Women in Tech Share Valuable Career Tips, Challenges & Lessons Learned

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Article Mar 8, 2023 Read time: 1 min

International Women's Day is being celebrated around the world today, March 8. It’s a time to honor women’s achievements and raise awareness about gender equity. With that in mind, a few of the many remarkable women making an impact at Kyndryl talk candidly about what it means to be a woman in the tech industry and how they are creating a more equitable and inclusive future.

Kelsilene Alves Farias Moreira

Associate Director, Project Management at Kyndryl Brazil

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced?

During my college internship, I was the only woman in a group of 20 men. I was very young and inexperienced. I never noticed prejudice because I was a woman or too young. On the contrary, every day I was challenged by the team to be as professional as anyone else there — and many times I felt I was lost or not so prepared. I was lucky to be on a supportive and amazing team that helped me during this process.

How did that experience influence the work you do today?

All the experiences I had in the past made me the person and professional I am today. I always try to be a positive person and positively influence the environment and the people who work with me. I try to challenge myself every day, stay curious and discover new possibilities.

What’s some career advice for other women?

Be yourself. Don’t underestimate yourself. Never stop learning. Find a mentor — successful people have mentors who help them along the way. Believe in yourself, study hard and dedicate yourself to the profession.

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Gosia Sajan

Lead, Service Coordination at Kyndryl Poland

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced?

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. I was only 27 years old and had just started my professional journey working in IT. Surgery knocked me out for a few weeks, and I still suffer from acute pains every now and then. Although I knew I was going to be weak, lose hair and weight, nobody told me the “chemo brain” would make my brain so clouded, that it would struggle to tell my limbs what they need to do to fasten a button or walk up the stairs. The long sick-leave wasn’t easy but coming back to work was even harder. How was I supposed to pick up to where I left off? I still take pills daily and have injections every four weeks to prevent a recurrence. The side effects can be rough. My team has been supportive — they understood I’ll need some time to adjust to work at full speed.

What did you learn from that experience?

That not everything lasts forever, and we should appreciate how lucky we are to be here, around our loved ones, every single day. Staring death in the eye changed me into a daredevil with an irrepressible lust for life — I stopped existing in the “what ifs” dimension and started living “la vida loca.”

How did that experience influence the work you do today?

Experiences like that can really change who you are and how you perceive everything around you. I would say I am restless, as I am not afraid to face challenges or learn new things — I’ve been through chemo, can anything be more of a challenge, really? Also, the empathetic behavior embodied by my manager and my team makes me feel that I belong here — my health struggles are not considered a liability, and just sheer knowledge of that makes me go above and beyond.

What’s some career advice for other women?

Never compare your challenges or struggles to those of others around you. Remember that it’s never as bad as may seem at first glance. And most importantly, take good care of yourself and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

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Nel Akoth

Chief Transformation Officer at Kyndryl

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced?

Years ago, I had an international assignment opportunity leading a team throughout Asia Pacific. I went in with a "headquarters" mindset — all about the business, driving results and being more regimented. I went in with a clear agenda, but there were countless perspectives on the ground that were equally important, and not always visible to headquarters. At first, it was challenging rationalizing the two competing sets of objectives. It was also difficult to assimilate given the breadth of cultures in the region. So, I took a step back to deeply understand each issue through the lens of the team on the ground. I left the headquarters mentality behind where necessary, and where appropriate, embraced the local sensitivities and nuances.

What did you learn from that experience?

Through this experience, I learned and appreciated that work gets done through people as a team; I had to learn to embrace diversity and infuse the human element into everything I do. And if people don't understand the context behind changes or a certain initiative, then it would be harder to get buy-in and progress. Capturing the hearts and minds of people is how you build true momentum.

How did that experience influence the work you do today?

Now I take a human-first approach to listen and understand different perspectives. It's about putting people first even in business-focused discussions. In every scenario, I consider how others will receive the message I'm delivering. And I have learned from my current team to always communicate impacts in terms of how people will experience them. We are a people business, so this is now more important than ever.

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Catherine Tixier

Lead, Infrastructure/Cloud Architecture at Kyndryl France

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced? 

Working in the technical field means constantly updating your knowledge; this is easy or natural when you change clients or projects, but when you stay assigned to a client account, it's more complicated because the production imperative “forces” you to stay in what you do. At one point, I found myself "locked in" to a specific software for one client. Although I had gained a lot of expertise on that software, outside of that client/product context I felt like it was worthless and that influenced my assessment of my own value — I had to find a new path.

What did you learn from that experience?

We all have a great capacity to adapt — what we don't know one day, we can acquire the next. In work — as in life — we are not alone; we can ask for help from the people around us, who support us. Each transformation is an exciting journey — they enrich us and allow us to carry out the next one.

What’s some career advice for other women?

Talk to those around you, to your colleagues, to your managers. Through their role or their presence, the people who are close to you professionally will help you to achieve your challenges, either by sharing their own experiences or by their knowledge. Believe in yourself, in your abilities. Trust yourself and go for it.

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Audrey Campbell-Frear

Director, Account Management Partner at Kyndryl New Zealand

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced?

Nothing can prepare you for a newborn child undergoing emergency surgery, barely surviving it and requiring life support for a lengthy period following. The management of a family, while continuing to work in a fulltime role, has been the greatest challenge of my life. Sitting in a meeting, which is going over time while you know your child is waiting for you outside the school gates, is one of the worst feelings ever, and I have lived with this level of guilt almost daily while I was growing my career.

What did you learn from that experience?

I have learned that time spent with a growing family is more precious than advancing a career. I have learned to encourage my own daughters to put their families first.

How did that experience influence the work you do today?

I understand now why so few women break through the IT services glass ceiling. It is simply that jobs in IT are so demanding, that we must give up something else to get ahead. As an employee, I encourage family leave, part-time work and greater workplace flexibility.

What’s some career advice for other women?

Challenge the notion that work is the highest priority and there is no time for anything else.

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Dhamayanthi Narayanan

Director, Skills Transformation at Kyndryl

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced? 

I’m from a tiny village in Tamil Nadu in India. Back then, there were no toilets in our houses or telephones in our village. So it is ironic that I eventually earned a Master's Degree in Computer Applications, climbed the corporate ladder at a few tech companies and am now pursuing a Ph.D. in Data Science. People used to tease me for going from a village with no telephone to being a leader in a large IT company. But it didn't bother me — in fact, I'm proud of it.

What did you learn from that experience?

Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. I decided not to listen to the opinion of others. I never let go of my dream — which was to win the MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award from Microsoft for .NET. Though it took a couple of years, I was so happy I didn’t quit. I learned that if you believe in yourself, believe in your dream and are willing to do everything it takes to achieve the goal, you will be successful and emerge as a winner in the end.

What’s some career advice for other women?

Always ask yourself three questions: Do you want something badly? Do you have a fire in your belly? Do you have the hunger to succeed in your career? I strongly believe that if we are restless to continuously learn and innovate, be empathetic and be devoted to shared success, we will surely be noticed and recognized.

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From creating digital workplace solutions to modernizing cloud IT services, Kyndryl is led by women in various executive and senior roles across regions and teams. Learn more about the company's values, and how Kyndryl is working together to build a culture of responsibility and excellence.

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