Jessica Barrett

Tell us your story.

As I started exploring new careers during business school, the technology industry stood out as an untouchable field for me since I had no prior experience with it. But I joined Google for the summer in their People Operations group, and my love for all things digital and tech just unfolded from there.

Inspired by my time at Google, I wanted to have a very meaningful impact on creating new technologies, and joined pymetrics, where I have the opportunity to help build a business led by women in tech.

There have been so many people along my professional journey thus far who have helped me and that's what I think has been so awesome about it. I've been encouraged by and learned from people who I've met in so many different contexts.

I'm inspired by challenge, and by surprising myself and others about my abilities. I think that's what has driven me towards the digital space and tech - it always seemed so unlike me and incomprehensible to me.

What advice to you have to share with other women and young girls?

That there are so many different ways to express yourself in a digital culture and that technology is not just about traditional tech, but is so much more than that.

Pass it on!

The co-founders of pymetrics, Julie Yoo and Frida Polli, two women who are working hard to create a greater presence of women in tech and are impacting the diversity space even more broadly.

Ola Sitarska and Ola Sendecka, founders of Django Girls, an amazing organization that puts on free workshops for women to learn Python/Django.

I hope to inspire people who haven't found a way to love or embrace the digital world yet, and to help them discover a reason to!

The Women in Tech campaign exists to help redefine what women in technology means in the 21st century. Started independently by a group of professional women who, after many impassioned discussions about women in tech knew we wanted to expand this definition beyond 'traditional' technology skills. To us, it includes most every current, emerging or evolving role within an organization. By featuring leaders and emerging leaders across industries who embody this we hope to collectively 'stand up', be proud of our place in the digital world and inspire young women or those new to the 'tech space' to get involved.