Today was a not so good day at work. I’ve had better days. The issue itself isn’t even regarding my day-to-day work with clients or my immediate team. The issue is regarding how one of the largest technology companies in the world fails to understand and account for my personal living situation, during COVID-19. But that’s a whole different story, for another time. Regardless, it’s moments like this that remind me why it’s so important — more now than ever — to share our stories and our experiences with the
From the day I realized I was destined to be a coder, I knew I was going to be an underrepresented group in more ways than one. It started to hit me in the few classes I took throughout grade school, but I didn’t realize how much of a minority I was until college. I’m lucky that for the most part, I have been able to fit in with my other software engineering peers. But there is still a lot that I have realized about being the only woman of
Near the end of the summer, interns around the globe may find themselves thinking, “I haven’t really used my internship like I want to.” Or, “How do I add some extra polish to the end of this experience?” Especially because of the ongoing pandemic, interns can and should tackle the end of their internships with confidence and visible appreciation for the community that has hosted them. With the intention to start planning the next steps after the internship. Note: The following tips are for if the internship goes well and
Subscribe to the Techish Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms. Episode Content: In this episode of this Techish, Abadesi and Michael discuss: 🤦🏾♀️ When sharing your six-figure tech salary goes wrong? 😤 Scooter company Bird laying off 400 employees on one Zoom call? 😤 Thoughts on the Andreessen Horowitz “time to build’ memo 🤣 The Weeknd vs Usher Extras: Techish on Patreon: Advertise with Techish: Please rate and review the Techish podcast
Netflix’s self-made was released last month as a limited series inspired by the life and times of Madam C.J Walker. Watch here (While watching you have to remember that it is inspired-by so the full narrative shouldn’t be taken as fact) SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO CAN GO WITH YOU Attend any fireside chat with a founder, and you will hear questions about their personal lives, their relationships, and how these were all affected by their obsession with their business. Not everyone will understand, some will be around for a
In the decade I’ve worked in the tech industry I’ve come to learn how common lay-offs are. In 2012 when I was a manager at Groupon, I had to lay off teammates I had hired after the share price slumped post-IPO. When I was a manager at HotelTonight in 2015, I watched as some of my fave teammates were laid off to cut costs after the founders tried and failed to raise another round of funding. Just last week I joined the millions of professionals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
In college, I interned with a local health insurance company. When I was getting ready to complete my internship, a professional mentor of mine, who also happened to be another Woman of Color, offered me some advice on how to succeed in “corporate America.” She told me, “You need to get rid of your natural hair to survive.” It was the mid-2000’s, during a period of time when Black women were reconnecting to their roots and cutting off their chemically processed (and highly damaged) hair. It was a moment of
Two years ago, I decided to radically change my career from nonprofit STEM education to software engineering. I had no background in coding, outside of a single programming class in 7th grade and a little HTML when I was a teenager. I entered a coding bootcamp, Ada Developers Academy, in January 2018 and had full-time software engineering offers from two of Seattle’s tech giants in December of the same year. Being a nontraditional Black female software engineer, preparing for the interview process began as a terrifying and mysterious endeavor. Through much
Subscribe to the Techish Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms. Episode Content: In this episode of this Techish, Abadesi and Michael discuss: ⚡ Am I a “sell-out” for joining big tech? 🌱 Are the young too afraid of risk? 💸 Do all big companies eventually suck without acquisitions? 🤔 Do you feel like a lucky person? Extras: Techish on Patreon: Advertise with Techish: Please rate and review the Techish podcast
Michelle has had an unconventional yet beautiful journey to UX-UI design. She started drawing at a young age and always enjoyed creating things. Although she was raised in a low-income Houston neighborhood where many failed to finish high school, Michelle was an exception. After graduating, she would eventually leave that neighborhood altogether to pursue a degree in toy design from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York. While at FIT, Michelle learned about the principles of user experience and user journeys. She parlayed this knowledge into her first
