On October 20th, 2019, I received a private message on Instagram from ‘Women Who Engineer,’ an account dedicated to featuring women in engineering and increasing their representation. With over 20,000 followers, I often saw their posts on my feed and had been following them for about a year. I was thrilled to be featured by an account I admired. They gave me some pointers, and I wrote a little piece of text. We went back and forth editing it until the final version was published. The response was overwhelmingly positive. I connected with multiple women in engineering who reached out to me based on the post. But what I never expected was to gain a true friendship out of it.
One of the women who followed the Women Who Engineer account was Esther, an IT professional. She saw my post and decided to follow my account. Since the account was American, she assumed I was too. I noticed her follow, saw that she was also a woman in engineering, and decided to follow her back. After some likes and comments over the years, we realized we were both Dutch. A few months later, she posted a story about a beautiful lake in the small town she was moving to soon – I recognized the lake instantly. It was from my hometown. From a random follow through an American Instagram account to a friend living just a short bike ride away.
When I was looking for a job during Covid-19, Esther tipped me about an open position at NN Group. She had networked with Maartje, the manager (and also a woman in IT) leading the team with the vacancy.
I’m still amazed at how this played out. We connected through our shared interests in IT, feminism, spirituality, hobbies, and even our hometown. Now, five years later, I consider Esther among my closest friends, and I hold that very dear.
Post & Translation
Meet Juliette | Game Developer
Hi, I’m Juliette, and I’m a game developer. When I was 12 (’04) most social media required basic HTML to make your page stand out. This is how I started programming. I enrolled in a high school programming course at 15 and was allowed to follow more advanced subjects. That’s when I started MySQL and PHP. I interned at the local Flower Auction (biggest one in the world) as a high school student. They were developing an online auction system that would cut out their location as the physical middleman. Some floriculturists were hesitant so l simulated their automation history to demonstrate how every step made the auction process easier and faster. It was a success!
My parents thought I would study database programming but 17 y.o. girly me wanted to study Fashion. However, after an open day, I fell in love with the creative side of Game Development. I made board/tabletop games and loved programming so this was the perfect match. But I was not a gamer. Being bullied before, I tried to fit the stereotype to be accepted. I did this again when I founded my startup and felt like I needed to ‘play the part’ of a savvy young startup founder. I felt like a fraud even though I wasn’t lying about my skills, knowledge, or accomplishments. I decided that the whole ‘fake it till you make it’ was not for me and became plain honest about everything incl. insecurities and failures – being 100% myself. And that worked! It was hard in the beginning but I am now respected for who I am, and breaking the stereotypes.
Life lesson: If you feel like you need to fit the stereotype to fit the field, there is something wrong with the field and they desperately need your true self to diversify its image! I am now working on an inclusive educational game teaching STEM, that aims to do just that.
Ontmoet Juliette | Game Ontwikkelaar
Hallo, ik ben Juliette en ik ben gameontwikkelaar. Toen ik 12 was (’04) was voor de meeste sociale media basis-HTML nodig om je pagina te laten opvallen. Zo ben ik begonnen met programmeren. Op mijn 15e startte ik met programmeren op een middelbare school en mocht ik meer geavanceerde vakken volgen. Dat is wanneer ik begon met MySQL en PHP. Als middelbare scholier liep ik stage bij de plaatselijke Bloemenveiling (de grootste ter wereld). Ze waren een online veilingsysteem aan het ontwikkelen dat hun locatie als fysieke tussenpersoon zou uitschakelen. Sommige bloemenkwekers waren huiverig, dus ik simuleerde hun automatiseringsgeschiedenis om te laten zien hoe elke stap het veilingproces eenvoudiger en sneller maakte. Het was een succes!
Mijn ouders dachten dat ik database programmeren zou gaan studeren, maar ik, 17 jaar oud, wilde mode studeren. Maar na een open dag werd ik verliefd op de creatieve kant van Game Development. Ik maakte al bordspellen en hield van programmeren, dus dit was de perfecte match. Maar ik was geen gamer. Omdat ik vroeger gepest werd, probeerde ik in het stereotype te passen om geaccepteerd te worden. Ik deed dit opnieuw toen ik mijn startup oprichtte en het gevoel had dat ik ‘de rol moest spelen’ van een slimme jonge startup-oprichter. Ik voelde me een bedrieger, ook al loog ik niet over mijn vaardigheden, kennis of prestaties. Ik besloot dat het hele ‘doen alsof totdat je het maakt’ niets voor mij was en werd gewoon eerlijk over alles, inclusief onzekerheden en mislukkingen – 100% mezelf zijn. En dat werkte! Het was moeilijk in het begin, maar nu word ik gerespecteerd om wie ik ben en doorbreek ik de stereotypen.
Levensles: Als je het gevoel hebt dat je in het stereotype moet passen om in het vakgebied te passen, is er iets mis met het vakgebied en hebben ze jouw ware ik hard nodig om het imago te diversificeren! Ik werk nu aan een inclusief educatief spel dat les geeft in bèta/techniek en dat precies dat wil doen.
