In the United States, the Thanksgiving holiday is just around the corner. But wherever and whenever we are in the world, we can always make time to be thankful. This month, and always, we at Skuid are thankful for the amazing women in tech who choose to align their skills and goals with our mission.
I got the chance to learn from just a few women at Skuid who are experts in their crafts, engineering, consulting, product design, user experience, technical writing, and more, and discover who they are, and why they do what they do.Read these women’s stories, straight from the sources, below. I hope you’ll find them as inspiring as I did.
Rina Henderson, Product Designer
About Rina:
"I love being creative, but am also very 'thinky.' I enjoy psychology and personality studies, philosophy, and reveling at nature and our existence within it. I am one with the markerboard. I also have an affinity for post-it notes, Instagram photography, watercolor, and my kiddos."
Why she chose a career in tech:
"I started in tech by way of my graphic design career aspirations and a natural curiosity for how things work. I learned to code (HTML/CSS) starting at the age of 15, though I was more creative and curious than anything at that point. I pursued a degree in graphic design and enjoyed that work a great deal." At various points in life, family members needed websites, so I began exploring what it took to build those.
The game-changer for me was embarking on intense self-learning opportunities, and diving into entry level positions where I was surrounded by talented devs who mentored me. I wound up in front-end development roles where I was building entire websites from the ground up.
"Eventually, I started asking "why" about everything, from the designs I was being given to implement, to the interaction patterns being leveraged, all through a user-centered lens. That path naturally led to user experience, where I get to fuse design, development, business, curiosity, and technology into a single stream of magic. To me, that is tech. And I love it."
Emily Davis, Software Engineer
About Emily:
"I have been in the tech world for four years, both in consulting and in software engineering. When I'm not writing code, I love being outside, enjoying all things musical, and cooking/entertaining for my friends."
Why she chose a career in tech:
"I studied physics in college in hopes of becoming a high school teacher. After taking a few computer science courses, I knew that I loved computer programming, since it combined my passions for logic, languages, and creativity in order to solve problems that we encounter every day. Having an internship at Skuid confirmed that working in the tech industry was a good match for my skills and interests, so I decided to pursue a tech career full-time!"
Kasey Arnold-Ince, Senior Technical Writer
About Kasey:
"Before joining Skuid as a technical content strategist working on documentation and training, I was a 'corporate storyteller,' helping tech companies, ranging from small startups to large corporations, shape and tell their story.
I also served as the Communications Director for a set of biomimicry startups and taught at the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center."
Why she chose a career in tech:
"The initial draw to tech came as a child, as a burgeoning sci-fi aficionado. I loved exploring imagined futures, and I noticed that women could play a principal role in these visions. In college, computers and other advanced technologies seemed to be a bridge into those futures, and I wanted to be a part of creating that new world."
Rachel Wilder, Associate Internal Solutions Engineer
About Rachel:
"When I'm not at work, I enjoy sharing good food with friends, drawing, and cuddling with my cat."
Why she chose a career in tech:
"If you had asked me as a teenager what kind of job I might be working now, I would have never guessed it'd be in the tech industry. I enjoy creative activities and travel, so I used to think I might pursue something in art or linguistics. I had no background with computers before college, but I took an elective class for fun my first year and loved the way technology allows you marry logic and creativity together. As a result, I ended up getting my degree in computer science as well as sociology so that I could better develop things that would help the world."
Karmon French, Product Designer
About Karmon:
"I live in Chattanooga with my boyfriend and three cats. If I wasn't a product designer, I'd probably be involved in mental health or psychotherapy. I'm pretty interested in health and fitness, and CrossFit® and backpacking are my activities of choice. Weird facts: I have six siblings, I prefer listening to podcasts over music, my favorite season is autumn, I love the smell of campfires, and I will never turn down a sale on scented candles (a behavior probably influenced by aforementioned cats)."
Why she chose a career in tech:
"When choosing a college major, I initially thought I'd focus on art. However, I didn't think I could support myself as a career" I remembered that throughout my childhood, I really enjoyed creating logos for various activities and events, and I realized that graphic design could serve as a creative outlet as well as a sustainable way to support myself. I loved it, but felt like the final outcome of printed brochures and posters seemed a little static, and one-sided.
"Luckily, the advent of the iPhone and the mobile app opened up new possibilities. My first job allowed me to brand and design my first full-scale app, from desktop to mobile, while learning about user experience in the process. This showed me how much of an impact technology allows me to have on real humans, which is what I felt I was missing before. Now, as a product designer, I get to put the user at the center of every interaction, creating a better experience (no matter how seemingly trivial), and that's a super rewarding feeling."
Cat Moca, Software Engineer
About Cat:
"I’m Cat, and I’m a software engineer on the Skuid Platform team here at Skuid. I’m passionate about mentorship and disability inclusion in the tech community."
Why she chose a career in tech:
"My path to tech started out as a hobby. I made a Wordpress site on a whim one night, and realized quickly that I needed to learn how to code to customize it to my liking. After teaching myself the basics, I began tackling progressively more difficult tasks. Before I even realized it, I was building a career for myself in software development by solving technical problems for online businesses."
We hope you enjoyed these stories from some of the industry’s best women in tech. Interested to learn more about the platform they help develop, design, write about, and use? Get a demo of Skuid today.
