About

Hi, I’m Michelle EatonI’m from Solihull in the West Midlands, UK. I have an HND in Mechatronics and a background in Software Engineering/IT.I love PLC (programmable logic controller) programming, also known as ladder logic/programming. For some unknown reason, I was really good at it! It comes very naturally to me, the logic, the flow.It’s what controls most traffic lights, production lines… I used to help program Dyson vacuum production lines for example.While studying for my HND I got more hands-on at home building my own computers, ordering the case, the motherboard, all the components I wanted, then selling them – I needed money!I then got a job at a computer warranty company, so basically, I had to go out and fix computers, replace parts etc. These were mainly Apricot and Mitsubishi computers (if you remember them).I travelled all over the UK, mainly fixing hospital and school computers, it was a badly paid and very hard job to do.If you know anything about having to be out on the road (yes they give you a company car), it was exhausting and a thankless task. They would send me from Birmingham (where I live) to Lowestoft, Ipswich, then to Southend all in one day. I would often get home at 11pm. I was determined to make anything work at the time, and I was good, I knew I was.Many times I was questioned as to why a ‘woman’ has turned up to fix a ‘technical’ problem.But the company would only do a telephone diagnosis and send the ‘most likely’ replacement parts. So I am sent out with their ‘best’ estimate of what the problem was. Often it was not good enough.However, I did build some trust and rapport with the hospitals and schools that I served, they knew the score. Everyone and every company are on a budget.Then I moved into a computer programming role for an engineering company, which was better, and very different. This was a huge pay rise for me.I built the company website (very difficult back then pre 2000).I somehow ended up managing all the IT and network for them and also then got sent out to sort any computer issues to all their clients… Cadbury (got discounted chocolate, shame I’m not into chocolate much)Dyson, Kraft (before they bought Cadbury)The clients were phoning and asking if I could go and sort out tech issues…It was a good feeling, I knew they wanted me there.Because Cadbury’s is based in Birmingham I also saw people I knew, and some I didn’t.When out with my now husband Kevin, we bumped into one of his old pals, and he said “oh wow, you’re with Michelle, she is so respected and fixes everything at Cadburys” You know when something stays in your mind, I always remember him saying that.Of course, I didn’t fix everything, but I got stuff sorted, I would never leave them in the lurch.My personal finances were not going well and I needed more money, so I asked for another pay rise and got it! Who knew you could just ask?Then, out of the blue, a year or so later, I was made redundant, nothing I’d done wrong apparently, just restructuring and cutting down on the most expensive employees (i.e. ‘me’).Gosh, how do you begin again?The truth is, I didn’t want to begin again, so I decided to become self employed. I began helping local businesses by creating websites, Facebook business pages & videos for them. I have also done voice-over work, and more recently sold over $66,000 worth of video equipment for mobile devices on Amazon.Being an avid gadget lover, I got more involved with the video side of things & began creating music videos for people I knew.This is emerging into teaching entrepreneurs and businesses to create their own videos, including slideshow presentations, talking head, screen capture tutorials, using a green screen, what equipment to use (with an emphasis on mobile devices) etc.