The Visibility Equation: In the Shadows or the Spotlight?

The Visibility Equation: In the Shadows or the Spotlight?
Join Julia and Linda as they share their journey from quiet, behind‑the‑scenes Business Analysts to visible leaders of a global BA community. Through real stories - from tackling imposter syndrome to tandem skydiving - they reveal how influence isn’t about personality, but purpose.

 

Discover The Visibility Equation, a simple framework to help you decide when to step forward or step back - whether you’re an introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in between. Learn how to lead authentically, build trust, and create impact by being visible in the right way at the right time.

 

Visibility isn’t always about being loud. This talk will appeal to BAs at different stages in their career - those who want to learn how to step up, and those more experienced BA team leads who want to quietly influence by developing other BAs. Julia and Linda explore how leadership isn’t about personality.  It’s about being useful.

Key takeaways:

 

Linda has over 30 years of experience as a Business Analyst across a variety of organisations, both commercial and public sector.

Her path is similar to Julia's, as she also spent many years volunteering on the committee with IIBA Scotland. She has also participated several times as a mentor with IIBA UK’s mentoring programme, seeing it as a great privilege to work with BAs to share knowledge and skills.

 

After being inspired by winning the 'European Business Analyst of the Year' Award in 2019, she became Co-Founder & Director of BA Life in 2019, a global BA community with delegates from 28 countries.

Linda has been a speaker several times at the European BA conference and at BA Life, and jointly runs the successful ‘What Would a BA Do?’ weekly podcast. A self-confessed BA Nerd, she is the very definition of a quiet leader.

 

Julia has nearly 20 years of experience as a Business Analyst across financial services, utilities and not-for-profit.

Julia has spent many years volunteering with IIBA UK; chairing IIBA Scotland and as an IIBA UK Community Director. She has also participated several times as a mentor with IIBA UK’s mentoring programme, helping people get to their next point in their career – and has been a mentee too!

 

Julia is now a Co-Founder & Director of BA Life (formed in 2019) a global BA community with delegates from 28 countries. She has spoken several times at BA Life and jointly runs the successful ‘What Would a BA Do?’ weekly podcast. She is the 2025 winner of the Scotland Women in Tech’s 'Unsung Hero' Award. A proud introvert, quiet leader, with occasional bursts of boldness, Julia is a great leader with a great story to tell.