Lessons from 2020: Seizing Opportunities in a Difficult Year

2020 has been a difficult year for many people. So, why would I write an article about seizing opportunities when right now there are fewer of them to go around? And the problem is exacerbated for folks who belong to one or more marginalized groups. Is it wrong to even be talking about this?

Well, that depends. For me, I’m defining opportunities as:
Being able to help / give back to others if you are in a position to do so. And, when life changes on you, adapt to new opportunities as they arise. The following are some lessons to help you take advantage of opportunities in the new year!

10 Takeaways From Attending My First Write/Speak/Code Conference

Write/Speak/Code is a hands-on conference for technologists of marginalized genders to advance their careers through technical writing, conference speaking, and open source coding.

This past August, I attended my first Write/Speak/Code conference, in San Francisco.

Below are my takeways from W/S/C, including what I got out of attending the conference and some tips / advice for first time attendees for next year. 🙂

2018 – A Year End Review

Another year of native iOS, teaching, and women in tech!

What a year 2018 has been! Wait, you haven’t heard about it cause I haven’t been blogging, other than when I went to WWDC? Well, a lot has happened since then, so let’s get you caught up! And yes, I’m aware that it’s 2019 now but better late than never. 🙂

2018 has been all about continuing my transition to native iOS development (from cross platform), professionally, and through side projects; and continuing to teach and support women/under-represented in tech.

10 Lessons from Teaching Newbie Programmers iOS

This past August, I volunteered to teach a group of beginner programmers iOS in Denver through Bridge Troll, an organization that provides free programming classes to women and underrepresented groups. I was glad to finally do what I had promised to do earlier in the year as a way to give back to women in tech through teaching iOS. (Speaking of giving back, I also have been mentoring a college woman studying STEM – go Stephanie, you rock! But that’s for another blog post. 🙂 )

I learned some things from teaching that iOS Bridge workshop that day, which I am happy to share here!

Coming Full Circle in IoT and Women in Tech with FemmeHacks

In early 2016, I had a chance to get involved with the Internet of Things through my local Women Who Code hardware hackathon. Fast forward a year later, I’ve participated in multiple IoT hackathons, including the one that sent me to Beijing, China and have become an Intel Software Innovator as a result. This past February, 2017, I had the opportunity to give back to women in tech by mentoring at FemmeHacks, an Intel-sponsored women’s hackathon, and thus come full circle from participating in women’s hardware hackathons to now giving back and mentoring at one. Here’s my story of participating at FemmeHacks 2017 in Philadelphia.