Inspirational women of FT Product & Technology
Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day, and a chance to honour inspirational women around the world.
To celebrate, we asked nine women working in the FT’s Product & Technology department about what drew them to the industry and what inspires them.
What is your name?
Laura Carvajal
What is your role at the FT?
Senior Developer
What sparked your interest in technology?
When I was 8 my dad showed me I could program a turtle to draw polygons on our first ever computer. I dropped my former dream of being an astronomer and never looked back.
What inspires you?
Seeing more women enter this field than I’ve ever seen before, and seeing them thrive and lead others to success is a good part of what keeps me inspired to work as a software engineer.
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What is your name?
Daisy Donald
What is your role at the FT?
Senior Research Manager
What sparked your interest in technology?
I’ve worked in lots of different departments within the FT, and technology is the most fast paced department, within one of the most quickly evolving industries. It’s exciting!
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by my colleagues every day. I spend a lot of time talking to our customers too — some are very inspirational, and sometimes I’m inspired to change their mind.
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What is your name?
Vaithegi Vasanthakumar
What is your role at the FT?
Product lead on FT Specialist (a portfolio of brands that covers all the FT’s digital titles outside of ft.com)
What sparked your interest in technology?
The power of technology to make lives better, when deployed in the right way.
What inspires you?
1) Being around other women who are accomplishing amazing things, achieving their potential in life, all while managing the various complexities of life.
2) Forests — I find the majesty of trees to be calming and a walk in a forest to be rejuvenating!
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What is your name?
Rosie Crocker
What is your role at the FT?
Business Analyst for Enterprise Services
What sparked your interest in technology?
It was the ‘80’s, we got a home computer, it was pretty alluring!
What inspires you?
Helping anyone with a clear vision of how to uplift humanity to fulfil their goals.
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What is your name?
Joanna S Kao
What is your role at the FT?
I’m a data visualisation journalist — I create visual stories, interactives and various reporting and storytelling tools for the newsroom.
What sparked your interest in technology?
I first became interested in technology because it explained how everything around me worked, and I stuck with it because I liked having the ability to build my ideas into real products.
What inspires you?
Working with driven and curious people always inspires me! I also like helping people keep up with what’s happening within and outside their own communities, which is what drew me into journalism.
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What is your name?
Aislinn McGurk
What is your role at the FT?
Senior Product Manager — Conversion
What sparked your interest in technology?
The idea of tangible products and results as well as working in a collaborative and creative team.
What inspires you?
People who really know what they are doing, but are able to listen to others. People who are confident but compassionate and make time for other people.
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What is your name?
Annmarie Kiddle
What is your role at the FT?
Head of User Experience
What sparked your interest in technology?
I’ve been in love with digital and designing user experiences people love to use ever since I discovered the internet in the 90's! It’s exciting seeing the possibilities in a medium which fundamentally always exists just in the future, even though we’re designing the products of today. Digital disruption is now fully in the mainstream and most businesses understand the importance of delivering great digital products designed for their customer’s needs, you just have to look at the digital products in every sector from health to travel to education to ecology to feel excited about the possibilities of the future, and technology’s part in human evolution.
What inspires you?
The human imagination. My team, their energy, enthusiasm and creativity. My kids and their capacity to embrace new ideas and ways of doing things.
The women (and men) standing up for what they believe in, women like Malala Yousafzai not deterred by adversity.
Walking outside and discovering new parts of London, the architecture, the history, the street art. Nature.
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What is your name?
Angelique Vu
What is your role at the FT?
Developer, Chairwoman of FT Women UK
What sparked your interest in technology?
I was an art director in Sydney for years and moved into technology at the FT in my late 20s. I’m really happy that I made that change and love working here because it challenges my brain and makes it work in different ways. Plus, it holds so many possibilities for the future in terms of career development.
What inspires you?
Seeing women succeed in their field. Seeing people go up against challenges and power through them.
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What is your name?
Dawn Budge
What is your role at the FT?
Senior Developer
What sparked your interest in technology?
When I started at university I got access to the web that lasted a little bit longer than an hour in an internet café, and realised that it had this huge potential to change everything while at the same time not requiring a huge deal of money or years of study before you could get started and join in with this global community. I became curious about how websites actually got built, and I taught myself from there on in. The web as a technology and software engineering as a discipline are still maturing when compared with other types of engineering and technology so there are major improvements happening all the time, which keeps it interesting and the right sort of challenging.
What inspires you?
On a day-to-day basis, I get to work with people who are smart, open, and interested in making better things. Being surrounded with people where we can bounce ideas off each other frees up people’s thinking. More widely, the potential that technology has to improve people’s lives.
Happy International Women’s Day!
