It’s been a few years since I took a break from the Tech Industry.
I started to feel the itch to come back sometime last year, and I’m finding it an interesting experience navigating this as a mother.
I left at the start of 2020, on maternity leave. I was so burnt out at this time but for some reason I thought I’d be able to continue working after a few months “off” being a new mum. I had no clue…
Being a mother has been the hardest job of my life, and when I decide to do something I put everything into it. And so I did for nearly 4 years, except I started to feel less and less like me so I've spent the last 6 months restarting my passion for coding. And it’s been a journey!
So getting back to the burnout. I am a woman in tech, now if that doesn’t give you all the context you need to understand why I burnt out, let me explain:
I’m a woman, so I work at least three times harder to get noticed for my skills. I shouldn’t need to.
I put in a lot of energy to be heard, and almost always the impact was small.
My qualifications get me in the door, but my gender, skin colour and accent keeps me from getting any further.
All of this and more left me exhausted, and over time I was left feeling like an outsider. You are free to disagree with me on any of this but I’m no longer going to put the burden on myself for others discriminating me. I’ve grown these past few years, and I’m learning to stand up for myself and take space.
And so today, I’m committing to this:
Let my thoughts out in the open
Share what I learn as I learn it
Pace myself