Journey to leadership in Tech
It’s been ten years since I entered the tech industry as a lively, young software-engineer; it’s been even longer since writing my first line of code and began the insatiable curiosity of what public static void main(String [] args) actually meant, other than being the main method. I was lucky enough to be interested in everything, a cloudy day with nimbus’ in the sky could spark my fancy, every book in the Library was one that I wanted to read and spend time with, each a token of knowledge to be explored. Discovering the world of code, writing lines of messages that could be translated into a language that the computer understood and processed, was compelling. Each step deeper into understanding this world was like zooming into a secret universe. Solving little programming and algorithm problems were satisfying in a similar way to solving an interesting math problem, there was an answer and a path to it, finding the path was the intriguing bit.
This was a way into the world for me, and after studying Computer Science to Honours level, I moved from my small town on the east coast of South-Africa to the Jewel city of Johannesburg to work and discover hidden strengths in my unsuspecting self.
Coming from a place like my home town of Chatsworth, small and separated from the modern world, content in its community driven lifestyle, I was typically inspired by my mother, she was the pillar and constant of our home and her atypical response to trauma, loss and hardship often spurs me on. While I was busy finding myself in the workplace for the first time, my mom was attempting a university degree in education, in her 40s, after being a stay at home mom for most of her adult life. Our relationship has matured over the years, to one of enduring gratitude and strength. Our phone calls from Johannesburg to Chatsworth have now extended across the world’s boundaries.
About five interesting and wobbly years into my career, I found myself in a space where I discovered an unwavering passion for helping the engineers around me, creating opportunities for them, giving people a voice and building a working environment where people could thrive and love to show up. I had found my hidden “why”, which armed me to then move forward with passion and tenacity and I grew into a senior engineer, to project lead and to a team lead, taking care of cross-functional teams, building awesome tech and growing each other into fruitful beings. My academic side was awakened once more, and I pursued my Masters in Computer Science too, team lead by day - aspiring academic by night.
Being a woman in tech for 16years, being in the minority can sometimes feel normal. Being one of three women in a class of twenty-four, surrounded by men of all types in university, it’s much the same when entering the working world. Being in the minority has a weight to it, one can feel the strength and equally daunting pressure on their shoulders, whilst also being unsure of what or who to look up to. I’ve been fortunate enough to have become part of a movement for women in tech, a movement to elevate the voices and paths of women and to high-light their strengths and uniqueness. In the same way that cross-functional teams operate more efficiently towards a goal, balanced teams are more likely to achieve a level of inspired synergy and closeness. There is a space for all characters of women in the tech space, whether you’re interested in becoming a principal engineer that holds a wealth of hidden knowledge in python, or if you’re like me and want to nurture each engineer and team into a cohesive state. The world of tech awaits you, your voice is needed to enrich a growing space.
If you’d like to learn more on my intricate journey in tech and leadership, or hear more on my intimate journey with emigrating from SA to the Netherlands, you can find me on LinkedIn and have a peruse at my substack articles on exploring hobbies in a new world.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/penelope-thomas-1a3476136/
Substack: https://lightweaver.substack.com/
