August 22, 2024 • 13 mins
Ever wondered how learning to code can transform your life and career? Join us for an inspiring chat with Bernadette Bolaños, a software apprentice at ServiceNow, as she shares her remarkable journey into the tech industry. Bernie discusses how coding has empowered her and highlights the critical need for representation in tech. She also provides a fascinating glimpse into her role on the UXRTB dev team, the thrill of her first corporate office visit, and how her previous work with survivors of sexual and domestic violence equipped her with invaluable skills for her new career. Her story is a powerful testament to the resilience and confidence required to combat challenges and imposter syndrome, making it a must-listen for anyone considering a career shift into tech.
But that's not all—this episode also features the journey of another individual who found their passion for STEM through a pre-apprenticeship program, leading to full-time employment at ServiceNow. Their experience underscores the importance of diversity in tech and the unique perspectives that enrich customer-focused solutions. And for a delightful twist, stay tuned as Brittany shares her love for Nicaraguan cuisine, recommending her favorite snacks like gallo pinto and platanos, and the best spots in LA to savor these authentic flavors. This episode is a celebration of transformation, resilience, and the joy of discovering new passions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
learning to code has really impacted me now coming
back to it full circle andrealizing that this is something
that I can do and that my voicedoes matter and that my
presence and my representationdoes matter in the tech world,
and so I feel like it'stransformed me in so many ways,
just like with that confidencein myself and I see how it
transforms even the communityaround me.
Just like how I met somebodywho was part of an
apprenticeship and it made methink, wow, I can do that
(00:22):
apprenticeship and it made methink, wow, I can do that.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hey everyone, this is Mike Roberts, creator of the
Apprenticeship Playbook, andyou're tuned in to the Skills
First podcast.
In today's world, skills Firsthiring is revolutionizing the
job market and on this show Isit down with trailblazers who
are rethinking hiring practicesand embracing experiential
learning, as well as the peopleimpacted.
(00:47):
Follow along as we dive intotips, innovative ideas and
proven strategies to help younavigate and thrive in the
evolving landscape of modernapprenticeships.
Can you tell me your name andwhat it is that?
What's your job title?
What do you do?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, my name is Bernadette Bolaños, people call
me Bernie.
Your job title.
What do you do?
Yeah, my name is BernadetteBolaños, people call me Bernie.
I'm currently a softwareapprentice at ServiceNow, so I'm
part of the very first cohortof apprentices in the platform
engineering department, and theteam that I work for is the
UXRTB dev team.
We're a customer facing team,we help.
We're a catch all team where wehelp the other teams kind of
work on defects that maybe havebeen put off while they're
(01:25):
focusing on feature development,and then we also take on case
tasks that are usually directedto a team of it's about nine
teams that we cover, wow.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, all right, nice , where do you live?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I'm based in LA, Los Angeles.
I was born here and I'm in likethe East LA area.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Nice, okay, so I know that ServiceNow has a big
presence in both San Diego,santa Clarita.
But yeah, it's cool that you'reable to work remote, then
pretty much right.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah, so, totally yeah.
So the office like one time.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
And I hear that was a pretty amazing journey for the
folks that were not used to that.
Give me a little sense of that.
What did it feel like to visitthe campus of a software
engineering company for thefirst time?
Were not used to that.
Give me a little sense of that.
What did it feel like to visitthe campus of a software
engineering company for thefirst time?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, I definitely felt like a kid in a candy store
because I feel like I've alwaysheard about that, At least on
TV.
I feel like it's the closestrepresentation I had of what
corporate life looks like thecool offices especially the
really nice tech officesmeditation rooms, gyms, the big
cafeteria, everything.
So it was exciting.
I would love to be able to goback more often, but it was nice
to just know.
That's something like if I didwant to go to San Diego which
(02:29):
luckily isn't too far, it's onlytwo hours away Like I could
spend the whole day there if Iwanted to, and I definitely
would.
So it was a lot of fun Nice.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Nice.
So what were you doing beforethis?
Speaker 1 (02:39):
In general because I've had a lot.
I've had a lot of differentcareer routes, but I've mainly
focused on working withsurvivors of sexual and domestic
violence.
