Each month at WonderCoders, we meet an awesome female programmer, get some tips from her and find out more about her superpower.
Hi! Tell us about what you do and who you are.
Hi. I’m Marci Papineau Gottlieb.
I am a designer and full-stack developer.
I love what I do (even though it makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes.).
How long have you been in tech?
I started learning to code in HTML and CSS when the first IPad came out— so around 2008 or 2009.
But in the summer of 2016 I took a 9 week full-stack dev bootcamp at the French bootcamp (in Copenhagen) Le Wagon (LeWagon.com). That is when my job really got going. I went to school for 9 weeks— 10 hours every day. 5 days a week. It was INTENSE. But really fun. Also crazy hard. I ate, slept and dreamt code— like all the time. But I ended up with a project, coded in Ruby, that I and my 2 teammates built in just 2 weeks.
How did you get into tech?
Well for me, it’s more like “Why did I get into tech.” I was a successful print designer. I worked in a ton of magazines in NYC, and at magazines and newspapers in Copenhagen. But that field is really taking a BIG hit, and if I want to keep working until I retire, I needed to make a change. So here I am.
How has your your journey in tech been?
It’s been like any journey. It’s had it’s ups and downs. On the up sides, it is really fun. It has ended up being really creative (which was a surprise for me). Having an art and design background, the fact that is is creative is a HUGE bonus. I am constantly learning new things, and that can be really fun and keeps things interesting. That can also be tiring sometimes because you can never reach completion! But that’s exactly how it was with painting and design projects. You always feel you can make it better. But sometimes you need to put the book down. Put the computer down, and hang out with your friends and family!
Are you a woman in tech? Please share your challenges?
It’s just that there’s not that many female coders. But I am starting to come across more, and that is really cool. Sometimes we can just speak to each other in a different way. I often feel like I have to prove myself to men. That can be a bit tiring.
How did you overcome them?
There’s a lot of ways. One thing I do is read this story from my friend Nathan Kuik from my Le Wagon bootcamp.
(https://medium.com/@nathan.
Getting involved in women’s initiatives dealing with women in tech has also helped.
What’s your aspiration in your tech journey?
I want to join a larger development team. I dream of pair-programming with some other great coders, so that I can become a better coder and help to build amazing products.
Please share with our readers why they should get a career in tech!
Because it’s not going anywhere! It is a constant growing business, and there are tons of different types of things to get into.
Any tips or advice for them?
Find a great Slack group (such as WonderCoders) where you can ask for advice among other women. Go to Meetups, and talk to other people in tech as much as possible. Help others when you can. Ask for help when you need it.
Could you give us some ideas on how we can overcome the diversity gap in tech?
We women need to keep showing up— no mater what.
Do you know a woman in tech? Can you nominate our next WonderCoder for our next feature
Sadia Mengal and Sara Wulff Kringelbach
Now it is late, and I must shut down computer. I hope I have inspired some more females to get into coding.
You are welcome to get in touch with me at http://www.marcipapineau.com