On October 20th, 2019, I received a private message on Instagram from ‘Women Who Engineer,’ an account dedicated to featuring women in engineering and increasing their representation. With over 20,000 followers, I often saw their posts on my feed and had been following them for about a year. I was thrilled to be featured by an account I admired. They gave me some pointers, and I wrote a little piece of text. We went back and forth editing it until the final version was published. The response was overwhelmingly positive. I connected with multiple women in engineering who reached out to me based on the post. But what I never expected was to gain a true friendship out of it.
One of the women who followed the Women Who Engineer account was Esther, an IT professional. She saw my post and decided to follow my account. Since the account was American, she assumed I was too. I noticed her follow, saw that she was also a woman in engineering, and decided to follow her back. After some likes and comments over the years, we realized we were both Dutch. A few months later, she posted a story about a beautiful lake in the small town she was moving to soon – I recognized the lake instantly. It was from my hometown. From a random follow through an American Instagram account to a friend living just a short bike ride away.
When I was looking for a job during Covid-19, Esther tipped me about an open position at NN Group. She had networked with Maartje, the manager (and also a woman in IT) leading the team with the vacancy.
I’m still amazed at how this played out. We connected through our shared interests in IT, feminism, spirituality, hobbies, and even our hometown. Now, five years later, I consider Esther among my closest friends, and I hold that very dear.
Post & Translation
Meet Juliette | Game Developer
Hi, I’m Juliette, and I’m a game developer. When I was 12 (’04) most social media required basic HTML to make your page stand out. This is how I started programming. I enrolled in a high school programming course at 15 and was allowed to follow more advanced subjects. That’s when I started MySQL and PHP. I interned at the local Flower Auction (biggest one in the world) as a high school student. They were developing an online auction system that would cut out their location as the physical middleman. Some floriculturists were hesitant so l simulated their automation history to demonstrate how every step made the auction process easier and faster. It was a success!
My parents thought I would study database programming but 17 y.o. girly me wanted to study Fashion. However, after an open day, I fell in love with the creative side of Game Development. I made board/tabletop games and loved programming so this was the perfect match. But I was not a gamer. Being bullied before, I tried to fit the stereotype to be accepted. I did this again when I founded my startup and felt like I needed to ‘play the part’ of a savvy young startup founder. I felt like a fraud even though I wasn’t lying about my skills, knowledge, or accomplishments. I decided that the whole ‘fake it till you make it’ was not for me and became plain honest about everything incl. insecurities and failures – being 100% myself. And that worked! It was hard in the beginning but I am now respected for who I am, and breaking the stereotypes.
Life lesson: If you feel like you need to fit the stereotype to fit the field, there is something wrong with the field and they desperately need your true self to diversify its image! I am now working on an inclusive educational game teaching STEM, that aims to do just that.
Ontmoet Juliette | Game Ontwikkelaar
Hallo, ik ben Juliette en ik ben gameontwikkelaar. Toen ik 12 was (’04) was voor de meeste sociale media basis-HTML nodig om je pagina te laten opvallen. Zo ben ik begonnen met programmeren. Op mijn 15e startte ik met programmeren op een middelbare school en mocht ik meer geavanceerde vakken volgen. Dat is wanneer ik begon met MySQL en PHP. Als middelbare scholier liep ik stage bij de plaatselijke Bloemenveiling (de grootste ter wereld). Ze waren een online veilingsysteem aan het ontwikkelen dat hun locatie als fysieke tussenpersoon zou uitschakelen. Sommige bloemenkwekers waren huiverig, dus ik simuleerde hun automatiseringsgeschiedenis om te laten zien hoe elke stap het veilingproces eenvoudiger en sneller maakte. Het was een succes!
Mijn ouders dachten dat ik database programmeren zou gaan studeren, maar ik, 17 jaar oud, wilde mode studeren. Maar na een open dag werd ik verliefd op de creatieve kant van Game Development. Ik maakte al bordspellen en hield van programmeren, dus dit was de perfecte match. Maar ik was geen gamer. Omdat ik vroeger gepest werd, probeerde ik in het stereotype te passen om geaccepteerd te worden. Ik deed dit opnieuw toen ik mijn startup oprichtte en het gevoel had dat ik ‘de rol moest spelen’ van een slimme jonge startup-oprichter. Ik voelde me een bedrieger, ook al loog ik niet over mijn vaardigheden, kennis of prestaties. Ik besloot dat het hele ‘doen alsof totdat je het maakt’ niets voor mij was en werd gewoon eerlijk over alles, inclusief onzekerheden en mislukkingen – 100% mezelf zijn. En dat werkte! Het was moeilijk in het begin, maar nu word ik gerespecteerd om wie ik ben en doorbreek ik de stereotypen.
Levensles: Als je het gevoel hebt dat je in het stereotype moet passen om in het vakgebied te passen, is er iets mis met het vakgebied en hebben ze jouw ware ik hard nodig om het imago te diversificeren! Ik werk nu aan een inclusief educatief spel dat les geeft in bèta/techniek en dat precies dat wil doen.