It started off as like avolunteer position for me.
I was a volunteer crisiscounselor and advocate on the
hotline at a couple differentrape crisis centers and then,
directly before I led to theapprenticeship, I was working as
(03:00):
a shelter advocate at a localdomestic violence shelter, so
working with women and childrenprimarily, and helping them get
placement to new places theywere seeking shelter outside of
the abusive homes that they camefrom and then just helping
connect them to as manyresources as they could for
long-term.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Wow, super impactful work.
That's very different, but I'msure you're finding there's a
lot of transferable skills interms of how you interact with
human beings and solvingproblems, and so that's pretty
cool.
What was one of the biggestchallenges for you making that
transition in your journey sofar?
What's been the biggest hurdle?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Honestly, I feel like it's something I remember and
that I've heard you say a lot,especially in my very first
interview.
It's like what you're lookingfor is the grit right being
willing to try something overand over again, even when you're
failing at it, even when you'rebad at it.
And I'm definitely, as anapprentice, like there's a lot
of things that I'm still bad at,and I think just the biggest
hurdle for me is still diggingdeep within myself to find that
(03:58):
confidence every day and justshowing up for myself even when
it's difficult, even when and Ithink that is a transferable
skill that I got from working asa shelter advocate is a lot of
times there is not a best casescenario.
You're dealing with people whoare unfortunately in some of the
really hardest part of theirlives and there is not an easy
way to make that better, and soI think like, just yeah, that
(04:18):
that's where that grit comesfrom.
For me, it's just finding, aslong as I make baby steps, like
eventually that progress willget somewhere, and I have faith
in that, I have faith in myself.
So, even when it's hard, evenwhen I'm feeling that like
strong imposter syndrome, Istill show up, I still try my
best, I ask my questions andthen I just wait for myself to
feel better, because it goesback and forth Some days I feel
really great about it, otherdays I don't feel so great about
(04:38):
it, but regardless, I show upand that's been the biggest
hurdle that I have to overcomeevery day.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Nice, yeah, man, it's a roller coaster, it's a wild
one.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, you're telling me.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So how did you hear about?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
our program.
So originally I had met someonewho was part of a different
apprenticeship and they had avery similar educational
background as me and I justnever, I don't know.
They inspired me to think maybethat's something I could do,
because I never really thought Icould get into tech.
I've always really liked STEMbut I just at some point in my
educational journey I stoppedthinking that I was that capable
.
But and then, hearing aboutthis person that found an
(05:14):
apprenticeship, I was like whynot me?
Hearing about this person thatfound an apprenticeship, I was
like why not me?
So I just really went on aGoogle search.
I found your program and at thatpoint the pre-apprenticeship
was still pretty new.
I think I was the very firstcohort of the pre-apprenticeship
and I was just.
I was I don't know.
I feel like talking to youreally made me feel confident in
the route that this was goingto be able to take me towards.
I interviewed, and it was veryfast soon as I gave you my
(05:35):
application, we interviewed thenext day and then I was signed
up the day after that and then Istarted two weeks later and
it's just been.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
That's a whirlwind.
That's really cool and walk alistener through a rough
timeline of.
So the admission process waspretty fast, but then how much
time did you spend in thepre-apprenticeship approximately
?
And then how long did it takebefore you were like on the job
inside of ServiceDAO doing yourapprenticeship?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
So that was a really quick turnaround too.
The pre-apprenticeship wassupposed to be estimated for
around three months, and that'show long it took me to get
through the curriculum.
After three months as apre-apprentice I was
transitioned to full-timeapprentice and I did about, I
think, six months as anapprentice, just meeting within
Creating Coding Careers everyday, and then at some point I
(06:20):
did get an interview around thatsixth month with ServiceNow and
I was told I was hired on themonth after that and then it was
just like a waiting game, likethey just needed to be ready for
us.
I think I waited maybe likeanother month, so probably by
like month seven I wasofficially like transitioned to
ServiceNow and so I've beenthere about three months now and
my program at ServiceNow is asix month program before we get
(06:42):
transitioned to full-time staff.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
You're close, you're there, you're like right there,
I know yeah.
