I started my blog back in 2020 during COVID, at a very different stage of my life. Since then, quite a lot has changed — my career has evolved, I’ve become a mum of two, and I’ve spent the last few years working on some fascinating infrastructure and energy projects across the UK and Middle East.
I’ve been thinking about bringing my writing back for a while, and being on maternity leave has finally given me the space to do it.
I’ve been at PwC for 10 years now — 11 if I count my industry placement year. I joined after studying Economics at the University of Sussex, starting out in Banking & Capital Markets before moving into Internal Audit and then programme assurance. Along the way, I qualified as a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Internal Auditor, and I’ve had the opportunity to work across some really interesting projects and with some brilliant people.
I care a lot about my career and I’m fascinated by the world of work — particularly how ambitious projects get delivered, how organisations navigate complexity and what it takes to build a career over the long term. I’ll be writing about some of those things here, including my experience working in infrastructure, energy and utilities.
But work is only one part of my life.
I’m currently on maternity leave with my second baby, and I’m enjoying life with a newborn and a toddler — having a little time to pause and think about this next chapter. I’m still ambitious and very much invested in my career; motherhood has simply added another dimension to the way I think about work, time and life.
There will also be plenty of travel, food and places I love. I’ve always been someone who is thinking about where to go next, where to eat and where to stay, so it seemed only natural that some of that would make its way here too.
And then there’s Sudan.
I grew up in Sudan, and although I don’t expect it to be a regular topic here, it will always be an important part of my story.
It’s difficult to talk about Sudan today without acknowledging the devastating war that has been ongoing since 2023. I want to occasionally use this space to share my own memories of growing up there — the places, people, food, traditions and everyday moments that shaped me — while also helping to draw attention to what is happening in the country now.
I think it’s important that Sudan is not only known through the lens of war. There is a rich history, culture and everyday life behind the headlines, and a generation of people who have memories of a very different Sudan.
So, that’s what The Yousra Edit will be: a place for the things I’m interested in, the things I’m learning and the things I find myself thinking about.
Career. Infrastructure. Motherhood. Travel. Sudan. And probably a few things I haven’t thought of yet.
I’ve missed writing.
So, I’m glad to be back.
Yousra x