Passion into impact: Bridging gender gaps in tech

Ema Franklin is a Senior Field Marketing Manager at Dynatrace and a driving force behind our Dynatrace partnership with the Her Tech Circle community across Australia and New Zealand.   

Ema’s journey with this community began more than six years ago when she wanted to change her career path. Through many events and programs, the community has helped her to establish her career in tech and inspired her to "pay it forward" by supporting initiatives that empower others.   

Tune in to the episode to hear how communities like Her Tech Circle inspire confidence and create a ripple effect of support and opportunity. 

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From Idea to Game-Changing Impact at Dynatrace–with this topic in mind for Season 3, I’m bringing you conversations with passionate experts and leaders at Dynatrace who dream big, tackle challenges, and drive impactful change.    

Where to find us:    

• Connect with Sue Quackenbush on LinkedIn
• Connect with Ema Franklin on LinkedIn

Discover the opportunities at Dynatrace and take your career to the next level: careers.dynatrace.com

Transcript

Ema

I went to one of these Her Tech Circle events, and it's been one of the most incredible experiences of my life because it's opened so many doors for me.

Sue

Wow, I love that comment. Hi, this is Sue Quackenbush, your host of Real Talks, and I'm very excited for today's guest, Ema Franklin, who is our Senior Field Marketing Manager in Australia. So welcome, Ema.

Ema

Thanks very much for having me. So I'm excited to be on the podcast.

Sue

So let me ask because, you know, you're a senior marketing manager, right? And so are you a technologist.

Ema

I want to make it very clear I did not study technology. I didn't study anything related to my job actually, whatsoever. And I'm not sure if you want to put this in in the podcast, but I studied music. I'm a music person. I'm a creative. Um, I love to call myself a bit of an artist. My way into tech was not, I guess, a traditional route of studying engineering or software development or it even.

Sue

And so how did you get involved with girls in tech and this community?

Ema

I first started with Girls in Tech around 2017, where I was forced into a networking event by my mother, actually, because she was working at VMware at the time and I was a little bit stuck in my job. Um, I was working for a procurement to pay platform, not thinking that I was a girl in tech or, you know, somebody who worked in technology. And my mom really suggested that I go and I meet new people and try and build this network because as everyone says, your network is your net worth. And I was really frightened of going and introducing myself. I was young, so I went to one of these girls and tech events and put myself out there. I was instantly welcomed into this community and I felt immediately at home and finally part of this tech community, which I didn't think that I was part of before. And since 2018, I'd been volunteering with Girls in Tech and now Her Tech Circle in Australia. And it's been one of the most incredible experiences of my life because it's opened so many doors for me and has created this new path to all of these different opportunities that I didn't think that I'd have if I'd stayed kind of where I was.

Sue

What I loved about your story, though, is first you spoke about hesitating to going to this meeting and then going to the meeting and being fully embraced by the individuals there. I guess my question would be, what made you go back and what continues to make you go back?

Ema

To be honest, it's the authenticity of every woman in the room. We all want something out of a new connection. And for me personally, expanding and growing my network, I knew in the back of my mind that that was going to be the way in for me to tech was going to be the way that I grow my career and grow my experience.

Sue

Um, so when you think about Dynatrace and what we do as an organization, how do you see this community really interacting with Dynatrace and, and vice versa?

Ema

I think that's a really good question. So what we've seen from our team is, is the instant shared successes from a program like Her Tech Circle and at Dynatrace for us to take on this diverse initiative. From the beginning, I remember feeling like this. This company is absolutely got my back. This company is definitely the place that I see myself forever, right? It's a place that, um, accepts everybody as they are, and we are, uh, extremely excited for the next year of our partnership with Her Tech Circle And it's thanks to the community and to the brand and talent teams for taking on these diverse initiatives, because without the support of our global team, we wouldn't we wouldn't have this. So I'm incredibly grateful to Dynatrace for going with an idea from starting small to now, making such a huge impact in Australia and New Zealand, and that definitely wouldn't have been able to be so successful, and it wouldn't have had so much reach. As much reach of that does, if it wasn't for the support of our global and local leadership teams.

Sue

And let me ask you, you know, when you talked about skill development, what skills do you believe were developed by going in and joining this community?

Ema

They run different partner programs. So they've got an AWS mentorship program. They have lots of programs designed to enhance your skills and boost your confidence. Also, they have CV writing workshops. They've got headshot photographers. They've got everything that you can possibly imagine to help them boost your personal profile, which I think is something that is not offered freely for a lot of people. And it's something that everybody absolutely loved. And, you know, there's an event called the Career Kickstart event, which Dynatrace has just been involved in just recently, where we have, um, a stall at this event and we pitch, we pitch the roles that we have available and open at the moment. We pitch them to the people who are attending these events because we want the talent to want to be with us. Um, and I think what is really interesting about that is you have five minutes to present what Dynatrace is all about, and I had to do this with very little time to spare. It was a five minute presentation. And the best part about it is if you get to five minutes, everybody gives you a round of applause and tells you to sit down. So you've really got to make sure that you've got five minutes and you do it all in five minutes. But it's really tricky because what you are doing is you are selling the dream of Dynatrace, and you're selling the idea and the dream of your organization to a group of people who are potentially going to make a huge impact in your organization. So you want them to want you.

Sue

You know, in just listening to you from a skillset and growth perspective, it's it's almost normalizing technology so that anyone can really participate in that community. And how do we encourage more females to really participate and check these communities out?

Ema

It's such a challenging topic, right? Because we want more women in tech. We want more women in leadership roles. We want women to succeed. Right? That's the number one goal. I think that the challenge that we have to get in, getting women into tech, is that it feels out of reach.

Sue

How do we how do we take away the maybe the perceived barriers? What would you recommend if someone's interested in in maybe taking a step forward to get involved in this community? I mean, how would you how would you recommend them to approach it?

Ema

I think the best way for somebody to approach a group such as Her Tech Circle it's important to take a leap of faith, almost to push yourself out of your comfort zone and attend something like this. You know, it might be scary. And it definitely is scary, but it's so worth it when you see all of the open doors. And I am a massive advocate for these types of programs. So as soon as I meet someone who is thinking about what their move is or where they're going to go after uni, I like to say, why don't you come with me to to my next Her Tech Circle event, and I'll connect with that person on LinkedIn. And it's all about paying it forward and giving back to that next generation of women and girls who maybe weren't sure how they were going to get into the industry.

Sue

Thank you Ema. And I, you know, listening to you, you are inspiring in the sense of, hey, have a belief in yourself. Really think about taking that leap of faith and not perceive that if you're not a tech specific technologist, you can't join. So thank you so much for joining me today.

Ema

Such an incredible opportunity to speak to you. So. And I am so thrilled for the next generation of women in tech and everyone that comes along for the ride with us, um, and always open for a conversation. So hit me up when you're in Australia. And yeah, let's empower some more women into tech and leadership roles.

Sue

Thank you everyone for tuning into today's podcast. If you'd like to follow us, please do so on Apple and Spotify.