Women Who Reign: Briana Vecchione
Happy Sunday Reigners! There are times when you come across a person with a definite presence, and Brianna stood out to me on that front. Read on about how she is already an advocate in her own right for women in STEM, her international goals, and her amazing advice for other women!
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Tell us about yourself along with a fun fact!
I’m a senior CS major located in NYC and passionate about using tech for social impact on a global scale. I’ve previously worked in data science/development with Microsoft Research, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, ABB, & Square and often speak on diversity and inclusion initiatives around the Northeast area. I’m also the chapter head of Wogrammer-NY, which seeks to recognize and celebrate talented women engineers in the NY area. Fun Fact: I’m a passionate tap dancer! I used to dance with an LA-based tap company in high school, and it’s still my favorite form of creative expression.
What # would define your life journey?
I find that I organize the information that comprises my life in dyads, which can sometimes be confusing or conflicting (Ex: Splitting my time between CA and NYC). #Integration and #interaction are key themes that I’ve found to be important for me.
Favorite website / app:
Right now my favorite site is https://nomadtrips.co/, which is a community to support people who utilize the power of freelance/remote work to travel full-time, commonly referred to as ‘digital nomads.’
Someone who inspires you and knowledge they have imparted (if any):
Hilary Mason has been my biggest technical inspiration since I became interested in data science a few years ago. Not only is she a game changer when it comes to technical innovations, she’s also a female founder and incredibly humble/personable. I last saw her at GHC, where she spoke a bit about the evolving role of companies in the economy. I’ve been getting the itch to start a company lately, and she presented the idea that “[successful] companies become influential because of how effectively they interact with the world around them”, which I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.
Song that makes you want to dance:
I have a very distinctive music habit where I find a song and listen to it on repeat. Current favorite: YOUTH by Troye Sivan
Technical challenge you’ve faced and how you overcame it:
I was once on a remote team with members from China and Finland and working on a ship control engineering project sponsored by ABB. We had to figure out how to interface our hardware mechanisms with a web application. My team partner and I had very limited experience in hardware/networking at the time and ended up spending a semester’s worth of weekends building servers and researching websockets in order to properly build the infrastructure.
Ideal Job:
This is a tough one and something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently, since I’m soon to graduate. I know I want to start a company and go to graduate school within the next 2 years, but lately I’ve been heavily considering getting a remote job and working from a different country every month for a year. I’m very independent, I love to work abroad, and I love to travel, so I think I’d get a lot out of an experience like that.
What knowledge would you impart to women in order for them to REIGN their lives?
Passion will be your greatest motivator and most important reward; Everything else can be learned. 2.) Networking is just a fancy name for meeting interesting people and expanding your own horizons by getting to hear about their journeys. It will lead to some of your greatest friendships and most important mentorships. 3.) Stay humble, never stop learning, and don’t be afraid to take risks. Sometimes I get this feeling like my life is playing with fire, and that’s when I know I’m growing the most. 4.) Work that fulfills you is work where you’ll be able to make the largest difference. Find the difference between “knowing when to go” and being persistent in the face of adversity.
