Let’s start with a question
What does Kamala Khan from Ms. Marvel
have in common with Donna Troy from Teen Titans ?
They are both mentored by Diana (Wonder Woman).
And Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel).
Two great women that have made a huge impact on people’s lives.
I know it sounds cheesy, but there's some truth to that saying "If you can see it, you can aspire" For the longest time, I felt like a career in tech was not possible for me because I only saw men in those roles. That all changed when, I stumbled onto X (Twitter) and saw all these amazing women writing about their journeys, building communities, founding companies. It made me realize, "Hey, I could totally do that too!" After all, wisdom is meant to be shared, right?" So, in this post, I will share the three biggest lessons I learned from these inspiring women in tech.
Lesson 1: Just do it
Remember my blog post “3 Important Lessons I Learned From My First Paid Tech Writing Gig”? Well, I almost didn’t publish it. I was going back and forth in my head saying, I should post this! No, don’t post this! until Rizel Scarlett told me these exact words:
Don’t be afraid of writing about experience. It could be really motivating for other people who want to start writing technical articles
After our conversation, I wrote my article, published it to my blog, and hoped for the best. A couple of days later, this happened:
As awesome as it is to see my article trending, the ultimately win is that I went and published it. Also, I've doing more paid technical writing gigs. For instance, I recently wrote an article about documentation on Pieces for Developers' blog. Check it out:
Ok, before I get on a tangent, let’s move on to my next lesson.
Lesson 2: Be an inspiration to others
So there I was, mindlessly scrolling through GitHub, when a notification popped up from X(Twitter). I clicked on it, and guess who it was? My awesome colleague, Amanda Martin! She tweeted about how she'd read my post on Dev.to about the lack of womxn in open source, tried searching for projects by womxn, but came empty-handed. That's when she had this brilliant idea – a whole repository dedicated to open source projects and content created by women and other underrepresented folks! I was totally blown away by her initiative. It inspired me to take action too, and that's how "Open Source Queens" was born!
It’s a community where women and other gender minorities can share their open source projects and related-content. This whole experience made me realize something awesome: you can inspire people without even knowing it! Now, before we wrap this up, there's one last lesson I gotta share with you.
Lesson 3: Perfection can hinder you
I was doing some work while listening to a X (Twitter) space called The Hunt. This one person chimed in about having a portfolio but hesitating to post it on X and Linkedin due to feeling like it's not perfect. This struck a chord in me, as my own portfolio was collecting dust on my digital shelf for the same reason. Fortunately, of the co-hosts, Neda Sefati, said these simple yet powerful words:
Ship it! If you keep trying to make it perfect, it'll hinder your progress
Since then, I've been way more confident about sharing my coding projects online. For instance, I just posted about a coding challenge I did with a friend. Check it out:
Time to pay it forward
Hearing advice, directly or indirectly, from people who share your background and walked a similar path can be a game-changer in your career. Also, if you're lucky enough to have a woman (or those in between) as a mentor, take a moment to express your gratitude – trust me, it'll mean the world to them. And hey, if you're still searching for that guiding light, don't hesitate to reach out to the amazing ladies I mentioned today (links below)! They're all doing incredible things, and who knows, maybe they'll become your personal tech cheerleader! This whole journey has shown me the power of shared experiences. Hearing advice, directly or indirectly, from folks who've walked a similar path can be a game-changer in your career. If you're lucky enough to have a woman mentor in your corner, take a moment to express your gratitude – trust me, it'll mean the world to her. And hey, if you're still searching for that guiding light, don't hesitate to reach out to the amazing women I mentioned today (links below)! They're all doing incredible things, and who knows, maybe they'll become your personal tech cheerleader! 😉
Amanda Martin
Rizel Scarlett
Neda Sefati
Credits
Donna Tory GIF by DC Comics
Flying Captain Marvel GIF by Morbius
Wonder Woman dianaprince GIF by DC Comics
"Women In Tech - 92" bywocintechchat.comis licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Video Game Wow by Square Enix