Charlie Gretton: On building a career and network in data protection

If you're interested in working in data protection or are building your network from scratch, you'll want to hear Charlie's story.

He is a certified GDPR Practitioner, ISO 27701 Lead Auditor and AI Governance Professional.

He currently works for Dastra, a tech platform for Data Protection Officers, leading their expansion into the UK and Ireland. But his path to get there was far from conventional.

He shares the job that sparked his interest in data protection, how he built a network from scratch through nothing more than curiosity and consistency, and why imposter syndrome might actually be a sign you're doing something right. You can follow Charlie on LinkedIn here.

Q: Thanks for chatting to us, Charlie! I’d love to know what first got you interested in a career in data protection?

I was a late bloomer in finding a career, for sure.

In Canada I did a BSc in Biological Anthropology (aka human evolution) at the University of Calgary and worked long hours to pay my way through. After finishing university, due to the difficult job market at the time, I largely flailed around across a number of part time/seasonal jobs, sometimes working 3 at a time. The highlight ‘dead end job’ being a firewood sales business I ran for a while with a friend.

I moved to the UK during the beginning of Covid, and set to work desperately applying like so many other people at the time.

I landed a role in sales at a consultancy business that sold penetration testing and various compliance projects, including UK GDPR assistance and outsourced Data Protection Officer services. I found GDPR the most interesting of any of the projects I sold, for a few different reasons:

It allowed me to be a subject matter expert quickly (I’m fairly strong with brute memorisation), at least superficially on sales calls
I identified with the topical discussions of diversity and inclusion relevant to the regulation, being an outsider immigrant in Hertfordshire,
then finally there was a consultant who was willing to take me under his wing when I showed interest.

I wanted to move into a niche to grow my career beyond sales. I paid £2,600 out of pocket for a GDPR Practitioner course and exam, which at 28 years old was a little over 50% of all my savings at the time (queue panic inducing financial anxiety), I justified it by telling myself ‘’worst case, I’ll sell more GDPR projects and I’ll make more money in commission’’.

2. You moved to the UK from Canada without any contacts in the industry - how did you go about building your network?

I don’t consider myself exuberantly extroverted, but I’m a serial organiser, and I’m very good at staying (at least loosely) connected with people I’ve worked with or come across. Even people who’ve just interviewed me for positions since moving here.

My most successful career hack has been asking anyone for a ‘networking call’, where I ask questions of people just for the sake of learning something new, and trading my own experiences/knowledge. Just a casual 30 min Teams chat, learn about each other, what the challenges are, our passions, what’s exciting. Invariably I’ve met lots of interesting people, and I’ve learnt an enormous number of things I would never have otherwise. Early on I framed this more so as finding ‘unofficial mentors’.

3. Was there a particular career moment that stands out to you, and what did you learn from it?

The first time I walked into the office, looked around, and saw my desk. My overwhelming thought was ‘’how did I convince them to let me in here?’’

There have been a fair few moments like these.

The lesson learnt: own feelings of imposter syndrome, and own the vulnerability it brings. Most people feel imposter syndrome at some point in their careers, feeling it acknowledges that you’re out of your comfort zone, and that you’re growing.

4. What's one practical first step you'd recommend to someone who is interested in a career like yours?

Ask 10 people you see as senior in the industry for a networking call on LinkedIn, expect only 1 person to respond. The template for such a request is super simple:

“Hi [First Name], thanks for the connect!

If you're up for it, I'd be keen to meet you over a little Teams networking call?

[Insert one sentence on your reason why]

[Example: I’m studying Data Protection and I’m looking to meet more people in our space!]

Kind regards,”

Arm yourself with 3 concise, inquisitive questions for the conversation.

Thank you so much to Charlie for writing this piece, and for reminding us that sometimes all it takes is asking someone for a chat to discover a brand new career you never knew existed.

Got questions for Charlie, or want to share your own "how did I convince them to let me in here?" moment? Reply and let us know, we love hearing from you!