From ENBUS to Co-founder, growing beyond Waterloo.
Alumni Feature: Lucy Ho
Lucy Ho is a Waterloo local, graduated from Environment and Business, minor in geography, class of 2013. Post graduation, Lucy found herself in the Waterloo startup scene at MappedIn. Eager to explore the technology and startup community more, she moved to Toronto and started working at Extreme Innovations, a development company founded by Extreme Venture Partners (EVP), a venture capitalist firm in Toronto. Today, Lucy is the Director, Services and Operations manager at Extreme Accelerator (EA), a co-working space in Toronto founded by EVP. Beyond Extreme Accelerator, Lucy harnessed her passion for technology and gender equality to co-found Hackergal. Hackergal is a not-for-profit that introduces young girls across Canada to coding through the experience of a hackathon.
I had the privilege to work with Lucy at Extreme Accelerator, the expertise she gained through her journey was critical to her success today. I was happy to get the opportunity to sit down with Lucy to share her experience with all of you!
How did you find yourself in tech?
After graduating, I had no idea where I was going to go or what I was going to do. A handful of my peers, just like me, had jobs lined up through coop. I took a month off and traveled to Southeast Asia like most lost graduates do, came back to Waterloo (my hometown) and continued working as a server at local burger joint. My sister was very connected in the Waterloo tech scene and mentioned there was a general operations position open at MappedIn. This seemed like an awesome opportunity since I had no idea what specific business focus I wanted to go into, but I did know I loved working with people and business. I met with the CEO and immediately was drawn to their growth, culture and product. From there the rest was really history. I’ve been immersed in the technology sector ever since. The energy and opportunity startups bring is like none other.
What would you suggest new graduates explore if they’re interested in working in technology?
Fortunately enough, I knew someone in the industry that helped me get connected. I know this is not the case for everyone. But I do want to stress the importance of who you know because you really don’t know how they can help you in the future. Before I was connected, I was continuously exploring opportunities, but it was really important that I found a company that had my same values. Through the co-op program, I knew I did not like working for large corporations. I felt there was a lot of red tape and bureaucratic policies that made it difficult for me to make the most impact. It was the small the teams and impact you can make by wearing many hats that compelled me to work at a startup. If you’re interested in technology, get yourself out there and in the scene! Attend the meetups that interest you. Waterloo has a vibrant community of tech companies that are continuously hosting events. Sell yourself at these events and when it comes time to applying, it is more important you believe in the product and company vision. This is how you will stand out from other candidates.
Tell me about the notforprofit you co-founded, Hackergal.
Eventually my life and career led me to Toronto, where I now work at a venture capital firm and manage a co-working space and accelerator for startups. I interact with many startups everyday at various growth stages and realized quickly there was a huge gender imbalance. It was clear that girls were underrepresented in technology. This was evident in our co-working space and in every team I worked with. At this point, my manager and executive managing partner at my firm, Ray Sharma asked “What can we do about this?”. This was a great question since we had access to so many resources and connections within our social to make an impact. We then created Hackergal.
Hackergal is a Toronto based not for profit Ray and I both founded. It was created to expose girls in grades 6-9 to computer science through a hackathon experience. We figured that girls really do not know what they don’t know! Many girls were missing the window to apply for computer science programs because they simply didn’t enroll in the right courses to get them down this path. Hackergal essentially provides teachers with a “plug and play” virtual hackathon kit which is based on a gamification model that encourages girls to participate each year. This puts the subject of computer science as a forefront topic for girls to continue learning and engaging in year after year in hopes it sparks their interest at an early age.
What do you think is a big barrier for girls to enter the STEM fields?
I really think a big barrier for girls specially in grades 6-9 is that they don’t know the connection between the subject and the opportunity. We use everyday apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and Netflix that were coding using computer science and collectively the code made amazing companies! These apps are used everyday but examples of the type of careers within these companies are not talked about in a way girls are able to see themselves as a part of the innovation. Educating the girls on the subject of computer science and the career opportunities together would allow them to make educated decisions for their professional future.
What’s one piece of advice you would give prospective female undergraduates.
Apply the 80/20 rule for perfectionism. In my career, I’ve seen many times over and over, females focusing too much on being “perfect” at the cost of our own resources. In real life, striving for 100% perfect in every aspect actually prevents us from achieving our full potential because we’re wasting our resources on the idea of “perfect”. Instead, if we focus on allowing 80% to be good enough and allocate 20% for mistakes, we’ll be much happier and able to get more shit done! This is a lesson I wish I knew when I started my career. I’m very much a perfectionist but I’ve now learned the value of being a realist.
CONTACT LUCY:
Lucy was kind enough to share her contact with us, if any UW students want to get in touch to discuss career, get advice or get involved with Hackergal.
#hackergalhacks