Meet the digital innovator from Sunderland who is hoping to inspire women this International Women’s Day

Sian Maxwell, from Silksworth, is a senior paid search executive for home furnishings retailer ScS.

The 26-year-old took on the role back in October 2017 and hasn’t looked back.

Her Sunderland-based role sees her making an impact in the digital sector by managing the optimization of ScS adverts that appear on Google Search.

Her work has even seen her represent ScS at a Google Retail Now event where she took part in an on-stage Q&A with CEOS about a new feature at ScS that was not used by many companies in Europe at the time.

But it wasn’t a straightforward path for Sian to enter the digital industry.

She said: “I finished my A levels and didn’t known what I wanted to do.

“It was the first year the university fees had gone up and I didn’t want to do something for the sake of it.

“So I decided to be a ski instructor until I knew what I wanted to do.

“But I injured my leg, so started working for the family business Maxwell DIY.

“My brother was setting up the e-commerce side of it at the time, so I started helping him with that and then I found digital marketing.”
Sian taught herself the skills she needed before taking formal qualifications and taking up agency work.

She then took up a digital marketing position at ScS before moving into her current role.

She believes some of the challenges women face are linked to what they are taught at school and hopes to inspire women to enter careers they may see as male dominated.

Her call comes as women around the world mark International Women’s Day today. (MARCH 8)

The annual event is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

Sian said: “I think that one of the main issues for women not being in an industry like this is because it is not pushed in schools from a young age.

“A lot of young people didn’t know it’s something that they can do.

“My advice to women who find themselves wanting to work in an industry that is male dominated is to not be self-conscious, be confident and give it a try.”