TALKING

I love taking the time to applaud the women who have spearheaded progress . advice , use them as a sounding board and celebrate all your little wins with them . And if you feel that you don ’ t need a mentor yourself , then consider giving back . I ' ve been a part of Deltek ’ s Mentor Program for the last decade and continue to learn from each mentee that I work with . As a result , I ’ ve built lasting relationships that have also helped me better understand other organizations and roles across the company . be a barrier to success . For instance , the computer programming class at high school was a brand-new class and I was reluctant to take it because I would have been the only girl . Ultimately my mom convinced me to enrol in the course – the rest is history .

I was then lucky to meet my mentor straight after college . I learned by watching her develop her own career in technology . One of the biggest things she taught me was to find my voice and style , not mimic what I ’ d seen before . It took some time , but once I found my leadership style that was authentic to who I was that ’ s when I started owning my own career and gaining confidence in my skills .

I think my first piece of advice for women in tech is to find a mentor who you trust and value . Listen to their

Secondly , I ’ d encourage all women – working in technology or elsewhere – to truly embrace the feeling of discomfort and use it to fuel their ability to drive results and succeed . I remember early in my career when I was offered a Project Lead position . Having never led projects before I was hesitant to take it , but my mentor pushed me to apply for the role , knowing it was something that I could learn to do .

What I took away from that experience was not to let my own insecurities of not being 100 % qualified define what I do rather use it as a career growth opportunity .

So now , whenever I am faced with new challenges , the uneasiness is still there , but I don ' t hesitate – the discomfort motivates and drives me . p

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