Consumer Goods & Services

Professionals focused on products and services for personal use, working in sectors like retail, customer care, and product development

Harry Shurek

Harry Shurek

In 2009 I started my first public accounting firm, Shurek Accounting & Tax, operating out of my bonus room upstairs and meeting clients at their homes and local Starbucks. In 2012, after picking up my first 250 or so clients, I opened my first office, hired my first employee and began to grow my practice.

Through advertising, networking and referrals, I picked up an average of 100 clients per year, consisting of a good mixture of small-to-medium sized businesses as well as individual tax clients, and had accumulated around 800 clients by my eighth year. In 2015, I started doing work for clients in the cannabis industry in various states, and after accumulating a few clients, in 2016, I created my new company, MCA Accounting Solutions/ MyCannabisAccountant.com.

After working in the cannabis space for a few years and learning of the true need of good accountants to help businesses stay in compliance, In January of 2018, I sold over 600 of my initial clients to another local accountant and shifted most of my main practice focus to cannabis accounting.

For almost the last decade, we have helped clients that own dispensaries, cultivations, processing facilities and ancillary service providers in almost every state that there is a legal cannabis program – working with over 100 licensees in most legal states.

In 2017, I was introduced to the crypto world by several clients that were involved in different aspects and activities. Since then, I have been heavily involved in mining, trading, Defi, NFTs and we have been doing accounting and taxes for clients in the space for the past several years. Seeing another niche market with a significant need, I officially formed The Crypto Accountant in 2021 to help the crypto community not only to be able to accurately represent their crypto gains and losses for tax return purposes, but also to allow for proactive and strategic tax planning based around their crypto portfolios and activities.

After working with over 1,000+ companies and individuals spanning just about every industry there is, I have developed a true understanding of not only the cannabis and cryptocurrency industries, but also the struggles and challenges it takes for businesses to survive and compete in the dynamic business environments of today. As a fellow entrepreneur, I also understand the hustle and dedication it takes to run a business, and the extra efforts it takes to do so successfully.

In 2009 I started my first public accounting firm, Shurek Accounting & Tax, operating out of my bonus room upstairs and meeting clients at their homes and local Starbucks. In 2012, after picking up my first 250 or so clients, I opened my first office... Show more

Lachlan Young

Lachlan Young

When I'm not taking long walks on the beach or pursuing some ridiculous side project with the excuse of 'learning a new skillset, you'll find me 9-5 overselling my skills and thriving under the pressure at Tanda. I'm a self taught programmer who has a degree in game development and included in my skillset is the ability to not take myself to seriously. I got my start creating a White Label API for a company called Fabric and programming quickly became my full time hobby.

For the last two years I have been fortunate enough to find myself on a multitude of different projects including computational pointcloud calculations with C++, web development with Polymer, Full Stack React development a GraphQL React native app and finally putting it all together I work with React, NodeJs, Ruby, GraphQL and more.

The saying goes "find something you love and do it on the weekends". I found that out after I found full time employment and I am the living embodiment that one size does not fit all.

I'm at a stage in my 'journey' if you will, where I am looking to give back whilst the beginning is still fresh. If I can help you with that at all, please don't hesitate to reach out.

When I'm not taking long walks on the beach or pursuing some ridiculous side project with the excuse of 'learning a new skillset, you'll find me 9-5 overselling my skills and thriving under the pressure at Tanda. I'm a self taught programmer who has ... Show more

Jake Murphy

Jake Murphy

Jake is a creative director and entrepreneur, predominantly active across music, tech, media, fashion and social enterprises. He has a keen interest in finding paths to tackle gender and racial inequities, particularly in youth culture. He actively embraces the potential of decentralised tech to redistribute equity worldwide. He co-founded the crypto project ($AIR) and via its parent company, it has distributed c.$1m to music creators and community projects in the 4 months since launch. His advisory roles include the Sphere technology platform and US United. He is a founding member of The Freedom Project in partnership with the House of Mandela and is a member of the PTTOW! Social Justice Task Force. Jake also manages UK artist Jelani Blackman.

Jake is a creative director and entrepreneur, predominantly active across music, tech, media, fashion and social enterprises. He has a keen interest in finding paths to tackle gender and racial inequities, particularly in youth culture. He actively e... Show more

Bella Caetano

Bella Caetano

Founder and Designer, at Bellina Caetano Brazilian Jewelry. Self taught jewelry designer, the first women in her family to speak English and blockchain advocate. Her curiosity and pioneer spirit has taken her on a journey of learning about how to implement Web3 into small business. As a founder Bella understands the importance of embracing new ideas and more than that sharing it with the world with her very own unique perspective.

