Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Ashley Bryant-Baker of Fresh Eyes Digital On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Being technical isn’t enough. As a technical leader it is important to have people managing skills like empathy and a genuine interest in helping others succeed. I see too many technical people get promoted into management because they are good programmers or excellent engineers. A good technical manager should be technically proficient, yes, but they should also be a great communicator, delegator, coach and advocate. Lesson: Leadership means being available for your team. Sometimes at the expense of the beloved and precious opportunities to code in solitude with your headphones on.
As a part of my series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ashley Bryant-Baker.
Ashley Bryant-Baker is Director of Data and Analytics at Fresh Eyes Digital, a consulting firm focused on the success of nonprofit organizations. Her work in analytics has spanned a decade, in industries ranging from consumer packaged goods, travel, logistics, healthcare, and nonprofits. She has become a sought after speaker on the topics of gender bias in AI and diversity in the workplace and has been invited to speak at various events, including SXSW and Data Minds Connect. In addition to her work, Ashley serves on the Board of Directors at Washington English Center, an organization dedicated to assisting immigrant communities with English proficiency and professional development. She is committed to advocating for diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in collaboration with amazing local and national organizations that strive to increase the exposure of minorities, women, and other marginalized groups to STEM fields. Ashley believes that data is more than a business asset, it is a powerful tool that can help make society a more equitable, safe, and inclusive place.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Ha! My career path has been a VERY windy road! I majored in art and business in undergrad and planned to get into video game design. I worked for Electronic Arts and Activision for several years before deciding it wasn’t for me. After that I took a job in marketing. One day our in-house analyst needed to take extended leave. She asked me to take the lead while she was out of the office on reporting and planning for our clients. I enjoyed the work so much while she was gone, I asked to be reassigned to her team when she returned to work. That was my start in analytics. I began researching and self-studying data science out of curiosity until finally deciding to take a certification course at Georgetown University. Data science was nowhere on my radar when I began college! Most of my friends in college were in STEM fields and I was always the odd one out. I guess they rubbed off on me!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?
I think the most interesting would be randomly working with Ke$ha on a project. I knew that working with nonprofits sometimes meant collaborating with celebrities but I never thought I’d be doing anything like that.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funny part is, this was devastating to me at the time but now I can look back and laugh! I remember the first time committing to the wrong repository. In this case I was working on overhauling the entire data layer of a web based product while we were also in the middle of a migration. So making a drastic change to the data structure could have devastating effects. It was the end of a long day and I pushed changes then immediately realized I’d selected the wrong repo. I remember my face getting really warm and I started running over in my head exactly how I would explain it to my supervisor. Thi began thinking about what it would mean if I got fired. I started imaging scenarios where ten years down the road I was lamenting this day as the beginning of my professional downfall. So I walked over to my supervisor (internally freaking out) and calmly explained what happened. A few clicks later he says “Ok, no big deal, just make sure you review more carefully next time.” That was it. After torturing myself, all it took was a few clicks and “No big deal”. It was a lesson in closely watching what you push to production but also a lesson in realizing your mistakes often appear WAY bigger to you than they really are.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
My co-workers. They are the BEST! They really exemplify what an empathetic group of people can accomplish. How people can work together, through a pandemic no less, and support one another while providing amazing service to a group of great nonprofits who are working to make their little corner of the world better.
While I was still consulting for the company and not a full time employee, they sent me a box of chocolates (by a woman owned chocolate company) and a card signed by each of the team members I worked with. The card expressed how grateful they were for my work and how happy they were to have met me. It was a really nice gesture at the end of our first contract together.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
One of my clients is an organization that is doing research on the effects of the shutdown on people’s access to technology and the internet. They want to understand how rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged and language minority groups are faring navigating virtual learning, job access, government resources etc. The pandemic really exacerbated the social divides that already exist in this country. I hope that by seeing this research and the implications that were made all the more obvious by the pandemic, new policies and resources will be made available to create more equitable access to technology and internet services. I feel so honored to be able to work with organizations like this one whose values align so closely with my own.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
In a word no. I am really lucky to work at a woman owned company that is cognizant of women’s needs in the workplace and have taken steps to ensure they are meeting those needs to provide a positive work environment for everyone. However, some of my past experiences and my friends’ experiences have not been so positive. Maternity leave is something that needs to be corrected in this country on a larger scale than what any individual company can do. I’ve seen really good progress at larger companies who are trying to lead by example. Equal pay and opportunity for women and other underrepresented groups is key. Additionally, creating environments that value women is important. I’ve seen tech spaces were tolerated and not valued and those environments can be so TOXIC! These are just a few issues we need to face. I think one of the ways we can do this is by fostering an environment that creates space for women to authentically be themselves and valuing their contribution.I don’t think any women are asking for special treatment in the workplace, just fair and equal treatment. As a male leader in a company you should stop and ask yourself “Would I have said that/ done that/ not done that to a man?” It really shouldn’t be this hard.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or Tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?
