Who she is: "I am an ambitious, friendly and empathetic tech enthusiast."
Q: What is a regular work day like for you?
A: It depends. I do spend a lot of time in meetings.
Q: What do you love most about your career/major?
A: No two days are the same.
Q: When did you become inspired to partake in tech? What was your inspiration?
A: High school. I went to Omaha North High School and we were surorunded by technology. It was a natural fit for me. Even I was considering a medical career, I always found my way back to tech (built and managed a website for a student group, created an automated prescription price calculator based on various user inputs in Excel, built a small program for a DNA homework assignment in Excel as a bonus project during a Bioinformatics course, etc.).
Q: What prepared you the best for your job/major today?
A: Life and work experiences have prepared me for today. I am still learning every day, but my desire to empower people gets me through the tough moments.
Q: What is the biggest obstacle you've been faced with, and how are/did you overcoming/overcome it?
A: One of the biggest obstacles for me is that it is tough to be the only African American woman in tech in the room in many cases. I have to work on overcoming that current reality and focus on what I am here to do - empower others through my skills, abilities and network.
Q: What non-tech skill do you find most helpful/important that's for your career?
A: People skills. I am also patient, flexible and try not to take myself too seriously.
Q: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
A: Not sure yet. I did not see myself here 5 years ago. I only hope that whatever I am doing makes it easier for me to empower others in more ways that are bigger and better than what I am doing today.
Q: What's your favorite coding language?
A: JavaScript.
Q: What are some of your interests outside tech?
A: Karaoke and travelling.
Q: What are your plans for future projects?
A: I am working on a couple of community projects to further my impact.
Q: What advice would you give a young person interested in tech now?
A: Don't worry if you don't know it all. None of us do. Also, get good at asking for help.
