Why I said f*** it. I’m creating my own women-led company.

I’m not a 22 year old Stanford grad. I’m not a genius. I don’t live in San Francisco. I’m a woman of color. I’m by no means a darling of the VC community.

For all these reasons, why the hell am I starting a tech company?

What I am is approaching 40 years old. I came out of college trying to change the world. I worked for non-profits, labor unions, community development organizations, progressive political campaigns. I worked with communities of color trying to change people’s lives. I experienced the 30 year old crisis of trying to make a life while getting paid nothing. I got an MBA. I pivoted careers into tech, taught myself front-end web development, became a user experience designer and did my best to continue making an impact on this world.

But, all I kept on seeing were systemic problems leading to inefficiencies and wasted money. Disorganization. Power plays. Ego. Selfishness. Racism. Sexism. Bigotry. Inequality.

2017 came and I hit bottom, and felt completely powerless and isolated.

Bottom for me meant rage.

And in that rage and feelings of powerlessness, the only way I could take control back was by taking action.

I tried to find like minded people. People who understood what it was like to be a woman of color in tech. To be that lone voice in the room trying to share an experience of what it’s like to NOT be a white guy, and getting blank stares by 100+ people. It was really hard. I mean, REALLY hard. But, I had to start somewhere.

I found out about a women-led team at a hackathon called Go Code Colorado. I joined the group not knowing what to expect. But, I found a group of people who were also frustrated with the problems of diversity in tech. And over the course of the weekend, we built a chatbot app that would help hiring managers find diverse STEM candidates from Colorado’s public colleges and universities.

We didn’t expect to win anything. But the judges decided otherwise, and sent us to the finals. All of a sudden, I was presented with an opportunity to create a startup.

When an opportunity comes your way, even if it’s a really scary one, you have to make a choice. I could have said f*** it, I’ll make the jump. Or I could have taken the safe route and stayed in my rage.

I decided to do both in a way. I still have my rage, but I’m channeling it all into <div>ersity. I’m done seeing people of color get walked on and ignored. I’m done seeing a total lack of empathy towards LGBTQ folks. I’m done seeing people with visible and invisible disabilities feeling isolated. I’m done seeing people with different socio-economic backgrounds have a lack of access to opportunities. I’m done with inequity.

My co-founder and I decided on building a platform that connects a community of diverse coders, engineers and developers with trusted, transparent companies. We’re elevating the voices of diverse tech talent, and we’re finding companies that are innovating around cultures and policies based on inclusion. We want every company to be equitable, diverse, and inclusive. We want every individual who feels isolated and under appreciated to finally be empowered.

So, I made the leap. F*** it. Let’s see where this journey takes us.

You can connect with me on Twitter or e-mail: nina@hirediversity.us

I would love to hear from you if you’re a company that “gets it” or if you’re a coder/engineer/developer who has ever felt “othered”.