Women in Tech Leadership: Stories, Tips, and Challenges

Welcome to the second series of women in tech leadership. In this week’s series, we have our mentor Karolina Kolodziej, a Product Designer at Indigo.ai based in Italy 🇮🇹. We hope through Karolina’s story as a woman in tech will inspire you to do well in the tech industry and break the challenges with a strong mind and heart. ❤️

"Being among the first in the company or being among the very few. As long as we blaze a trail for others, it’s not an obstacle but a mission.”

Let’s read more about Karolina's story as a woman in tech!

The 4 main reasons Karolina determine to be in the technology industry

• Innovation
• Cross-team collaboration
• Working for a higher purpose
• Fascination towards Artificial Intelligence and evolution

This mix of ingredients made me choose the tech industry. Here things happen faster and the Artificial Intelligence space I work in seems the most challenging. I love challenges. I have always felt a great fascination for the ethical issues that those who create Artificial Intelligence must face. We are moving from relationships between human beings towards a prevalence of mixed interactions between people and technologies. I am passionate about this evolution. I am passionate about creating experiences based on AI and its various implications.

You can find Karolina written articles on tech HERE.

Women in Tech: Tips in overcoming self-doubt

• Focus on the bright side
  I try to see a positive side in any situation. 
  
• The importance of Imposter Syndrome in career
  I feel a little bit sorry for those who had never felt impostor syndrome even for a second. I think it’s important to doubt, face obstacles, reflect on ourselves and our performance. How can we grow, if we don’t pause for a moment? Even just to analyze where we can do better and reflect on what we have achieved so far. 
  
• Create a list
  Listing achievements and future goals are what helps me to overcome self-doubt.
  

The 5 challenges as women in tech leadership

• Biases, misconceptions, and intolerance
  There are plenty of biases, misconceptions, and intolerances. But still, we should try to make the most of every situation and transform the empathy of a person who is in the minority for better service.
  
• Being among the first in the company or being among the very few

“As long as we blaze a trail for others, it’s not an obstacle but a mission.”

• A great probability of facing impostor syndrome :).
  We can only learn from it and transform it into something positive.
  
• Being heard enough.
  
• Finding your place.
  A company where you, with what motivates you, can thrive. I think it’s important to adopt the mindset of learning from every experience and staying positive.
  

Women in tech leadership: Career development and growth tips

• Learn from every experience
  Not being afraid to experiment.
  
• Find your niche
  Find what truly motivates you, be passionate about it, and be honest. 
  
• Be the role model
  What also motivates me on a personal level is showing my daughter that the tech world is fascinating, gratifying and a place for everyone.=
  

Karolina’s advice for women in the tech industry

“Go for it.”

Why? I’ll quote George Mallory who took part in the first expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. He replied to the question, "Why did you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the retort, "***Because it's there***".

“The tech industry is for everyone, it’s here and everyone is welcome.”

At ADPList, we have global women in tech mentors who are available to support you in your career. Book a session to get career advice, portfolio reviews, resources to get you a step ahead!

Contributor:
Karolina Kolodziej (ADPList Mentor)
Product designer at Indigo.ai
ADPList Profile: https://adplist.org/mentors/karolina-kolodziej
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karolina-kolodziej/

Editor and Writer:
Farah Radzi
Content Marketer and Writer at ADPList
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/famr/