WOMEN ROCK.

This week Maddie Clingan is taking us on a journey into the unknowns of Agile Coaching and we couldn't ask for a better tour guide. Maddie followed her dream of working for a tech start-up after working for one in Beijing while doing her masters. Originally interviewing for a business strategy role, she ended up accepting an Agile Coaching position and, quite frankly: nailing it. As an Agile Coach, she has the opportunity to look at how people work together, and how people collaborate which often gives Maddie permission to talk to people about diversity, and inclusion - another huge passion of hers, a passion that grew as she travelled the world and truly embraced different ways of doing things.So, strap yourself in for a journey that explores the past, present and future of being a woman in tech...CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT IT IS THAT AN AGILE COACH DOES PLEASE?Yes, absolutely. And I think that sense of being unassured and unfamiliar with this role or the Agile profession is really common. So even for myself about three years ago, I hadn't had any exposure to Agile. I actually said yes to my first Agile Coaching role without fully knowing the extent of what's involved. So it's been a learning process for me as well, and it's really nice to go on that journey alongside teams and companies. So, if I give a little bit of background, Agile is a way of working that has come become quite prolific across lots of different industries. But it started off in tech in 2001 when a group of people got together and wrote the Agile Manifesto. I think one of the really important things to know about Agile is that it was actually the response to a problem that they were experiencing in IT projects. So, namely, they tended to be planned upfront and delivered in quite a sequential way. And by the time they came to market, they weren't actually relevant for business or user needs anymore. So perhaps, as an example, if you think about the pandemic, if you planned something before that, and then delivered it a year later, whilst the pandemic was happening, the industry and the business and users are completely different, and needs and wants have changed. So Agile is a way of working that responds to that by looking at creating small, iterative feedback loops, and ways of working that create those feedback loops, both within teams and product groups with users and stakeholders. Agile Coaches are there as the people who are well versed in that way of working (or eventually become well versed in that!), and they help teams to bring those ways of working to light and continuously improve their process.HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE AGILE SPACE, PARTICULARLY IN TECH AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE? Yeah, so my journey was slightly unintentional and also almost Agile and iterative. Again, unintentionally! So I originally wanted to seek a role within a startup because I'd worked in a startup in Beijing where I was doing my Master’s, and I really liked that environment as it was fast-paced, and I was given a lot of autonomy and responsibility. And so that was the direction that I started out in when I returned to London. And then in the process of that, I came across a tech startup that specialised in Lean and Agile product delivery. And I interviewed for a business strategy role there, and throughout the interview process, I got to know the interviewers. Around kind of stage three, they told me that their business direction had changed and they weren't looking for someone to go into this role, but they would really like to help me find a position. And I thought they were being very polite at the time, but what ended up happening was that they suggested that I went for an Agile Coaching role at one of their clients. And so I went for that and was successful. After I started the role, they coached me in Agile principles and ways of working, and, eventually, I ended up taking over the responsibility that they had as an external consultancy, but as an internal coach. So it was a real team effort, and I learned a lot along the way. I have a lot of credit to give to the people that helped me, believed in me, and put me forward for these roles.SPEAKING ABOUT THE BROADER TECH SPACE NOW: WE OFTEN GET ASKED HOW YOU GET INTO THIS, SPECIFICALLY - ARE UNIVERSITY DEGREES IMPORTANT? WHAT ARE YOU THOUGHTS? Yeah, so I tend to think about two sets of groups within the world of tech. So you have, at least in my mind, one group of people who have a really strong knowledge base. They might be your kind of Engineers, Developers, Security Specialists, or DevOps people. And for those kinds of roles, given that the contribution that you bring to the team tends to be quite specialist, I would say there's only ever a benefit to starting earlier, but that by no means excludes you if you want to start later. And then you've got another set of roles that are, in my mind, much more skills-based. So, potentially, Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, or even User Researchers whose contribution is much more are focused on the skills and ways of thinking that they bring to get different contexts. And for those types of roles, I'd say in regards to your university degree or your previous experience, it matters less about the industry and more about the skills, experience, and impact that you'll be able to build up during that time. But I think regardless of whether you're going into either set of roles there, it's never too late to start. There are so many resources out there, so many different journeys and so many ways that you can get self-taught. So I'd say if you have that vision, start early, but never feel that you're excluded from the tech path just because you didn't do a university degree or haven't started yet.D&I is super important to have different perspectives when it comes to problem-solving - leading to better and quicker solutions...it really is a no-brainer! DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IS SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE QUITE PASSIONATE ABOUT. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK CAN BE DONE TO HELP ATTRACT A MORE SORT OF DIVERSE MIX OF PEOPLE INTO THE TECH SPACE, WHICH CLEARLY IS GOING TO BENEFIT EVERYONE INVOLVED? Yeah, absolutely. So I think there's this stereotype of the character who works in tech. So that might be the kind of lone wolf male who sits in a dark room typing away at his keyboard, and I think if you have that image of tech, then that might not feel like a welcoming environment for someone who is not of that demographic. But I think actually, that's a very inaccurate representation of what working in tech looks like. Tech is one of the spaces that are trying to be really intentional about ways of working. Hence you have people involved, like Agile Coaches, whose whole job description is to look at how people work together, and how people collaborate. And so some of the values, specifically the Scrum values, such as openness, respect, and courage, really facilitate spaces where diverse voices are welcome and where people of different viewpoints can come together to try and find a consensus that satisfies lots of different requirements. I think those are the spaces that really benefit, as you said, from diverse viewpoints. So if we can change the image of tech to one that's a lot more vibrant, a lot more open, and a lot more intentional about these things, I think maybe more people would consider coming into the space. I know like me, myself, had I known that five years ago, I probably would have been much more open to coming into the industry. AS A WOMAN IN TECHNOLOGY, WHAT SORT OF CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED?I'd say one of the unique things about being a woman in tech is that it's very normal to be the only woman in the room. And I think that's not a problem in isolation, but it becomes a problem when that's the only professional environment that you ever experience.I, myself, tried to be quite intentional about getting female coaches, and female mentors, to have more perspectives, opinions, and professional experiences that I can draw on. And that's been really helpful for me to see those role models and understand how other people navigate these spaces. And then I think, at least in my case, being an Agile Coach puts me in quite a unique position where I'm given permission to look at ways of working and how companies set themselves up from an organisational perspective, which often gives me permission to talk to people about diversity, inclusion and, in general, be more vocal in that area. So I've had a lot of opportunities to have these conversations with companies and be part of the solution as well. Overall, I've loved the opportunities that I’ve had so far in this space: both in getting the support that I need, but also in trying to be part of the solution to make environments more welcoming for others.IN TERMS OF TECH AND IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE AS WELL, WHAT ARE YOUR PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR? I think one of the interesting things is that there's a program that I really want to go on called I Am Remarkable, which helps women speak about their achievements. It feels a little out of character to speak about what I’m proud of, but I will give it my best shot. I think the situations where I feel most proud of myself are the ones where I've taken things from an idea to full implementation, and you see the effects in the real world, impacting people. So I'd say on the tech side of things about a year or two into my first job, I was put on a second project from the get-go. We were able to take that idea and bring it all the way through initial discovery, then create a continuous discovery approach, as well as continuous delivery. We created ways of working where we were consistently delivering value for clients, and for the company more broadly, and I loved being part of that whole process from end to end. I got to work with such a diverse range of people, some of whom work really new to tech, for example, their first job, and some of whom had been there for many, many years. It was such a vibrant and collaborative process. And there was something so tangible (the first iteration of the product) that we were so proud of at the end, just before I left the role. That was a great, great experience. And then on the personal side of things, I had the idea when I was much younger than I am now - it makes me feel old to think about it! - but when I was a teenager, I was really fascinated by international affairs and China, and I had the idea that I really wanted to build up expertise in that area and create a forum for dialogue for young people to discuss what a rising China might mean for certain countries and industries. And so I did various things, such as going to China before my undergrad, learning the language and studying, and then I eventually got a full scholarship for my Master’s. From there, I contributed to a conference that brought people from around the world to Beijing. So, again, going from an idea to then living in Beijing, working in Beijing, and being surrounded by people with a similar kind of aspiration. I was really proud of that as well.IN TERMS OF WHERE WE ARE NOW, WE'RE AT THE START OF 2023 - WHAT DO YOU THINK 2023 HOLDS FOR YOU? AGAIN, INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF WORK?Yes. So I think from a professional side, this year for me has been focused on looking at what's called flow metrics and probabilistic forecasting, which is a way of working that falls under the Agile umbrella. It really helps teams answer the question: when will it be done? which is notoriously hard in Agile where you're constantly learning as you go. So I had been looking at implementing that in the teams that I'd worked with at my previous company, and now doing a lot of training and knowledge sharing at ControlPlane in regards to this. So that's something that I'm really excited about because I think that it resolves a lot of these age-old tensions between more traditional ways of working and Agile ways of working. I'd like to get a certification in that area towards the end of the year just to formalise my learning there. And then I'd say, outside of work, I am really focused on my own health journey. Around a year and a half ago, I got really sick with a virus that wasn't COVID but left me with really, really, strong post-viral fatigue so I couldn't get out of bed for a long time. It was often a struggle to walk and then I also, somewhat unrelated, had really bad back pain. So it's been a very iterative journey again, to come back to full health but I've done amazing things like hiking across Albania last month, and, alongside that, I’m building up my frequency of going to classes like spin. And for me, that's really exciting as well, because I want to get to a place where I feel really physically strong too.IN YOUR FREE TIME WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPIEST OUTSIDE OF WORK?Related to what I just mentioned, I love travelling, being in new environments, learning about new cultures, and having that experience alongside good friends. I'm going to Amsterdam in a couple of weeks, and I've just been to Albania. I think that those experiences really help to shape me and my ways of thinking, and shake up my relationships too, so I love doing things like that. And yeah, overall I'd say I enjoy investing in relationships and the people around me. I have a lot of international friends from my time in Beijing so there are always good debates happening with us discussing various things that we're thinking about and the various things going on in the world.IN ONE SENTENCE, HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP YOUR CAREER SO FAR?I would say a squiggly career. This is the concept that there aren't necessarily linear ladders that you need to progress up. But you can do lots of different things, experiment, and try lots of different industries to see what you're interested in. For example, my background spans lots of different humanities and China studies, and now I'm in tech. So I see that as squiggly, but something that's really exciting for me as I navigate all of these different areas and find joy in all of them.ARE THERE ANY COMMON THEMES TO ALL OF THEM?Yes, I would say the common theme is that I'm primarily motivated by the environment that I'm in rather than necessarily the context of the work.I think when a lot of people think about their careers, they consider: what industry do I want to go into? And they think less about: what will my life look like in that field. Whereas I'm much more concerned about the atmosphere. This means that I seek out environments that are fast-paced, challenging, and tend to be cutting edge and help you really understand the world. So I would say that's the common theme.It's taken me to all of these different places, and I think will take me to many different places again in the future.WHAT YEAR WOULD YOU LIVE IN - PAST, FUTURE OR PRESENT? PERHAPS, IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY, AND WHY? This is a hard one. I think I will close off any past options because I think being a woman in the world of work wasn’t great. I say I would love to go into the future and understand what the world of work looks like in 30 years because I'm really hopeful that it will develop and expand to be much more kind of human-centred, much more intentional, much more focused on how we collaborate and work together as people. And, hopefully, that creates great working environments for everyone and also better outcomes for businesses.WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE?This is a quote that I found in Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead book, and it stuck with me ever since.And it is: “In the past, jobs were about muscles, now they're about brains, but in the future, they'll be about the heart.”And for me, that reminds me of the bigger picture transition that we've gone through in the last couple of hundred years in terms of what the world of work has looked like and also what success and leadership have looked like, throughout the different stages of work. And this, for me, ties into Agile because I think that now we're in a period where the main skill set that one should have is the ability to navigate uncertainty and continuously learn, and leadership in that field looks like creating those environments for teams. That is much more about the heart because, contrary to feeling like you always need to get it right and to have the right knowledge, it's much more about creating an environment so that other people succeed. I think that challenges traditional notions of leadership and success, but if you're able to do that internal work, collaborate with others, and create good working environments, I think the possibilities are endless. So yeah, I'm really hopeful about what's to come. Thanks, Maddie you rock 🤘Interview by Ben Dennison

Tech and Tampons. From menopause bracelets to menstrual trackers, the Femtech industry has grown rapidly since 2016. The first tampon however, was invented by Earl Haas in 1931! During the 1930s there was common social discomfort with the idea of women touching themselves at all near their vagina. At the time, many people, including physicians, believed that women touching their reproductive organs during tampon use would cause them to sexually pleasure themselves or break the hymen. Thankfully things have moved on A LOT since then...and with sustainable and ethical companies like Daye, women now have the the opportunity to make educated and sustainable decision when it comes to their menstrual cycle.Today we hear from Lora, Software Engineer at Daye - creators of the world's first CBD infused tampon - about her journey into tech, why culture is so important when wanting to attract a diverse workforce and how she finds inspiration in her everyDAYE life! HI LORA, THANKS SO MUCH FOR TALKING TO US TODAY...WE LOVE THE DAYE BRAND EVERYTHING IT DOES FOR WOMEN'S GYNAE HEALTH AND THE PLANET! CAN YOU START BY TELLING US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND HOW YOU BECAME A SOFTWARE ENGINEER? It’s a family affair! - I come from a family of engineers with both mum and dad and also my grandma and grandpa being engineers - so I have been exposed to it for the majority of my childhood. I soon joined this family trait and went to Sofia Highschool of Mathematics – the classes were generally made up of mostly boys – I was one of eight girls in a class of thirty – but to be honest, I never really noticed the significance in that ratio back then. I went to the University of Strathclyde where I studied Mathematics and Computer Science and following that attended The Data Lab Academy - Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI and I received a scholarship through them. They covered my MSc tuition fees but also provided additional training and networking opportunities with people from the industry, as well as a paid internship while I was doing my MSc dissertation. It's a great organisation that helps a lot of people build data skills or even change careers.AND WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO DAYE? During university my internships were mostly in the automotive industry that was basically just middle-aged men. I didn’t feel like I really fitted in, in terms of ethos and didn't feel like sustainability was much of a priority and this is something I'm really passionate about. I had been interested in implementing my knowledge into the healthcare industry so when the position at Daye came up, I went for it. My manager Ed is amazing, the most wholesome person on the earth and the interview was more of a great chat that left me feeling positive and excited. Finding out about the culture at Daye really excited me as it's super friendly and inclusive. You are surround by like-minded people and everyone is always on hand to help with any questions you have. We actually have a selected “Culture Guardian” who’s job is to arrange an activity each month to bring the team together – the next one is ‘painting with wine’ so painting with a wine reduction and drinking wine...PAINTING WITH WINE SOUNDS RIGHT UP OUR STREET! YOU MENTIONED THE CULTURE WAS 'INCLUSIVE' WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU? ED&I is super important to have different perspectives when it comes to problem solving - leading to better and quicker solutions...it really is a no-brainer! WE WHOLE-HEARTEDLY AGREE! IF YOU COULD GIVE ONE BIT OF ADVICE TO SOMEONE WHO'S THINKING ABOUT FORGING A CAREER IN TECH, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Do your homework - there are so many different roles in tech, you can surely find something that suits you, transferable skills are super important. Research what type of companies get you excited and start a conversation with them - you never know where it might lead! WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES YOU?I find tiny bits of my everyday life inspirational. It can be a nice gesture I saw someone do or the way that tree in front of my home grows.WHAT DO YOU DO TO UNWIND AFTER A BUSY WEEK? I think having regular screen detoxes so important and I love being outside in the beautiful Bulgaria! In the winter I ski and in the summer; hang out on the beach friends and play tennis. I am also in the process of getting my captain license for a sailboat and hoping to soon be a fully-fledged captain. A CAPTAIN'S LICENSE? THAT'S INCREDIBLE! WHAT'S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU HAVE RECIEVED DURING YOUR CAREER IN TECH? Take a walk! When you get stuck on something and hyper-focused the best thing to do is get outside in the fresh air, take yourself off for a breather and you will usually come back to the issue with a calmer and clearer approach.FINALLY, DO YOU HAVE A MANTRA TO LIVE BY? No… not really 😁 But whenever I get overwhelmed I try to focus on my breathing! Thanks Lora you rock 🤘Interview by Sophie Eadon

The devil is in the detail, and the detail is in the data...This week's interview is fascinating as we find out more about the gender inequalities in healthcare. And who better to give us insight than Elisa Sai - Senior Director, Data & Analytics at CapGemini Invent. Elisa has worked in data analytics, within the public sector for her whole career and was involved in the recent partnership between Capgemini invent and Women in Data® as they published the paper: “Data-driven action to close the gender health gap” The partnership and paper were created to understand the role that data plays - and could play - in improving women's health outcomes - it's an incredible document and we urge you to give it a read! But before you do, hear from one of the experts! Elisa's focus and approach is so refreshing and inspiring! HI ELISA, THANKS SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO TALK TO US ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY INTO DATA! CAN YOU PLEASE START BY TELLING US WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT THE WORK YOU ARE DOING?I’ve worked in data analytics and the public sector for my whole career. I studied for a PhD in the history of art, but realised that academic life was a bit too solitary for me. I applied for a job with a consulting firm and by chance one of my first projects was working with analytics, at a time when data science wasn’t very well known. Back then, there were few people with the necessary skills, and because I had some experience working in a data-mining team as a graduate, I ended up managing the project. And that’s how my career in data analytics began.WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT? Data and AI are fascinating – the way you can draw insights from data and the impact that can be made by driving appropriate actions. My work is focused on the public sector, where it’s possible to have a positive impact on people’s lives. I also care deeply about coaching and mentoring, which I see as part of team development. I love having a team around me that is empowered and inspired, so personal development is just a natural conversation. In fact, I also see it as reverse mentoring because I get so much out of it in terms of seeing from other perspectives.CAPGEMINI AND WOMEN IN DATA RECENTLY PUBLISHED A PAPER "DATA DRIVEN ACTION TO CLOSE THE GENDER HEALTH-GAP" WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?Capgemini’s partnership with Women in Data® has been a fantastic experience. There has been a lot of discussion recently about gender inequalities in healthcare and we felt we could contribute to that, applying a data lens. Together we held a workshop with about 30 senior female professionals in the field, facilitated by Women in Data®. We looked at the data lifecycle, from collection to consumption, and examined the gaps in each area and what the possibilities were. The thinking that came out of the workshop formed the basis for this paper, which itself is intended as a basis for further discussion. Women in Data® is now looking at how it can take forward actions to address the issues raised, and I hope to be a part of that process as it progresses.YOU SPOKE ABOUT DATA COLLECTION AND DATA CONSUMPTION. TALK US THROUGH THE INEQUALITIES THERE?Research shows that women can sometimes lose out from a healthcare perspective and have poor healthcare outcomes. There are varying reasons for that, but one we discussed is that some illnesses affecting only women have not been studied as deeply. Endometriosis is a good example. We heard that it can take seven or eight years on average for a woman suffering endometriosis to be diagnosed.If you think about where we get data from, it’s often from clinical trials. But the participation of women in clinical trials is not as representative as it should be – 50 per cent of the population does not translate to 50 per cent of trial participants. There are conditions or situations that exclude women from clinical trials too, pregnancy being a big one. If you’re pregnant you are often discouraged from participating in a trial and that’s a problem, not only for balanced representation but also because we then lack data about how pregnant women are affected by medications, for example. But there are other ways to collect data from women. Data can be automatically donated by health-tracking apps, for example, but women have to have confidence that it will be used for the right purposes. In her recent podcast, Caroline Criado Perez, author of the book Invisible Women, has spoken about how in the United States, after the Supreme Court ruling on abortion, there has been a lot of concern around women who have provided data around periods and their health, because of the information that can be drawn from it. Could that information potentially be used against them in a legal context? The lack of clarity in this space does not encourage “data altruism” and the desire to share personal data. We also discussed how fewer than 20 per cent of data scientists in the UK are women and this number is going down. Data scientists also often work in silos and are not always adequately integrated with medical professionals. There are, of course, physiological differences between men and women, and when data is not disaggregated there is a risk that valuable information is lost. All this has an impact on how women are represented in research.WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ADDRESS SOME OF THESE ISSUES? The workshop generated a lot of ideas – for example, the creation of a regulated body that would provide standards on how private organisations work with the data provided. Rules on data collection to analysis could help women feel confident handing over data. The certification would guarantee that a person’s data can only be used for scientific or research purposes. We don’t have all the answers yet, but having these discussions helps. We’ve seen in other areas how conversations like these can lead to real changes in regulation. This is the first step. I think more work also needs to be done to understand the role of data both in terms of opportunity and risk, and what can be achieved.WHO IS BEST PLACED TO DRIVE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN AN ORGANISATION?I think it’s everybody’s responsibility. When we talk about inclusion and diversity, we are not just thinking in terms of gender. It’s about diversity in all its forms, and the recognition of our biases, so we can change our behaviour. It’s also about recognition that one size doesn’t fit all. For example, I’ve had a lot of discussions around work-life balance and how to help working parents, and that benefits a lot of people. But that’s not the case for every single woman. For me, when I came back from maternity leave, the most important thing was having someone help me progress my career very fast – that’s what I wanted. Sometimes, in the spirit of encouraging diversity, we can end up falling into stereotypes.FINALLY, CAN YOU LEAVE US WITH YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE? “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realise this and you will find strength” – Marcus Aurelius I can be affected a lot by events and I need to keep myself in a steady space, regardless of what has happened. So, I like this idea that you can train your mind and have power over what happens within it. Traditionally, particularly in certain fields, women often find they’re the only woman in the room. How do you deal with your thoughts around that situation? It comes back to my passion for coaching and personal development – mastering the ability to control your mind and nourish your thoughts.Thanks Elisa you rock 🤘Interview by Charles Hoskins

‘’Building up my own self-confidence and self-belief that I am a product manager, and a good one! I’ve always struggled with imposter syndrome, and never felt completely comfortable or confident in myself as a chemist, or as a management consultant. It’s been a rollercoaster ride as a Product Manager too, but for the first time I felt that I was really able to add value, and could make an impact that not just anyone, anywhere could do.’’ Heather Miles‘’Emphasise your transferable skills. While you might be starting from scratch in a particular industry, you are not new to the world of work. Highlight the skills you have picked up from previous roles on your CV and when interviewing. Whether it’s managing projects or working with clients, all of your previous skills are extremely valuable and could set you apart from other candidates with less work experience.’’ Zena Zerai‘’It is not always a bed of roses: there are many days you doubt yourself; you feel frustrated because you are used to producing results quickly in your previous job, and you have to remind yourself that you are starting again, and beginnings are always hard. It is difficult to ignore the “impostor syndrome” lurking behind you when you are the older person in a meeting, and maybe the less technically experienced.’’ Maria Valero Gonzalez Those are just a couple of snippets from 3 awesome ladies from Kin + Carta who have shared their successful journey from Law and Chemistry to User Experience Designer, Data Engineer, and Product Manager and so excited to share their stories for the world to hear. We are Tech Women quoted ‘’Technology has traditionally been a male-dominated field, with a persistently low representation of women. Tech Nation’s recent survey found only 19% of people working in tech are women. On the flip side, many employers are actively seeking to address this disproportionate representation by changing their hiring practices and engineering team environments to be more inclusive to women.’’ The challenge these employers face is that the traditional recruitment process relies on university graduates with computer science degrees. Not only are 80% of these graduates’ men, but also the three-year study period means current roles can’t be filled quickly. Today any changes made that positively impact course demographics won’t impact the hiring pool until at least 2024.In a bid to resolve the current skills gap, I and we are seeing companies updating their new hire processes and considering candidates from other educational backgrounds, such as tech academies and boot camps, creating a more accessible path for women wanting to pursue a career in Technology.Grab a kombucha, a cuppa, flat white and have a read of this beautifulnessZENA, MARIA, AND HEATHER PLEASE COULD YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOU AND WHAT YOU DO?Heather: I’m a Product Manager at Kin + Carta, which is a digital transformation consultancy. Distilled to its simplest interpretation, being a Product Manager means I’m responsible for ensuring that the products we’re building deliver value for both users and our clients’ businesses. In practice this means I work very closely with our clients and their customers to understand business and user outcomes, pain points and opportunities, and I work collaboratively with my team to decide on the best way to solve these. Internally at Kin + Carta I also help lead up our Product Practice - helping support and coach other Product Managers.Maria: I started in Kin + Carta as a Backend Engineer, and after six months there was an opportunity to join the Data team for a project, and that gave me the opportunity to start working with data manipulation tools, and I got hooked on the mix of managing data transformation applications and pure coding that felt more flexible and creative. The work goes from data modelling, looking for ways to organise data that will make the access and work more efficient, to handle transformation to maximise compression and optimise space used, and present the information in the best manner through reports: it covers a lot of different skills and expertise that makes my daily work very diverse and interesting.Zena: I am currently a Senior UX Designer, which in essence means I create end-to-end experiences across digital products that are enjoyable, user-friendly, and valuable for real users. This can involve anything from carrying out research with real people to understand their needs, sketching or wireframing out designs or helping to shape the overall strategy of a product. Prior to changing to UX, I worked for 7 years as a Radio Plugger, most recently at Universal Music. I worked with the likes of Rod Stewart, Gregory Porter, and Andrea Bocelli (basically all your mum’s favourites). Before that I studied law, so I’ve actually changed careers more than once!WHERE DID YOUR PASSION FOR TECHNOLOGY COME FROM AND WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE YOU MAKE THE SWITCH?Heather: Working in tech always seemed very exciting but I didn’t really know how to get into it, I assumed as I couldn’t code it wouldn’t be an option for me. No one I’d ever spoken to about careers during school or university had ever even mentioned it as an option.Having said that, I’ve always been curious about how things work, physics and chemistry were my favourite subjects at school and I went on to study chemistry at undergraduate and PhD level, but found academic research a really tough environment and, whilst I was interested in understanding how things worked, I just wasn’t as passionate as those around me for the nitty-gritty of lab work and didn’t enjoy working on a project alone.The bits I loved were the projects where I was working closely with a team - for instance designing and building a new piece of experimental equipment - my first real product! I found I was very good at explaining complex concepts to others (at scientific conferences and public science fairs). I also loved the process of hypothesising about something, gathering and analysing data and bringing it all together to draw out conclusions.After completing my PhD, I made my first career jump and joined a management consultancy which focussed on operational efficiency (improving processes in manufacturing and logistics). Whilst I learnt a lot, for a variety of reasons it didn’t work out and within a year I found myself back at the beginning again trying to decide what was next.Maria: I have always been naturally curious, and love learning new things: Back in the start of my career I dabbled on programming and databases, and I loved how trying to solve issues and resolve challenges made work feel like I was just having fun, but my job at that time ended up developing more into the business part. At a certain point, I thought I wanted to go back to work in something that will challenge my logic skills and made me learn new things constantly; as it was already more than ten years since I worked on something technical, I chose to join a Coding Bootcamp and train to re-enter the workforce as a software engineer.Zena: When I was working in music, I began doing some basic coding courses online and did a digital marketing course in my spare time. This sparked my initial interest, as I’m always looking to learn new skills. I loved the fact it was a completely new sector with the opportunity to continuously learn.HOW DID YOU DECIDE A PRODUCT MANAGER, DATA ENGINEER AND UX CAREER PATH WAS RIGHT FOR YOU?Heather: I’d never heard of a Product Manager before applying for this job and wasn’t aware that anything like that role existed. A close friend who is an engineer suggested that it would be something that would really suit me, so I did a bit of research and it looked promising - a way of combining my love for understanding how things work with my enjoyment of building things as a team, whilst also making the most of my strengths working with people and communicating complex ideas in a simple way to bring people on a journey (so much of product management is stakeholder management, building consensus around an idea, etc.)I looked for courses to help me get more experience and decided to take an intensive week-long Product Management course at General Assembly. It was a bit of an investment, and I was lucky to be in a position to be able to do this, but it proved to be incredibly valuable as it not only gave me the opportunity to ‘test out’ the role, but also showed potential employers that I was proactive in applying my skills in this new area (and ended up being part of the reason why I was hired by Kin + Carta).Maria: I already knew I enjoyed working on software development, and once I started working in Data engineering I could link some of the things I used to work with, and in many ways also unlearn things are not applicable anymore, but the same principle applies: making mistakes is just part of the process, it is not something that is inherently negative, but is just another path to write off in order to map out the labyrinth.Zena: After doing some coding courses, I reached out to an old boss of mine and mentioned I was looking for a change but that I was unsure of what direction to take. He suggested I look into a career in UX design. He had a friend who had changed to UX a few years back who was extremely happy and successful. However, the term ‘UX’ was completely alien to me, so I did a hefty amount of research online about what the role actually entailed. I also read an amazing book called ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ by Don Norman.What followed was research into available UX courses including courses with General Assembly. I decided to try out a 2-day weekend boot camp. This was great as it gave me a taster of what the course and a job in UX would really be like without committing to anything and I was hooked! It was really exciting as UX is the perfect combination of being creative but also analytical, which I was missing from my previous roles.WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO DATE?Heather: Building up my own self-confidence and self-belief that I am a product manager, and a good one! I’ve always struggled with imposter syndrome, and never felt completely comfortable or confident in myself as a chemist, or as a management consultant. It’s been a rollercoaster ride as a Product Manager too, but for the first time I felt that I was really able to add value, and could make an impact that not just anyone, anywhere could do. A huge part of overcoming that has been finding a place where I feel incredibly supported and valued - and Kin + Carta has always been that for me.Maria: It is not always a bed of roses: there are many days you doubt yourself; you feel frustrated because you are used to producing results quickly in your previous job, and you must remind yourself that you are starting again, and beginnings are always hard. It is difficult to ignore the “impostor syndrome” lurking behind you when you are the older person in a meeting, and maybe the less technically experienced. Luckily for me, I have a great manager and fantastic colleagues, who support me and give me a reality check over my contributions and progress to get me out of my head.Zena: After I finished the course, the first couple of months looking for a job were quite nerve-wracking and stressful. Not only is everyone on your course looking for elusive junior UX design roles but you’re also competing with the rest of the industry and with people with more experience. Quite often I would send out applications without any replies. I recall wondering whether I’d made the right decision to give up my job and at times was tempted to settle for any role I saw. However, I’m glad I didn’t settle and waited until I found something that was right for me, which is how I ended up at TAB (The App Business) which is now Kin + Carta.WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE THAT YOU RECEIVED WHEN YOU WERE SWITCHING OUT OF LAW/MUSIC AND CHEMISTRY/CONSULTING INTO YOUR ROLE IN TECH NOW? Heather: I was incredibly lucky to have a huge number of people who were generous with their time to act as sounding boards and give me advice to help me work out what I should do next. One of the most useful bits of advice I was given was to make a list of all the things I liked about my current role and all the things I didn’t. I then used this list to assess potential roles and organisations more analytically (from reading websites, reviews and through interview questions) - to really understand what I’d be doing day-to-day and whether or not I’d actually enjoy it. It’s something you need to spend time on though, it’s not a 5-minute exercise. If you find yourself writing things like ‘fast paced’ and ‘problem solving’ - try to go a level deeper as every job description will list those things.I can’t remember exactly what was on my list, but it was things like:Likes: external motivation (the right deadlines can be very useful - the PhD was incredibly lacking in these!), not being sat behind a laptop all day (going out and investigating things), building things (actually having practical outputs to my work), helping people to understand things (communication, coaching etc.), working with people who care about what they’re doingDislikes: pointless deadlines (often causing late nights/poor work-life balance), working on a project on my own, working away from home all week, the types of problem I’d been tasked with solving (often too abstract and not fulfilling to solve)Maria: “Success comes from having the right mindset rather than intelligence, talent or education. People with a fixed mindset believe that they're born with certain intelligence, skills and abilities that cannot change. (...) Intelligence and ability can be nurtured through learning and effort. Growth-minded people see setbacks as a necessary part of the learning process and bounce back from 'failure' by increasing effort.” - it is from “Mindset”, by Carol Dweck. In a nutshell, we are not born with a set of immovable aptitudes, but we can develop the skills we need through