The Power of Belonging: Challenging Gender-Bias in the Tech Industry
The path to success is not always clear at first, but that’s what makes the journey so rewarding
Stacey McLennan-Waldal, Board member of Chic Geek, shares her insights on how she started her own career journey into technology, while inspiring others to see how they can do so as well.
By Talent Builder and Board Member Stacey Waldal — Data scientist, Professional Engineer, Project Manager, advocate, and Shopify entrepreneur. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/staceywaldal/)
Everyone has that one quote that they love, something that helps propel them on their off days and inspire them in their challenging moments. For Stacey, it’s a Maya Angelou quote: “When you know better you do better”
- Maya Angelou via Oprah
Stacey started with Chic Geek through the Talent Builders program and since then, she has transitioned to a Board position with Chic Geek, where she advises and mentors womxn looking to pivot to the tech industry. Stacey says some of the key factors to her own success in the tech sector are straight-forward hard work, and networking, networking, networking.
We catch up with Stacey in this Q&A to hear about her journey and why she’s so passionate about supporting other womxn in STEM!
From Engineering to tech entrepreneur, Stacey is helping to expand the role of womxn in technology.
Tell us about your career journey
I was passionate about school and learned the art of networking early on. There were not a ton of job opportunities for womxn in the natural sciences, chemistry and physics areas of STEM; I thought about chemical engineering and eventually, it all led to project management and data science.
I truly believe that our book is to be written at any time and we as womxn are allowed to pivot our careers and education at any stage in life! The doors should be open, not siloed.
In 2020, I found myself seriously considering the pivot into tech. Like many in the pandemic, I had also become addicted to TikTok, and the algorithm fed me a post about opening an eCommerce store on Shopify. This ignited me, as a result of this building interest in tech, into researching more about it. I founded APHDT, pronounced Aphrodite, online this year.
Shopify is so well designed, so easy, so user-friendly, one thing led to another and it was too easy and too fun not to do! I love that I get to be the CEO, Owner, Supply Chain Manager, HR, marketing and customer relations teams; it fills my bucket in ways that other hobbies or my day job can’t. I love that I get to curate the products and it is such a high when you make a sale! It has also introduced me to so many people who are in the eCommerce sector and has allowed me to network in ways that weren’t previously possible. A mind shift for me in the past few years has been to stop waiting on people or organizations to assign/grant me titles and to instead just go out there and make them happen for myself.
Learn by doing. I love this post about making your own experience in a new field (Post | LinkedIn - Moral of the story? If you need experience… Create your own.
What is your personal “Why?”
I am driven to see the world be a better place. I have been fortunate in many privileges in life — not least of which, a family who raised me to have a fire in my belly and not be afraid to stand up for what I know to be right.
I want to pay that forward, and I get the greatest fulfillment out of inspiring others and fostering a safe-space for people to trust in themselves because I deeply believe that diversity leads to greater outcomes. We need everyone to show up as their authentic self with their valid experiences if we're ever going to get there.
Chic Geek founder Kylie Woods once told me “rising tides lift all boats” and that I can create a wake from my journey which can create opportunities for others to have smoother sailing. So I keep that in mind and do not let myself give up, for all the other people who didn’t have the same opportunities I had; it’s important to me to help pave some roads and also give back.
Can you tell us how your involvement with Chic Geek has helped your career?
Chick Geek exposed me to the tech world while opening up a whole new set of ideas; especially ideas about the way to work, and has brought many connections for networking to explore my interests more.
Living and breathing diversity, equity and inclusion is my mission, not just talking about it. It showed me that it is in fact possible to put these DE&I ideas into practice! Respecting diverse views, personalities, in an inclusive respectful way. Also, having only worked in a traditional environment before, it gave me exposure to a tech company and the tools and resources that are sometimes used.
What was the greatest challenge you faced during your transition into tech?
Believing in myself and trusting that I was on the right path. Someone told me early on “trust the process”. I wrote this on a sticky note in my office and I look at it often to remind myself that failures today do not have to dictate the whole narrative of this journey.
Tell us about the darkest moment in your own career.
Unfortunately, it is being confronted with true gender inequity, as well as systematic bias, that exists in the workplace. Like many, because overt bias is typically no longer present, at the start of my career I believed the work had been done and we could stop talking about ‘womxn in stem’; I have since come to realize that that belief came from a privileged point of view and is not reflective of reality. There is still very much a place for programs, education, and awareness of the challenges groups may experience. These ‘dark moments’ fuel me in my advocacy because it has shown me there is still much work to be done.
