Meet the Team: Duncan Reid
Meet the Team is a series of light-hearted interviews to shine the spotlight on the people working in UpCode Academy.
Who are you and what do you do in UpCode Academy?
My name is Duncan Reid and I am the Chief Operating Officer at UpCode Academy.
Tell us a bit about your career.
My career reads like a journey, and an unconventional one! Most people usually work in jobs related to their college major, but not in my case. I am originally from the UK, and studied Politics and Philosophy in Cardiff University before moving to Berlin to work in a vinyl record store.
After my time in Germany, I moved back to the UK where I joined a large company working in sales and CRM where I eventually became a team leader for around 12 agents and 25 field agents.
After over three years of office life, I felt that I wanted more of a challenge. I wanted to see the world, so I sold everything I owned and moved to Hong Kong to teach English. Soon, I became the Head Teacher and I was running the day-to-day operations of the school. Teaching was very rewarding but I knew it was not a long-term plan, so after eighteen months, I decided to travel around Asia. I lived in Hanoi, Vietnam for 6 months before finally returning to Berlin to join the start-up scene.
I lived in Berlin for two years working as Head of Marketing, Operations and Business Intelligence for an influencer brand platform before moving back to Asia to work in Singapore. I joined UpCode Academy in the early months of operations and now, we have served more than 1,000 students and professionals in their careers. The journey with UpCode Academy was a particularly exciting one, and I know it is only the beginning.
What would you say is your greatest achievement in life?
I will not call myself a digital nomad, but my greatest achievement is being able to have the confidence to move anywhere in the world and knowing that it is not as hard as people think, that I can find my way and live the life I want instead of wishing it away to ‘some day’.
My time as a backpacker is quite dear to me. Even though I was living on a shoestring budget in cheap hostels, there was something liberating about having your whole life in a backpack. It made me realise how little we actually need to get by, and how experiences can give us so much more than materialistic things.
How would you describe your typical day at work?
My typical day is atypical, in the sense that I am tackling new challenges every day.
As the COO, my role covers a lot of different areas within the company, so I work with the other managers on planning expansion plans, analysing and improving the customer experience, liaising with instructors, and developing new courses.
All in all, my favourite thing about working at UpCode is the problem solving and the can-do attitude that everyone has. It is great to work in an environment where we are always working on the next milestone to bring our company forward.
What do you love doing when you aren’t working on UpCode Academy?
I am deeply passionate about music! I have been a musician for around fifteen years so I make sure to form a band in every city I have lived. Singapore is no exception, so keep an eye out for us at a bar near you soon!
Favourite apps / tools / games?
For work, which I obsessively check in on over the weekend, I’m always on Tableau mobile, Slack, Telegram and Airy. For fun, I’m mostly using Reddit, Instagram, Ultimate Guitar (for learning songs) and of course a trusty guitar tuner app!
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