effort and work.Zena:  Emphasise your transferable skills. While you might be starting from scratch in a particular industry, you are not new to the world of work. Highlight the skills you have picked up from previous roles on your CV and when interviewing. Whether it’s managing projects or working with clients, all of your previous skills are extremely valuable and could set you apart from other candidates with less work experience.WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE FOR ASPIRING FEMALES AS THEY PLAN THEIR CAREER CHANGE?Heather: Some purely practical advice - think about crafting a skills-based CV (rather than a chronological one). It’s likely if you’re a career changer that your experience in previous roles won’t directly map to the requirements of the new role, and it can be hard for busy recruiters/hiring managers to see past this. So, start with the requirements of the new role. If they need “stakeholder management” or “prioritisation skills”, then list underneath those headings all the experience you have from any previous roles in those areas. Hiring managers can then easily check down their list of requirements and see that you’re a great match for their key skills. It can still be useful to provide a chronological list of roles but do this in a really streamlined way (no more than one line per role, and further down the page).In the event that you’re lacking experience in one or two areas - don’t be deterred (and go read this article)! I was definitely in this position and used my cover letter to explain (and give evidence for) the fact that I was a quick learner and that I’d already showed initiative to learn (the course I took and the research I’d done).In terms of more emotional advice - if you struggle with imposter syndrome, a career change can definitely be a trigger. Make sure you find the right role and organisation where you feel safe and supported enough to get regular feedback, and also where you’ll get the recognition you deserve. Be open with your manager if you can and ask for feedback and reassurance if you need it. As well as getting valuable constructive feedback to help you develop, make sure you’re getting positive reinforcement when you need it. I keep a log of all my positive feedback and successes so that even when I doubt myself and don’t feel confident, I can look at the evidence of what I can do and learn to ‘back myself’ anyway.Maria: Yes, you can do it.No, it is not too late.No, I am not the exception, and you can do it too.Go to pages with free resources like Codeacademy, choose a language like Ruby, Javascript or Python, and see if you like the process, if it is something that makes you smile once you figure it out, if working on something like this is something you will enjoy. And if it is, there are plenty of forums and resources to start your way into programming before you decide to invest in something like formal education, an apprenticeship or a boot camp.Zena: Do your research upfront about what the role will be and speak to people who have already made the change. Often when you’re changing career you will be starting from the bottom. This may mean a drop in your salary and also means you may know less than your colleagues when you start. However, if you do your research about what the role entails and it is genuinely something you know you will enjoy and be good at, then all of those things will feel like less of a challenge, and you may even progress quicker. Additionally, before I quit my job to do the UX course, I reached out to people that I didn’t know on LinkedIn that had changed careers and done different courses to chat about their experience and make an informed decision.WHAT GAVE YOU THE FINAL PUSH/ENCOURAGEMENT TO MAKE THE CAREER CHANGE?Heather: In a strange way I was lucky, as I was unemployed when I was looking to make the change - so the decision to ‘jump ship’ had already been made for me. The decision I needed to make was “what to?”. I could have played it ‘safe’ and taken a project management role in the public sector, which I was qualified for but not excited by, but instead I chose to take the risk of the slightly more unknown and have never regretted it for even a second. I think the final bit of convincing was walking into Kin + Carta’s office for my interview and meeting the people I’d be working with - I felt instantly at home.Maria: I realised I still have too many years in front of me to be stuck in something that did not make me happy or excited to go to work. I think most of the time you don’t realise how much of a routine you are in, and how often you just continue your daily life out of habit. You don’t really see how much more capable you are until you try. I had to take a step back into thinking what were the things I enjoyed most, and what have I done in my professional life that keep me interested and what could I do to make that into my full-time job.Zena: Honestly it was just excitement and interest around the topic and the course. I wanted to start right away after I did the boot camp!WHATS NEXT FOR YOU ALL?Heather: Over the past 5 years, I’ve developed and progressed faster than I ever thought possible from an associate/mid-level Product Manager just starting out to a Principal level helping lead up a whole group of PMs. I’ve built up my confidence along the way, and whilst with every step forward I’ve found that same old imposter syndrome tries to rear its ugly head, I’ve never felt more comfortable in myself and my abilities as I have done the past couple of years, and I’ve really enjoyed the journey.The next step for me is going to be quite different again (you could call it a career change of a different nature?!) - as I’m going to become a mum in March next year! I thoroughly expect to go through the same rollercoaster of excitement, fear, imposter syndrome and enjoyment that I’ve experienced in my professional life, and then the potentially even greater challenge of working out how to balance that with my career going forward. I feel incredibly lucky to have an amazing partner and an incredibly supportive employer and colleagues and between these two things I’m confident that this will be another exciting step forwards for me.Maria: So many new things to learn! It keeps work fresh and interesting, and you keep your brain awake and engaged. The best part is that there are always new developments in the tools we use, in the way we can optimise processes, make them more efficient, faster, and easier to use. Data nowadays is not only linked with understanding better how people act, and what motivates them, but also how to make that knowledge more sustainable and less polluting.Zena: With UX there are so many areas to learn. I’m always looking at different ways I can upskill. At the moment I am looking at increasing my quantitative research and strategy skills. I recently completed a few courses with Nielsen Norman Group - they are leaders in the UX field. Next, I would like to look at how we can combine data with user research in our client projects.Separately I’m also heavily involved in helping lead our affinity group at Kin + Carta, where we represent our black and brown employees. I have recently been involved in helping to create the content, talks and workshops for Black History Month, check it out on our LinkedIn!IF YOU WERE A SONG, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU BE?Heather: I found this a tough one! But I think I'll go with Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi. It's a lovely upbeat sounding song and I like to think of it as a song about making the most of what you have whilst you have it (we'll just skip over the part where her old man leaves her…).Maria: “Brave” by Sara Bareilles, not only the lyrics are so inspiring: “Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live/ Maybe one of these days you can let the light in/ Show me how big your brave is”, but it reminds me that you have to keep taking risks, and that sometimes you just have to get up and do something brave (also the music video just makes me smile every time I watch it).Zena: This is hard! I can’t just pick one song…. Maybe ‘Aint No Mountain High Enough’ by Marvin GayeWHAT IS YOUR GO TO LIFE QUOTE OR MANTRA?Heather: I'm not sure I really have a mantra but I'm pretty optimistic as a person and I always try to find the positive in things.Maria: “Steady wins the race” … I grew up with my dad saying that life was not a 100-metres-race, but a marathon, so it is not a matter of making a quick and exhaustive effort, but to keep a constant pace and focus on the long-term objectives, even if your objectives change over time, and that is OK too, you just have to keep going.Zena: Probably a bit cliché but “trust your gut”, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had more confidence in myself and in using my voice, it’s something I wish I had done earlier in my career(s).Heather, Maria, Zena - thank you - you all rock🤘Interview by Alicia Teagle

Women Rock advocate and all around amazing human being Evie Skinner is back to talk to us about her most recent venture - Bristol Queertech - a space, where LGBTQIA+ people can get together and talk about their shared passion for tech and generally let their hair down to momentarily exist outside the CIS heteronormative structure they find themselves in.Queertech just had their second meet up last week and SR2 had the great pleasure of sponsoring, so Women Rock ambassador Rachel Comber sat down with Evie to see how it is all going...EVIE WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU BACK! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN? WE KNOW YOU FROM BACK IN 2020, WHEN YOU HAD YOUR FIRST INTERVIEW ON OUR WOMEN ROCK PLATFORM TO CHAT ABOUT YOUR STORY INTO TECH. SINCE THEN, I HAVE SEEN LOTS OF GREAT STUFF OVER LINKEDIN THAT YOU HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN. HOW HAS THE PAST TWO YEARS BEEN, WHAT’S CHANGED?Hiya, it's beautiful to see you again! I'm blessed to be able to say that I've had some great changes in my life, along with the weird ones we've all been through since 2020. I've settled down long term in my beloved hometown of Stroud, got my life back after lockdown, and this year went to Pride for the first time! Good vibes! I'm very lucky.ALTHOUGH OF COURSE WE LOVE MEETING UP WITH YOU TO CHAT, THE MAIN REASON WE ARE HERE TODAY IS TO TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW TECH GROUP CALLED ‘QUEERTECH BRISTOL’ OF WHICH YOU ARE A COFOUNDER. WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM? WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE GROUP?The idea came from my visionary co-founder and colleague Harriet. They planted the first seeds of the meetup by noticing that, while Bristol has both a vibrant tech scene and a great gay/queer scene, there was no community event focussing on LGBTQIA+ people in technology like they had seen when they lived in London. Through hanging out together at work, we realised we shared a huge passion for technology and in person queer spaces! We both saw the need to create more of them, given that in London alone, the number of in person queer spaces halved during the pandemic. The aim of the group is to provide such a space, a comforting bubble where LGBTQIA+ people can let our hair down and momentarily exist outside the CIS heteronormative structure we live in. Being queer isn't all Kylie Minogue and drag shows: it's tough, especially for our trans and non-binary siblings, so it's massively important to us that the meetup should act as a support network as well as a fun techie get-together.WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE A SPACE OF LIKE-MINDED INDIVUALS WHO ALSO SHARE THE SAME PASSION?IE WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU BACK! