WIT December 2024 Newsletter
Happy December! It’s strange how fast the end of the year flies by. It’s been a pretty busy month for us here.
A quick recap of the last month:
We had two meetups this month. The first was Erin Dempster, who presented Introduction to Automated Deployments with GitHub on December 10th. It was a great introduction to how to get started with getting your code into database projects and automating your builds.
We had our first European time zone meetup on December 16th with Moran Weber, who presented Code Like a Girl – Breaking the Gender Stereotype. It was a wonderful presentation on how we got to the gender gap in tech and what we can do to combat it going forward.
If you missed these, you can find them along with our other meetups on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dataplatformwit.
What’s coming up next month?
We’re excited about the speaker lineup and topics for next year. Our call for speakers is almost complete, and we’re finalizing the calendar! If you’ve submitted it but haven’t heard from us, you should soon.
We’ll kick things off in January with Joy Apple on January 14th at noon Eastern. We’re looking forward to her presentation: Using Technology to Lessen “Rushing Woman Syndrome.” You can join us by RSVP’ing here: https://www.meetup.com/data-platform-wit/events/305112350/.
Good Enough is Perfect: Lessons from a Woman in Tech
In tech, especially for women, there can often be pressure to be the best. When I started my career, I worked long hours, attended every meeting, and took on more than I could handle. I worked super fast and took on more and more. It didn’t take long before I was exhausted, but I felt like I couldn’t stop that level of work because that’s what people came to expect of me. After all, I had been doing it for so long. That’s when I realized something important: sometimes, “good enough” is perfect.
Being “good enough” means focusing on what’s important and letting go of the rest. I started asking for help instead of trying to do it all myself. I stopped attending all the meetings I was invited to (there were too many). I also made time for breaks and set boundaries to protect my energy. Letting go of perfection helped me be more creative and do better work.
To other women in tech: don’t let the chase for perfection wear you down. It’s okay to focus on what matters most and to take care of yourself. Success doesn’t mean being perfect; it means making a difference (as much as you can, and that’s different every day) without burning out. Accepting “good enough” has made my work and life much better, and I hope it can do the same for you.
– Josephine
Looking forward to 2025:
We had a lot of changes in 2024, and we’re excited about all we have coming up in the new year. We thank you all for your support and look forward to working with you all to help support our amazing Data Platform Women in Tech community!
With that, we want to wish you a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! See you next year!