So how do you think learning tocode has made an impact on you
both personally andprofessionally?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Personally and professionally, like I mentioned
, I always really liked science.
I took classes for computerscience in high school.
I started off my undergradjourney as a physics major and
was taking, like Python, classesfor physics and at some point I
just I'm a first generationcollege student.
I come from ancestors andfamily line of a lot of people
(07:16):
who were illiterate, who didn'tget past the third grade
education or high schooleducation.
So I think at a certain point,like I just stopped believing
that I was capable and there's alot of misogyny in certain
departments and I feel like Ijust some of the experiences
that I had made me feel like,yeah, maybe this isn't for me,
and so I focused on a route thatwas really like working with
survivors.
Sexual and domestic violence isreally dominated by women of
(07:37):
color for the majority of thepeople who do that work in my
experience, like at least outhere in SoCal and so I feel like
I just transitioned tosomeplace that made me feel safe
and made me feel heard, and Ithink that's how learning to
code has really impacted me now,coming back to it full circle
and realizing that this issomething that I can do and that
my voice does matter and thatmy presence and my
representation does matter inthe tech world, and so I feel
(08:00):
like it's transformed me in somany ways, just like with that
confidence in myself and I seehow it transforms even the
community around me.
Just like how I met somebodywho was part of an
apprenticeship and it made methink, wow, I can do that.
I feel like a lot of theconversations I've been having
with people in my own community,with my own friendships, like I
feel like people are now moreopen to it.
Maybe I don't need to have themost traditional route.
I can find my own alternativeroute to get within the tech
(08:22):
world and to do things that Iwant to do, because I've always
had fun learning science and atsome point I just I didn't
believe anymore.
Yeah, I'm just like being ableto bring that all back together
full circle has reallytransformed me personally,
professionally.
I think it's totally transformedme professionally, considering
that, like I had no, for a longtime I didn't really touch
anything in tech.
I would just work on databases,trying to find people,
(08:44):
resources, and sometimes thedatabases would act up, things
would be slow, things would bebroken, and that would frustrate
me and I would be so upset that, like, who is working on this?
That was always my question.
Who does this and why can't Ibe the one to fix it?
Because it's getting in?
So I think, professionally, it'sreally brought me to a place
where, like now, especially atServiceNow, where I'm working on
IT service management toolslike I see what it's like to be
(09:07):
on the other side of that and,especially because I'm working
on a customer facing team like Igoing to be able to get the
health resources that they need,or that people are going to be
left out in the cold becausethey didn't.
They queued up too many peoplefor a vaccination, like I just
(09:29):
hear all the real world examplesof how the work that we do
impacts people.
So it's really transformed myperspective in terms of what it
means to be someone, have thatresponsibility to yeah, to
create those resources and tocreate that those changes.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
That's phenomenal.
And this, my friends, is thereason why we need more
diversity in tech, because Ithink your unique lived
experience lends to buildingbetter products and services,
because you just understand yourcustomer base better.
Right, you shared that if theindustry is dominated mostly by
women, black, women of colorthen we got to make sure people
(10:06):
inside building the tools havesome of that same lived
experience to be able to haveempathy and design things that
are going to really solve themost important and critical
challenges.
So, kudos, I feel like we'vedone so so much good in helping
you make that transition.
We've done so so much good inhelping you make that transition
, and I think it's hard tomeasure and quantify the ripple
(10:29):
effect of creating opportunityand then allowing someone to
step into that role.
Who knows how many people aregoing to hear this and be
inspired and think maybe I canalso be like Bernie and just get
after it.
Yeah, I hear that stat a lot.
I hear a stat about a lot ofwomen, especially women that may
go to school thinking that theywant to pursue a STEM degree at
some point, fall off and theydon't graduate with STEM degrees
(10:51):
and instead they go into otherfields being able to have some
more support and persevere willresult in more people that not
just start CS degrees butcomplete CS degrees or go
alternative routes.
So what's the last new thingyou learned?
(11:12):
Because I hear a lot frompeople that like this is a
lifelong learning exercise.