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN? It means everything for us to position the meetup as a community-led DIY initiative. Community led as in we take all the input we can from our participants, because they are the most important part! They've given us many ideas for upcoming events, and it feels lush to be together with others who share that passion for tech, so we're very thankful for their support.RUNNING A MONTHLY GROUP ISN’T EASY, HOW DID YOU FIND GETTING IT OFF THE GROUND? VIE WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU BACK! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN? You're right it takes work, especially as we want to keep it as DIY and independent as possible! We're lucky to have inspiration to draw upon from other great meetups like Codebar. There's so much to think about: from negotiating with potential sponsors, to learning to make social media that generates engagement, to developing our website in an environmentally sustainable way. It's been great learning so far! One thing that's helped get us off the ground has been the three of us networking and spreading the word. We're also very grateful to Made Tech for sponsoring our first two events, and to those who've voluntarily contributed to our open source website during Hacktoberfest.IT IS STILL EARLY DAYS HAVING JUST HAD YOUR SECOND MEET-UP, BUT WHAT ARE YOUR AIMS FOR THE GROUP, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE COMING UP FOR QUEERTECH BRISTOL?November's event is a side project show and share, in collaboration with Control Shift, a Bristol based creative organisation. In our first event, we asked our participants to contribute ideas for future sessions, and we were humbled to see them give us loads of ideas to keep us completely stocked for at least the next eighteen months of the meetup! December will see us give a talk about public speaking skills, and then go on a night out. We're also thinking about co-running a hackathon, and running an expo to showcase local LGBTQIA+ speakers and business owners. Currently, there are three of us in the South West organising QTB: Harriet, Sam and I. We're also in discussions with friends in Manchester about starting a QueerTech there.WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO GO BUT IS NERVOUS/NEW TO TECH/ NEW TO QUEER COMMUNITY ETC?My advice would be to visualise all the fun you'll have at the event and imagine us welcoming you there! We're a really warm and friendly bunch and we would treasure the chance to welcome anyone who's nervous and help calm their nerves with great banter and food. Also, you can always get in touch with us directly before the event if you feel particularly nervous, maybe questioning your sexuality/gender, and we'll do what we can to help. Did I mention we have free food??THE GROUP IS BASED DOWN AT THE WATER SHED EVERY MONTH, WHY DID YOU PICK THIS LOCATION IN PARTICULAR TO BE YOUR BASE?HAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE A SPACE OF LIKE-MINDED INDIVUALS WHO ALSO SHARE THE SAME PASSION?IE WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU BACK! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?The Watershed is such a gem in the city. It emerged as the perfect location because it's already a very LGBTQIA+ friendly venue, and Harriet had a great experience attending the trans and non-binary creatives meetup there before we started ours. Everyone we've interacted with there has been an absolute dream: they even let us use the venue for free. Not to mention they have a cracking bar too!IF INDIVIDUALS WANTED TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS GROUP WHERE WOULD BE BEST FOR THEM TO HEAD FOR MORE INFORMATION?You can check us out at queertechbristol.com, and @queertechbristol on Instagram; or reach out to me, Harriet Horobin-Worley and Sam Fallowfield on LinkedIn.YOU ARE INVOLVED IN A LOT OF COMMUNITY AND TECH EVENTS BUT MORE RECENTLY I HAVE SEEN YOU HAVE ALSO BEEN COMBINING IN THE USE OF MEDITATION SESSIONS TO THE GROUPS. THAT IS REALLY INTERESTING TO PUT EMPHASIS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF A HEALTHY BODY AND MIND WITHIN THOSE SPACES, HOW DID YOU GET INTO MEDITATION AND HOW HAS IT CHANGED YOUR MINDSET ABOUT LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF WORK?I got into meditation as a very stressed seventeen year old: I was struggling at the time, and my Mum's friend recommended me a local Buddhist group in Stroud. We all find it hard to stay present and avoid following our thoughts down a rabbit hole at times! The teachings I received at the group gave me the tools I needed to completely change my life. Since then, my mindfulness practice has enabled me to revolutionise my relationship with my thoughts, by becoming their critical observer rather than their frightened follower. I'm very proud to say that many people I've met are now meditating because I taught them at a club I started or an event I attended. When I'm having a bad day that's something lush to think about!I KNOW YOU ARE A BIG ADVOCATE FOR REDUCING YOUR SCREEN TIME, HOW DO YOU LIKE TO RELAX IN THE EVENING?My fave way to relax is any practice that involves bringing the mind home to the body: something that gives my thinking mind a break. I love playing the drums, training in karate, and I've recently started Japanese jiu jitsu as well. I always find drumming and training to be really beneficial, mainly because they help me activate a deeply relaxing state of flow and contentment. Apart from that, a good cackle with my Nan on the phone will do the trick!Thanks Evie - you rock 🤘Interview by Rachel Comber

Meet the incredible Rayhana Rahman, a Software Engineering Manager at Tech For Good, funding platform Neighbourly💙She's here for women in tech, she's here for the BAME community in tech, she's here to talk about how the menopause can have a huge impact on women's careers and what companies can do to support and empower the team throughout this period of their lives.Rayhana shows up for all these things and we can all learn a thing or two from her!Read her story today and have a think about what you can do to help make the tech industry more inclusive and diverse - it could just be sharing Rayhana's amazing Women Rock blog post!HEY RAYHANA CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF…I have always worked in IT, it was something I was interested in when I was studying my O levels. That slightly gives away my age! At the time the idea of being a Systems Analyst interested me as I liked the idea of talking to people to understand what they wanted and then making that happen.My first manager said what caught his eye when looking at my CV was the degree I had completed. I started as a report writer and then within a few months became a project manager. It was so empowering to deliver a system that supported numerous training providers who were submitting returns to the Regional Government Office for funding. That a system we implemented could collate all the individual details from each provider into one submission. This is where my desire to improve systems and make users lives easier came about. From that I did a variety of management roles to understand the needs of business and implement change. I have realised through my career that alongside this I enjoy building teams and coaching individuals to be the best they can be even if they don’t see their strengths at the beginning. That is how I found my current role as I wanted to continue to build a team by coaching and mentoring.SOMETIMES IT CAN BE DAUNTING TO TAKE THE LEAP AND CHANGE YOUR ROLE AFTER BEING IN THE SAME ORGANISATION FOR A LONG TIME. HAVING RECENTLY TAKEN UP A NEW ROLE IN A NEW COMPANY, WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE TO ANYONE CONSIDERING A CHANGE?I would say that the market has changed so much and there is so much opportunity out there. You will be surprised how much you match your wants to a job. Maybe you want to work remotely, maybe you want to work 4 days a week, maybe you want to work for a social impact company. They are out there, but first find the right recruitment company (like SR2), that makes a great difference! YOU HAVE RECENTLY EXPERIENCED THE MENOPAUSE AND THE EFFECT THAT IT CAN HAVE ON WOMEN'S CAREERS. WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE? WHAT MORE DO YOU THINK CAN BE DONE BY EMPLOYERS TO SUPPORT WOMEN GOING THROUGH THE MENOPAUSE?My first symptom was pain suddenly in my left shoulder that I thought was repetitive strain injury for which I was given very strong painkillers, but I didn’t know it was the start of the menopause. I was naïve, I thought I’d gone through all the symptoms, and it was plain sailing. Actually I had put many of the signs down to too many meetings, maybe overworking myself. It was actually after an interview when I found I was still upset. I thought something was wrong. I then was told it was the menopause.It wasn’t until I went through it that I realised that actually the solution is individual to each woman, and it takes time to find the right solution for you. There is much more awareness out there, but I think all managers need to be more understanding as there so many symptoms (not just having a hot flush) that have an impact on our working lives. FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE, HOW IMPORTANT IS DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE?As an Asian woman in IT, much of my career has been in a mostly male environment. Over the years I have built teams who are diverse and have seen the beauty of different thoughts as well as different working practices. It’s about giving people the space to air their views and work towards a solution. Once you see the benefits you never look back! The best part of a team is when they respect each other even if their views are different as they recognise each of them are working towards the same goal.WHAT MORE DO YOU THINK CAN BE DONE TO GET MORE UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES AND WOMEN INTO TECH?I recognise as an individual every person I come in contact with has an opportunity to see the strength of me being in my role and think I’d like to do that, and I can do that. It’s finding ways to get to communities and schools to show the young that this is interesting as well as exciting and it makes a difference. LASTLY, DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE QUOTE THAT YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE BY?It’s not a quote as such but my own belief - Be kind, you don’t know what someone else is going through, be there for them and listen to what they have to say.Thanks Rayhana you rock! 🤘Interview by Rosie Fearnley