I think the biggest challenge is the assumptions your colleagues make about you before you ever get the chance to show your skill set. Society has taught us to judge people based on how they look, but especially women. Just being a woman at a conference or in a meeting can be a point of contention. Particularly as a black woman, sometimes people assume that I am not as credentialed, not as technical, that I am an intern or there to take notes. I think the best way to address this is to identify sponsors and supporters early in your career. People who will vouch for your abilities and also ensure that you are given the opportunities you deserve. This doesn’t mean that you don’t advocate for yourself, but sometimes in your career you’ll find that having someone else say “I trust her work” can be more valuable than all the years of experience, degrees, successful projects and career accolades.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or Tech. Can you explain what you mean?
I want every girl to know that you can be a tech nerd and a pageant girl if that is what you want. There is a myth that if you are a woman in tech that means that you can’t also be someone who is interested in fashion and other traditionally “girly” things. I hear this from the young girls I volunteer with all the time, but it is not true. You can embrace both things, neither comprises the other.
Another is that if you work in tech, companies will run you ragged. Long hours, junk food and video games abound. This is not completely true. Sure there are places like that, where tech employees work 80 hour weeks and companies try to appease their employees with junk food and ping pong tables. However, there are alot of places that are not like that. You can find a tech career in nearly any industry solving a range of problems with not a ping pong table in sight and a vending machine full of kale and apples. It’s all about looking for the environment that fits you best.
What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Don’t be afraid to delegate. When I first became a manager I was not delegating to my team. It meant I was overworked and my team felt overlooked for opportunities to grow and develop their careers. There was a project that I was working very hard to complete. The problem was not well defined and so developing scenarios for how to solve the problem were taking a lot of time. We’d contracted a project manager to help define the problem and project scope. However I kept the project so close that the contractor felt out of the loop. In the end the contractor did very little work, not because they were incapable, they probably would have done a better job than me. I realized I paid for work that I ended up doing myself, while stretching myself so thin that it barely (and I mean barely) got done within the timeframe. Lesson: delegate, delegate delegate.
- Listen to your team. I once had one of my best analysts quit on me. It was devastating to me because in addition to being a great analyst she was a great person and had a distinct perspective that was different from the rest of the team. She had a very introverted and quiet personality. During our weekly meetings she wouldn’t say much about her work. She would ask a lot of questions about the other teams, what they were doing, how they were solving problems. I did not realize that this may have been her way of saying she was bored in her role and that she wanted to branch to other things. Lesson: listen to what your team is saying, but also to what they are not saying.
- Always keep an open door. When I was still a technical lead and not a manager I often would volunteer to work with the interns. One year we selected our interns and an applicant reached out to me personally after we closed applications. She asked if I would be open to chatting over coffee. She was bright and ambitious and I wished I could go back and select her application for the internship. I couldn’t take the seat away from someone who already committed to interning with the company so I asked her to apply the following semester. She did and ended up revitalizing not just the internship program but also developed new processes in the analytics department. If I would not have been open to having coffee with her I would have missed out on an amazing asset to my team. Lesson: Keep an open door policy, great ideas come from everywhere and everyone.
