Introducing Abby Suckow, Product Manager
What is your role and current job?
I’m a product manager at Tripledot Studios, a mobile gaming company. I come up with features for our games and spend most of my day looking at data. I make a living playing games on my phone, it’s great.
How did you get into tech?
I studied math and statistics, then machine learning for my Master’s. I started out in finance, having worked at a consulting firm, a credit rating agency and an investment bank. I never felt very inspired by the work, but didn’t know what I’d do instead, since I’d always thought being in finance would make me ‘successful’.
I knew I wanted a career change, but was scared I would only qualify for more finance jobs. I considered anything and everything that wasn’t old-school finance and landed in gaming and product. I hadn’t ever considered gaming before, but realized it was actually the perfect mix of data and creativity.
Moving from finance to tech wasn’t super straight-forward, since my CV didn’t always line up with what tech companies had on their job postings. Leveraging my STEM degrees, as well as showing my ability to work in a dynamic environment and understand lots of data, was key.
What have the biggest challenges been as a woman or non-binary person in tech?
There’s been a lot of headlines recently about women having bad experiences in gaming, or even of being harassed, but I fortunately have not experienced that myself. My company is very supportive of people of all backgrounds.
I think my biggest challenges have been self-imposed, stemming from self-doubt: the feeling that I shouldn’t voice my opinion because I don’t want to upset anyone. There’s a lot of intelligent people in tech, and it’s easy to compare myself. There’s also a lot of men in tech, who are more often sure of themselves. Sometimes if I have a good idea, I feel it’s not worthwhile, since saying what I want means someone might disagree with me. Sometimes if I don’t think one of my teammates has done their best work, I worry about hurting their feelings. I think a lot of women probably feel this way, that we’ve been conditioned not to ruffle any feathers, and that it’s better to just sit back and be agreeable.
Have you overcome any of these issues? If so, how?
I’ve consciously been working on not being simply agreeable at work, and my manager (also a woman) has been a great support. She pushes me to ask questions, to raise problems with other teams and to push others to get what I want. It’s important to find others who support you in the workplace: a manager, a colleague or even friends who don’t work with you directly. Someone else that can encourage you to get out of your comfort zone.
Some of the actionable steps I’ve taken for overcoming the internalized self-doubt are:
- Being direct and asking for exactly what I want, without any flowery words (you know, all the ones on those lists: “just”, “even”, “maybe”, “but if not, no worries at all!!!”). Also, directly stating when I don’t like something or disagree with someone. If I think something is suboptimal for the game or the company, I point it out.
- Not taking things personally. I don’t have to be best friends with everyone. I try to be kind and understanding; I’m not a jerk and don’t make other people hate working with me. But by focusing on getting the job done, rather than being liked, I do my best work. And people enjoy working with someone who is good at their job.
- Preparing in advance to back up ideas I have with thorough research. When I’m armed with data, it’s easier to argue for what I believe in, and easier to convince others to believe in it too.
What advice would you give others in a similar position?
Have a little more faith in yourself. You deserve to be in the position you’re in.
Is there any resources you recommend sharing?
I really love this weekly email newsletter for women in tech and VC called femstreet: https://www.femstreet.com/
And if you’re interested in the gaming industry, I’d recommend the Deconstructor of Fun blog: https://www.deconstructoroffun.com/blog
If you’re stressed out, I always recommend playing a game on your phone, for example, Merge Party or Spider Solitaire ;)
When did you first hear about Triangirls?
This year actually, from one of my female friends who works in fintech.
What have you learnt about yourself in the past year?
I’ve learned a lot about pushing myself. It’s crazy to think of all the things I’ve convinced myself I can’t do, just because they’re out of my comfort zone. I’ve stopped letting my past define me (like I used to let my finance CV do). I’ve learned that putting myself out there, letting myself be open, both at work and in life in general, continues to pay off. I also learned that I really like long walks (sometimes on the beach, but also most of the time, not on the beach).
Triangirls are looking to raise the profiles of women and non-binary people in tech. Interested in participating in our spotlight series? Email us at hello@triangirls.com
Also our International Women’s Day event is now live, you can grab your tickets here!
