{"id":1560,"date":"2024-09-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sr2rec.com\/womenrock\/danielle-summers-redgate-software\/"},"modified":"2025-04-03T08:23:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T08:23:02","slug":"danielle-summers-redgate-software","status":"publish","type":"womenrock","link":"https:\/\/sr2rec.com\/en\/womenrock\/danielle-summers-redgate-software\/","title":{"rendered":"Danielle Summers | Redgate Software"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danielle Summers | Redgate Software<\/h2>\n
\n

Meet Danielle<\/a>, a Technical Lead at Redgate Software<\/a>. In her own words, she\u2019s a tech nerd, petrol head, dog-mom and just a little bit crazy. It\u2019s also abundantly clear from speaking with her that she is a wonderful, kind-hearted, driven and incredible woman. Her energy and passion shine through in an instant and we\u2019re very excited to be sharing her story.<\/p>\n

From her early years of dreaming of becoming a fighter pilot to now being a super successful software engineering manager across many amazing companies over varied industries. Her career is nothing short of remarkable and inspiring.<\/p>\n

Danielle is a compassionate leader with a hunger for leading teams to greatness through transparency, support and personal progression.<\/p>\n

She has a personal soft spot for the LGBTQI+ community & will always push to ensure a safe, accepting and loving space for all people!<\/p>\n

Now a Women In Tech Nominee and Public Speaker, Danielle continues to use her experience to drive teams to greatness, inspire others through talking at meetups and just generally being a great human.<\/p>\n

Hi Danielle, thank you for being involved with Women Rock, can\u2019t wait to get your story out there.  <\/span>Could you tell me a bit about how you first got started in Tech?
<\/h3>\n

Hi, thanks for inviting me!<\/p>\n

My tech journey is a little different to most I think. I originally wanted to be a fighter pilot, however, after washing out of selection I did a degree in the first thing that sounded interesting, which was \u2018Computer and Multimedia Systems\u2019. I only went to university because I had no other ideas on what I wanted to do with my life and that degree covered everything from the math and physics behind the hardware all the way up to web development and databases; things I found really interesting. During my time at university I found that software development came quite naturally to me, so I stuck with it and built a career from there.<\/p>\n

You mentioned your dream as a child was to be a fighter pilot? How hard was it for you when this didn\u2019t happen and what advice would you give to someone whose first career choice didn\u2019t work out the way they wanted it to?
<\/h3>\n

I was told I washed out exactly seven days before my 17th birthday, and honestly, I just went back to bed, cried, and then slept it off. Certainly not a healthy way of dealing with it. However, I\u2019d also put all of my efforts into achieving that one singular goal and had no backup, which, on reflection, made everything worse.<\/p>\n

My advice for anybody whose first choice doesn\u2019t work out is to look at what skills you have, look at what you enjoy doing and focus on the things that \u2013 even if they don\u2019t make you happy \u2013 just make sense. I have a lot of people in my life whose initial career dreams never worked out, from a professional scuba diving instructor to a university lecturer. They aren\u2019t doing what they dreamed they would do, but they\u2019re living their best lives surrounded by amazing people and still finding fulfilment and enjoyment in what they do today.<\/p>\n

It can feel soul-crushing in that moment when you find out it\u2019s not going to work. It is quite literally having your dreams crushed, and that can be truly traumatic. Lean on your friends and family for support and talk to someone, anyone, and I\u2019ll be here for you too if you need someone to listen.
<\/p>\n

You are a Technical Lead at Redgate, we love to see a woman leading from the front within a Tech company. How would you describe your leadership style and what do you enjoy most about managing people?<\/h3>\n

What I enjoy most will tell you a lot about my leadership style. I love seeing people open up, push themselves, take on bigger and more exciting challenges and ultimately grow; both personally and professionally.<\/p>\n

I try and embody what it means to be a servant leader. From enabling my engineers to building cultures of trust, respect and diversity, and through the spaces I\u2019ve built I\u2019ve seen individuals go from strength to strength, land those promotions, land new roles and go on to inspire others.<\/p>\n

