Twin Cities Geekette of the Month: Katie Carty Tierney

Written by Sara Heitkamp

Meet Katie Carty Tierney - Our first Twin Cities Geekette of the Month. Katie is a rockstar mother of four, SaaS ITSM Geekette and all around awesome woman. She will be one of two speakers sharing her experience and inspiring the women of the Twin Cities at our Launch party (event details will be announced soon). 

What's your background?

I started my career as a programmer.  A hard-core, geeky programmer. My first “real” project was writing COBOL to convert data from a mainframe financial system into a new client-server system.  Yes, I am old. But then I continued coding in PowerBuilder, C++, Java, and Forté for 6 years, when I packed it all away to become a stay-at-home mom.  

Even as a stay-at-home mom, though, I was never too far from technology.  I coordinated a huge grassroots volunteer team for Orlando Sanchez’s 2001 campaign for Mayor of Houston, Texas. As part of that, I built an Access application to track volunteers, events, skills, and more. Then I went on to help found Ever After Gowns, a Twin Cities non-profit that allows young women who might not otherwise be able to afford a prom dress the opportunity to “shop” for a gown in a very special boutique.  Again - I couldn’t get away from the technology.  I managed all the online marketing, built the website, and developed all of the event collateral.  

After having three more children (yes, you read that right!  Four little kids!), I was asked to rejoin the workforce by Steve Papermater, the CEO of nGenera, a Texas-based software startup. Steve also held the role of CEO of the first company I joined after college - the one where I started with a COBOL program. The great thing about the nGenera job was that I was able to plan the work around my children’s schedules. I committed 20 hours a week to nGenera, focusing on corporate communications, and I had the flexibility to plan those 20 hours around my family priorities. It wasn’t long before the technology bug bit me again, and I quickly moved back into a more traditional labor model as I took over responsibility for recruiting, building an intern program, and continuing communications work.

In 2009, I was offered an opportunity to dive back into hands-on technology as a pre-sales consultant for BMC Software’s Remedy product line.  I’ve been at BMC ever since, helping to drive the future of IT and IT Service Management.

Katie, you are the North American Regional Sales Manager or Service Support at BMC Software. Please walk me through your day.

I should start by explaining what Regional Sales Manager for Service Support actually means.  I run a team of nine specialized salespeople who work across the US and Canada.  We are the subject matter experts in BMC’s Service Support solutions - what many people may call “Help Desk.”

One of the great things about my days are that they are never the same.  Take this week for example…  I will be in Chicago on Monday to present the future of IT to a major US university. On Tuesday, I’ll be meeting with my team to go over account plans and sales forecasts. Then I’ll fly out to California for an all-day customer meeting with one of the largest software companies in the world on Wednesday, where we’ll be demonstrating our Remedyforce and MyIT solutions.  I fly back to the Twin Cities on Thursday, and will spend Friday catching up with my team, working with product development on our technology roadmap, and answering lots of emails. 

What do you love most about your work?

BMC gives me an opportunity to do what I do best:  share my passion for technology with people all over the world.  I speak to audiences of all sizes, and interact with folks ranging from application developers all the way to C-level executives.  It’s never the same!

You hold a MIS degree from Texas A&M. How did you discover your passion for IT?

My passion for technology started well before I went to Texas A&M.  In fact, I wrote my first program in 1981 on a neighbor’s Commodore VIC-20 computer.  It looked like this:

10 cls

20 print “Katie”;

30 goto 20

I fell in love.  I made a machine do what I wanted it to do. It was so much more than Pong. I controlled it. I was nine years old. And I was hooked. In 5th grade, I was given the responsibility of booting up the TRS-80 computers in our “computer lab” every morning.  I even played the odd game of Oregon Trail if I had a few extra minutes (I always died of diphtheria, though).  In 8th grade, I was a SYSOP on the school BBS.  In 11th grade, I wrote a maze game in Fortran that included rabid, blood-thirsty hamsters.  By then, it was clear where my life was going…  When I got to Texas A&M, I signed up for the MIS program in the business school, took a job selling PCs at Computer Access, and the rest is history.

