About me
I'm a 47-year-old web developer. My road of life has included jobs at Apple, Liquid Audio, Yahoo!, Gap, Inc., Guru.com, Williams-Sonoma, Singlebound Creative, and a million other start-ups and small to medium website projects. I started as a QA Engineer, then began developing websites around 1998. I thought I wanted to quit developing so I went back to school and earned a Masters of Fine Art degree so I could teach art. I figured out I'm an engineer at heart and all I want to do is make big things for people, and wouldn't you know it, that's what websites are great for. I also figured out that statistically, women leave the tech industry mid-career twice as often as men do. I stubbornly refuse to contribute to that statistic.
I returned to code because...
I realized after leaving a great career in web developing that it was the circumstances, not the work that made me want to change careers. I'm back! I owe a great deal to all the women and men over the years who've supported me. I've come back into the web-dev game to mentor and support others.
I recently overcame...
I worked with a terrible human being. He was a liar, took credit for my work, and was passive-aggressive. I realized that although I couldn't fix the situation, I could choose to refuse to tolerate his behavior. I left and quickly found a better job.
I want to brag about...
Twenty years of web developing and I'm learning new tricks faster than ever.
I’m proud I wrote this article about the Tech Gender Gap
My advice for allies to support women and non-binary folks who code is....
- Check your subconscious gender biases.
- Understand women's and non-binary people's struggles.
- Demand authenticity from everyone you work with. We can't fix the gender gap if we don't talk about it.
- Encourage your kids to code and pursue their interested in STEAM. Make sure your kids -- especially your boys -- know coding is for everyone.
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