This week Women Rock Ambassador Josie met Chloe Bishop: Software Engineer at Gresham Technologies, FDM Everywoman in Tech Award finalist and all-round amazing human being! Chloe is an advocate for young women wanting to get into the industry so here she shares some wonderful advice and inspiration – including the importance of experimentation when it comes to finding out what you’re passionate about…HEY CHLOE! THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR STORY WITH US. LET’S START AT THE BEGINNING WITH WHEN YOU FIRST REALISED YOU WERE PASSIONATE ABOUT SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT…I think my generation was one of the first to grow up surrounded by technology. We didn’t just know the basics of how to use a computer, we could pick up the latest smart phone and intuitively know how to use it. High-level programming languages were introduced to me right before I picked my GCSEs, and I was completely hooked. It was an insight into the technology I used every day that I had never had before. The idea that I would be able to fully understand and contribute to the creation of new, exciting technologies is what motivated me to study computer science.WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED IN THE INDUSTRY?My passion for learning made me think that technology was the perfect career for me. It is one of the fastest growing industries, and learning new things constantly is a big part of my job. That being said, it never occurred to me until I got into the industry that constantly having to learn also means never being fully in your comfort zone. This can sometimes make people feel like they aren’t qualified enough or don’t deserve to be in their current role. I have definitely had a few battles with Imposter Syndrome, but it is really common in the tech industry. The way I got past it was by hearing other developers talk about it openly and diving right back into learning.HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR?Definitely a highlight for me was being a finalist in the Apprentice Award category at the 2022 FDM Everywoman in Technology Awards. My goal for years in school was to become a software engineer, so to achieve that goal and simultaneously empower young women to follow their own passions was extremely important to me. Being recognised for that work and being able to make those that had given me those opportunities proud was such an honour. Not to mention being able to meet some of the most inspirational women in the tech sector and learn about their respective experiences in the industry.WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHERS WHO WANT TO GO INTO THE SAME CAREER?My advice would be to do work experience, internships, apprenticeships or just ask current developers about their experiences. There are so many different types of software engineer roles, and finding the right role for you is so important. I did work experience at a games studio and had an amazing time, but ultimately, I left knowing I didn’t want to program games. At the start of your career, experimenting to determine what kind of development you are most passionate about – as well as what you are least passionate about – is just as important as furthering your technical skills.DO YOU THINK ANYTHING MORE CAN BE DONE TO SUPPORT WOMEN IN TECH?I think programs that encourage young women to take STEM subjects are doing really well, although I think that equal work should be put into teaching young men that women belong in those industries as much as they do. Ultimately, we want women to find the confidence to follow the career path they are passionate about, and having peers who are supportive of their choices is a big part of that process.WHY WERE YOU NOMINATED FOR THE APPRENTICE AWARD AT THE 2022 FDM EVERYWOMAN IN TECHNOLOGY AWARDS?During my time at American Express I was nominated for being an advocate for women in technology, particularly for young women who have just come out of the education system. I used my own journey into tech and experiences within the industry to give advice to those interested in a career in technology. I also volunteered to help organise outreach events, spoke about how teams could improve the onboarding process for junior engineers, and was a ‘buddy’ for new apprentices and graduates.WHO DO YOU FIND THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMAN IN TECH?I can’t name just one woman as the most influential woman in tech, but I will say that women such as Joan Clark and Grace Hopper are great examples of what I think it means to be an influential woman in tech. They didn’t allow the male-dominated workplaces to prevent them from giving their contributions to the field in a time when it was a lot less common to see women in the industry. Their work has inspired millions of women to join the industry and campaign to end the stigma so that the next generation get an equal chance, regardless of gender.IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF WORK IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT THAT YOU FIND INSPIRING?At the Everywoman Awards, Eleanor Harry the CEO of HACE was announced as Woman of the Year. The work that she and her team do to fight child labour using artificial intelligence is absolutely amazing! It is so inspiring to see people using technology to solve problems they are passionate about, and I can only hope that in the future I will be able to make a similar impact.WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING OUTSIDE OF WORK?I do try to push myself out of my comfort zone a lot, so I am always trying new hobbies. Travelling is by far what I enjoy the most, as it allows me to experience different cultures, learn new languages, and meet new people.FAVOURITE MANTRA/QUOTE YOU LIVE BY?“It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.”We couldn’t agree more! Thanks Chloe – you rock! 🤘

Aged 9 she organised and rolled out her own birthday party, project managing her own parents. Aged 10 she built an Olsen twins, fan website. As a student in Israel, she co-founded ‘QueenB’ – an organisation that teaches middle school girls how to code…Noga Mann is a force to be reckoned with and an absolute inspiration! Women Rock ambassador Naomi Douglass spoke to Noga about her incredible journey into the tech world and how she has been able to combine her artistic and scientific interests to carve out a career that she adores!HEY NOGA! SO GREAT TO MEET YOU AND THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR STORY WITH US. COULD YOU PLEASE GIVE US AN INTRODUCTION TO YOURSELF?My name is Noga, and I’m an engineering manager at Figma as well as a social entrepreneur.Growing up, I often had to choose between my artistic and scientific interests, but I was fortunate enough to be able to study both Computer Science and Design at university, as part of a combined program. I believe design is a powerful tool that can put people at ease with technology, and technology can enrich and expand the boundaries of design to new and exciting places. This is why I am so excited to work at Figma, where technology is used to empower teams and enable them to build better products.As a university student back in Israel, I co-founded QueenB, an organization that teaches middle school girls how to code. Since we started, we’ve been able to get thousands of girls interested in technology and consider it as a career. By connecting young women with tech companies, the organization also helps them land their first industry jobs.WHY DID YOU CHOOSE A CAREER IN TECH?When I was about 10, I built a fan website for the Olsen twins. This was my first coding experience, and what inspired me to try it out was the ability to create something that wasn’t there before and share it with the world. As I learned more about this discipline, I realized how creative and fulfilling it could be.YOU ARE A MANAGER AT FIGMA, COULD YOU TELL ME HOW YOU BECOME A LEADER AND YOUR MOTIVATIONS BEHIND THIS?From a young age, management was a natural interest of mine. At age nine, I organized my own birthday party – I loved putting together the schedule, thinking about the activities, making to-do lists, and assigning tasks to my parents. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I seated them down for a retro session after it was all over.I feel most impactful when creating processes – I enjoy solving problems not only ad hoc, but thinking about how we can learn from every issue, and find solutions that improve efficiency. It is one of the things I enjoy most about being a manager. As part of my role, I also assist my team in setting their own growth goals and building plans to achieve them. Seeing their accomplishments is very rewarding.FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE HOW IMPORTANT IS DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE?Companies that manage to create inclusive spaces where everyone feels welcome, are more successful in building great products. Moreover, they are more likely to attract and retain top talent.Figma is a great example of this. The way we work is highly collaborative, not competitive, and as managers, we strive to foster psychological safety in our teams and build trust so people can be themselves.We also have our Engineering gender minorities group, which is an employee group that’s dedicated to building a welcoming and inclusive community for engineers at Figma who identify as gender minorities. This group serves as a safe space for engineers at all career stages to solicit advice, find mentorship, and celebrate each others’ wins.WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE?“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re probably in the wrong room.”There is a false assumption that a team’s manager should be its smartest member. In reality, different individuals have different strengths and skills that make them better suited to fill different roles in a team, and the manager is no different.Not only is being the smartest in the room not a requirement for being a good manager, but it might also mean that you’re not hiring the right people. Talented individuals on your team make your team stronger, as well as giving you more opportunities for personal growth as a manager.Leading a team of people who are smarter or more experienced than you might be daunting at first. However, by developing the ability to admit you might not know the answer to every question, I believe you actually become a better leader.WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENT?Having founded QueenB and being able to introduce many young girls to coding, and helping women land their first engineering job. The fact that I am part of a much larger community that drives gender equality in the tech industry is something that I am extremely proud of.With my friend Daria Ackerman, I recently started recording a podcast in Hebrew called “The Impostors”, which provides advice for people early in their engineering careers.WHAT IS A BOOK THAT INFLUENCED YOU AS A MANAGER?“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni. Through a five-part model of dysfunction, the book describes how teams fail to work cohesively together. The dysfunctions are: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Lack of Accountability, and Inattention to Results. The model resonated with both successful and unsuccessful teams I witnessed. In my view, a manager’s role is to create an environment in which a high-performing team can thrive. Finding the root dysfunction of the team and addressing it is a great tool for that.Even the most minor change in team structure, such as someone joining or leaving, can shake things up, so even high-performing teams have work to do to maintain their performance.Thanks Noga! you totally rock 🤘