Founder and Designer, at Bellina Caetano Brazilian Jewelry. Self taught jewelry designer, the first women in her family to speak English and blockchain advocate. Her curiosity and pioneer spirit has taken her on a journey of learning about how to imp... Show more

Gerald Tanda

Gerald Tanda

Gerald has a total of 2 years of consulting including 1 year as a Powerplatform technician which is his favorite field. He is currently a Gerald has a total of 2 years of consulting including 1 year as a Powerplatform technician which is his favorite field. He is currently a Powerplatform CE consultant at hitachi solutions europe.

Gerald has a total of 2 years of consulting including 1 year as a Powerplatform technician which is his favorite field. He is currently a Gerald has a total of 2 years of consulting including 1 year as a Powerplatform technician which is his favorite... Show more

Andrey Drobitko

Andrey Drobitko

Multidisciplinary artist and founder of Sketchar – a mobile art-app that helps creators succeed in web3 with 8M+ on board. Among Europe’s Top 100 Hottest Companies of 2021.
– Member of The International Federation Of Artists (UNESCO).
– Member of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS).

Multidisciplinary artist and founder of Sketchar – a mobile art-app that helps creators succeed in web3 with 8M+ on board. Among Europe’s Top 100 Hottest Companies of 2021. – Member of The International Federation Of Artists (UNESCO). – Member of T... Show more

David Blue

David Blue

I'm David Blue and I am not a software developer. Though I do fairly regularly author and distribute various tool-adjacent configurations you may find of value, I am fundamentally not a builder, though I am relentlessly compelled to seek out spaces like GitHub where builders congregate around the context of work.

I'm David Blue and I am not a software developer. Though I do fairly regularly author and distribute various tool-adjacent configurations you may find of value, I am fundamentally not a builder, though I am relentlessly compelled to seek out spaces l... Show more

Joseph Saavedra

Joseph Saavedra

Joe founded Infinite Objects in 2018 and has been a hardware and software product developer for 12+ years, focused in loT and creative technology. Previously he was an Asst Professor, Media and Technology at Parsons School of Design, and worked has on R&D + Special Projects for Google, MTV, Nike, GIPHY.

Joe founded Infinite Objects in 2018 and has been a hardware and software product developer for 12+ years, focused in loT and creative technology. Previously he was an Asst Professor, Media and Technology at Parsons School of Design, and worked has o... Show more

John Voss

John Voss

John Voss is a gay designer who teaches, writes, and advocates for a more inclusive, just design industry and world. He was the founding design lead on Stitch Fix’s Mode design system, and is currently growing the Stitch Fix design system team and practice. He also co-founded Queer Design Club, a group that promotes and celebrates all the amazing work that happens at the intersection of queer identity and design worldwide.

He’s worked with non-profits, social enterprises, and other good causes over the last decade and believes a good designer isn’t just a decorator, they’re a trouble maker.

John Voss is a gay designer who teaches, writes, and advocates for a more inclusive, just design industry and world. He was the founding design lead on Stitch Fix’s Mode design system, and is currently growing the Stitch Fix design system team and pr... Show more

Isabela Freire

Isabela Freire

I’m a cheerful Luso-Brazilian digital designer driven by people, art and technology. I’m an all-sorts-of design enthusiast.

I’m a cheerful Luso-Brazilian digital designer driven by people, art and technology. I’m an all-sorts-of design enthusiast. Show more

Sean Michael Nugent

Sean Michael Nugent

I am Sean Nugent the Founder and creative behind this planet changing Idea. More on me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-nugent-470189b4 I have a a multi talented background in everything from start ups, construction 3D printing, producing and acting in Independent Films, opening high end restaurants like the SoHo House Malibu, scuba diving, traveling, and a lover of everything in the tech world, especially anything that goes fast!!!

: I am Certified to work and operate with Apis-Cor 3D system and everyone on my team is completing various levels of training. https://www.apis-cor.com/

More on my Film background here- 🎦 https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4564758/ Its been a really fun and creative process being involved with Films and T.V. anyone ever wants to talk more about that industry always feel free to him me up!
🎦 P.S. Im only a bad guy on T.V. !!!🎦

I am Sean Nugent the Founder and creative behind this planet changing Idea. More on me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-nugent-470189b4 I have a a multi talented background in everything from start ups, construction 3D printing, producing and a... Show more

Jackie Lapin

Jackie Lapin

Jackie Lapin is a leader in helping leaders, authors, practitioners, speakers, and messengers connect with their next followers around the globe by helping them get booked for speaking engagements, radio shows, podcasts, and virtual summits.