- Keep learning. As in many large corporate jobs there is training that has to be done periodically. In one of these training sessions I met a lead from the mechanical engineering department. Someone I would have never met in any more formal work setting. He and I sat down and talked about what we each were doing when we realized that our teams should be collaborating on some projects that could help move the company forward. The projects involved technology and methods I was unfamiliar with at the time including image classification and understanding some basics of mechanical engineering. This is a project I could have easily shied away from since it involved so many topics that were out of my comfort zone. Instead I briefed my team on the potential project and learned that we had a talent pool that could do the work and also teach others. Supplement this with some expert Googling abilities and I was able to pick up new skills. Lesson: Fake it till you make it? Hmmm… More like open yourself up to new opportunities, learn new skills and take on new responsibilities without fear of the unknown.
- Being technical isn’t enough. As a technical leader it is important to have people managing skills like empathy and a genuine interest in helping others succeed. I see too many technical people get promoted into management because they are good programmers or excellent engineers. A good technical manager should be technically proficient, yes, but they should also be a great communicator, delagator, coach and advocate. Lesson: Leadership means being available for your team. Sometimes at the expense of the beloved and precious opportunities to code in solitude with your headphones on.
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
Be authentically you and give your team the opportunity to do the same. If your team feels shut down, undervalued, doesn’t feel safe telling you that there is an issue with a project, or that they need a day off because they have a family situation at home, your team will not operate at their full capacity. Communicate, create a collaborative and safe environment, share accountability, trust your team to make the right decisions and give people the opportunity to grow. I love seeing my team members get raises and promotions. While sometimes that means they will move on to different jobs or teams, it also means I will have developed a great working relationship and expanded my network with someone who trusts and supports me in the same way that I trusted and supported them.
What advice would you give to other women leaders about the best way to manage a large team?
There are a lot of different management types out there each with their own advantages and challenges. I see myself as a servant leader. I am here to help translate client requirements and needs, provide resources, guidance and opportunities to my team. My first role is to develop my team and ensure I am helping them to grow and meet their career goals. I believe that managing projects and getting things done is secondary to that. When you understand your team’s strengths, aspirations and weaknesses you are better able to achieve company goals as a team. In practice this means talking to people, being transparent and providing opportunities for them to come to you with concerns and even mistakes. In creating a safe space and knowing my team better I have developed such an appreciation for everything each individual brings to the table I can’t help but to trust their expertise.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are so many! Outside of the amazing and outstanding people in my family who have always loved and supported me, I want to especially shout out Swathi Young. I saw her speak on the topic of AI at the Women in Tech Conference in Washington DC years ago. Her presentation was so packed I remember standing in the aisle in the conference room. I met her later at a local meetup and we began talking about all things data science. Ever since then she has been such an amazing role model and mentor. She has always made herself available for me to chat about all things professional and personal and she has reached out to me for amazing opportunities, from speaking events to volunteering and professional opportunities. I couldn’t be where I am without the amazing men and women who have supported, sponsored, and advised me.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
First, my door is always open to anyone who is looking for assistance in their respective STEM field. I don’t know everything, but I have an amazing network of people who are just as dedicated to the growth and development of new STEM talent that I can reach out to. Additionally, I am always looking for good causes to support with my time and money. I especially love to support causes that help women and minorities develop careers in STEM. Right now I am working with the Washington English Center to provide career development tools to immigrants who are trying to navigate their new lives in the US. I also volunteer with Women in Tech and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. two organizations focused on helping their communities and specifically focused on helping women and girls.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
There is a saying “It takes a village to raise a child”. If I had all the resources in the world I would ensure that starting at birth and throughout adulthood every person had a team of mentors, sponsors, and all around good people who would be invested in the personal and professional growth. Some people are blessed in that they have a family and friends that are loving, emotionally intelligent, well connected and have resources to help them succeed. Some people are born with a supportive family but no resources, or resources but no support and others don’t have either. I would love to see a world where everyone has the resources and emotional support they need.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
The quote that hangs over my desk says “All good things are wild and free.” For me it reminds me to embrace my multifaceted interests and experiences and live authentically.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Aisha Bowe is just inspiring. She is accomplishing so much while giving back to the community. If you haven’t heard her story I encourage you to google her.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Ashley Bryant-Baker of Fresh Eyes Digital On The 5 Leadership… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.