Every success that my engineers – past and present \u2013 achieve is another little success that I silently cherish.<\/p>\n

As a woman in technology, what would you say is the best and worst thing you\u2019ve encountered within the industry over the years? How did you overcome these things and who supported you through it? <\/h3>\n

Oof, that\u2019s a tough question.<\/p>\n

The worst thing? It\u2019s a coin-flip between being a token hire or the silent sexism I\u2019ve endured in some roles. I don\u2019t want to dwell on it as it\u2019s behind me, but it took one of my own engineers to point out the sexist behaviour I was brushing off and it was a light-bulb moment, where all the struggles and fights I\u2019d endured in that role somehow made sense, and it prompted my resignation.<\/p>\n

The best thing is by far seeing so many other women in tech. I\u2019d worked with a few women in project management roles associated with tech teams, but I\u2019d never met a female engineer until I met Christine, and though she might not like me saying it, she\u2019s my role model. Since then I\u2019ve worked with (and hired!) several female engineers and it makes my heart glow<\/p>\n

You mentioned your role model was your old boss Christine (She sounds incredible!). Can you tell us why she was your role model? What did you first think when she came into your office? What made her so good? How and why did she in inspire you?
<\/h3>\n

So I first met Christine around 12 years ago I think now. I started a new role and Christine joined about a month after I started. She rocked up to an office looking like a million dollars and rather than sitting in an office and commanding from \u201con-high\u201d like others I\u2019d worked for, she came and sat down with me and the other engineers. She worked beside us, talked to us, got to know us personally and in time became integral to everything we did.<\/p>\n

Christine wasn\u2019t a soft touch that would let us goof off, she was strict when needed, but she would listen to us all, she\u2019d give us the space to explore our options, she\u2019d defend us when the business pushed for too much.<\/p>\n

Christine also supported me personally through some of the most difficult times in my adult life, and I\u2019ll always be thankful for the support and kindness she showed me.<\/p>\n

What was it like being the only female employee in the engineering team and sometimes office? How important was it for you to have other women or more diversity in the workspace?<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019ve been a \u201ctoken hire\u201d at least once in my career, and you\u2019re right, one time I was the only woman in the office. It was a really weird situation to be in, and one of the more difficult environments I\u2019ve encountered.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re quite distinctly the \u201codd one out\u201d, it\u2019s not easy to form any type of relationship, and I constantly felt like I was encroaching on other people\u2019s cliques or chuckling at other people\u2019s inside jokes.<\/p>\n

For me personally, having other people around me that I can relate to and form a relationship with is essential to me feeling like I belong in a company. Professionally, I crave the diversity of thought and opinion that comes from a diverse team, so having people of colour, different sexualities, different genders and religious beliefs in a team enable such creativity and healthy challenges that can never be achieved by a team of straight white middle-aged men. Having led both, I can promise you the difference is stark!<\/p>\n

Why would you say that Redgate is a great place to work for people from all different backgrounds and walks of life? What makes them a great employer and what could other companies adopt from their way of working to be more inclusive and better employers?
<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve been with Redgate for 7 months now, so my experience isn\u2019t as deep or well-rounded as some of the folks I lead who have been with the company for years. I think the veteran on my team has been with Redgate for 10 years now!<\/p>\n

Redgate are honest from the start, and that makes the world of difference. On the second paragraph on our Diversity web page, we openly admit we\u2019re not yet as diverse as we\u2019d like to be, but we\u2019re working on it; and that\u2019s true \u2013 we are working on it!<\/p>\n

For the first time in my career, I\u2019ve gone into a role and not had to boot-strap a people-first culture from the bottom-up. Redgate is a people-first company right down to the core. On top of that, we run internships, diversity events, provide enhanced benefits for women on maternity leave and so much more.<\/p>\n

Redgate even has a term for people who leave then come back \u2013 they\u2019re boomerangs, and there\u2019s a lot of them! I\u2019ve never worked for a company where leavers actively want to come back.<\/p>\n