Jackie is the founder of SpeakerTunity Cities™ Regional Directories which provide leaders, with contacts for hundreds of speaking opportunities in their individual markets at the touch of their fingertips. These purchasable geocentric lists enable speakers to have a massive impact in their regions and to select directories for other regions where they want to connect with clients.

Additionally, Jackie’s SpeakerTunity subscription services, give leaders ongoing lists of speaking engagements, radio shows, podcasts, and virtual summits all across North America.

Jackie has personally booked more than 10,000 interviews and speaking engagements over the past years—and she is here today to share her wisdom with us.

For the past 10 years, her internationally acclaimed Conscious Companies have been providing PR campaigns, radio media tours, and speaking engagements to support the growth and revenue of change-makers. Her clients have included Don Miguel Ruiz, Dr. Joe Vitale, James Twyman, Denise Linn, Arielle Ford, Hay House, and more.

Jackie Lapin is a leader in helping leaders, authors, practitioners, speakers, and messengers connect with their next followers around the globe by helping them get booked for speaking engagements, radio shows, podcasts, and virtual summits. Jacki... Show more

Saqib Tahir

Saqib Tahir

A brain that never sleeps, We could write that he’s a Mechanical Engineer by academic qualification and a Product Owner by profession.

3+ hours of podcasts, 100+ mins of watch time is how this guy spends his usual day listening, watching, learning about tech.

At the age of 11, Saqib was an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician who started working on computers, gadgets, accessories and hasn’t stopped ever since. But that doesn’t stop him from learning something new every day because he believes “technological pace of evolution is faster than time”

A brain that never sleeps, We could write that he’s a Mechanical Engineer by academic qualification and a Product Owner by profession. 3+ hours of podcasts, 100+ mins of watch time is how this guy spends his usual day listening, watching, learnin... Show more

AYODEJI AYANKOLA

AYODEJI AYANKOLA

I am an iOS Engineer a Tech Content Creator 🚀 with over 3 years of experience in Analysis, Architecture, Design, Development, Testing, and Implementation of various iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Applications using Swift. I have deep experience of the full development life cycle of an iOS app- from UI/UX design, to software architecture, through deployment and regular updates. I am very passionate about the ios development ecosystem. I have a strong interest in the swift server-side using vapor and blockchain technology using swift. Ask me any IOS Development using Swift, SwiftUI, and anything about the ios ecosystem. I really love writing. I write for fun 😄 I have been a regular attendee of the WWDC conference in the last two years as I stay up to date with apple's latest improvements, updates ad releases, and also a vibrant contributor in the swift community. When am not coding, I spend time writing articles on my blog to help other developers to become better at what they do.

I am an iOS Engineer a Tech Content Creator 🚀 with over 3 years of experience in Analysis, Architecture, Design, Development, Testing, and Implementation of various iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Applications using Swift. I have deep experience of the full d... Show more

Albert Ho

Albert Ho

Albert got started as a serial entrepreneur by writing the very first version of Course Hero in 2 weeks, which grew to be valued most recently at $1.1B. Albert also co-founded Soom, a biomedical tracking company, which was acquired in 2015 and grew to $10M+ ARR. Post acquisition, Albert worked on the early product teams at notable Silicon Valley unicorns Teespring and Checkr. He most recently co-founded Sidr, a Y Combinator-backed startup in the no code space focused on embeddable apps. Albert graduated with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University.

Albert got started as a serial entrepreneur by writing the very first version of Course Hero in 2 weeks, which grew to be valued most recently at $1.1B. Albert also co-founded Soom, a biomedical tracking company, which was acquired in 2015 and grew t... Show more

Marquise Dennis

Marquise Dennis

Marquise is a hair stylist with 20 plus years of experience in braiding, extension hairstyling, and natural hair care. After a sudden house fire in 2016 Marquise was forced to relocate to another state leaving her devoted clientele of years behind. As a mother she needed an immediate income with a flexible schedule. She found a local blowout salon that was hiring, but with no previous blowout experience she was hesitant to apply. After a mediocre training session from the salon Marquise knew her level of excellence in blowouts would have to come from within. With lots of practice, dedication, and a bucket of tears she mastered this timeless technique. Because Marquise stayed focused and never gave up, she earned a salon position in management where she began teaching others how to perform fabulous blowouts, that even furthered her love for hairstyling. Marquise has had the pleasure of working on celebrity photo shoots, being lead stylist at industry based pop up shops, as well as worked on major red carpet events such as: The Country Music Awards, Telemundo Awards, Latin Music Awards, J. LO x Guess photo shoot, and numerous wedding and formal events on the infamous Las Vegas Strip.

