March is celebrated globally as Women’s History Month, which means it is time to recognize and celebrate women in your life. Corra values diversity, innovation, and equal opportunity for anybody with a great idea.
Here at Corra, we have a diverse employee base with women from all over the world whom we are grateful to call colleagues. Corra wouldn’t be the amazing organization it is without the people who work here, and that is true of the women you’re about to hear from.
We’ve organized a celebration and show of gratitude for Women’s History Month by asking women who work at Corra to share their experience with technology, and their experience working in the tech industry.
Read on to learn about your colleagues dreams, struggles, and aspirations when it comes to the tech world and their careers.
Thank you for celebrating Women’s History Month with us.
Cali Shadonix, Senior Manager of Business Development and Operations
How did your interest in technology begin?
Funny enough, my parents both worked full time and would push both my sister and I to join any cheap or free after school program so they wouldn’t have to make us walk 2 miles home from school each day. One of the programs I got ushered into when I was in 4th grade was a Lego robotics club hosted by one of my classmates’ fathers. The program was me, four boys, and one other girl. All the boys cliqued together and wanted to build the robot, while the other girl and I were ushered to the computers. We were in charge of coding the robot to be able to navigate itself through an obstacle course. Her and I were both bummed we didn’t get to build the robot, but we did program it well enough we got invited to Legoland to put the robot through a competition. We ended up winning as our code was more sophisticated and the robot didn’t have any “bugs”. While I obviously didn’t stick with the coding side of technology (and sometimes I wish I did!), this did spark my interest in what was possible to do with code.
What has your experience been like as a woman working in technology?
I got my start in tech working at a startup company. I was in charge of designing a customer service department from scratch and putting processes into place. Whenever I would bring up functionality changes that would improve customers quality of life, I was told that it was none of my concern as I didn’t know anything about the development side of things. To be honest, it was almost a repeat of what happened with my first tech experience; guys on one side and girls pushed to the corner. Myself and a coworker helped that start up go from $0 in revenue to $2m in revenue in the first 8 months post launch just from a customer service and brand building standpoint. Only when we both threatened to quit did they take our improvements seriously. When I started working at Corra, it was a whole other experience. I started working underneath Rachel Weir, who has mentored me to the ecommerce pro I am today. This has been the first company I’ve worked for that I feel men and women are on the same equal playing field when it comes to new ideas and leadership opportunities.
Rebecca Thomas, Sr. Strategic Alliances Manager
How did your interest in technology begin?
My career interests were never directly technology related. I stumbled into this field somewhat by accident. I originally wanted to be an architect so I started my journey by going to school for interior design. Unfortunately for me, I graduated with a design degree around the same time the housing market crashed. I decided the best thing for me to do would be to pivot into a business degree. That led me to content marketing/creation, branding, simple web design, etc. which began to really pique my interest in the world of technology. After years of freelancing, I landed a sales role at a fashion/beauty/lifestyle tech startup with a focus on eCommerce. My goal was marketing, but sales was where nearly everyone started, so I made the best of it.
What I didn’t know was that I would be really good at it. I became the highest ranking eComm seller year over year and moved into a content creation + marketing hybrid role where I eventually lead a small team of designers to build content for our org. I also worked alongside our director of partnerships to help sell us to brands we were looking to work with, all while still taking design and graphics clients on the side as a freelancer.
Once the pandemic hit, and my org went under, I pivoted into Telecommunications, where I ran a marketing team to help with the entire redesign, development, and launch of several brands. While my industry was different, I was still heavily eCommerce based. After working in an extremely cross functional environment, this is where I realized I wanted to make tech my career.
So I set out to find an opportunity that would lead me back into this industry. I was scouted for a potential marketing position, which led to me finding a role in Strategic Alliances with Corra. I have always been a people person. I love people, connections, and strategy. The design and creation part of my career will always have a place in my heart, but building connections and relationships in this industry is truly where I am meant to be. Now, I get to be a strategic thinker, a seller, a marketer, a friend, an ally.. you name it. in a field that I believe is the best place to be for our futures.
What has your experience been like as a woman working in technology?