So what's the last thing thatyou had to adjust and pick up?
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I'm learning something new every day.
Something that I learned abouttoday is hot fixes.
I'm learning something newevery day.
Something that I learned abouttoday is hotfixes, like what it
takes to have a hotfix, just theroutes to be able to request it
.
I don't know, I'm not even surehow much more to dive into that
, but every day, especially asan apprentice, I'm asking
questions and just trying to putthe pieces together as best as
I can.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yeah, and that's where the rubber meets the road.
So for folks that are listening, that are not software
engineers, a hotfix is basicallyokay, we're doing it live,
right, we test everything, makesure.
But it's an off-cycle releaseof some software to do a fix or
a patch, and it's usuallybecause there's some critical or
urgent need, and so that's whatwe call firefighting in the
business, right there hotfixes.
(11:59):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Thank you for explaining it.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, who's someone you'd like?
Speaker 1 (12:05):
to give a shout out to, I think, so many people.
I want to give a shout out tomy cohort mates, elena and
Marjorie, who are really holdingit down as friends.
In tech, we're the very firstcohort and in a very male
dominated field, and I thinkwe're all doing a phenomenal job
.
It can be isolating at times,especially because we're not all
on the same team, but we makesure to check in with each other
(12:26):
.
We're constantly just yeah,just checking in, making sure
that we're doing okay and then,whenever one of us has resources
that we found out about, weshare it with each other, and I
think we really have eachother's back and that has helped
immensely throughout thisjourney so far.
So shout out to them.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Nice, all right.
Last and most difficultquestion what's your favorite
snack?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
That was the hardest one.
Oh my gosh, Favorite snack.
I really enjoy eatingNicaraguan food.
That's where my mom is from.
I eat a lot of gallo pinto,which is basically just rice and
beans, but like the Nicaraguanversion, platanos, plantains
with Nicaraguan crema and cheesefrom Nicaragua.
I don't know, that's like whenI'm trying to treat myself.
That's what I go get.
(13:07):
There's a spa in LA SaborNicaraguan.
That's the best one in LA.
So if you ever have anopportunity, check that out.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, I'm up there.
I'm up there frequently, so I'mgoing to have to hunt that
place down for sure.
Also, thanks, so Awesome.
(13:36):
Thanks so much, brittany, forcoming on the program.
Thank you, thanks for having me.
You've been listening to SkillsFirst, the Apprenticeship
Playbook podcast.
By the way, if this is valuableto you, don't be lame.
Share the game.
This is how we know you love it.
If you're a company thinkingabout changing how you hire,
please share it so we know thistype of stuff is what you want.
learning to code has really impacted me now coming
back to it full circle andrealizing that this is something
that I can do and that my voicedoes matter and that my
presence and my representationdoes matter in the tech world,
and so I feel like it'stransformed me in so many ways,
just like with that confidencein myself and I see how it
transforms even the communityaround me.
Just like how I met somebodywho was part of an
apprenticeship and it made methink, wow, I can do that
(00:22):
apprenticeship and it made methink, wow, I can do that.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Hey everyone, this is Mike Roberts, creator of the
Apprenticeship Playbook, andyou're tuned in to the Skills
First podcast.
In today's world, skills Firsthiring is revolutionizing the
job market and on this show Isit down with trailblazers who
are rethinking hiring practicesand embracing experiential
learning, as well as the peopleimpacted.
(00:47):
Follow along as we dive intotips, innovative ideas and
proven strategies to help younavigate and thrive in the
evolving landscape of modernapprenticeships.
Can you tell me your name andwhat it is that?
What's your job title?
What do you do?
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, my name is Bernadette Bolaños, people call
me Bernie.
Your job title.
What do you do?
Yeah, my name is BernadetteBolaños, people call me Bernie.
I'm currently a softwareapprentice at ServiceNow, so I'm
part of the very first cohortof apprentices in the platform
engineering department, and theteam that I work for is the
UXRTB dev team.
We're a customer facing team,we help.
