What is an Agilista? And what does one confess? This first post to our blog will summarize each of the contributors to our blog. Together we make up a group of women all working on the same project. All of us work for a company called Thoughtworks, an Agile, software consultancy. We will refer to the project, when necessary, as [Auto-Complete]* for the remainder of the blog. The structure of our posts will be a mix between both the group and invividuals, all with different topics. Below is an introduction of the contributors, those who will help express what the success and struggles of an Agilista are. :) Enjoy!
Mridula Jayaraman
Currently living in Chicago and working as a Consultant. Does this summarize my life? Nope.
Change has been a constant for as long as I remember. Cliche? Too bad. Educated as an engineer, I decided to pursue medicine. As I was debating the uncomfortable choice of admitting I might have mistakenly rushed into a career path or finishing what I had started, I bumped head long into Thoughtworks. Software developer is the title I go by today. A true turning point.
Although unsure about where I am headed, there a few things about me that have always stayed the same. I love the feeling each morning when I wake up and the sun is shining. I love the taste of my first cup of coffee and the first smile I see each day. I love to laugh (at myself too) and make people laugh. I love to think and plan and rethink my plans. I love being me! (More later... Oh wait a minute, I love to procrastinate...a lot.)
Christina Zhong
I have been with ThoughtWorks for over six years and have worked on more than 15 projects with 10 clients. I started as a developer and have grown into a Tech Lead. I have also worked as an Iteration Manager and as a Business Analyst. I believe that business development is as important as technology growth.
I believe that Agile and Lean bring light to software development. Therefore, I am here to share my thoughts and experience in Agile enablement and delivery projects in the hope that it will encourage you to give it a try and to exchange your thoughts and experiences so that we can make software development even better.
I live in Chicago with my lovely daughter, who just turned 2 a few months ago. Having a child has changed my life and I am happier than ever.
Achint Sethi
I was born and brought up in New Delhi, India. As a kid or even as a young adult, I had never thought that I would come to the US some day. An opportunity presented itself about 4 yrs ago, and I thought about pursuing masters at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. With some hard work and good luck, I got through the MSIT(Software Engineering) programme with 60% scholarship - that became very hard to turn down. It was there that I got a glimpse of the agile world. It was also where, I got started at TW through campus recruiting and the agilista was born :o)
On a personal front, I really enjoy traveling - have recently started to trot the globe, lots more to cover still!! Watching movies, listening to music (ESP. In my shower :o)), being health conscious are some of the other passions I keep. I always wanted to write a blog, and what better opportunity than to gang up with a bunch of other agilistas and confess what the ride has been like do far!
Rachel Trana
About Me: Currently, I am working in a developer/consultant role at ThoughtWorks, Inc. However, I have also had the opportunity to experience project development and agile methods from a QA perspective, as well as from a UX point of view – all within my first 9 months of joining ThoughtWorks! Prior to TW, I pursued both Masters and Doctoral degrees in Applied Mathematics at Northwestern. Enough about work! I love running – I’ve completed the Chicago Marathon twice and hope to run the Las Vegas Rock ‘n Roll marathon at some point in the next couple of years.
Why This Blog? For as long as I can remember, I have studied or worked in a field where women are a minority (mathematics, computational neuroscience, programming, etc). Finally, after all these years, I am working on a project where we have (gasp!) a majority of women. I am looking forward to writing and talking about this new experience and comparing them to my past experiences. In addition, I look forward to reading and learning about how my female colleagues have dealt with various issues during their time working in a highly technical area.
My Agile Experience: ThoughtWorks! I’m a complete and total convert! (Well, disciple might be a better word…)
Toni-Marie Wahlberg
I live in Chicago with my husband and baby boy, who is the light of my life. I'm new to IT and new to agile. My motivation for writing this blog is to get other young women and girls interested and involved in the tech field. I believe I have a unique perspective - coming from a science background, how those skills have helped me; science sparked my passion for learning and innovation.
Molly Bartlett
As a software developer at Thoughtworks, I’ve played almost all of the ‘normal’ roles on a team. From, ‘dev’ to QA or BA, I have been privilidged to play each part in my year with TW. Technically, I enjoy working with UX, Ruby (learning it now) and Agile development. My interest of technology is influenced by my family of engineers and scientists, especially my mom. Other areas of interest are: volleyball, movies, cards/board games and traveling. Overall, I hope this blog will demonstrate there is a place for women in the IT industry. Also, I think the dynamics of group posts, pair posts or individual posts will help enhance the flavor of the blog.
*To comply with our disclosure agreement
