Women in Tech: career advice from the Mac Admins community
Kitty Shephard
In any technology job across industries there’s an evident gender gap. As a young professional I was fortunate enough to find role models who shared their tips on claiming a seat at the table, which helped me overcome imposter syndrome. When I think about “men’s overrepresentation” in technology, I’m always reminded that community and networking is one of the most powerful tools to make your mark.
To celebrate International Women's Day, I connected with leaders I admire in the Mac Admins space about the moments which defined their career, the advice that spurred them on to pursue their dreams, and the big wins defining their career so far.
Kim Trojanowski
Systems Administrator II - School District of Waukesha & Admin - Women in Tech Apple Admins Jamf Group
The “oh no” moment: It was my first day at a new job and I was shadowing my new co-worker. He stepped out of the room and a monitor that wasn’t placed on a desk properly slid off and fell onto the floor. I was on the other side of the room when it happened and thought that’s it I’m getting fired on my first day. A few minutes later, he came back into the room, I kept my composure, explained what happened, and he said “My fault, I shouldn’t have set the monitor there.” I was so relieved that I wasn’t getting fired, but also that I didn’t have to defend myself for something that wasn’t my fault.
Advice you wish you’d gotten sooner: You don’t have to be perfect.
The mic-drop moment: This happened when my boss at the time announced his retirement and I was asked by multiple people if I was going to apply for the job. It was then that I realized if colleagues thought I was qualified to be a CIO then I must be acing my current job.
Rebecca Latimer
Senior IT Systems Engineer, Thumbtack & Board Secretary, Mac Admins Foundation
The “oh no” moment: Believe it or not, starting to work with Apple products. I went to school for networking and was very much on the CCNA/Sysadmin/Linux career track, or so I thought. I got a job right after graduation with the local school district and everything was Apple. I had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t even know how to turn on an iPad...which was a problem because my first task was using Configurator to set up 2000 iPads. I had to learn everything really quickly.
Advice you wish you’d gotten sooner: The world can benefit from you sharing your knowledge, no matter where you are in life! I guarantee that even if you are a beginner, there is someone out there even more beginner than you.
The mic-drop moment: The first time I was asked to be on the Mac Admins podcast. Not because I had all the answers, but because my perspective mattered. In a few years, I went from googling “how does Configurator work” to being someone the community wanted to hear from. That moment changed how I saw myself in the field.
Selina Ali
Senior Product Manager, Addigy & Host, Mac Admins Podcast
The “oh no” moment: Early in my career as a tier-1 support agent at Jamf, I got a call from someone in California who was frantic. A wildfire was cresting over the hill near their server room. The fire department was yelling for them to evacuate, but they wanted to grab a database backup first so they wouldn’t lose everything. My first instinct was “none of this matters, leave and save your life.” But there wasn’t time for that conversation. So we moved fast: check the USB drive, confirm login, run a single backup command. The database was small, and we got it copied just in time and I said ok now go please! You can rebuild a tech stack, you can’t rebuild a life.
Advice you wish you’d gotten sooner: You’re not supposed to know everything.
Most people are figuring it out as they go, even the ones who seem like they have it all handled. Ask questions, write things down, and build your own trail of notes and resources. The small tidbits you capture today often become the answer to someone else’s impossible question later.
The mic-drop moment: I’m not sure there’s a moment where everything suddenly feels handled. What changed was getting comfortable being uncomfortable. I’m often not the smartest person in the room, but I’m curious. When something escalates, I step back and ask the basic questions, sometimes the “dumb” ones, until the real goal becomes clear. Once you focus on the outcome instead of the noise around the problem, that’s when things start to click.
Also honor your experience from before your life in tech because it is totally relevant - no matter how different it is! I was an archaeologist and commercial diver and somehow I still find a LOT of cross overs in my role in tech.
Ask. Connect. Grow.
My takeaway - there is power in having a community that just gets it. Don’t be afraid to send an intro message and ask for advice. Chances are, the problem you’re facing has already been faced, and solved, and remember these three things:
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You’re not supposed to know everything
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You don’t have to be perfect
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Your knowledge is worth sharing