Celebrating our women in tech: Insights from our women on International Women’s Day

As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2025, a time to reflect on the progress made and the work that still lies ahead, we wanted to take a moment to highlight our incredible women at BR-DGE.

This International Women’s Day, we have asked our team to share insights into their journeys, growth and how the theme “Accelerating Action” resonated with them.

Here’s what our team had to say about embracing International Women’s Day and Accelerating Action at BR-DGE.

Kristen Tuffney; Senior Sales Engineer

What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?

“I always loved problem-solving and get a lot of satisfaction from taking on a big challenge head-on. I really liked the idea of working in technology because you can solve interesting problems and see your solution come to life.”

What advice would you give to young women who want to pursue a role in tech?

“Find something that excites you. I found this by working in a technology field because technology is one of the few industries where change is constant, there’s always something new to learn and no 2 days are the same. If you follow what interests you, you’ll never be bored.”

What does the theme ‘Accelerate Action’ mean to you?

“For me, 'Accelerate Action' is about making change happen now rather than waiting for the 'perfect' moment. It's about taking that first step toward your goals and recognising that it's better to start small and learn quickly. The best decisions I've made in my career have been when I took the biggest risks, and they've always paid off.”

Mirka Mannerto; Customer Support Engineer

What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?

“I discovered my passion for tech while working in customer adviser roles, where I was exposed to network fundamentals and SQL. My natural curiosity led me to dive deeper, learn more, and transition into increasingly technical roles.”

What accomplishment in your career you are most proud of?

“I’m most proud of completing a coding bootcamp while working full-time as a Support Escalation Engineer. Learning JavaScript in my second language was challenging, but it deepened my understanding of applications, design, and user experience. More importantly, it pushed me to explore APIs, which ultimately led to my role as a Support Engineer at Postman. Plus, I connected with an amazing group of women along the way!”

What message would you share with young girls who are passionate about technology and innovation?

“Tech is for everyone. You may feel like a minority at times but remember that countless women have made incredible contributions to this field. Trailblazers like Ada Lovelace, Hedy Lamarr, and Elizabeth Feinler paved the way and now it's your turn to innovate and inspire the next generation!”

Liz Hordynets; Java Developer

What advice would you give to young women who want to pursue
a role in tech?

"For young women who are passionate about tech and want to build their career in this field I would say “Don’t listen to anyone who says you can’t do it, even if it’s yourself. Reach out to community, believe in yourself and don’t let anyone underestimate you”

Who are the women in your life or career who have influenced

and inspired you the most?

"Throughout my whole tech journey I’ve been inspired by many women. It’s my friends, my work colleagues, every woman who has accomplished so much and keeps shining. I wouldn’t highlight anyone specific because I think all of them are smart, successful and outstanding."

What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?

My own career path was a chain of coincidence that led me towards the starting point. Coming from arts, I met a few tech people who became my friends and at some point I got curious about IT. I never thought I would be able to learn how to code, but tried nevertheless and found out that actually it’s possible. Curiosity and passion grew bigger the more I learned and discovered, until the whole new exciting world opened its doors to me. So it’s fair to say that I was inspired by people I met.

Stacy Munro; Technical Project Manager

What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?

“I worked in Project Management in the big banks for years, primarily on the business change side. One project had me working closely with the Digital team. Their way of working introduced me to a completely different way of delivering change. I loved the iterative delivery, the collaboration and the focus on the outcomes.  I had often become frustrated with the waterfall nature of projects and the lack of ambition to try & expedite delivery through delivery of MVPs and then iterating, the tech teams embraced that way of working so I knew it was where I wanted to be.”

Can you share a pivotal moment in your career that has shaped who you are today?

“The covid pandemic was a big one for me. I went from working in an office 5 days a week with a long commute, to being a stay-at-home parent with 2 young children.  I really struggled to adapt at first and felt as though my career and any ambition I had was gone.  What it has created for me though is the opportunity to balance an exciting career, whilst being able to have a family life. I didn’t appreciate how much my job had taken over the important things in life, the hours wasted commuting, a job that was really quite soulless and meaningless so when I reflect back this really was a positive change. The flexible working at BR-DGE is such a massive benefit, it allows parents to embrace their family life and makes the juggle manageable, all whilst building a career. Childcare is incredibly expensive and not accessible to all that need it so often the career has to take a back seat. The move to flexible working, accelerated by the pandemic, needs to be maintained or a significant portion of ambitious & talented parents, particularly women, are short changed.”

What accomplishment in your career are you most proud of?

“I’m really proud of myself for working in tech. I don’t come from a technology background and it’s something that I’ve embraced fairly late in my career. I was previously told that I couldn’t progress in a previous role as ‘I wasn’t techy enough’. Whilst that may be true in many cases (but absolutely wasn’t for that particular role) I think it’s about understanding that working in tech requires a range of skills and personalities. We don’t all need to be computer scientists - we just need to know some good ones :-D The team ethos in technology is powerful, there are a range of hats at the table and it’s about finding the one for you. I’m really proud of what I do, there is so much for me to learn but I’m with a company that enables me to do that. I’m pleased I stuck to my guns and continued to pursue a career in tech. It would have been very easy for me to stick to doing business change in a bank, but I just feel like I would have been treading water rather than learning to surf.”

Paula Lister; VP of Finance

What inspired you to pursue a career in tech?

“I was inspired to pursue a career in tech by the pace of change and the good that can be achieved through harnessing technology to help others achieve their goals.”

What advice would you give to young women who want to pursue a role in tech?

“I would advise all young women to follow their passion and strive to be the best that they can be in whatever field. It doesn’t matter if it is traditionally a male dominated industry or role - if someone tells you, you can’t.. show them that you can!”

Who are the women in your life or career who have influenced and inspired you the most?

“I am inspired by women who have strong purpose, belief in a cause and bring others along the journey with them. Influential women include Michelle Obama and Rosa Parks.”

What has been one of the most empowering moments in your career journey so far?

“One of the most empowering moments in my career journey was my first leadership role which really allowed me to show up for others in a new way – to allow me to coach, inspire, lead and sponsor others in their journey.”

What does the theme ‘Accelerate Action’ mean to you?

“The theme for International Women’s Day in 2025 is ‘Accelerate Action’.  This means for all women and girls there should be Rights, Equality and Empowerment.  As a mother to 2 teenage girls this is a hugely important topic for me – to ensure we are moving in the right direction with regards to gender parity.  This year is very much a call to action to ensure we act as inspiring leaders to empower this, and future, generations.  To act boldly and to accelerate women’s equality. To support and celebrate the achievements of women across the world.”

Accelerating Action at BR-DGE

As we continue to celebrate the incredible women at BR-DGE, we are reminded that accelerating action is not only a theme for International Women’s Day but a continuous journey. The insights shared by our team show the achievements within the women in our team, how together we can continue to make strides towards equality, empowerment and leadership in every field.