderstanding different social
media platforms, how they allinteract and how people God like
, yeah, how they can be used, isjust it's just a whole new
(17:56):
world.
And like I think also back tothe days, like, where we didn't
have phones with us all the time.
You know, if something badhappened at school, like you'd
get a break for it at home, butwhereas now it's on your phone,
you're on Snapchat, da-da-da.
So it's like, yeah, it's ascary time for sure.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
And you're going back from leaving a few weeks' time,
aren't you?
Speaker 2 (18:21):
What are you excited about?
Um?
I'm excited for adultconversations.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Can't practice any Italian, though, can you?
No, no, no, italian has beenlearned.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
In fact, I've gone backwards in English, um, so I'm
hoping to be able to string asentence together.
Um, yeah, I'm, I'm reallyexcited to just like like crack
on again.
Like I do have bounds of energyand positivity, particularly
about what we do at United, so Iam really excited to get stuck
back into it.
Um, and, yeah, a bit, but it'sa bit apprehensive how I'm going
(18:47):
to manage everything, but we'llfigure it out and is there like
a quotation or a mantra thatyou live by?
Speaker 1 (18:56):
is there a favorite one out?
Speaker 2 (18:58):
there um, it's not, I don't, I wouldn't say it's,
it's probably a famous mantra.
But, um, someone once said tome and it's a favorite one out
there um, it's not, I don't, Iwouldn't say it's, it's probably
a famous mantra.
But, um, someone once said tome and it's a Yorkshire term shy
barns get.
Now.
And it's like, if you don't ask, you don't get.
And actually at a lot of keypoints in my career, I've just I
just hear that ringing in myear, which is shy barns getting
out.
Um, so if you don't ask, youdon't get.
And it, and it served to bequite true, you know, just go
(19:20):
for it.
Like, actually, what is theharm in not doing something?
Speaker 1 (19:24):
And often the positive outweighs the negative,
so yeah, and the awards thisyear Northern Power Women Awards
we're about to open fornominations again Now.
We always have to do somecorralling around the
nominations because, as you know, you get nominated and then you
have to fill in some of thosequestions and they're often
pushed to the side becauseyou're busy.
(19:44):
Well, actually, probably at thetime you were, you were just
about giving birth, potentially,actually, when that was coming
in.
So it's a fair call.
What would you say out there toanyone who is either
considering self-nominating ornominating someone else?
There is a an importance aroundnominations and celebrating and
recognizing those achievements.
That's why we created it.
(20:05):
You've got to agree me now,because I didn't really give you
an opportunity to say no there,but you know, but why are?
Why is that recognition soimportant and why would you
encourage people to kind ofengage with the nomination?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I think um for me personally, you know I I've
never been a nominated for award.
This is my first time doing apodcast um, which is crazy who
gave me a microphone, um, pry itfrom my dead fingers.
But, um, no, I mean, look it,it's so fantastic to sort of sit
back and reflect and go, wow,someone's nominated me, or you
know.
(20:35):
You know I'm gonna put myselfforward because why not?
You know Shybound's getting outum and um and and sort of like
sit back and and celebrateyourself and those achievements,
um, because you know, if you'renot celebrate yourself like you
say it's, it's, it's a tall askfor others to do so too.
So you know to back yourselffor that.
And I think also the networkthat you've created, um, you
(20:56):
know you've got the whatsappgroups.
It's not just the awards, it'safterwards, like there's other
opportunities, there's thenetworks, there's the roadshows
that happen, and you meet somany amazing like-minded
individuals, especially in theNorth as well, which is
fantastic.
So, yeah, just go for it.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
And how important has being Northern to you, oh God
it's like it's my whole identity.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
It's my whole identity.
It's, oh God, I identity.
It's my whole identity um it's,oh god, I'm so passionate about
the north in particular.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I could get on my high horse and talk about do it
get?
Speaker 2 (21:26):
on fantastic man like .
Sometimes I get drunk atparties and talk about all the
things that manchester'sinvented and it's a long list.
