IntegrateHer: Celebrating the Women of Integrate, Week 4
Meet Hilary Mason. Hilary is from the first generation of women to officially claim the title of “Computer Data Scientist.”
“Mason is the founder of the tech startup Fast Forward Labs and a Data Scientist in Residence at Accel Partners. Mason also co-founded HackNY, which is a non-profit designed to encourage talented engineering students. She has received the TechFellows Engineering Leadership award, appeared on the Forbes 40 under 40 list, Crain’s New York 40 under 40 list, and has been mentioned in many other publications.” (source)
We’re excited to highlight the women who specialize in data and technology at Integrate who are working to challenge this statistic, especially as we wrap up our celebration of National Women’s History Month and our #IntegrateHer program. These women at Integrate are leading change in their fields and shifting the landscape, so we’re proud to share their stories and give them the recognition they deserve. Discover more about them below.
Read more of our #IntegrateHer blogs here, or discover our individual stories on LinkedIn.
Emma Henderson
Senior Product Manager
- What do you love most about your role at Integrate?
The flexibility, I work a split day to cover the US and the UK which suits my work/life balance.
- What are you most proud of (personally, professionally, or both)?
That I have raised resilient kids that are able to cope with change and new situations.
- What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
Browsing charity/second-hand shops.
- What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?
A kind word from my children.
- What is one piece of advice you would tell your younger self?
Pick your battles; fight for things that matter; let the little things go.
Kaitlyn Nelson
Senior Data Engineer
- What do you love most about your role at Integrate?
I just started on 2/14, but so far I’ve really appreciated how knowledgeable and supportive my team is. With their help I’ve been able to onboard quickly and get started working on some really cool projects.
- What are you most proud of (personally, professionally, or both)?
I’ve worked really hard to establish myself in a good career at a fairly young age. I finished both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in just 4 years total, all while working full-time. Since then I’ve focused on building my skills and expertise, which helped me get great jobs at great companies.
- What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
I spend as much time as I can playing with my family. My favorite days are the ones when I don’t have to do any chores or errands, and I can just hang out with my husband and son.
- What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?
There’s nothing better than seeing my baby’s face light up when I walk into the room. Baby smiles make everything better.
- What is one piece of advice you would tell your younger self?
Know your worth, and don’t settle for anything less. Especially in the workplace, you are your best advocate, and it’s up to you to make sure you get everything you want and deserve.
- As the focus of International Women’s Day turns to #BreaktheBias, please feel free to share if and how gender biases may have impacted your role over the years. And is there something that you feel organizations need to focus more on or that you’d like to see more of in the coming year?
It is so important for women and people in other minority groups to see themselves represented in leadership roles. Prior to joining Integrate, I had never had a female boss, and there were very few women in leadership roles at my previous companies. One of the reasons I wanted to work at Integrate was because I would get to work on a team with multiple women, including my boss. It was really important to me to work for a company that shows that they actually care about diversity and representation.
Tara Livingston
Software Engineer
- What do you love most about your role at Integrate?
Being able to see my work reflect in the production environment for end users. It feels good to be contributing to Integrate’s success!
- What are you most proud of (personally, professionally, or both)?
Making the career change to software. I was a registered nurse for almost 6 years, working primarily with adult cardiac and spinal cord rehabilitation patients. I will always be proud of the work I did as a nurse, but I am more proud of the journey I took to leave what became an extremely mentally and physically taxing career. Since 2019, I have completed a Masters in Computer Information Systems with a concentration in Web Application Development and am in a career that makes me happy!
- What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
Playing disc golf with my husband Robert and friends. Also every October we go to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, where there are cool shows, costumes, and movie-set haunted houses.
- What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?
My sweet fur baby cats, Caesar and Castiel. Best and fuzziest co-workers ever!
- What is one piece of advice you would tell your younger self?
Skip being an RN and save your back!
- As the focus of International Women’s Day turns to #BreaktheBias, please feel free to share if and how gender biases may have impacted your role over the years. And is there something that you feel organizations need to focus more on or that you’d like to see more of in the coming year?
Prior to coming to Integrate, I worked for a company that was still very old-school and traditional, and therefore worked with zero women as software engineers. It felt as though women were mainly placed in supportive roles and led to a strange team dynamic for me. Now I am on a team with another female software engineer and have met several others here at Integrate and it is such a breath of fresh air! Sometimes it feels like a company hires women to fill some statistical void so they are “diverse”, so it’s great to see TALENT in women.
Marianne Franco
Product Manager
- What do you love most about your role at Integrate?
Happy users equate to substantial business growth and I am thankful that I have impact and influence on both.
- What are you most proud of (personally, professionally, or both)?
Everyone has their own point of view and perspective about what users want, even product managers. It is important to have a point of view, but we must also be open to changing that point of view when new information is brought to us. I’m proud that over the course of my career I’ve learned how to actively listen to a request to uncover the underlying problem and to provide solutions that exceed expectations.
I’ve also learned that to grow both personally and professionally, acceptance of constructive criticism is essential. I am leaning into leadership and accepting that I don’t have to have all of the answers all of the time and I don’t always have to be right.
- What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?
Reading, spending time with my dogs, watching movies, hiking, and running 5ks!
- What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?
A dog. No matter the instance, I’m instantly happier when I see a dog, my own dog included!
- What is one piece of advice you would tell your younger self?
Everything will turn out better than you could possibly imagine. Have patience and only put the necessary energy into things you can control. Do your best, and learn from your failures.
- As the focus of International Women’s Day turns to #BreaktheBias, please feel free to share if and how gender biases may have impacted your role over the years. And is there something that you feel organizations need to focus more on or that you’d like to see more of in the coming year?
I’d love to see more women in engineering and leadership roles!