There is so much talk around creating a diverse workforce and the importance of equality and inclusion which is great! However, as the saying goes “actions speak louder than words” more needs to be done to level the playing field – especially in the tech industry. It is one of the many reasons Alicia Teagle created the platform Women Rock – to champion underrepresented folk and give them a platform to help raise their voices. So when we come across A-MA-ZING initiatives like Black Valley we will shout about it from the roof tops! If you haven’t heard of Black valley within the tech community then you are now in for a treat. Women Rock ambassador Doug spoke with Software engineer/ mentor Gavin Kimpson about what Black Valley is doing for the black community in tech and the incredible success stories that come out of it!This is such a great read and we are so grateful for the opportunity to share Gavin and Black Valley’s incredible work…HI GAVIN! WHEN I READ ABOUT BLACK VALLEY I THOUGHT IT SOUNDED LIKE A FANTASTIC INITIATIVE! FOR PEOPLE THAT MAY NOT HAVE HEARD ABOUT IT BEFORE, CAN YOU GIVE THEM AN OVERVIEW OF THE WORK BLACK VALLEY DO?The initiative started in 2020 by Leke Sholuade, the events of George Floyd was the catalyst for him and he wanted to help make a long-lasting positive change for the black community. Leke spoke to a number of people working in tech about ways to help bring more black people into the tech sphere, it wasn’t long before more mentors signed up and Black Valley was born!Black Valley provides free mentoring to anyone of black origin within a number of tech roles – these include UX Design, Software-engineering, Product Management, Customer Success and much more! We provide mentees with a dedicated mentor in their field and over the 8-week cohort, we look to accelerate their career by providing them the tools and know-how to level themselves up in their chosen career. We also have a network of recruiters that provide mentees with the information they need to nail those interviews and dreaded technical-tests!Along with the ever-growing community via tools like Slack, Black Valley is enhancing the careers for mentees all over the world. We now have over 200+ mentors from all sorts of companies like your traditional ‘one-man-band’ to multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon & Google.SO WHAT WOULD THIS SUPPORT LOOK LIKE TO INDIVIDUAL MENTEES?Each cohort lasts for 8 weeks – over this period we carefully select each mentee so that they are paired up with the best mentor possible to help them get the most from the 2-month programme. Due to the relative short-time frame, we don’t see ourselves in the same light as bootcamps (these tend to be much much longer & more technical by their nature) however we do provide mentees with the expertise from people in the industry that know what it takes to succeed. Each mentor provides a few hours each week to their mentee – this would generally be over video calls (I’ve mentored people as far as Canada and Nigeria!). The mentor would look to understand what their mentee goals are and help develop the 8-week programme around the mentee’s long and short-term objectives.We encourage mentees to work on new or existing projects, this allows them to build up their portfolio, which alongside ‘industry visibility’ weeks, allows them to market themselves better on LinkedIn. Additionally, CV & interview preparation, helps put them in good stead for when they are ready to jump into their next role.BLACK VALLEY SOUNDS LIKE AN AMAZING ORGANISATION TO BE A PART OF; HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED?I came across Black Valley via Facebook quite by chance – it was during the covid lockdown that I saw a post by Leke asking for mentors willing to help inspire the next generation of black people within technology. As someone who has been in the software engineering industry for some time and already mentored a few friends myself, I jumped at the chance to be part of something bigger. We had an initial phone call and Leke explained to me what his vision was and I never looked back. Having mentored a number of people I’ve also since got involved with some of the decisions with interviewing people for the following cohorts. Due to the numbers of people applying for each cohort we unfortunately have to be quite selective however we do ask anyone who is unsuccessful to keep applying! Many of our best mentees have had to apply two or even three times to get on the programme! But as we grow and add more and more mentors to our community, we’ll be able to provide more and more mentees with the opportunities.I CAN IMAGINE A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD BE INSPIRED TO BECOME A MENTOR FOR BLACK VALLEY. CAN YOU TELL US HOW PEOPLE CAN GET INVOLVED AND WHAT KIND OF COMMITMENT IS REQUIRED?Literally anyone could be a mentor, there aren’t any requirements from the mentor all we ask is a commitment of around 2 hours per week. This will involve your lesson prep & the actual video call with your mentee – personally as I’ve enjoyed it so much, 2 hours a week soon became 3-4 hours a week as I saw the great progress my mentees were making. A lot of our mentors have come through word of mouth. I myself have reached out to and managed to get another colleague of mine to also take part in mentoring. This organic method has worked well and we get new mentors joining each month.IT SOUNDS LIKE BLACK VALLEY HAVE HELPED A LOT OF PEOPLE DISCOVER A NEW CAREER PATH AND I’M SURE PEOPLE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR SOME OF THE POSITIVE STORIES TO HAVE COME OUT OF THEIR WORK – IS THERE ONE PARTICULAR EXAMPLE THAT STANDS OUT TO YOU FROM THE WORK YOU’VE DONE?On our ‘Good News’ slack channel we hear so many positive stories from both mentors and mentees that it would be impossible to mention them all, there are just so many 🙂 However personally I had the pleasure to mentor Dennis Musange. Dennis and I first met in 2021, he is a Canadian student just finishing his studies and applied to Black Valley to give him the know-how to get his first software engineering job out of University. Even with the massive time-difference, we soon clicked and really enjoyed talking every weekend. Being big football fans (or soccer as he calls it) we both have a love for our beloved Arsenal football team (even though Arsenal hasn’t been blessed with much success over the years!)We sat down and spoke about what he wanted to achieve, he told me from the off that he wanted ‘to get his hands dirty’ so we went straight into creating a project that we could both work on and contribute to and this would become his ‘signature’ portfolio piece for potential future employers. I really wanted to challenge and push him, so we even picked a programming language and framework he wasn’t familiar with to build a small MVP – each week I’d set him goals and every week he’d go above and beyond the expectations I set. At the end of the 8-week cohort all of the mentees come together for a final ‘graduation’ video call. I was so happy with the progress of Dennis I asked him if he would like to showcase his work (he jumped at the chance!). Even after the cohort was finished, we kept in contact and I coached him through with his job applications and interviews. It wasn’t long before he told me the good news and that he had been hired to join a large software engineering team! It is those moments that make it all worthwhile for me, he is doing well and enjoying the role, hopefully in time he will even mentor others too.MAYBE A STUPID QUESTION, BUT DO YOU NEED TO COME FROM A PARTICULAR BACKGROUND TO GET INVOLVED IN BLACK VALLEY AS A MENTOR?Noooo of course not :). A few people have asked me this question before & we don’t care if mentors are black, white, blue or green (well… you might need to see a Doctor if you were green!?). We have mentors from all walks of life, as long as you are willing to give the time and pass on your wealth of knowledge to the next generation, we are more than happy to bring you on board!FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO PURSUE A CAREER IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, BUT DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO GET STARTED?Lots of people think that you need to go to university to work in software engineering – this simply isn’t true. The explosion of the web in the last decade has brought so many options for people that don’t (or can’t) take the ‘traditional university approach’. Many developers are self-taught and come through learning their skills through bootcamps, online tutorials and even the tried and trusted ‘reading books’ (although books aren’t so popular in 2022!). The main thing to remember is to keep at it – software engineering keeps evolving all the time and it can be hard to keep up, so I tell anyone that it is impossible to know everything but keep learning – if you improve your skills by 1% every day by the end of the year, you’d have made a massive improvement!FINALLY IS THERE A QUOTE, MANTRA OR ATTITUDE THAT YOU LIVE BY EVERYDAY? (THIS IS COMPLETELY OPTIONAL, SO DON’T WORRY IF YOU DON’T HAVE ONE THAT COMES TO MIND INSTANTLY)While this has nothing to do with software engineering – it is my motto that I live by, a not-so famous comedian by the name of Stephen K Amos mentioned it once on a show and it has stuck with me & it is certainly how I approach the world. In life you have to ‘Find the funnies’ no matter what troubles life brings you always try to see the funny side & try to see the good in people. Living this way keeps me smiling & hopefully will lead to a very long & happy life!Thanks again for sharing Black Valley’s incredible work Gavin – you all rock! 🤘