The Power in the Simple Act of Doing

© 2017 Delphix. All Rights Reserved. Private and Confidential.© 2017 Delphix. All Rights Reserved. Private and Confidential.
Kellyn Pot’Vin-Gorman | Technical Intelligence Manager | September, 2017
The Power in the
Simple Act of Doing

© 2017 Delphix. All Rights Reserved. Private and Confidential.
I’ve had an Awesome Career

My Life Now

Growing Up Let’s talk about cold
winters…. 

Keeping up with the Boys
Oldest of three girls.
First girl of my generation.
So much cooler being a boy.
Sit STILL???

What Little girls are made of…
Blessed with variety.
The smart one, the pretty one and
the rebel.
Society shows girls early on the
value of beauty….
Always felt different
Own drummer
Non-traditional communication
style

Expectations
Me- Journalist
Mother- Presidential Aspirations?
Sister- Administrative Assistant??

Goethe
“Anything you can do, or dream you can, begin it, for initiative
has power, magic and genius in it.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

On My Own
Moved to Colorado
Made Friends
Work and School
Something wasn’t right…

Derailed
Five Strokes
Rare Auto-immune condition
50% left side visual field
9 years of previous memories
Physical and Speech Therapy
Relearn young adult skills

Early Frustrations
Relearning
To drive
To balance a checkbook
Perform basic work tasks
Could no longer perform previous career's duties
Single Mother to child

Words of support
“Anything you can do, or dream you can, begin it, for initiative
has power, magic and genius in it.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I could I could
I had to

Small Becomes Something Bigger
Small accomplishments become bigger impressions.
Not afraid to fail, as failed at so many things during my recovery.
Aware that frustration is my worst enemy.
Setting an example and not worrying about what others were doing.

Sayings to Live by-
“Fall down seven times, rise up eight…”
~Jewish Proverb

Small Goals Becomes Accomplishments
Selling Shoes Selling Computers Desktop Support
Oracle Recommends I
Should Certify as a
DBA
Becomes a
DBA
Becomes Lead DBA

Jr. DBA Challenges
• First DBA position, was hired as a Jr. DBA with another Jr. DBA.
• I didn’t have degree in CS or specialized in databases.
• I had a newborn, three children, married.
• She was single, had the CS degree, specializing in databases.
• She left the industry after just 9 months.
• I understood her decision….

I remained, but Felt “Directed”
Complaint to manager about being viewed as an end user, a
project manager or other non-technical person in meetings.
Less opportunity to work on technical challenges- always left to
administration tasks.
Started asking questions- How are we impacted by first
impressions, especially as women?
By name?
By physical presentation?

What is a Guy Geek These Days?

What’s Pictured for a Girl in Technology?

I am a canvas, I paint my own future
First Impressions were sidelining me from being
viewed as technical.
Even after proving myself, my strong management
skills were deterring me from technical challenges.
I didn’t want management, I wanted tech!
Testing the “Goth” theory….

Positive Mentors
Mentors are everywhere, but very
few in IT

Departure
Started out as team of five women DBAs.
15 Years as a DBA
52 male DBAs
13 female DBAs
Informal research via social media, (no I wasn’t stalking everyone… )
One male DBA has retired.
One female DBA has retired.
Eight of the women I’ve worked with have left the industry. None of the
men have.

Where Did They Go?
Only one retired, many upon research went soft-tech, (recruiter, project
manager, management)
When asked why they left-
Not enough support through mentoring and peers, even less sponsorship.
Less opportunity for women in upper management.
Catch -22 of going into management and loss of technical challenges that first
interested them. Over-scrutinized when they did go management.
More family/life balance in other industries.

800lb Gorilla in the Room, Research
Shows…
Of the 41% of women that left IT, those
polled said they left because?
Few to no peers
Lack of mentors and sponsors
Less opportunities for advancement
Biggest challenge- Often told not to
talk about the issues.