Marquise is a hair stylist with 20 plus years of experience in braiding, extension hairstyling, and natural hair care. After a sudden house fire in 2016 Marquise was forced to relocate to another state leaving her devoted clientele of years behind. A... Show more

Jesse Jhaj

Jesse Jhaj

Jesse Jhaj is an expert in combining educational content with compelling stories, captivating cinematography, creative soundtracks, and much more.

Jesse Jhaj is an expert in combining educational content with compelling stories, captivating cinematography, creative soundtracks, and much more. Show more

Jarek Beksa

Jarek Beksa

Jarek has worn many hats in his career: programmer, researcher, academic lecturer, founder, designer, producer, and sound engineer.

His vision is sound - literally. Jarek is passionate about accessible design, sound engineering, user experience, games, and interactive storytelling. He is excited about the ways voice-activated technology could revolutionize these areas.

He is a creator of award-winning voice applications and is leading New Zealand's first voice application studio.
In early 2020 he became New Zealand’s first Alexa Champion.

Jarek has worn many hats in his career: programmer, researcher, academic lecturer, founder, designer, producer, and sound engineer. His vision is sound - literally. Jarek is passionate about accessible design, sound engineering, user experience, ... Show more

Elliott Winskill

Elliott Winskill

Elliott is a Cloud Platform Product Manager at PMC, a market leading, independent Technology services provider. Having held both commercial and technical roles in Retail, he combines a Technology Evangelist mentality with a detailed knowledge of how to apply retail business concepts.

Responsible for the Cloud and Integration Enabler Platform, a digital cloud platform enabling the digital world to seamlessly integrate with the instore environment, Elliott prides himself on his knowledge of the newest technology. Continuously striving to be a thought leader and to offer a vision for the business application of technology.

Elliott is a Cloud Platform Product Manager at PMC, a market leading, independent Technology services provider. Having held both commercial and technical roles in Retail, he combines a Technology Evangelist mentality with a detailed knowledge of how ... Show more

Jes Osrow

Jes Osrow

Jes gets sh*t done and has the energy of four people. Her goal is to create fundamental change in People Operations.  As Head of Learning and Org Development at Quartet Health, Jes empowers organizational culture to be inclusive, diverse, and promote equity for all employees.  As Co-Founder of The Rise Journey (www.therisejourney.com), she works with growth stage companies designing and implementing strategies to build cohesive teams while developing a sustainable organizational culture. Jes puts theoretical People Ops ideas into scalable best practices.

As a no BS kind of person, Jes is focused on hands on engagement, real world experiences, and communicating successes and struggles in personal and professional realms. Her talks and workshops are engaging, transparent, and relatable, with action-oriented takeaways. Focus areas include: Career development, Invisible disability advocacy, Imposter syndrome, Diversity recruitment and engagement strategies, and Women in tech.

Jes gets sh*t done and has the energy of four people. Her goal is to create fundamental change in People Operations.  As Head of Learning and Org Development at Quartet Health, Jes empowers organizational culture to be inclusive, diverse, and promote... Show more

Naveen Kumar Singh

Naveen Kumar Singh

Naveen Kumar Singh is an Agile Coach and a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST), facilitates Certified Scrum Master Training in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, and Dubai. Naveen is active in the agile community and participates in major events as a speaker and volunteer. He provides following training Scrum Master Training, Scrum Developer, Product Owner, Agile, Kanban, and LeSS Practitioners as well as provides agile technical workshops on Test Driven Development (TDD), Behavior Driven Development (BDD), Agile Testing & Test Automation Framework, and DevOps. He has also presented papers in Global Scrum Gatherings as well as in many other Scrum Alliance conferences and meet-ups.

