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Women in Tech: Born into Tech Jenn Lien's Account of Working for an IT Vendor

ZoeSands
Community Manager
Community Manager
Employee

To celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March and this year’s theme to press forward and progress gender parity I wanted to feature some of the great female talent we have at Veritas in a series of interview blogs that may inspire others to join the IT industry. In my second Women in Tech interview I had the pleasure of catching up with Jenn Lien, one of our Senior Program Managers here at Veritas. Here’s my interview with Jenn, I hope you like it:

 

Jenn LienJenn LienZoe: Hi Jenn, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule today for our readers of this blog can you tell us how you got into tech?
Jenn:
 I was literally born into it. My single father was a software engineer and entrepreneur, so I grew up in the Silicon Valley, doing my elementary school homework in conference rooms at tech start-ups. 

Zoe: What motivated you to join Veritas?
Jenn:
 Quite simply, Veritas has a lot of great people to work with and as a Program Manager, I enjoy finding ways to enable and deploy their genius. Today, that means I’m wrapping up a Career Path Matrix Program, creating a new version of an Incentive program, launching a Women’s mentorship program, creating an online developer community and in my free time, I champion the Bay Area chapter of Women at Veritas Empowered (WAVE).

Zoe: What do you enjoy most about working in tech?
Jenn: 
I love being around really, smart people and they tend to gravitate towards tech.

Zoe: What is your greatest work achievement?
Jenn: 
Balancing it with life.

Zoe: How has your management style developed over the years?
Jenn: 
I don’t know that my management style has developed over the years, rather that I’ve collected many different management styles that work for different personalities. If anything, I’ve developed a quicker assessment of which style is going to work for which person and a quicker pivot, when I need to try another style.

Zoe: What would you suggest makes a good leader? 
Jenn: 
A good leader will identify and embrace employee strengths while continuing to hire or strategize for the gaps; then, will promote development opportunities and collaboration while creating a safe space for them to grow. All while keeping an eye on the overall company strategy, that is.

Zoe: Who are your role models and influencers?
Jenn:
 I believe everyone we encounter is our teacher and influencer in their own way, I try to recognize a lesson from each person and each interaction.

Zoe: What advice would you give to women wanting to get into tech?
Jenn: 
DO IT! There is nothing more valuable than diversity and it’ll take all of us, to make great change. We’re here, waiting for you!!!

Zoe: What do you think the next years hold for women in IT?
Jenn:
I’m excited for the race towards parity and for the certain-game-changing concepts women will introduce and execute.

Zoe: How do you balance your work life and personal life?
Jenn:
I create personal goals and plans similar to how I do work goals and plans. For my educational goals, I’m committed to the units I need to take to get me there. For my self-care goals, I practice yoga most days of the week and defend my Sunday, as “self-care day” and refuse to do anything I don’t love. For my travel backlog, I actively save for future trips. When I find something else I want to do, I commit to making the space for it, in the same way, I would my work projects.

So, that concludes my interview with Jenn Lien, it was great catching and thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts. If you enjoyed this blog post, then do stay tuned as there will be more interview style posts from other women at Veritas. And if this has inspired you to join our team, then check out our job vacancies on LinkedIn and apply here.