Death by a Thousand Pin Pricks

The Next Growth Surge
Begins to
Present & Write
Articles
Conference DirectorBegins to Blog
Co-Authors First
Book
Begins to Mentor/WIT
Achieves ACEAchieves ACE Director
Inducted to Oak Table
Goth Begins
Joins Oracle as CMTS
Starts STEM EducationBegins at Delphix

What Finally Forced me into Action
Middle Sister passed away from cancer in 2013
without the opportunity to achieve her own goals in life.

Create Something Good From this…
Created first WIT session for RMOUG after her diagnosis.
Spoke about at ODTUG’s KSCOPE WIT session, month after
passing, along with other Women in Tech organizations.
Started offering mentoring to women that were not asking, nothing
too formal, but it provided much value to those women who said yes.
Through programs like Devoxx4Kids, Oracle Education Foundation,
Raspberry Pi Maker Faires, spread STEM Education initiatives.

I am my Father’s Daughter, (According to
Mom..)
Learned to not listen to those that offered no
options, only criticism.
Surrounded myself with positive people,
negative added stress and was negative to
health.
Realized the more you do, the more you
become.
The more you try, the more opportunities open
up for you.

I Am My Father’s Daughter
Offer me options, not just criticism.
Negativity wastes time and accomplishes nothing.
The more I did, the more I was identified with the
accomplishment.
More opportunities opened up for me.
Walked away from those that attempted to hold me back.

“Find your passion, find your path, then set it on
fire. Make it burn so bright that people don’t just
come to see the flames, but they’ll want to walk in
your footsteps before they cool…”

Statistics show….

Technical Education
41 states have no technical class requirements for
graduation.
Included office technology
Many schools allocate technical with trade/vocational
schools which are for those who can’t make it to
college.

As I Learn About the SQL Server
Community
• On average, you’re about 10 years younger.
• You’re years ahead on gender diversity initiatives.
• You have honest discussions about topics.
• You take it seriously, not as an afterthought.
• Real friendships and respect have developed between many in the
SQL Family due to this.
• I’m eager to learn more in my interaction with the community.

The Oracle Community
Noted about 30% women in IT in Denver.
Only 7% were attending RMOUG’s conference.
Started WIT sessions and women responded in
feedback that it was the first time they had attended,
they felt welcome.
Oracle ACE Program, 500 awarded, only around 25
women, (5%).
Oak Table Network, 100 members, 6 women,
(10%).

By Doing…
52 WIT Panels
41 Articles in Technical Publications
Education of local government about the importance of tech
programs in schools and beginning the TechGirlz program.
New Women’s Empowerment Program
OraWIT via Twitter to support Women in Oracle
Retain those in the industry and mentoring programs for
women already in tech.
One Oracle Education Foundation, Dtech Curriculum and 5 Maker
Faires.

What Has Come out of this?
RMOUG WIT has increased attendance from 7% to over
22%
Have mentored/sponsored 51 women in five years
Sponsorship and mentoring generated new mentors.
34 WIT programs through out Colorado, US and Europe.
Start of RMOUG WIT Fund to educate in schools.
Colorado Technology Association WIT Award 2014
Transferring from current program to TechGirlz.

Opportunities-
Blogging demonstrates your knowledge publicly.
Writing offers certified publication status.
Presenting removes any "glass ceiling”.
Social Media offers a voice to women in tech.
Recognized by PEERS and become a mentor/sponsor.
Perception and Representation is important.
Never fear staying in a high-tech career. There is a path!

Have a Challenge? Want to Connect?
40

Thank you and Always Inspire!

The Power in the Simple Act of Doing

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to The Power in the Simple Act of Doing

Similar to The Power in the Simple Act of Doing (20)

More from Kellyn Pot'Vin-Gorman

More from Kellyn Pot'Vin-Gorman (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The Power in the Simple Act of Doing

Editor's Notes