Naveen Kumar Singh is an Agile Coach and a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST), facilitates Certified Scrum Master Training in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, and Dubai. Naveen is active in the agile community and participates... Show more

Lorena Maceratesi

Lorena Maceratesi

Soy consultora UX, co-fundadora de Holistic Interaction un laboratorio de innovación. Me dedico a investigar cómo piensan y actúan las personas. Busco mejorar procesos y metodologías que se implementan en empresas y organizaciones.
Me gusta descubrir y diseñar procesos para mejorar la vida de las personas.
Docente y apasionada por la enseñanza.
Diseñadora de imagen y sonido de formación, desde hace más de 10 años trabajo para productos digitales; desempeñándome en diferentes roles. Todo ese background me permite comprender los productos y procesos de manera holística, llevando adelante los proyectos.

Soy consultora UX, co-fundadora de Holistic Interaction un laboratorio de innovación. Me dedico a investigar cómo piensan y actúan las personas. Busco mejorar procesos y metodologías que se implementan en empresas y organizaciones. Me gusta descubri... Show more

Vinay Pushpakaran

Vinay Pushpakaran

Vinay Pushpakaran is a speaker, sales strategist, entrepreneur and communication coach. He is a member of the Professional Speakers Association of India. Coming with over 16 years of corporate experience in sales, marketing and training, and having worked in 7 countries, Vinay has carved a space for himself in the domains of communication and customer experience.

He speaks to business owners and entrepreneurs on the Extra Mile Formula that creates an effortless and memorable customer experience; thereby bolstering brand value and maximising revenue. Being a seasoned communication coach, his sessions, workshops and webinars are engaging, actionable and transformational.

Vinay is passionate about persuasive speaking and communication. He runs his signature one-on-one speaking program curated exclusively for corporate leaders and professionals.

He heads Future Impact Learning that provides communication skill training for students at some of the leading schools and colleges in India. Vinay is also a published short story writer, movie buff and conversationalist.

Vinay Pushpakaran is a speaker, sales strategist, entrepreneur and communication coach. He is a member of the Professional Speakers Association of India. Coming with over 16 years of corporate experience in sales, marketing and training, and having w... Show more

Alexandra Renee Poelstra

Alexandra Renee Poelstra

Alexandra Renee Poelstra is the CEO of ALL MAVEN and Principal at FindTheMaven.com. As "THE" MAVEN of ALL MAVEN, she and her team help businesses and individuals conquer whatever is keeping them from maximum potential, efficiency, impact, and profit through consulting, branding, marketing, design, digital media and business development -- helping you break down barriers to greatness while ensuring you are YOUnique, at your best, and sharing your message.

THE MAVEN also serves as Director of Startup Grind Colorado Springs, Co-Director of Startup Grind Carlsbad, and SCORE Instructor. She represents a diverse group of clients and focuses on those who like to shake up an industry. Her clients have been represented on major networks and outlets, from ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Men's Health, Dr. Oz, New York Times, The Today Show, Dr. Phil, Fox, National Geographic and more.

Alexandra Renee Poelstra is the CEO of ALL MAVEN and Principal at FindTheMaven.com. As "THE" MAVEN of ALL MAVEN, she and her team help businesses and individuals conquer whatever is keeping them from maximum potential, efficiency, impact, and profit ... Show more

Ryan Starzyk

Ryan Starzyk

Ryan Starzyk is a proven business and community leader, with a substantial background in management, analysis, research and strategic planning. From 2003-2007, he served honorably in the United States Air Force and was decorated for meritorious service while on deployment in Iraq as a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ryan’s previous experience includes work in the legal profession, hospitality industry, public accounting and financial services. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Paralegal Studies, Master’s degree in Legal Studies from Arizona State University and Doctorate in Business Administration from Georgia State University. No stranger to community service, Ryan currently serves on the board of directors of Phoenix Pride, and he is a longtime advocate for LGBTQ rights. Following his military service, Ryan transitioned to a successful career in business leadership, serving as a legal analyst, researcher and compliance advisor for large-scale corporations. He is currently starting up a new company providing technology and business research consulting focused on small to medium size businesses and non-profit organizations. He is an International Association of Privacy Professionals Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) and a Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum Master (CSM®).

Ryan Starzyk is a proven business and community leader, with a substantial background in management, analysis, research and strategic planning. From 2003-2007, he served honorably in the United States Air Force and was decorated for meritorious servi... Show more

Gibson Biddle

Gibson Biddle

I joined Netflix as VP of Product in 2005. In 2010, I become CPO of Chegg, the textbook rental company that went public in 2014. I write, teach, and give talks & workshops. I am an adviser for many Silicon Valley startups and I'm also a guest lecturer at both INSEAD and Stanford.