What is the biggest misconception about working in the IT world?

The biggest misconception is when people believe that “technology” can fix anything.  IT is a mixture of People, Processes, and Technologies.  If we don’t look to change all three, we end up with a very wobbly three-legged stool.  Technology is only part of the battle - if you don’t address people and processes, you’ll never succeed. 

What is the best advice you ever received?

Never yell at the office.  Never lose your cool.  No matter what the other person might be saying or doing, losing your cool only hurts your credibility. And this is even more important for women, who are often portrayed as “emotional” in these situations.

If you could do one thing differently, what would it be?

That’s a hard one… I love the way my life has turned out.  I have an amazing husband, four beautiful children, and a job that I love.  If I had done even one thing differently, I don’t think I’d have this life, so I’m glad that my life took the twists and turns it did.  Those crazy paths have given me everything I have today.

Any advice for the Twin Cities women?

Don’t let anyone else dictate your path.  Don’t let the judgement of others limit your dreams. Even if the path is winding, you can be anyone you want to be.  And in technology, you can be someone AMAZING.  But make sure you have a warm coat. It's cold here. 

You can follow Katie on twitter @txaggie94

Hamburg Geekette of the Month: Martina Neef

Meet Martina Neef - our first Hamburg Geekette of the Month in 2014. Martina is a Business Angel, an Entrepreneur, a Mom, an Engineer, and much more! Thank you very much Martina, for doing this interview with us!

1. Martina, you hold degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Management. When and how did you discover your passion for engineering and entrepreneurship?

I grew up in an entrepreneurial household, my parents built and owned together a business. My father told me from a very young age, that it is important as a woman to earn your living yourself to be independent from a husband or someone else, even if you have kids. Since both my parents worked, I was free to roam around, to try different things until I mastered them, which allowed me to grow up without fear of failure. I think this is what originally sparked both my interest in engineering as well as entrepreneurship. For many years I worked as an employee for several companies in the San Francisco Bay Area in an environment that supported this mindset and allowed me as a young adult to grow professionally in ways that would have not been possible in Germany. Coming back to Berlin I missed the work ethic of self-responsibility, freedom and opportunity for personal growth in my job. In order to have that, I decided to start my first company.

2. You founded Rock It Biz – a non-profit organization that wants to bring entrepreneurship to students and schools. Why do you think this is important?

I do believe that everyone especially tomorrow’s adults require an entrepreneurial mindset and as well as the skills, no matter what career one might choose. It is important that kids make the experience, which demonstrates to them, that they indeed have the capability to take charge of their own life. There are several aspects why this is important. One of them being the changing work environment that might no longer offer long-term employment but will turn people through various changes for example the sharing-economy to „people entrepreneurs“ and freelancers. 

Rock it Biz offers a program that takes kids grade 6-9 through the process of a start-up with in a project week or over the course of a school year. Kids learn by doing, thus making the experience, which I would compare to jumping of that 10 meter tower at the pool. You could listen to theoretical information about diving into the water for numerous times, as long as you don’t take action, you won’t know that you actually have the courage and capability. However once you did it, you will know and feel that you can and your mind will be open for additional information on how to do. 

This is what I believe is important: Giving kids the experience of working in a team, developing a idea (in our case a product), convincing others (by raising money needed), turning their idea into reality by producing it themselves, selling it and being successful after working through frustrations and mistakes as a team. Kids can apply this experience to all sorts of areas, which makes this experience so valuable.

3. Before starting Rock It Biz you did other great things. Can you please tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey? 