We're a catch all team where wehelp the other teams kind of
work on defects that maybe havebeen put off while they're
(01:25):
focusing on feature development,and then we also take on case
tasks that are usually directedto a team of it's about nine
teams that we cover, wow.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, all right, nice , where do you live?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I'm based in LA, Los Angeles.
I was born here and I'm in likethe East LA area.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Nice, okay, so I know that ServiceNow has a big
presence in both San Diego,santa Clarita.
But yeah, it's cool that you'reable to work remote, then
pretty much right.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Yeah, so, totally yeah.
So the office like one time.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
And I hear that was a pretty amazing journey for the
folks that were not used to that.
Give me a little sense of that.
What did it feel like to visitthe campus of a software
engineering company for thefirst time?
Were not used to that.
Give me a little sense of that.
What did it feel like to visitthe campus of a software
engineering company for thefirst time?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, I definitely felt like a kid in a candy store
because I feel like I've alwaysheard about that, At least on
TV.
I feel like it's the closestrepresentation I had of what
corporate life looks like thecool offices especially the
really nice tech officesmeditation rooms, gyms, the big
cafeteria, everything.
So it was exciting.
I would love to be able to goback more often, but it was nice
to just know.
That's something like if I didwant to go to San Diego which
(02:29):
luckily isn't too far, it's onlytwo hours away Like I could
spend the whole day there if Iwanted to, and I definitely
would.
So it was a lot of fun Nice.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Nice.
So what were you doing beforethis?
Speaker 1 (02:39):
In general because I've had a lot.
I've had a lot of differentcareer routes, but I've mainly
focused on working withsurvivors of sexual and domestic
violence.
It started off as like avolunteer position for me.
I was a volunteer crisiscounselor and advocate on the
hotline at a couple differentrape crisis centers and then,
directly before I led to theapprenticeship, I was working as
(03:00):
a shelter advocate at a localdomestic violence shelter, so
working with women and childrenprimarily, and helping them get
placement to new places theywere seeking shelter outside of
the abusive homes that they camefrom and then just helping
connect them to as manyresources as they could for
long-term.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Wow, super impactful work.
That's very different, but I'msure you're finding there's a
lot of transferable skills interms of how you interact with
human beings and solvingproblems, and so that's pretty
cool.
What was one of the biggestchallenges for you making that
transition in your journey sofar?
What's been the biggest hurdle?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Honestly, I feel like it's something I remember and
that I've heard you say a lot,especially in my very first
interview.
It's like what you're lookingfor is the grit right being
willing to try something overand over again, even when you're
failing at it, even when you'rebad at it.
And I'm definitely, as anapprentice, like there's a lot
of things that I'm still bad at,and I think just the biggest
hurdle for me is still diggingdeep within myself to find that
(03:58):
confidence every day and justshowing up for myself even when
it's difficult, even when and Ithink that is a transferable
skill that I got from working asa shelter advocate is a lot of
times there is not a best casescenario.
You're dealing with people whoare unfortunately in some of the
really hardest part of theirlives and there is not an easy
way to make that better, and soI think like, just yeah, that
(04:18):
that's where that grit comesfrom.
For me, it's just finding, aslong as I make baby steps, like
eventually that progress willget somewhere, and I have faith
in that, I have faith in myself.
So, even when it's hard, evenwhen I'm feeling that like
strong imposter syndrome, Istill show up, I still try my
best, I ask my questions andthen I just wait for myself to
feel better, because it goesback and forth Some days I feel
really great about it, otherdays I don't feel so great about
(04:38):
it, but regardless, I show upand that's been the biggest
hurdle that I have to overcomeevery day.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Nice, yeah, man, it's a roller coaster, it's a wild
one.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, you're telling me.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So how did you hear about?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
our program.
So originally I had met someonewho was part of a different
apprenticeship and they had avery similar educational
background as me and I justnever, I don't know.
They inspired me to think maybethat's something I could do,
because I never really thought Icould get into tech.
I've always really liked STEMbut I just at some point in my
educational journey I stoppedthinking that I was that capable
.
But and then, hearing aboutthis person that found an
(05:14):
apprenticeship, I was like whynot me?
Hearing about this person thatfound an apprenticeship, I was
like why not me?