I joined Netflix as VP of Product in 2005. In 2010, I become CPO of Chegg, the textbook rental company that went public in 2014. I write, teach, and give talks & workshops. I am an adviser for many Silicon Valley startups and I'm also a guest lectu... Show more

Anita Walden

Anita Walden

Anita Walden is a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, she is involved in EHR data integration for clinical research, development of international healthcare and research standards, and implementation mobile technologies for underserved and rural communities to improve healthcare access and health outcomes. As a founding member of the UAMS Digital Health Working Group she is working toward working with clinicians and researchers to implement digital technologies across Arkansas. She is an industry educator and trainer in data management, clinical research informatics and mobile health technologies with the Society of Clinical Data Management (SCDM) and Health Level Seven (HL7).

Anita Walden is a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, she is involved in EHR data integration for clinical research, development of international healthcare and research stand... Show more

Per Bay

Per Bay

Per Bay är en av de mest erfarna affärssystemskonsulterna på Dynamics 365 Business Central i Sverige. Under drygt 20 år har han deltagit i ett 100-tal upphandlingar och implementationer av affärssystem.

Per Bay är en av de mest erfarna affärssystemskonsulterna på Dynamics 365 Business Central i Sverige. Under drygt 20 år har han deltagit i ett 100-tal upphandlingar och implementationer av affärssystem. Show more

Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson

Tom is currently the Principal Engineer of Consumer Platform at Blue Apron. As such, he owns the technical direction of Blue Apron's mobile apps (iOS and Android), as well as guiding the evolution of the tech stack powering all of our consumer-facing applications.

In a previous life, he was one of the founding engineers on Google Play Games and Google Play Services - so if you run into a bug there, it may well be his fault!

Tom is currently the Principal Engineer of Consumer Platform at Blue Apron. As such, he owns the technical direction of Blue Apron's mobile apps (iOS and Android), as well as guiding the evolution of the tech stack powering all of our consumer-facing... Show more

Tarah Cleveland

Tarah Cleveland

I grew up in a small farm town in northern Minnesota, United States. Throughout high school, I pushed myself to take challenging coursework. There were opportunities for college credit courses, but nothing in computer science. In fact, software engineering was a career option that never even crossed my mind. No one talked about it!! (Bear in mind that I was in high school from 2009-2013, why weren't we talking about it?!) My focus was on mathematics, and begrudgingly, physics too. I wanted to go to college for a degree in math education.

It was my first semester, freshman year of college, and I was struggling through college trigonometry. The professor would walk in each day, face the marker board and just start writing equations--no lectures, no talking, no context. I dropped the class like a bad habit. Meanwhile, I was taking C++ programming [as a requirement of the math major]. I loved the challenges that the course presented to me. For the first time I was working hard and being pushed outside of just studying to the test. I took a leap of faith and switched my major to software engineering with no prior experience or background; I had never even played a video game. I did not fit the build at the time, but I did not care. I never looked back after making that move. I was the only female in the major. That did not scare me or slow me down. It motivated me to work harder. The software engineering program at my college had just begun in 2012, so I was going to be the first female to graduate with the degree as well. In 2016, I did what I had set out to do. I graduated from Valley City State University (VCSU) as the first female in software engineering, earning my Bachelor of Science degree as well as a minor in computer science. I was honored with the computer science & software engineer (CSSE) department's student of the year. I was heavily involved in university clubs and organizations. I worked as a tutor in the library, tutoring in math, English, computer science, and sometime even sciences (i.e. biology, physics, earth science). All this I had done in three years at VCSU.

My advice to other women: Just go for it. It does not matter if you do not have the background or you do not feel that you "fit in." I am on a mission to support and encourage each and every woman in my field. Whether you are a woman that would like to become a technologist or you are a woman already in the field working as a technologist, I aim to support you in your role. The statistic I will change, or help to change, for every woman I work with: "Men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them." I have never had 100% of the qualifications, and I probably never will. That is what makes work interesting and drives me to learn. Please come hear about the work I have been doing for women in technology at Target and in the Minneapolis/St. Paul (USA) communities. The programming is simple and has low cost of entry for your organization.

I grew up in a small farm town in northern Minnesota, United States. Throughout high school, I pushed myself to take challenging coursework. There were opportunities for college credit courses, but nothing in computer science. In fact, software engin... Show more

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