Tina Wright is an Area Tech Lead at Grammarly, and has worked as a software engineer at Coursera, TRI, and Google.

In this episode we discuss:

What is an area tech lead?

Technical leadership as a generalist, rather than a specialist

How to get the best from your team through a service leadership style

The advice she would give her younger self

Resources mentioned:

Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track by Will Larson https://staffeng.com/book

The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor https://www.shawnachor.com/books/happiness-advantage/

In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell https://www.amazon.com/Praise-Idleness-Routledge-Classics-46/dp/0415325064

The QCon 2024 "The Path to Staff+ and Beyond" track Tina mentioned has passed, but you can purchase a Video Pass on the conference website to view the recordings. https://qconsf.com/track/nov2024/path-staff-and-beyond

Where to find Tina Wright:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinaewright/

Brought to you by WEST:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.joinwest.org⁠⁠⁠

Where to find Heidi Williams:

LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1⁠⁠⁠⁠

Where to find Karen Ko:

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26

Jumoke Dada is a dynamic, visionary and technology leader whose sweet spot lies at the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, security, and education. With over 15 years of experience in corporate IT, and as the owner of Signature Red, she provides technology consulting services and has created platforms for women in tech.

Two of her creations include the Tech Women Network, an online community and career development platform for diverse technical women, and the HUE Tech Summit for Women of Color Technologists. Additionally, she's an international speaker and former tech contributor to Forbes. Jumoke holds a Master's in Cybersecurity from Georgia Tech.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Authenticity and overcoming cultural norms

• The importance and joy of building community

• Pivotal moments that pushed her out of her comfort zone

• Her decision to pursue a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity

• Setting boundaries and self-care

• Becoming an international public speaker

Where to find Jumoke Dada:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jumokedada/

Brought to you by WEST:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.joinwest.org⁠⁠⁠

Where to find Heidi Williams:

LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1⁠⁠⁠⁠

Where to find Karen Ko:

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26

Po Linn (Fo) Chia is a Principal Software Engineer at Mindbody/Classpass, working primarily in the intersection of backend and DevOps. She graduated university with a degree in Japanese history, but pivoted to doing a coding bootcamp and the rest is history.

In this episode we discuss:

• Fo’s journey from Humanities major to Staff Engineer

• The importance of mentorship and having a good manager

• Handling stress and mental health in the workplace

• The best way to build new skills

• Advice she’d give her younger self

  
  

Where to find Po Linn (Fo) Chia:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiapl/

Brought to you by WEST:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.joinwest.org⁠⁠⁠

Where to find Heidi Williams:

LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiwilliams1⁠⁠⁠⁠

Where to find Karen Ko:

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenko26