Monica Oyugi on being a Woman in Tech and being nominated for a global award

Besides work, I enjoy travelling and face models for brands.

I love writing code. Ever since writing my first line of code at Nairobits trust and manipulating it to produce the desired output, I have been obsessed with the idea of using software to solve practical problems.

Congrats on your nomination for the Global Awards 2020 Women in Tech Network as a mentor of the year
Thanks, I belong to a community of women in tech both locally and globally, Women in Tech Network. WomenTech Network is a global platform powered by Coding Girls, Tech Family Ventures and Tallocate to promote diversity in tech, leadership and entrepreneurship. I have been an active member. I think I deserve the award for the incredible tasks I have been doing for the dev community.

Did you always want to be in tech and what was the inspiration?
This has been a dream come true. I first had experience with computers back in high school when I first made my PowerPoint slides that ran from end to end. IT really excited me and forced me to take it as a subject up to form four.
One of my teachers had idios back then in 2011, so I was very inquisitive how technology grows, and how most of us no longer use button/ feature phones, and how are we able to use apps within the same phone and how are were being developed. I had to answer these questions by trying to figure out how they work and I am glad it took me 10 years to achieve this. Tech is wide and so is software development. I haven't built much as I am still growing and learning more in the field.

How has your experience as a mentor been and what is the importance of having a mentor?
The dictionary defines a mentor as “an experienced and trusted adviser.”
But I came to realize that a mentor is someone with whom you can develop a long-term relationship with that is centred around building the mentee’s growth and development and to serve as someone who can offer support, wisdom, and teaching over time.
One of the things I have learnt is to share knowledge and learn from my experience, serve as a support system to provide a mentee with encouragement to take risks and believe in themselves and always be ahead of them because they look up to you for first-hand help before google.

Tech is one of those industries that has been male-dominated for a long time. As a woman in tech, how has your experience been?
My experience has been awesome. Any lady you meet in this industry encourages you and tells you how it is well paying and that women are in higher demand for tech jobs than men. When you build huge systems as a woman, people really appreciate the notion that ‘so she can do it?’
The most discouraging thing is that we women tend to compete against one another, instead of trying to create something different or collaborate.
Most men feel like we are so special to have these tech groups that help us grow and yet we fail to support one another. We all need to support one another and stop competing against each other.

Why do you think it is important for more women to join the tech industry?
- There is a lot of money in software development.
- Tech is the next big career. Everyone in the industry needs tech/computers.
- Software development jobs are so easy to grasp and once you have the skills, you cannot fail to pay your bills, NEVER!
- This industry teaches you to be independent and keeps you busy, away from the noise and haters and you will love your career. Writing codes is interesting unless you get any bugs(errors, flaws or faults in a computer program or system that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result).

How is the empowerment of women and girls changing lives in the tech world?
The existing tech communities that have come up have hugely helped to bring more women into the industry.

How would you compare Kenya tech industry with the rest of the world and what is the future for Kenyan women in tech?
We are growing, not as fast but at least trying compared to other developing countries. I believe if we continue to embrace technology in every field we are in, we will be better and create our own products instead of hiring other countries.

Who are the people that you look up to in tech?
I look up to Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM. She was the first woman to lead IBM. I am headed there too and I know one day I will be that person that someone else would wish to be like in life.

What is the best career advice you ever received?
You can be good at what you do. And you can be popular for it. Try to be both, but if you can't, it is better to be good.
~Dan Aceda

Which skills are required for anyone who wants to join tech?
- Know the basic computer skills, MS packages and basic HTML(hypertext markup languages).
- Understanding how to write and transform codes.
- Good communication skills and be a problem solver and above all, be a master first then let passion be your choice.

What would you tell young men and women who have an interest in tech?
You first need to know what you want.
Why tech as a career?
What solutions do you want to build that people have not or completed?
How are you going to make it different?

You also love poetry
I cannot miss any poetry event. I can pay any amount to attend a poetry event because it just takes you to another world. I fell in love with poetry when a friend introduced me and the interest grew.

Vote for Monica as Mentor of the Year here

Read More of Monica's story here

Monica's work