So I just really went on aGoogle search.
I found your program and at thatpoint the pre-apprenticeship
was still pretty new.
I think I was the very firstcohort of the pre-apprenticeship
and I was just.
I was I don't know.
I feel like talking to youreally made me feel confident in
the route that this was goingto be able to take me towards.
I interviewed, and it was veryfast soon as I gave you my
(05:35):
application, we interviewed thenext day and then I was signed
up the day after that and then Istarted two weeks later and
it's just been.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
That's a whirlwind.
That's really cool and walk alistener through a rough
timeline of.
So the admission process waspretty fast, but then how much
time did you spend in thepre-apprenticeship approximately
?
And then how long did it takebefore you were like on the job
inside of ServiceDAO doing yourapprenticeship?
Speaker 1 (06:00):
So that was a really quick turnaround too.
The pre-apprenticeship wassupposed to be estimated for
around three months, and that'show long it took me to get
through the curriculum.
After three months as apre-apprentice I was
transitioned to full-timeapprentice and I did about, I
think, six months as anapprentice, just meeting within
Creating Coding Careers everyday, and then at some point I
(06:20):
did get an interview around thatsixth month with ServiceNow and
I was told I was hired on themonth after that and then it was
just like a waiting game, likethey just needed to be ready for
us.
I think I waited maybe likeanother month, so probably by
like month seven I wasofficially like transitioned to
ServiceNow and so I've beenthere about three months now and
my program at ServiceNow is asix month program before we get
(06:42):
transitioned to full-time staff.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
You're close, you're there, you're like right there,
I know yeah.
So how do you think learning tocode has made an impact on you
both personally andprofessionally?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Personally and professionally, like I mentioned
, I always really liked science.
I took classes for computerscience in high school.
I started off my undergradjourney as a physics major and
was taking, like Python, classesfor physics and at some point I
just I'm a first generationcollege student.
I come from ancestors andfamily line of a lot of people
(07:16):
who were illiterate, who didn'tget past the third grade
education or high schooleducation.
So I think at a certain point,like I just stopped believing
that I was capable and there's alot of misogyny in certain
departments and I feel like Ijust some of the experiences
that I had made me feel like,yeah, maybe this isn't for me,
and so I focused on a route thatwas really like working with
survivors.
Sexual and domestic violence isreally dominated by women of
(07:37):
color for the majority of thepeople who do that work in my
experience, like at least outhere in SoCal and so I feel like
I just transitioned tosomeplace that made me feel safe
and made me feel heard, and Ithink that's how learning to
code has really impacted me now,coming back to it full circle
and realizing that this issomething that I can do and that
my voice does matter and thatmy presence and my
representation does matter inthe tech world, and so I feel
(08:00):
like it's transformed me in somany ways, just like with that
confidence in myself and I seehow it transforms even the
community around me.
Just like how I met somebodywho was part of an
apprenticeship and it made methink, wow, I can do that.
I feel like a lot of theconversations I've been having
with people in my own community,with my own friendships, like I
feel like people are now moreopen to it.
Maybe I don't need to have themost traditional route.
I can find my own alternativeroute to get within the tech
(08:22):
world and to do things that Iwant to do, because I've always
had fun learning science and atsome point I just I didn't
believe anymore.
Yeah, I'm just like being ableto bring that all back together
full circle has reallytransformed me personally,
professionally.
I think it's totally transformedme professionally, considering
that, like I had no, for a longtime I didn't really touch
anything in tech.
I would just work on databases,trying to find people,
(08:44):
resources, and sometimes thedatabases would act up, things
would be slow, things would bebroken, and that would frustrate
me and I would be so upset that, like, who is working on this?
That was always my question.
Who does this and why can't Ibe the one to fix it?
Because it's getting in?
So I think, professionally, it'sreally brought me to a place
where, like now, especially atServiceNow, where I'm working on
IT service management toolslike I see what it's like to be
(09:07):
on the other side of that and,especially because I'm working
on a customer facing team like Igoing to be able to get the
health resources that they need,or that people are going to be
left out in the cold becausethey didn't.