If you could go back to your freshly graduated old self, what advice would you give?<\/h3>\n

Putting yourself first isn\u2019t selfish. Sometimes it\u2019s necessary.
I think 21year old me would really need to hear that, both personally and professionally.<\/p>\n

What do you think is the biggest thing tech companies could do to attract more female talent? And I guess, if it was you looking \u2013 what would attract you to a company?<\/h3>\n

Social responsibility and diversity are both crucial for me. Maybe in my 20s I\u2019d have told you something different like career progression, benefits package or pay, but having chased all those things I honestly feel the impact of what I do and the values of the company I work for are way more important than my pay packet. <\/p>\n

I appreciate that I\u2019m in a very privileged position where I can be picky about where my income comes from and I certainly don\u2019t take that for granted, but when choosing between an extra 5grand or a company who will embrace me with open arms \u2013 flaws and all; I\u2019ll take that hug, thank you very much.<\/p>\n

How to attract more female talent? Honestly, there\u2019s talent out there, but companies need to engage with them. Sponsor events, sponsor social groups, provide boot camp scholarships for women moving into tech, and make sure the wording used on job adverts actually encourages \u2013 rather than discourages \u2013 female applicants. There\u2019s a world of research on this, so it\u2019s definitely worth reading up on.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t get the chance out speak about this on the call \u2013 It would be great to hear more about your Public Speaking, Women In Tech Nominee and anything else amazing you\u2019ve achieved throughout your career!!<\/h3>\n

Oh wow, yes. My Women in Tech nomination came before I started public speaking, so I\u2019ll start there. While I was working for Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), we needed to expand my engineering practice from only a handful of developers to several fully-staffed teams as quickly as possible in order to deliver the digital arm of Manchester\u2019s \u201cBee Network\u201d \u2013 the local equivalent to the Oyster Card system in London. Naturally I spent a lot of time interviewing and hiring, and at each step I was focusing on building and enhancing a blame-free culture where everybody could work in concert with each other. My nomination was for building a huge engineering practice from the ground up with minimal business support, all while keeping everything together.<\/p>\n

As for public speaking, that kind of started by accident. One of my contacts in recruitment asked if I wanted to attend a talk on the future of tech, which I gladly jumped on. A few weeks before the actual event she called me and asked when my slide deck would be ready! You can imagine my panic!
Anyway, rather than look daft or admit I was wrong, I promised it would be in a few days and somehow I managed to deliver. My first talk is on Youtube somewhere, and you can see how nervous I was. Since then I\u2019ve given over a dozen talks on a variety of subjects and I enjoy it more every single time.<\/p>\n

Finally, could you leave us with your favourite quote? 
<\/h3>\n

\u201cYou are not worse for your association with the world, but it is better for its association with you.\u201d Brandon Sanderson; Oathbringer,<\/p>\n

Book recommendation?<\/h3>\n

Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson.<\/a>
This book was my gateway into Brandon Sanderson\u2019s bibliography and while it\u2019s a high fantasy setting (which isn\u2019t really for everybody), it\u2019s unique in its world building and its novel focus on the individuals, their plights, mental health and depression, rather than the big picture which of course is there, but it\u2019s woven between the threads, rather than being everything. There\u2019s so much about this book and the rest of this series that has shaped my life, from the quote at the end of the Q&A I sent you, to the tattoo I\u2019ll be getting on my forearm, to the oaths I\u2019ll swear if I get married.<\/p>\n

Song recommendation?<\/h3>\n

Better Off Without You, by Mallory Knox<\/a>
This was such a difficult decision and I\u2019ve gone with my favourite track from Mallory Knox because it\u2019s one that\u2019s always going to get me singing along, not because it\u2019s particularly catchy but because the lyrics mean everything to me. From the open statement \u201cYou got it all wrong, you think I\u2019m indestructible\u2026\u201d to the tone of managing with depression and anxiety, to the battle that the band went through on their road to releasing that album and how it mirrors the battles I faced at that time, the scars I carry despite my surviving it.<\/p>\n

Interviewed by Matt Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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