Becoming an inspiration

Last weekend at the Brighton TestBash Open Space, my friend Guna led a session on testers who have helped and inspired us.

Like many a tester, there are many big names in our community who have helped and inspired me. Janet Gregory, Elisabeth Hendrickson, James Bach and of course Lisa Crispin.

Today though I met up with an ex-team lead of mine who was truly inspirational to me when I took those first steps from being a developer to being a tester.

She helped me understand some testing planning, mentored me in being a test team lead, helped me get booked to training, and even advocated to support a pay rise.

Unlike all those glittering names that I’ve mentioned before, you won’t have heard of Beverley Waine. And that’s kind of the point to this article.

To inspire other testers you don’t need to have a book or blog on testing. You don’t have to be a keynote speaker. You don’t even have to have all the answers.

You just have to care.