My first company was active both in Germany and Latin America. I did work with Governmental agencies such as FONATUR and ministries of economy and tourism on the development infrastructure projects. My favorite project was Formula One, which was very exciting. We did develop projects both from a business as well as a marketing aspect and helped to secure financing of those. Returning to Germany, I started investing in Start-Ups and worked with several of those very close. While I was doing this, I saw the need for change in our German education system and built Rock it Biz, which is a non-profit supported by many great entrepreneurs and business people. Additionally I am working on something new, which I will tell you about in our next conversation… 

4. Learning is an important part of entrepreneurship. What are the most important things you learned in the last few years?

Lessons are usually very personal and so are mine. Previously my choice of business partners may not have been the best one. In the future I will work first with someone on a project to see if we complement each other, share the same values and ethics before becoming a partner. Second I would be not built a company with a husband, boyfriend or life partner. If the relationship turns sour, so might your business collaboration.  Having both your personal and your professional life fall apart at the same time is quite exhausting emotionally as well as financially. I am starting fresh, which I experience as an amazing opportunity that I am enjoying immensely. For someone else this might feel scary though. 

5. You are not only an entrepreneur but also a business angel. What do business angels do? Which kinds of startups do you support?

Business angels gap the funding of ventures between the initial founder, friends and family investment and the first round of venture capital. In addition they lend experience, network, reputation and access to various partner to a start-up. In a nutshell I support start-up’s that have a team, which I believe is capable to achieve something great and that do have a product which provides a valuable solution to big enough audience of users. The product can be physical product, a service or a digital product or technology. 

6. It was not so easy for us to find a female business angel for an interview. Why do you think are there so few female investors? 

Generally I believe there are more men with the required capital needed to invest in a start-up. Women, who might have the funds to do so, may be more risk averse or look for other types of investments. One should not forget that investing as a business angel is very high risk with some of those investments potentially being a loss. One other reason could be the perception and communication as well. It may be, that be that men talk about it more than women. In my case for example people automatically assumed it is my ex-husband who is the one who is investing - not me. That may hold true for other couples as well.  

7. What advice would you give to women who are hesitating to start their own businesses?

If you choose to start your own business, please make sure to follow your passion. If you do, you will not be „working“. You will have fun instead - every single moment. It feels great and turns challenges into opportunities. Listen to your heart. Get advice, get different forms of advice, pro and con and make your decision yourself. Don’t let others convince you. Do what feels right to you, not to others. Inside I am sure you know very well what is good for you and what not... And no worries about being a mom or a single mom like me. If you run your own business, you have lots of flexibility with your schedule, which makes raising kids a lot more easier.

8. Anything else you would like to share with the Hamburg Geekettes?

I do mentor and I am happy to offer that to a Geekette that would like to start her own business. Further I would like to encourage all readers to mentor as well. It is great to give back and to see someone growing. Some of you might not think so, but your advice is valuable to others. 

We are looking to engage ambassadors for Rock it Biz, which is my non-profit for teaching entrepreneurship to children that I had mentioned before. We are looking for people that like to help spreading the entrepreneurial mindset to kids in German schools. If you are interested in doing so, please write to us at willkommen@rockitbiz.org. 

Please help us to reach out to the kids.

www.rockitbiz.org

Geekettes is Going Global!

Over the years, I've learned a lot about what it takes to build a strong community. In two years, our community has grown and blossomed into something more than just a network. This past July we opened our second hub in Hamburg, and now it feels more like a movement. 

Our talks, workshops, hackathons and mentorship programs have connected women through a grassroots structure and built a space to share wisdom and experience. It's been a pleasure to watch the interaction between the women in our community and to see the shared value in helping one another. 

After much consideration, we've decided to expand the Geekettes footprint beyond Germany and unite women across Europe and America with hopes of someday expanding to Asia, Latin American, Africa and further beyond. But for now, we're not biting off more than we can chew and we're going to expand into a select number of cities where we see strong community leaders with their hearts in the right place. 

Over the years, I've had the wonderful opportunity to build personal relationships with brilliant women of tech across the globe. Women who are pioneering their own businesses, women who are building their own products, women who are creating communities and inspiring the next generation of women to follow in their footsteps. 

