Profile

I am 26, and I live in a small town called Bolsover (it literally has a castle at the top of the hill). I live with my parents and my dog Peanut – he is a cockapoo and his 3rd birthday is in May.

Psychology wasn’t always what I wanted to do in life. What I really wanted to do was become a professional dancer or at least go to university to study it. I loved dancing (& still do), I used to attend a dance school where I did ballet, tap, freestyle, theatre, jazz, gymnastics and street dance. However, I soon realised that this was more of a hobby than a career option (for me, anyway). I loved Psychology at A Level so I decided to follow this passion instead & here I am I’ve just finished my PhD (now Dr Paddock) and working as a behavioural science researcher at Sheffield Hallam University.

Outside of my research, I love to read fiction books, eat yummy foods, swim and go on long walks. I love spending time with my boyfriend, and visiting my friends that live all over the UK. I also spend a lot of my time chasing Peanut round the house after he’s picked up numerous socks and other things he shouldn’t have.

In my job I have worked on projects with the Department of Education to explore barriers and facilitators to families engagement with family hubs (services to support families) and with British Heart Foundation to understand lived experience of a non-coronary heart disease. These topics are very much related to the realm of behavioural science and health psychology. As well as this, I conduct research co-design with teenagers to explore social media use and body image concerns – this is research that actively involves young people in the research (e.g., creating interventions).

My typical day varies so much. At the moment I work three days at home and two days in the office, but this can change depending on what I have on each week.

What I love about my job is that every day is different. It all depends on where I am with a specific project as to what job I will be doing. Some days I spend a lot of time writing up research projects, whereas others I am designing studies. I also could be recruiting and collecting participants, working on other projects or tin various meetings.

I love my job and love how no two days are the same – it keeps me on my toes and helps me focus. One thing I always make sure I do though, no matter what the day, is I finish work at 5pm on the dot every single day. I think it’s incredibly important to have a good work-life balance so when 5pm hits I shut down my laptop or go and get the train where I do something I enjoy (e.g., read a book, listen to a podcast, cook & eat some good food or go on a walk).