Hi everyone! I hope you are safe and healthy today. I am Karen Matala πŸ™‚ from the Philippines based in Pasig City πŸ‡΅πŸ‡­ and will be migrating to the US πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ in a few months to be with my husband who is also a Filipino and also and software engineer based in Miami.πŸ§‘β€πŸ’»πŸ‘©β€πŸ’»

I like plants 🌡. Maybe many of us found their green thumbs as well during the quarantines as plants make us feel grounded when we feel shaken. Nobody was prepared to face the pandemic we experience today so no pressure if you'd like to plant, read, write, start that side hustle or simply just rest. Take your time and I hope you talk or share your thoughts to your friends because you matter.

I am a PHP lead at Women Who Code Manila where I hold study groups exploring Laravel or other PHP packages. I am currently a remote developer at a US based startup where I have awesome gentlemen teammates and with another super woman coder. In my years experience of working in software engineering teams, I find it true that most of the time I am the only woman coder out of say, 10 engineers. But, the numbers got better because there are so many women in tech communities now compared before that empower women to be in technology. These women communities forged their way to reach you. To tell you that you can make it. πŸ˜ƒ I have seen women tech community leaders out there spent sleepless nights just to place another woman on stage and speak πŸŽ™οΈ, to move the needle for women empowerment and diversity in technology (or even not just technology).

So, what are you waiting for? Go start that project, podcast, YT, book, apply for that job. Good luck to your project πŸ˜‰ Enjoy your day!

Follow our community, Women Who Code Manila Community: https://facebook.com/wwcodemanila

Google Women Developer Academy Speakers: https://sites.google.com/view/devspace-sg/women-in-tech

Karen is a remote developer at Jogg: https://jogg.co

Karen's website: https://devcaffeinated.com