Joanne’s early life was shaped by sport. Growing up in Poland after her parents divorced, she moved across the country with her family and was raised with strong values about hard work from her grandmother. Joanne excelled academically and in sport, playing volleyball from amateur to semi-professional levels - until a spine injury changed the direction of her life.
At sixteen, Joanne moved to the United Kingdom, where she had to learn to live, study and work in a completely new language, all while remaining a top student. Her move into technology happened almost by accident: while helping a friend sort out a mobile phone contract, a branch manager noticed how she handled the situation and offered her a job interview on the spot. Within a week, she had a job - despite not considering herself particularly “tech-savvy” at the time.
“Failure is simply part of learning - not something that defines you.”
From there, Joanne’s career grew steadily across several companies in telecommunications and technology, including EE, Vaioni, and her current company, Intercity Technology. At each step, she focused not just on technical skills, but on building trust with colleagues and customers, and on driving real improvements within the businesses she worked for.
Joanne’s biggest challenge has been the lack of women working alongside her throughout her career - she has often been the only woman in the room. Drawing on the discipline she learned through sport, she focused on building genuine relationships and creating positive change wherever she went, while also making sure other women wouldn’t feel as alone as she sometimes did. In 2024, Joanne was named a winner of the Tech100Women award.