Meet some of the women leading our engineering teams into the future of work
For nearly 15 years now, Dropbox has seen a lot of things change in the tech industry. And one of those incredible shifts to witness and be at the forefront of has been the increase in female engineers working among us. We’re so lucky to have so many women on our engineering teams who bring their intelligence, talent, kindness, and work ethic to their Virtual First offices every day.
We chatted with three female leaders from our engineering teams to learn a little more about how they’re thriving in Virtual First, what diversity in the workplace means to them, and how they feel they have a voice as a female engineer at Dropbox. Read on for a peek inside the Dropbox worlds of Head of Software Development Engineering in Test (SDET) Nicole Barton, VP & GM of Dropbox Core Rachel Wolan, and Director of Engineering in Core Experience Susanne Kaufmann.
Why do you like Virtual First?
Nicole: I like Virtual First because it allows me more creative time to think about work. I don’t work in a linear way; I zig-zag a bit to get to the end result. By having my own space with my own whiteboard, I feel like I’m more creative and more engaged at work.
It’s actually helped me in my personal life as well. I have two senior dogs and I get to spend more time with them and take them on more walks. I feel like I just know my home space and my own life better. I’m an introvert, so I’m overwhelmed sometimes by just the constant movement of people. When I’m working from home, it honestly allows me to be a bit more me.
Susanne: We have Core Collaboration Hours at Dropbox, meaning most meetings happen (for me) between 9 and 1. That gives me the rest of the afternoon to spend on projects and work that needs thinking and focus time, and we’re really good about maintaining that expectation and freedom to have that time. Outside of meetings, I spend time going for walks outside to get energized and get my creative thinking going, and I hang out with my cat, and I have lunch with my husband if he’s in the house. My adjustment also meant not having a commute anymore; it was about three hours in total before, so now I have more stress-free time to go for a walk or just not rush. And the biggest wonderful change for me is that my son is in school in Burlington, Vermont, so we bought a small apartment there and now I get to go spend extended time with him over the summer and still work and have a normal life like we would if we lived nearby.
I try really hard to go to work with my clothes and makeup done. I’m a little on the shy side, and I’m terribly self-conscious, so what I do at home now is I wear clothes I wouldn’t normally wear in the office. I get to have some fun dressing up, and I actually feel like I get to be myself a little more this way.
What does your involvement in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at Dropbox look like?
Rachel: I’m the executive sponsor of Pridebox, which is the LGBTQ+ community at Dropbox. That’s been a really fruitful and awesome experience; I’ve gotten to know a lot of people outside my day-to-day and learned about different issues impacting employees. I also co-lead the women’s circle, where once a month we go deep into discussion on a topic — everything from how to build your network internally to how you own your story and understand how different events in your life have shaped you both personally and professionally.
Susanne: I am a mentor in our DEI sponsorship program for women and underrepresented minorities to get the best possible representation during our performance reviews at Dropbox. It’s a fantastic program. I want to continue doing this forever; anything that helps someone be proud of their work and have an opportunity to shine and be seen is really important. I am also involved with the Women@ ERG at Dropbox and own the monthly Engineering Leadership for Women lunch.
How do you exemplify DEI in your leadership?
Nicole: In meetings or events I’m participating in, I try to lean in with my inclusive muscles. Are we having a well-rounded conversation? Do we have all the right people in the room? Is everyone feeling seen and heard? And if not, how can we help to mitigate those things so everyone feels confident in sharing their voice? The way I manage my team is based on having this be a place where people can grow. It’s not that you have to have the right answer right away, but if for some reason your project didn’t go as planned, how do you learn from it? How do you apply those learnings going forward? Because I definitely believe in a diversity of thought and being able to set up situations where my team understands the guardrails for an assignment but can be creative in how they solve the problem. I really encourage people to bring their diverse experiences and inherent diversity to work and really put them to work for us so we can build the best products for our customers.
Rachel: DEI is a thread through every single thing that you do in your work life. It really brings diversity of thought into the workplace, and I think it’s so important to promote it. It impacts recruiting, how we support people, and how we think about creating diversity in teams — so many aspects of our people and our programming. It’s something I think about every day — how can we improve and continue to create more and more momentum around DEI?
Why did you choose Dropbox?
Susanne: As a “boomerang” (someone who left Dropbox for another opportunity and later returned), I spent a lot of time thinking about what the most important things for me at work are. Consistently throughout my career, it’s been the people, the problems that need to be solved, and the impact that I believe I can have. It’s been the environment in which I do the work. How supportive is it? How much do people matter? How much do we care about each other? Out of all the places I have worked, Dropbox has been the place that has exemplified all of this. Knowing that made it really easy to make the choice to come back, and returning was genuinely heartwarming.
Nicole: One of the reasons I chose Dropbox was because it has very mature DEI and Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) departments. As a Black woman in engineering, those things are really important to me; I need to depend on those things to make sure that work is a safe place for me and people who look like me and people that I identify with in some way. Dropbox has done a really great job of making sure that I’m aware that I’m supported. I have a great mentor and great sponsors across the company who really value the work I do and my contributions to the organization. I feel like I can come here and really do my work. It also allows me space to do things like be involved in interview loops and make sure we’re doing our best to remove bias and to be inclusive in calibration sessions — really advocating for diversity in the way people are able to be promoted. There’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.
What has your career as a woman in engineering looked like for you?
Susanne: I really believe that engineers have a special bond in how we think about our craft, how we think about problem-solving, and how that work is exciting for us. I feel a great connection to anyone in the field. And being a woman in engineering is important; I feel so lucky to be one. It means I get to be a role model for other women and underrepresented minorities every day when I show up for work, and that it’s a valid, worthwhile career. I really feel a responsibility to show that this is a great career for everyone, regardless of race, gender, or background. I think me being here shows that others can be here as well.
Rachel: I’ve only been a woman in engineering, I haven’t been anything else! But I’ve actually had a great experience. I’ve had amazing female and male mentors throughout my career. Sometimes I think I have a little bit of a louder voice because I’m one of maybe a couple women in the room, so I try to think about how to use my voice for good. For me, one of the most thrilling things about my current role is that I get to have so much impact on so many women in engineering, project management, and design. I get to help them see different possibilities for themselves in their career, and that’s been so rewarding.
Interested in learning more about Nicole, Rachel, and Susanne? Keep an eye on our social media this month for a mini glimpse into the life of each of these women.
