Meet Joe, Product Owner at Barclays

Hi 👋 My name is Joe (he/him), a Product Owner for Adobe Workfront, as part of the Customer Value Realisation Team.

I knew I was different from a very young age and developed a lot of psychological mechanisms as a defence - as a gay man from a very working-class background who has always dealt with fluctuations in my mental health, I felt that my brain didn’t always work in the ways I wanted it to and spent a lot of years in combat with my own thoughts. I developed depression and general anxiety disorder through my teens and early twenties. I have regular bouts of very distressing symptoms – it feels totally at odds with my personality as I am often an energising and gregarious person who loves people.

At heart, I’m a creative – I love everything to do with words, music, lyricism, dancing, film, and gaming – I studied English Language at University of Birmingham but my love for creativity started at a very young age. I am a self-taught musician & trained dancer and although I’ve lost touch with it a bit – I’m always dancing in my head. The gym is my happy place! You’ll find me there 4 to 5 times a week, training any negative thoughts away.

At Barclays, I'm lucky to be a Regional Co-Chair for our Spectrum LGBTQ+ employee resource group - I’m super passionate about diversity in every sense of the word and have done a lot of wonderful things through involvement with the ERG: virtual and physical prides, important and memorable panel talks to hundreds of colleagues, drag brunches, collaborations with other organisations, star-studded awards shows and doing my best to represent the queer community for both colleagues and customers.

Working with amazing people at Barclays has helped me step out of my comfort zone, supported me through distressful episodes and has allowed me to bring my complete self to work. Work has also shown me there is not “one best way” to behave and succeed – you don’t have to be stone-hearted to lead people. A humanistic, empathic, and transparent approach has allowed me to flourish; the support of teams and leaders around me has enabled that. Health is wealth, you only get one shot at life and your wellbeing should always come first.

I am Joe. This is me.

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