Mitchell Cowie, Gentleman Geek
Tina Poon & Carrie Mah
Mitchell Cowie, Gentleman Geek extraordinaire, is Chic Geek’s biggest fan, and we’re celebrating Mitchell right back! Mitchell, the first ticket purchaser for Chic Geek’s signature conference, Geeky Summit, is also a veteran Chic Geek mentor and all-around great guy. (Shameless plug: Geeky Summit is a full-day conference built to recognize and celebrate women who are advancing technology and entrepreneurship. Click here for more info.)
By day, Mitchell is kicking ass as the Director of Development at Baker Distributing. By night, he’s changing his hair colour and exploring his passions in technology and media.
How did you end up in tech?
I was interested in technology the moment I discovered you can make computers do things. I remember at school one day, one of my classmates showed me how he controlled the computer by writing a piece of code. “You can do that?!” I thought. From that moment on, I was absolutely hooked.
Professionally, I went to school for software development at DeVry and eventually found my life’s calling in e-commerce. For 7 years I worked at Shopster as a web developer wearing many hats. After I left Shopster, I contracted independently for a few years, but I missed owning projects that I could work on consistently for an extended period of time. The opportunity came up for me to work at Baker Distributing, and I’ve been working for them for the past 2 years on e-commerce web development. [Baker Distributing is a wholesale distribution company for HVAC, refrigeration, food service equipment and parts, and has over 200 locations across 22 states in the U.S.]
Where do you see e-commerce moving to in the future?
Everything has changed. At any retailer now, e-commerce is no longer an afterthought; it’s the core of every business. In the future, we’re going to see a lot of development in the B2B world where businesses are following old models of customers walking into stores, or calling up their sales reps to place orders. That’s where the big future’s going to be. I see a lot of interesting changes in VR, augmented reality and being able to virtually interact with products before buying.
What’s your go-to e-commerce program?
If someone was starting with 100 SKUs, they should probably go straight to Shopify. It has the best support, great tools for integration, a lot of plugins, etc. If someone was trying to build it themselves, and this was a sophisticated store with lots of customer integrations and custom software, the only platform is Magento. It’s the best well-supported and well-known platform. I’d start a Magento store because I like to have full control on my code and give myself full flexibility.
What’s your advice for succeeding in e-commerce?
E-commerce is about finding a niche. You’re never going to win at selling it all, like Amazon or Walmart. They already own it. If you have something unique, special, different to sell, sell that. If you find a niche — something specific that people can be interested in — you’ll be successful. The great thing about web is you have endless access to people. There’s a market for almost anything.
What are your philosophies on women, diversity and inclusion in tech?
I’m not sure if I have a philosophy, but I love what I do and I want everyone to enjoy what I do. When it comes to getting women in tech, there’s such a lack of engagement and a lot of it concerns whether people have a positive experience starting in tech. It’s vital that people have positive first experiences in tech and they continue to stick with and grow that passion. It saddens me anytime I read a story or hear a friend tell me an experience where a woman was dismissed from tech because of their gender, or was judged more by their appearance than their abilities. You’re losing so much potential and capabilities by not embracing all the workforce available to you.
Why do you support organizations like Chic Geek?
I got to a point in my career where I’d done so much learning on my own through trial and error over my years. I really wanted to take that knowledge and help others avoid pitfalls I encountered in my career. I was aware of the challenges women in tech and STEM face, and I wanted to help women grow their careers faster. I was at a place where I really wanted to help out, and when I came across Chic Geek, it felt like a perfect fit.
What were your thoughts after attending Geeky Summit last year?
There are not many conferences like it, it was a great experience. Geeky Summit is unique in terms of discussion topics ranging from technical skills to soft skills within the tech industry. I sat in on talks that focused more on soft skills. Honestly, for me, I find conferences are not just about the speakers, but about the people you meet and the conversations you have that are the most valuable, and Geeky Summit had some great people.
Can you describe your work in the Chic Geek Mentorship Program?
My experience was great, I had a variety of projects, from helping a designer grow her web skills, to mentoring a lady who was in a marketing/manager role within e-commerce. Last year I helped Kylie, the founder of Chic Geek, get the Chic Geek E-Commerce Store off the ground.
My biggest learning is that it’s never going to go according to plan. My mentee and I would start off with one vision and end up not at all close. I also learned how to be a better educator and communicator. I learned how to convey the information to my mentee, but also let them learn on their own so it’s not just me hand-feeding the information. The mentorship program is great, and I really enjoy being able to have that dedicated 1–1 time to really influence someone. I will definitely continue with the mentorship program.
Last question, Mitchell! What’s your advice for people who want to get into tech?
I have two pieces of advice! Start with JavaScript — it’s the most forgiving of all languages. You’re going to make mistakes when you’re starting out and learning to code, and JavaScript will forgive you if you miss a semicolon and it has a lot of built in features to make your program run even if you goof up.
This ties in with the second piece of advice: just try it, get started, start learning. If nothing else, build a website that talks about your cat or anything in your life you care about. Passion is what will drive your willingness to continue and commit to it. Find something you enjoy, build a site around that and write about it. You’ll learn a lot that way. Start with JavaScript and never stop trying.
Interested in our mentorship program? Keep an eye on our site for further information for both future mentors and mentees!
For more information on Geeky Summit, visit:
