How you pronounce my name? ‘Hisela’ (phonetically speaking).

I’ve been pretty much glued to a computer since my early days at school. I wrote my first program in Fortran, then in Pascal and then went on to complete my degree in Electronic Engineering.

In January 1995, I picked up issue #1 ofInternet magazine, and quickly enrolled onto the very first electronic publishing course offered in the UK, which was run by Hoxton Bibliotech (since renamed The Innovatory) in East London. I wrote my first HTML file, and learned about Photoshop, animated gifs and image maps.

In 1996 I was asked to build a website for the Guardian New Media Lab (the precursor to Guardian Unlimited), part of a small team of developers building innovative websites such as ‘Shiftcontrol’ (which pushed the boundaries of ‘tables’), Eurosoccer.com (for the Euro 96 footie tournament), the Orange Prize for Fiction (developed only by women!) and many other microsites, including one on the death of Princess Diana, published that same Sunday in 1997.

I then joined the Expedia UK team as a program manager, and helped launch www.expedia.co.uk – which was then part of Microsoft.

In the early 2000s, I continued to develop websites from planning through to delivery, being involved in all of the stages of production for a number of dot com start-ups.

I’m now a Digital Coach, advising businesses and individuals how to use social media for their day to day business needs as well as developing websites and blogs.

I live in North Somerset in SW England, with my two young daughters and husband Steve

When not in front of computers, I’m usually with the kids. We especially enjoy strolling around National Trust properties, and dreaming of the Pacific Ocean.