Chrissy Stonebridge, 59, has two children aged 24 and 25 and lives in Morden, Surrey with her husband. Chrissy Stonebridge carved out a successful career in PR in the 1980s and 1990s but after taking time out to raise her family realised the digital world had left her behind. Thankfully a free spot on our Future Skills Bootcamps sorted her out. You could also qualify for a free space, read on to learn more.
“I had been feeling for years that I hadn’t caught up with the fast-moving digital world,'' explains, Mother-of-two Chrissy, 59.
“When I first worked in PR we printed out press releases and sent them with an image on a projector slide to the media.
“The digital revolution happened when I wasn’t in work or training and I felt constantly on the backfoot, which I think is very common for women of my age.”
While working for a healthcare social enterprise, Chrissy, who lives in Morden, Surrey, was frustrated with her lack of digital skills and confidence and felt it was holding her back.
“I was really interested in digital projects, but was never getting my hands dirty myself and would outsource the work to others because I had a longstanding lack of confidence.” said Chrissy.
“Although I’d done a few digital courses, I had a huge gap in my knowledge and so Digital Mums had been on my radar for some time.”
Chrissy decided to go for it and sign up to the Digital Mums Future Skills Bootcamp. As well as getting her digital skills up to date she was also surprised to find that it reignited her passion for learning.
“Doing the course reminded me that I like learning things and don’t want to go home every night and sit in front of the telly, said Chrissy.
“I liked the breadth of this course and how practical it was, the opportunity to complete a project and the experience of using LinkedIn, Trello and Slack. I thought it would be really relevant to the work I’m doing at the moment.”
Chrissy is now looking forward to putting her new skills into practice freelancing across a few areas including managing a recording studio, doing admin for her husband’s french polishing business and doing PR for a new fashion label.
“I feel much more confident in my digital skills and I feel more comfortable to push myself as a freelancer, see what will and won’t work for my business and not be afraid to try new things.”
Chrissie has advice to other mums out there who might be worried about doing the course.
“Feel the fear and do it anyway, if you’re feeling nervous it’s a great safe space to take that first step forward.
“If you’re doubting your digital skills, give it a try. It’s the most practical course I’ve ever done and it opens up a whole world of new opportunities.”
If you are a mother living in England, do NOT hold a University Degree and are either employed or have recently become unemployed (in the last few months) you could qualify for a free space on our Future Skills Bootcamp which usually costs £499. Find out more about the course and register your interest here. Our next intake is in January 2021. You can also watch the video below to find out more about what it involves.
