What a year it's been! ### Reading I've finished reading 45 books, across 18,027 pages! My favourites from 2025 are: * [[The Lamb by Lucy Rose]] * [[Strange Pictures by Uketsu]] * [[Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix]] * [[If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares]] * [[The Stormlight Archive Series by Brandon Sanderson]] ### Work I spent most of 2025 working with hedgehog lab, a digital consultancy based in Newcastle, as a Product Lead (see my [LinkedIn here](https://www.linkedin.com/jessbuildstech). They have a lovely group of people there. I spent most of my time as a Product Lead for an EdTech SaaS, helped them nail Product Market Fit and completely rebuild the tech stack. I also trained internal teams on Government Digital Services (GDS) skills, preparing teams for when they land on Government projects. I also facilitated a handful of external lunch and learns, talked at a few conferences, and helped land new business deals. ### Personal 2025 was a cracking year, I achieved so much: * Got married! * Renovated our kitchen by ourselves! * Hiked and explored new places; Oban and the Scottish islands being my favourite trip! * Played in multiple card game events, including European Championships in 2 different countries! It was also a hard year too, with the realisation the country I call home not wanting me - I've written about this in more detail here, [[I'm leaving the UK]]. I'm not sure what 2026 has in store for me, but I'm sure Melbourne Australia will be full of exciting opportunities!