“I got married at twenty-three, had my son at twenty-five, and became an aesthetician. Though I was grateful for my job, it was not stimulating, and financially, it was not fulfilling. I wanted to also be an inspiration for my son. How could I tell him to do all these things, like learn how to code and that tech was the future, when I wasn’t going down that path myself?” Wendy Zenone on her path from aesthetician to developer. www.techiesproject.com/wendy-zenone

“It’s very hard to think long term about an industry that has a short history.” Nadia Eghbal on her path to becoming an entrepreneur, VC, and open source advocate. www.techiesproject.com/nadia-eghbal

“In the beginning I was just grateful for everything that was offered. I never negotiated for more money whenever I had a job just because I was just thankful, but later on I was chatting with a friend and he said he struggled with the same thing because he grew up poor as well.” Trucy Phan on her path to design, the concept of “culture fit,” and getting what you feel like you deserve. www.techiesproject.com/trucy-phan

“I always come across difficult problems to solve at work. But they’re almost never as bad as the difficult problems I’ve had to face in life.” Amazon Echo engineer Mylene Hortaleza on the perspective that comes with struggle. www.techiesproject.com/mylene-hortaleza

“I also think women’s contributions aren’t recognized as often as their male peers. I think we’re underpaid. I’m reminded of a quote in Ender’s game, as a woman you really have to be ‘so good at what you do that they can’t ignore you.’ Struggling against these things has made me work harder and become a better person and a stronger engineer, but it’s frustrating as hell. I honestly believe if you are a minority in tech, you are probably extraordinarily good at your job. You really have to be, to overcome people’s misconceptions about you.” Martha Schumann on succeeding as a female engineer in Silicon Valley. www.techiesproject.com/martha-schumann

“It’s such a bummer that so many people can go from extremely confident people and end up in an environment where we are turned into people who don’t feel valid whatsoever, end up having to repair it ourselves on our own, and then end up thriving.” Ash Huang on leaving tech to become a freelancer + the confidence she regained in the process. www.techiesproject.com/ash-huang

“If you see all those trials and tribulations as growth opportunities, then you’ll have a more interesting story to tell.” Bo Ren on her unconventional route into Product Management and using your differences as strengths. www.techiesproject.com/bo-ren

“Ten years from now, I’m going to be 50. I really don’t know that I have the capacity for any more advancement within tech.” Rob Cascella on the loneliness that comes with being an older gay man in tech, and coming to terms with his deteriorating relationship with his work.
www.techiesproject.com/rob-cascella

“And so that’s how I got into being editor-in-chief at Gizmodo. And for five years it was not that different from boxing; being punched in the face every day was actually easier than working at Gawker. It was like so combative internally, so combative externally and you burn all these bridges and you just piss everyone off. But you’re doing that to get the story and get it fast. And I really liked that, but I really liked helping people more, which is what led me to leave and do Wirecutter.” Brian Lam walks us through his path from to boxing coach to Editor-In-Chief at Gizmodo, then leaving it all to create The Wirecutter, a media company that broke all the conventional rules of publishing. www.techiesproject.com/brian-lam

“Most days it is fine but every now and then there are things that grate on you. There’s a lot of little things, like getting offered ‘uni-sex’ aka men’s sized shirts. Or people being surprised when you say I’m a Tech Lead. Then there are some people who want to see your credentials. At this point I’m just like, ‘Do you need a moment to Google me, hold on I’ll wait.’” Caitie McCaffrey talks building Halo, her love for distributed systems, and leaving the gaming industry to be a technical lead at Twitter. www.techiesproject.com/caitie-mccaffrey

"We're all pressured to have our peer-face on and be like, 'Everything is great. Everybody's great. I'm great. Look at my Instagram. Look how good my life is. Look at my lifestyle.' I think it creates a lot of people who feel lonely." Dan Miller on the quiet issue of depression, anxiety and mental health in Silicon Valley. www.techiesproject.com/dan-miller

“There were a lot of sacrifices too. Ben and I didn’t really pay ourselves. So many nights just working at our dinner table and doing all the classic stuff that I think any start up needs to do. Being super frugal, doing everything that we can to find alternative streams of revenue, engaging our community and a volunteer base. So scrappy. Doing events and getting sponsors and if it wasn’t for them I don’t know if I would pay rent that month. Just all the things that I think any entrepreneur would have to do. Seeing your bank account at zero or negative. In that way I think it was really great for Ben and I to have that deep empathy with all the companies that we invest in. I think it’s important never to lose sight of the struggle.” Enrique Allen on his path to starting Designer Fund. www.techiesproject.com/enrique-allen

Lauren Frazier on her path to Google, Silicon Valley’s reluctance to ask for help + the pressure to succeed for all black women in tech. www.techiesproject.com/lauren-frazier

“The fear of failure hangs over you. At the Wall Street Journal or New York Times, that was never a concern. Sure, I could write a terrible story, but as long as I crossed my T’s and was reasonably responsible there was nothing I could do that was THAT bad. Not so much today, I feel like there are a million ways to fail, a million ways something can go wrong. A young company is just at a precarious state, you’re fighting to keep it alive. You just hope that at the end of the day, you make more good decisions than bad ones.” Evelyn Rusli on leaving her career as a top Silicon Valley journalist to build a startup of her own. www.techiesproject.com/evelyn-rusli

“The more diverse your team is, the more you’ll empathize with a wider swath of the people who use your product, and the better your product will become for the people who use it. When the team gets together to meet, then there are a lot of different life experiences and perspectives to improve the discussion.” Dropbox Head of Research Leanne Waldal on what she learned running her own company for 17 years, the benefits of building diverse teams, and debunking stereotypes of moms in tech. www.techiesproject.com/leanne-waldal