Berlin - I had the pleasure of meeting Denise at the first Rails Girls event where we connected over a shared interest in learning how to code. Later she would join me to become Cofounder of the Geekettes organization, and together we took the leap and left our daytime jobs to go full-time with our pursuit of bringing more women into the tech industry. We see this as a very important goal to have in the coming years and we're so very happy to be working with our ambassadors Lisa, Aurelie and Amelie. End goal? We want to work in an industry that is diverse and have a long-lasting impact for the future. 

Hamburg - Later we would connect with Diana, a mom and full time engineer who participated in the first Berlin Geekettes hackathon. She was impressed by the two-day event and asked if Tina and herself could spearhead the second hub in their hometown of Hamburg. We loved their ideas and collectively said "lets do it". They are really killing it right now and we couldn't be more proud of their work and dedication. 

London - After our first hackathon, a wonderful Facebook engineer based in London introduced us to Marily. She is a bright-eyed, high-spirited individual who fell in love with Berlin Geekettes and took the step to reach out to us and ask if we would consider opening up in London. We connected over a shared interest in getting more women into hackathons and this in turn got us thinking about the bigger picture. She later introduced us to Claire who was also a big fan of supporting women and together they are ready to rock it in London town. 

Maastricht - I met Ana through the Maastricht Week of Entrepreneurship. She graciously invited me to be a guest speaker and I had a really wonderful time connecting with her peers. All were studying in their Masters and PhD programs and were interested in possibly jumpstarting their own businesses. It was wonderful to see them open up, discuss issues in the industry and brainstorm solutions for the future. Ana has a way of effortlessly connecting people and building programs all over Europe. In many ways, she will be welcoming next gen of women into the tech industry through her outreach at University. I'm excited to see what's to come. 

NYC - Ahhh, my old stomping grounds. A wonderful city with amazing women. I'm so lucky that I had the pleasure of building a friendship with Anna and Hollie. I studied with Anna in London and would later reconnect with her in NYC. Together we shared a passion for music, and today we share a passion for tech. It's the future, but these are definitely gals I wouldn't mind heading to a SXSW rock show with. We are also gaining support from Wendy and Florencia, dear friends from my days studying at LSE. All of them make up a very diverse team that will surely introduce a diverse set of programs this year. 

Portugal - If you live in Europe and work in tech, you have probably met Ines. If not, you're living under a rock. Here is a woman who is uniting European entrepreneurs and connecting interesting people across countries. We met through Sandbox, another powerful community that has a presence in different corners of the world. She introduced me to Ana at the Switch Conference in Lisbon. Ana spearheaded coding initiatives in Portugal among many other achievements. Together, the two will host Geekettes events across many cities, so get ready!

Twin Cities - Ok, this one was a no brainer for me. Minneapolis is my hometown and will always be where my heart is. I was so excited to reconnect with an old colleague Sara over a discussion around the Grace Hopper Conference. You could hear the excitement in her voice and through her emails. She was blown away by the energy and collaborative spirit of the conference. She took that energy and spearheaded a movement within Best Buy and would later reach out to us in hopes of expanding the Geekettes footprint to the Twin Cities. She would then later introduce us to her colleague Shruti, a talented engineer who had a keen interest on helping us grow. P.S. You can be sure my mother will be attending future meet ups ;)

I'm really looking forward to 2014. This is the year that I believe we will see a major evolution for women in tech. With programs sprouting all over the world to support women, we're definitely going to see some big progress. More women will begin starting their own businesses, breaking into engineering roles and pioneering fresh ideas within the industry as a whole. I'm more confident than ever before and very excited to see what our new ambassadors will create in their respective cities. We hope to someday bring all the women in each new city together and foster a collaborative environment that crosses all borders. Synergies between ambassadors are already happening, I can only imagine what will happen next. 

If you want to join our community, please sign up for membership today: http://www.geekettes.io/membership/

With love,

Jess 

Official hashtag: #geekettesgoglobal