Melanie Spring

Tell us your story.

I have been doing websites since 1995 —long before the “new tech” scene. In 2001, I built a little business doing websites when there weren’t many competitors. 6 years ago, I lost my job and restarted this business knowing I wanted to do something bigger and help people in a different way. In my former job I was a project manager and a marketing expert so I wanted this company to be a combination of these skills. Sisarina is a branding strategy agency focusing on growing businesses - and we still do websites. With our business mission of making it easier for people to use tech, we wanted to make sure business owners got great branding and easy-to-use websites from the beginning. Now we focus on the strategy, goals, and big picture marketing plan before we get started on any branding initiatives. This sets the foundation for where their brand will end up while their business is growing.

What do you most want other women and young girls to know about being a woman in our digital culture?

One of my college professors was a woman who inspired me tremendously to think beyond “being educated”. Education is not just about getting a masters or PHD. She had a high school diploma yet had enough life and work experience to become a communications professor. She got me super motivated to think about how education can be something that exists throughout your career, not just in a traditional classroom setting but also that you can learn from experts. She was able to do things she should not have been able to do without education because she was able to learn from others. My biggest takeaway from this is that you really need to keep eyes open and keep learning from other people. This means not being closed off or thinking you know everything.

This also applies to being a woman in the tech space. Take an open mind – don’t think about it as a disadvantage. For me, being the only woman in a room or on a panel can be a huge advantage. People remember you and listen to your perspective. It’s easy to be thought of as hinderance but in my experience it doesn’t have to be.

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.