They queued up too many peoplefor a vaccination, like I just
(09:29):
hear all the real world examplesof how the work that we do
impacts people.
So it's really transformed myperspective in terms of what it
means to be someone, have thatresponsibility to yeah, to
create those resources and tocreate that those changes.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
That's phenomenal.
And this, my friends, is thereason why we need more
diversity in tech, because Ithink your unique lived
experience lends to buildingbetter products and services,
because you just understand yourcustomer base better.
Right, you shared that if theindustry is dominated mostly by
women, black, women of colorthen we got to make sure people
(10:06):
inside building the tools havesome of that same lived
experience to be able to haveempathy and design things that
are going to really solve themost important and critical
challenges.
So, kudos, I feel like we'vedone so so much good in helping
you make that transition.
We've done so so much good inhelping you make that transition
, and I think it's hard tomeasure and quantify the ripple
(10:29):
effect of creating opportunityand then allowing someone to
step into that role.
Who knows how many people aregoing to hear this and be
inspired and think maybe I canalso be like Bernie and just get
after it.
Yeah, I hear that stat a lot.
I hear a stat about a lot ofwomen, especially women that may
go to school thinking that theywant to pursue a STEM degree at
some point, fall off and theydon't graduate with STEM degrees
(10:51):
and instead they go into otherfields being able to have some
more support and persevere willresult in more people that not
just start CS degrees butcomplete CS degrees or go
alternative routes.
So what's the last new thingyou learned?
(11:12):
Because I hear a lot frompeople that like this is a
lifelong learning exercise.
So what's the last thing thatyou had to adjust and pick up?
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I'm learning something new every day.
Something that I learned abouttoday is hot fixes.
I'm learning something newevery day.
Something that I learned abouttoday is hotfixes, like what it
takes to have a hotfix, just theroutes to be able to request it
.
I don't know, I'm not even surehow much more to dive into that
, but every day, especially asan apprentice, I'm asking
questions and just trying to putthe pieces together as best as
I can.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yeah, and that's where the rubber meets the road.
So for folks that are listening, that are not software
engineers, a hotfix is basicallyokay, we're doing it live,
right, we test everything, makesure.
But it's an off-cycle releaseof some software to do a fix or
a patch, and it's usuallybecause there's some critical or
urgent need, and so that's whatwe call firefighting in the
business, right there hotfixes.
(11:59):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Thank you for explaining it.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, who's someone you'd like?
Speaker 1 (12:05):
to give a shout out to, I think, so many people.
I want to give a shout out tomy cohort mates, elena and
Marjorie, who are really holdingit down as friends.
In tech, we're the very firstcohort and in a very male
dominated field, and I thinkwe're all doing a phenomenal job
.
It can be isolating at times,especially because we're not all
on the same team, but we makesure to check in with each other
(12:26):
.
We're constantly just yeah,just checking in, making sure
that we're doing okay and then,whenever one of us has resources
that we found out about, weshare it with each other, and I
think we really have eachother's back and that has helped
immensely throughout thisjourney so far.
So shout out to them.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Nice, all right.
Last and most difficultquestion what's your favorite
snack?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
That was the hardest one.
Oh my gosh, Favorite snack.
I really enjoy eatingNicaraguan food.
That's where my mom is from.
I eat a lot of gallo pinto,which is basically just rice and
beans, but like the Nicaraguanversion, platanos, plantains
with Nicaraguan crema and cheesefrom Nicaragua.
I don't know, that's like whenI'm trying to treat myself.
That's what I go get.
(13:07):
There's a spa in LA SaborNicaraguan.
That's the best one in LA.
So if you ever have anopportunity, check that out.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, I'm up there.
I'm up there frequently, so I'mgoing to have to hunt that
place down for sure.
Also, thanks, so Awesome.
(13:36):
Thanks so much, brittany, forcoming on the program.
Thank you, thanks for having me.
You've been listening to SkillsFirst, the Apprenticeship
Playbook podcast.
By the way, if this is valuableto you, don't be lame.
Share the game.
This is how we know you love it.
If you're a company thinkingabout changing how you hire,
please share it so we know thistype of stuff is what you want.
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