Here we go again, happy IWD ladies ✨

It’s another #Shecoded International Women’s day celebration, whewww! I remember I wrote my first article Nevertheless, Florence Coded Because Nothing Can Stop Her! for this cause a year ago today and looking back at where I was this time last year and now, I can only say go girllllll!

A Lil Backstory

Last year was really amazing, asides being a web dev, I enjoyed mastering how to use low-code/no-code tools, I explored product design and even created mock-ups and prototype that were well received! Whoop… Towards the end of last year, I decided to break into product management, got into a bootcamp and learning has been so fun.

My biggest technical goals are…

• Build my portfolio
• Definitely be more active in women tech communities I am a part of
• Do more public speaking
• Attend more tech conferences and connect with like-minded people
• Contribute to open source
• Land a technical PM role

My biggest technical achievements are…

So far, I look back and smile. I like to think every projects I am/was a part of are really amazing achievements because I get to bring ‘my talent’ into the process and watch it blossom. Here are a few:

• I led a team in my PM bootcamp and we got a perfect score on our project!! Yessss, 100%
• I spoke at a ‘Live Website Audit’ event a week ago. It was so surreal, seeing people learn from me and vice versa. I had attendees reach out to me after the event to connect with me. Feedbacks were amazing too
• Oh yes, my first article How To Make Wine Glasses With Pure HTML & CSS on here got me a top author badge. It will always be on my list
• My PM certifications
• I really hacked low-code tools and have gone on to create amazing things with them.

I pledge to break the bias in tech by…

• Being myself!! I know what I bring to teams.
• Shutting down biases. Oh yes, I’m a woman in tech, we exist and we are awesome.
• Let other women know they’re strong as well and can achieve whatever they want.

Throughout my career (as a software developer, in tech, etc), I have overcome…

Well, discrimination and biases. The biases really. I had an issue one time on a project and had to ask for help in this community I was a part of. I got the help I needed and was able to resolve the bug, so I thanked the person who had helped me and their reply was ‘You’re welcome bro’. I dm’d them privately to clear that and their response again was ‘omg you’re a girl??? that’s really nice’

This is so tiring, especially having to work twice as hard trying to prove your worth and yourself. Please allies, stop the biases and then we won’t have to break anything.

Advocating for myself looks like…

• Selling myself. I am not shy to let people know what I do
• I can’t be shut down, I speak up on things I believe in.
• Self-affirmations
• Me-time

I pledge to support women, non-binary folks, and other minorities in tech by…

Letting them know they got this!

I’m excited about…

This year looks really exciting, with a new found love in product management, I can’t wait to work in an innovative team and bring amazing and impacting products to life.

Finally

Dear women, you’re amazing, you’re awesome, you guys are the best!! Keep thriving, never let anyone dim your light and keep maintaining beauty while at it 🥂

Happy International Women’s Day 💜

Ps: cover image illustration from undraw.co. Gif from giphy.com