In our latest interview, we sat down with Valentyna Chycha, Senior Software Test Engineer at Paylocity, who shared an inspiring look into her career journey - from a surprising start in software testing during her studies in Ukraine to a leadership role in a fast-paced U.S. tech environment. Valentyna reflects on the power of resilience, mentorship, and self-advocacy in navigating challenges such as micromanagement and underrepresentation. Her thoughtful insights highlight how continuous learning, clear communication, and inner confidence can shape a successful and fulfilling career in tech.
Rudina Tafhasaj is a Senior Salesforce Developer at Barclays. To learn more about her journey as a successful woman in tech, we sat down with her to discuss her everyday work life, why being too hard on yourself can be counterproductive, as well as what the biggest myth about the tech industry is.
Can you imagine if, instead of counting the hours it takes you to do a certain thing, you thought about when you will be most in tune and productive? And you could boost your productivity at the same time? It might sound like science fiction, and it might not apply to everything you do, but if you start applying it to some tasks, you'll see that there's probably something to it.
Mentoring can take shape in many different ways — from informal career chats and advice to internal programs at your company or global mentoring programs such as Femme Palette. No matter the format, being a mentor has many benefits including further developing your active listening, leadership, and feedback skills, just to name a few. However, sharing experience across companies, countries, and cultures provides even more value to both the mentor and mentee.
As much as we could wish for it – the career ladder doesn’t always lead upstairs. The same as life has its ups and downs – the career path is no different. Someone might experience being fired due to budget cuts, someone might make a crucial mistake in the process, and other might decide to leave the perfect position during their trial period because of a bad boss. The question remains: is it possible to regain confidence after such a career blow? And how to do it?
Lisbhit England signed up for our Coaching and Mentoring program. After working with a coach first, she got matched with her mentor Lucia Belkova and they clicked instantly. And despite this being Lucia’s first time mentoring fully online, they managed to overcome this challenge through transparency and building trust. In their interview, Lis and Lucia open up about their mentoring journey, what surprised them, what they learned and what were their favorite parts of it all.
Sharing your experience is an important part of mentoring and is an easy way to give back. Even with just a few years of experience, you’ve likely gained a lot of knowledge during that time that you can use to help inspire and guide someone through their personal and professional development journey. However, simply giving a monologue about your life and hoping it encourages your mentee to take action isn’t the best approach. Here are a few tips for sharing your experience so that it has an impact.
Building a sense of belonging is a necessary step in achieving inclusion in the workplace. The goal is for employees to feel truly comfortable and like they can be their true selves in the organization. If we feel that we belong somewhere, we become more productive and innovative. But how can organizations build this sense of belonging? And how should we approach this in virtual teams? We talked about this at one of our latest DEI Palette Club’s events with Alexis Curtis-Harris, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Penna, and Rachel Luff, Global Inclusion & Diversity Learning – Strategy Lead at Expedia Group. Here are some of the most important takeaways which the speakers shared on building a sense of belonging.
.png)
.png)