What do you think is so valuable about Career Pathing by Chic Geek?
What I really like about it is that it connects you with someone only a little further along the journey than you. It allows you to see the next actionable steps and imagine yourself there too. This helps create confidence that your hopes are realistic and can also help create meaningful connections in your network to get to that next step. In my mind, I see it as offering a rope over the wall to someone who is nearly there and just needs a small amount of assistance. Also, I love that they are meant to be relatively short connections, which enables me to take on more and meet with many people.
Sessions are bite-sized and focus on sharing knowledge and networking. Full mentorship programs can be onerous and structured in a way that doesn’t work for everyone. Career Pathing takes a lot of the pressure off while being hugely rewarding for the womxn it serves.
How has finding a community helped you while working in tech?
It helps to infuse one another with positive and exciting energy building in the industry. The more I surround myself with this community the more jazzed I am about all the wins happening for others and the changes we are affecting in the world. It's more fun to celebrate together… even if it's virtual!
Finding community has created excitement about the future within me by surrounding myself with creative, active, innovative people. They say you are the product of the five closest people you surround yourself with and so as an extension of that, if you immerse yourself in the tech-community, you — perhaps by virtual osmosis! — will invariably ‘catch’ that energy yourself. Pivoting is hard and scary; so if you have momentum behind you, wind in your sail to keep the boat metaphor, it can help you continue even when the path before you isn’t exactly known. If we were just isolated and not learning from one another, it would be a lot harder. I am still very new to tech and so the more I can absorb from people who have been here longer, the better I will be on my own journey.
Have you noticed any shifts, positive or negative, in gender inclusivity in the tech industry?
I think there is a light being shined into dark corners now and validating the experiences womxn have had. Companies such as Shopify are paving the way for real/tangible/executable DE&I and are attracting the top talent as a result of it. So while I think there are still many miles to go, I believe there is finally the right momentum; now it's up to us as potential employees to expect the companies to act on their promises. Call out inequity where you see it.
What has been your biggest “aha moment” in your career?
I was in a meeting once where there was a discussion about something perceived to be an issue as a result of someone's gender. I didn't believe gender played a role and so I confidently contributed that to the discussion. The people in the room listened and agreed with me — they just hadn't seen it from the perspective I shared before.
The team respected my contribution and as a result, the outcome of the situation was better for everyone. It was an “aha moment” because I realized at that moment I truly had something of value to share as a result of my diverse experiences and also that since I was brave enough to speak in contrast to the consensus I made a meaningful impact.
My confidence grew since I was treated respectfully and appreciated. The impact that the experience had on me was to dampen my self-doubt in similar moments going forward and to always challenge myself to provide my contribution at any table I sit at (and I try to sit at many tables to help as much as I can).
What changes would you like to see in order to make the tech industry more inclusive for womxn?
I believe one of the most powerful things that anyone can experience is to have a sponsor or ally for them in the room/at the table. This person with seniority has the power to create opportunities for you that may not exist without their 'vouch' since inherently there is a risk taken on when giving someone a chance.
This allows people to take on stretch assignments that will do more to propel their career than a lot of other things. All people are different — some are quiet, some are not quiet, some are shy, some are not shy, some are full of self-doubt and let it hold them back, some need time to go away and think about a problem on their own before they're ready to contribute — but we reward only some types of people. So the sponsors and allies in the room can vouch for people that may be passed over.
I would love to see as much attention given to being a sponsor as has been given to being a mentor over the past few years. These relationships take time to build, but there are probably some people already in your life that you could start to act as a sponsor and ally for, and otherwise, there's no day like today to get started building these relationships :)
Stacey has a contagious ambition to do better and be better—a trait that she carries with her not only in her role at Chic Geek but in her day-to-day life. If you’re looking to take that next step towards a career in technology, join our network here.
If you're a woman in tech, you've probably experienced many of the encounters that Melissa has described, and noticed that there aren't many women in senior roles.
While most companies want to hire and promote more women into leadership positions, it's not always clear how to do this effectively or what the best practices are for getting ahead in your career as a female engineer or technical leader.
Chic Geek Career Pathing is an online conversation with someone who has been through similar challenges on their own journey to success and can help you identify opportunities for advancement based on their experience. Your Career Guide will discuss your interests, goals, current situation and potential next steps so that you can confidently choose the path forward that works best for YOU!
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