Tracy Lee: The superpower of becoming an Expert
Google Developers Experts is a community of passionate developers who love to share their knowledge with others. There are over 150 women in the community. #WomenAreExperts is a series that features their stories and achievements, with an aim to inspire more women to follow their path.
Today, meet Tracy Lee — a Google Developer Expert in Angular, Microsoft MVP, RxJS core team member, and CEO of ThisDotLabs.
Hi Tracy! You are a JavaScript developer, an Angular GDE, community creator and an entrepreneur. How do you combine all these roles?
When you love what you do, everything seems easy! The best way I’ve found to be successful is focus on lifting others up and connecting smart people with each other. It’s also very important to make sure you’re doing what you love so it’s sustainable. If you don’t love what you are doing, you’ll never be as successful as you could be if you did. Our industry is big, and there are opportunities everywhere! Create your own space and destiny and have fun!
What is your favorite part of giving back to the tech community?
My favorite part is seeing people succeed! Helping create conversations that spark innovation and learning. I love being able to provide platforms for people to grow and learn.
Women’s representation in tech and engineering is still low: we rarely see stats that show over 20% gender diversity in the field for any country. If you had limitless resources, what would you do to change that?
I would try to change the stereotypes that are so deeply ingrained in our society! Making it normal for girls to play with toys that help develop their love for tech and engineering. I’d also create and fund more groups for women to support each other in this industry! There are a lot of organizations, but we still have a lot of work to do.
How do you support women in tech?
I host monthly mentoring sessions where women can drop in and have conversations with a group of mentors. I also created the This Dot Apprentice Program, which creates a bridge for those graduating from bootcamps to their first job in tech. Through this program, we provide women with mentors and opportunities to gain experience and kickstart their careers.
What does it mean to be a Google Developer Expert?
I love being a Google Developer Expert because it’s an opportunity to set an example in the industry and be a female role model for others hoping to get into tech. Our industry does not have enough female faces represented, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to be one of them and lift others up.
What has the GDE program given you?
The GDE program has supported my travel to many conferences, providing me with the opportunity to mentor at hackathons and events like Angular Girls. It has given me the opportunity to show others that there are women in tech doing cool things.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
It would be to be able to become an expert in anything, immediately!
A Google Developer Expert in everything — I love it! Thank you for sharing your story!
Read more stories from our Angular Experts: Natalia Venditto, Alyssa Nicoll & Nishu Goel.
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