WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:03.920 --> 00:00:08.815 I was born in a log cabin, with no running water and no electricity, in Alaska. 00:00:08.815 --> 00:00:10.340 There's no roads to Barrow. 00:00:10.340 --> 00:00:13.114 You can't even drive there, you have to fly in, and 00:00:13.114 --> 00:00:16.394 technology space wasn't even something that was on my radar. 00:00:16.394 --> 00:00:18.952 It wasn't even something that I could... 00:00:18.952 --> 00:00:21.684 conceptualize as being a future for me. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:34.480 I studied electrical engineering in Pereira, where I live now, and it was very strange for a woman to 00:00:34.480 --> 00:00:42.880 be an electrical engineer. It was so strange here, that in the whole faculty we had, in the whole 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:51.600 program, we had less than six women. So, we didn't even have a woman's bathroom near to us. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:00.640 I had been thinking that only the graduates of professional computer schools 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:04.985 were able to become developers, until I actually started this job. 00:01:04.985 --> 00:01:10.587 There are so many women when I joined my first FileMaker workshop 12 years ago. 00:01:10.587 --> 00:01:15.796 Female developers I met there have been leading the FileMaker community in Japan. 00:01:15.839 --> 00:01:19.145 We often meet at events, and have become good friends. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:25.703 I'm pretty for sure she thought she was reaching out to a man for the job. 00:01:25.703 --> 00:01:31.760 Until I got there, and they're like, "Oh you're Chris." They really would not expect to see 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:37.039 a young black girl, um, with the skill level that I have, so when you tell them like, "Oh, I got 00:01:37.039 --> 00:01:42.702 a degree in Computer Science and my Master's is in Business Information Systems, they're like,'What??'" 00:01:42.745 --> 00:01:48.711 My company is Thorson Consulting, and I've been a FileMaker developer for almost 25 years. 00:01:48.711 --> 00:01:52.026 I go into so many offices where people are just... 00:01:52.080 --> 00:01:58.800 you know, they're really stuck, and I have been so fortunate to not have a career like that. 00:01:58.800 --> 00:02:03.040 We needed a tech solution to manage our data. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.800 Working with FileMaker has given me a ton of freedom in my life. 00:02:06.800 --> 00:02:13.136 Originally, that was probably one of the main attractions for me, was that I knew that I could 00:02:13.136 --> 00:02:19.440 both pick what clients I wanted to work with, and also what I wanted my life to look like. 00:02:19.440 --> 00:02:25.840 Women Innovating Together is a non-profit, and we're formed by a bunch of volunteers, essentially 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:29.407 working towards the goal of advancing women's careers in technology, 00:02:29.407 --> 00:02:31.506 specifically in the Claris platform. 00:02:31.506 --> 00:02:39.130 Women Innovating Together have played a huge role in my career, and have been a great sounding board and resource 00:02:39.130 --> 00:02:43.858 um, to really help me set goals and to get to where I would like to be. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:49.308 When I look at the women who are incredibly successful with FileMaker community, 00:02:49.600 --> 00:02:56.240 I see a plethora of women who are skilled and accomplished in other fields. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:02.835 It's exciting and rewarding to be able to, to do these things and kind of knock down some barriers. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:09.143 I would suggest get as many certifications, make your resume bulletproof. How can someone turn you down? 00:03:09.143 --> 00:03:13.469 I would love for women to know that, that there are people who, 00:03:13.469 --> 00:03:16.285 who want to support you and that there are people who will help you with this, 00:03:16.285 --> 00:03:18.046 and that it really is an option. 00:03:18.046 --> 00:03:24.272 So, I would just love for that message to get out there to little me, 20 years ago. 00:03:24.272 --> 00:03:27.958 That there is a space for you here, and there is a community for you. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.840 This is a thing that's possible. This is a thing that is here for you.