I'm like did you know weinvented, like we've entered the
railways and they're like god,hannah, shut up.
So no, it's.
It's such a big thing and likeparticularly in, like my world
as well, where we're being seenas like a tech club outside of
London and all the greatinitiatives that are happening.
(21:48):
It's just amazing, like I lovebeing from Manchester.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
What's your favourite Northern fact?
You've just said inventedrailways.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
There we go Invented railways.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
You didn't invent delays though, did you?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
No, I'm not taking ownership of that one, I mean
the first computer, alan Turing,and I think there's another one
, baby as well, which was thefirst computer storage.
That was invented in Manchesteras well.
So, yeah, we've got a big techhistory and it's just great to
celebrate that and see differentinitiatives that are coming up.
(22:18):
You know, gchq have got officesin now, um, and they have loads
of cyber programs as well.
So, yeah, I think that's one ofit's a proper pride, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I think I know when we first set up Northern Power I
mean, we did a survey out thereand the two things that really
jumped out was that proud ofbeing northern and proud of
being able to drive theircareers in the north, because I
think the start of when Icreated this, there was still a
lot of people, you know, havingto run to London, having to run
overseas, having to developtheir career.
(22:48):
It's not like that anymore,isn't it?
There's great.
What are you most optimisticabout the future of the North
from?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I think it's exactly that.
You know, at the start of mycareer it was very much like if
you want to do this, you've gotto go down to London.
And I've spent my time down inLondon and it's great that you
can sort of replicate thosenetworks and replicate those
opportunities in the north.
And you know, I just reallywant to see more of it, even
just at a basic level.
You know, connectedinfrastructure that doesn't take
an absolute time and a leg toget to, like different northern
(23:17):
cities, like different northerncities and but, but seeing more
businesses move up north, andyou know, the BBC moving up,
that was a huge thing, massive,massive, like brands coming up
to the north and attracts theright talent.
our universities are likespitting out loads of really
like talented graduates and it'slike how do we harness that in
the workplace?
Um, in fields like cyber, whichis famously like
(23:39):
underrepresented, like we'recrying out for resources in that
field.
So I just want to see more ofthat and more diverse
individuals moving into myindustry and sort of pushing
them forward.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
So yeah, it's exciting, isn't it?
I think it's exciting times.
I know there's challengingtimes out there, which we've
talked about, but I think theexciting hub that the north can
create and and the fact of youtalked about like the BBC moved
moving up here.
Gosh, it's been nearly a decadenow and there was the
assumption that people were justgoing to commute.
What's your favorite day out?
(24:13):
What's your favorite day out inthere in Manchester, it's going
to be a bar, isn't it?
I know it's going to be a bar.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
I mean it's going to be a bar, isn't it?
I know it's going to be a bar.
I mean it's going to bemultiple bars, I don't know how
to narrow it down.
Favourite day out, I mean, I amactually a bit of a fitness
girl, so I enjoy a littleBarry's Boot Camp, then probably
a brunch at Caravan orsomewhere in Spinning Fields.
I always enjoy the Lawn Cluband all the hendoos that are
dancing on the tables at 1pm andI'm like, yes, I love this
(24:38):
energy.
But yeah, I'd probably head upmore towards the northern
quarter and like Mackie May isgorgeous and yeah, like, yeah,
love it around there.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
It is.
It's just amazing.
Well, hannah, thank you so muchfor joining us.
I look forward to followingyour adventures.
Let us push to get more amazingtalent into the world of cyber.
Let us hear about yourimproving football skills as
well and and talent into theworld of cyber.
Let us hear about yourimproving football skills as
well, and, I think, get backinto Gogglebox.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
That's what I say.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Thank you so much for joining us and thank you so
much for being one of ourfantastic future listeners.
Perfect, thank you for havingme Subscribe on YouTube, apple,
amazon, music, spotify orwherever you get your podcasts.
Leave us a review or follow uson socials.
We are Power underscore Net onInsta, tiktok and Twitter.
We are Power on LinkedIn,facebook and we are underscore
(25:28):
Power on YouTube.
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