In honor of Women’s History Month, we talked with StockX team members about the women who have influenced them, ways to support women in our communities, and more.
For this installment, we talked with StockX team member Brittany from the Software Engineering team.
This interview has been lightly edited.
Who are the women who have influenced you?
I’ve been blessed to have several phenomenal women who serve as role models and who have influenced the woman I am today. My mom would have to be the most influential, due to me witnessing her persevere through whatever trials came her way as a single parent. To this day, she instills and exhibits to me that I am more than capable of achieving anything I set my mind to. She never allows me to settle for less and always encourages me to be the absolute best I can be. Also, I’d have to credit my cousins Nicole and Heather for introducing me to tech at an early age and never allowing me to follow trends, but to set them. Lastly, I’d like to give credit to my Aunt Cheryl for encouraging me to go after whatever dreams I may have and my keen eye for photography!
What is the most overrated or underrated thing at the moment?
If you could give advice to your younger self, what would you say?
If given the opportunity to provide advice to my younger self, I’d say be sure to have fun in whatever it is you’re doing. Growing up, I found myself to be a bit of a perfectionist which led me to obsess over everything. I spent so much time attempting to be perfect that I forgot to slow down and enjoy life’s moments.
What is something we can all do, regardless of gender, to lift the voices of women in our communities?
The answer for me is simple: advocating for one another. Advocating for an individual doesn’t cost a thing, yet it goes a long way. If you’re unsure of what advocacy looks like, here are a few examples: next time you’re in a work meeting speak highly of your female peers and create a safe place in your organization that provides women the opportunity to voice their opinions and points of view without criticism. Lastly, empower women in your community with uplifting affirmations and words of encouragement.
What’s next for you?
I recently founded a networking resource group for women in tech, so a lot of my time and energy outside of work pours into that. Additionally, I have the honor of serving as the Executive Director of a local organization that focuses on empowering and introducing women to coding and software development. Overall, I guess it’s safe to say that what’s next for me would be continuing to educate and equip women in my community with the tools necessary for success.
Bonus: Has there been a time in your life where another woman has lifted you up? What’s the story, and what did it feel like?
I’ve been fortunate enough to experience this quite a few times in my career. The time that most vividly comes to mind recently occurred. I serve as the Executive Director for a local organization and on this particular day, I attended an event where our founder was being recognized with an award for her efforts in the community. During the acceptance of her award, our founder took the time to have me stand while she shifted the focus from herself to me, recognizing and uplifting me in front of the entire audience. Initially, I was a bit shy about what was happening since I wasn’t expecting people even to know who I was. However, I quickly realized that our founder was advocating for me in a room full of her peers. She enacted the ultimate introduction for me, which has opened plenty of doors for not only myself but other women in the community as well.