I never want to add a negative perspective to my career path, as I have worked extremely hard to get to where I am today, and I am very proud of my accomplishments. However, let’s face it, working in any industry as a woman can be daunting. Especially, in a field that is dominated by the opposite sex (usually). If you want the honest truth, I have encountered endless amounts of setbacks as a woman in my field. There have been times where my input has been made to be “less valuable” simply because I am the only woman speaking in a room full of men. I have dealt with lewd comments, derogatory statements, and have not always been taken seriously solely based on my gender, regardless of the value I bring to the table.
It has not been the easiest of paths and I have fought with myself on numerous occasions not to give up… and I am so glad that I didn’t. We have made significant strides in this industry to support women, especially over the last few years. Companies, like Corra, have made it their mission to have more female leaders, a more evenly gendered employee base, DEI councils, and so on. There have been huge waves of progress, even through some of the setbacks, and this makes me incredibly hopeful for our future. That said, my experience in tech has made me stronger, more determined, and more prepared than ever. I have learned to understand my worth and value, and to not let anyone discount that simply because I am a woman.
I know that by continuing to grow and develop as part of this industry, I am adding to the advancements we are making as women. I refuse to give up at this point because I want to be part of the progress, not part of the problem. In conclusion, while it hasn’t been perfect, it has definitely been worth it and I encourage women of all ages to explore this world, because the juice is definitely worth the squeeze.
Remya C R, Director of Quality Assurance
How did your interest in technology begin?
I thank my professor who inspired me with their experience in technology. Their story inspired me to explore and gain knowledge in technology and make an impact in it. I love to follow inspirational stories and knew I could make an impact in the technology field. During my studies, I was very curious to do programming and when I got my code to run with 0 errors, it would make me smile, especially during my exams. I was also very curious to solve errors in the program and guide my friends which made me their second teacher, a teacher who explained the programming language in simple terms they could understand. Though I was not trained and placed in the technical side of the IT industry, From the beginning of my career, I have tried to bring my own impact in all the work I do and relate technology to daily life activities. I still continue to explore.
What has your experience been like as a woman working in technology?
Working in technology requires a lot of dedication, and this can be challenging for women sometimes, but it’s not different from any other field, it’s just a matter of choice. I always believe in “if there is a will there’s a way”. It’s true, if you have passion and are ready to work hard there is nothing that you cannot achieve. From my personal experience and co-workers, I can say that if you have determination you can crack it easily and have leadership qualities.
This industry is constantly changing – ensuring you keep your skills fresh will help you stay ahead. Also sometimes to get recognized, you have to take the initiative and maybe get outside of your comfort zone. Doing self-homework and extra work you put in might be unfair sometimes, but it will make you a genius in your field, an outlier, and that ends up being more than worth it, because the ones that are passionate and dedicated, regardless of gender, are the ones who end up in leading positions.
Taking a forum where you can express the knowledge you gain with personal experience opened up leadership opportunities for me. If you allow yourself to be quiet in the background, no one will know who you are.
Setting priorities in your professional life and personal life and performing the task in a time-bound and organized way will help to bring balance in life and manage your personal and professional life smoothly.
Bismita Hazarika, Software Developer
How did your interest in technology begin?
My first interaction with the internet was running to the cybercafé to check out exam results, download assignments, and stuff. It always made me curious to know who were those people who set up the website and how on earth it displayed my scorecard and not someone else’s. Later, I got acquainted with the term “web developer,” and I knew this is what I wanted to do.
What has your experience been like as a woman working in technology?
Coming from a small town tucked in a corner of North-East India where technology hasn’t bloomed much, getting into the tech industry was quite a task. With zero experience and no references that I started with, no one was willing to give me a chance. Struggling for almost a year with multiple interview attempts, I somehow carved my way into the industry only to be piled with the lamest of tasks that had got nothing to do with the skill set I had. Most of the time, being the only female developer, it was quite difficult to gain trust when it came to taking on responsibilities, not to mention about leadership or recognition; the first preference is always “he” and not “She”. People were more used to having women as “showpieces,” but this mindset is changing now and women are actually leading, marching shoulder to shoulder with men.
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