Undeterred, she worked hard during the summer, undertaking supplementary classes to bring her GCSEs up to the required grading, which enabled her to progress on to her chosen higher education course. 

Charlene successfully completed the first year of her two-year BTEC National Diploma in Computing with top marks. Whilst attending an open day at UWL’s predecessor institution Thames Valley University, Charlene was informed that due to her excellent grades, she could take the opportunity to apply for her dream course straight away.

I had to think about which course I wanted to undertake pretty much on the spot because there were various cartoon/animation related courses, and I also wanted to pursue some of the topics I studied at college. I opted for Multimedia Computing with Digital Animation as I loved the computing side of things and I’m very business and technical minded.”

When she graduated in 2004, Charlene approached a couple of companies looking for work but was told she needed more experience working in an office. She began working as a librarian at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, which introduced her to the world of process-driven and buying roles. Eventually, she acquired a role as a supply chain analyst at the Rail Safety and Standards Board. Working alongside the procurement team, she was tasked with analysing the supplier base and identifying the risks.

Procurement involves buying products or services, ie professional services, IT or anything the organisation needs to function or fulfil an internal team’s challenge. Procurement will have a list of companies they can procure products/services from and will send out a request for proposal. This invites companies to share how they can address the requirements in the proposal, bidding for the opportunity to win the work. Procurement can be concerned with anything and everything. It’s probably the most sustainable career you can have as the process can’t entirely be automated. It always needs that human touch.”

This entails me supporting our firm with commercialising our technology solutions by enhancing our product owners understanding of the market: size, opportunity and competitors. Leading on the development of the pricing framework which shapes how we package each product and evolving our product globalisation plan. These are just a few of my responsibilities. I actually found out I’d been promoted when I was in hospital with a snapped patella tendon. People were sending me congratulations messages while I worked remotely from my post-op hospital bed.”

Throughout her career, Charlene has overcome barriers regarding the colour of her skin and institutional biases to get to where she is today. 

You can Google the subject matter and find hundreds of articles concerning senior career progression barriers for those from black heritage backgrounds, particularly for women. I’m proud of the fact that I stuck at it. That’s required a level of resilience and strength that I didn’t know I had. I now have a new goal of becoming partner by the age of 45, which means that I would be one of those owning or managing a practice within the firm. I’m prepared to invest the time and energy into making sure I get there and helping other people break that glass ceiling too. I have mentors both internally at KPMG and externally who are working closely with me to help carve my path to Partner and I hope that my story can inspire others who are on a similar journey or who may have faced similar barriers to their career progression."

Alongside her success in the corporate sector, Charlene also enjoys a successful side career as a DJ. It’s a skill she picked up at university, playing for student union nights and other gigs around Ealing.

One of the reasons I proceeded with the procurement route was because I wanted a sustainable career and DJing isn’t necessarily that. Once I’d finished my CIPS qualifications I picked DJing back up, and now I DJ weekly. Recently I DJd for 24 hours straight for charity. Given where I started and where I am today, the one piece of advice I would offer graduates or new students is don’t pigeonhole yourself. You don’t know what’s out there, where your industry may end up or where you’re going to find opportunities beyond the scope of the things you want to do. It’s all about being curious and looking for opportunities when they present themselves or creating opportunities when there are none.”