Mums in Tech – feat. Elizabeth Orji

As part of a special edition of ‘Mums in Tech’ series in collaboration with Le Wagon, Motherboard caught up with Elizabeth Orji, Freelancer and Technical writer at Techiepistle & Google Women Techmakers Ambassador.

The purpose of our ‘MotherBoard’ content series is to highlight incredible working mums within tech & data, as well as individuals and businesses that are supportive and progressive within their approach to creating more inclusive tech & data teams for women.

Firstly, can you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your current role?

Elizabeth: I am Elizabeth Orji, a mom of three amazing kids, a Software Developer, a Google Women Tech Maker Ambassador and a Technical Writer. I used to be a dental therapist for 12 years. Tired of being a clinician, I needed to do something different. I started thinking about becoming an Oral researcher and developed a fascination with Digital Dentistry which I did for two years.

Currently, I am a technical writer for my newsletter called Techiepistle which talks about everything going on in the tech space I work as a Freelance Software Developer, contributing to LinkedIn which earned me a LinkedIn Community Top Voice while Job hunting.

You started as a dental clinician, and then became interested in web development. What sparked your interest in the tech industry?

Elizabeth: I needed a job that gave me the chance to work from home. As a clinician, sometimes I had to sleep at the hospital and work long hours on site. I desperately needed the liberty of working from home and being present in my kids’ lives. I did a bit of research and found Le Wagon which offers web development and that posed as an opportunity.

I desperately needed the liberty of working from home and being present in my kids’ lives. I did a bit of research and found Le Wagon which offers web development and that posed as an opportunity.

Can you tell us about your experience coming over to England to do a bootcamp and leaving your kids at home?

Elizabeth: It was one big gumball of adventure. I came to London and started the boot camp the next day. There was too much of a culture shock, and I should have arrived a few weeks earlier because I needed time to integrate. I enjoyed meeting some amazing people. At first, I felt very out of place as the only black woman in the boot camp, but everyone was very friendly and I tried different foods from my batch mates who were eager to help me fit in. Lukas the Batch Manager would give me some additional support when I was struggling in the early days.

You are now a Google Women Tech Maker Ambassador, congratulations! Can you tell us how you got this role and what it involves?

Elizabeth: Yeah! I was selected to be a Google Women Tech Maker Ambassador, I was recognized as a female leader in the tech field after my application in March. I completely forgot about it, but was invited for an interview in May. My duties are to raise up other women in the field of tech through Public speaking, creating viable digital content, facilitating events and promoting Google products. This role earned me an email from Women Tech Network requesting for me to apply as a speaker at their upcoming Women’s Conference which I did.

Do you have any advice for mums who are looking to change careers and get into tech?

Elizabeth: If you want to be around your kids and work at the same time, a tech career provides the perfect opportunity, it is like killing two birds with one stone. No matter the industry you are passionate about, there is a tech aspect to it, if you love sports or healthcare or finance. You can still get all those transferable skills into your tech career while parenting at the same time.

If you want to be around your kids and work at the same time, a tech career provides the perfect opportunity. No matter the industry you are passionate about, there is a tech aspect to it… you can still get all those transferable skills into your tech career while parenting at the same time.

Is there anything you want to add or share with the Motherboard community?

Elizabeth: I would like to encourage mothers to take on more leadership roles and intentionally rise up to managerial positions in the tech industry. Nobody knows it all, sometimes even the most experienced amongst us struggle and everybody is still learning. It’s okay to accept that no one knows it all, accept that we all struggle with impostor syndrome and just keep learning.

Nobody knows it all, sometimes even the most experienced amongst us struggle and everybody is still learning. It’s okay to accept that no one knows it all, accept that we all struggle with impostor syndrome and just keep learning.