I’ve had better days. The issue itself isn’t even regarding my day-to-day work with clients or my immediate team. The issue is regarding how one of the largest technology companies in the world fails to understand and account for my personal living situation, during COVID-19. But that’s a whole different story, for another time.

Regardless, it’s moments like this that remind me why it’s so important — more now than ever — to share our stories and our experiences with the hopes it may help someone else along the way. After all, this summer I will complete my fourth year working in tech and it almost feels like I’m graduating all over again. It’s as if I’m reaching a new chapter in my career, or at least I like to think so.

Latinas only make up approximately 2% of the tech industry and with that said, my journey has been multifaceted and I would describe it almost like a love — hate relationship. I have really good days. I have really bad days. Nevertheless, my journey has shaped both my personal and professional growth and it’s been empowering to continue to overcome obstacles that many women of color face in a predominantly white industry. So, I share these lessons I’ve learned with the hopes that they may resonate with other women of color who are considering the tech space, or who may also be navigating this thing we call our careers.

1. Authenticity matters

It is extremely difficult to walk into a space where you are visibly the minority and have to learn how to be your authentic self. It’s uncomfortable. And it’s not so much about learning to be your self, but learning to be patient and even ok with the fact that the majority of people will not fully understand you and your experience. In fact, people might even underestimate you. People may have preconceptions about your ability, your background and so forth. And most of the time, they will not even realize it. Yet, in this environment, it becomes even more important to be you. There have been countless moments in my very young career where I’ve made the tough call to express a thought, an opinion, an idea, or a personal value in a space that might not fully understand where I was coming from — yet I continue to do so anyway. It’s not always easy, which leads me to my second lesson.

#latinas-in-tech #storytelling #latina #diversity #diversity-in-tech