Celebrating Women Who Code in Postgres Pro

In early March, before International Women’s Day, we asked our female tech professionals a few questions and were surprised by some of them providing us answers :) Let’s celebrate women who code working here at Postgres Pro and have a look at what they are up to!

Daria Vilkova,
Software Developer

What do you do in Postgres Pro?

Mostly I’m working on database-related backend solutions. Also, I'm one of the maintainers of  PostgresPro open-source monitoring agent called mamonsu and the PostgreSQL monitoring plugin for Zabbix Agent 2. I discovered PostgreSQL more than 2 years ago, and since then I am constantly gaining knowledge on databases and monitoring.

Do you have any hobbies and/or social activities you are involved with?

Besides my job which I love very much, I'm involved in some side activities. For the past 2 years, I have been participating in Lomonosov Moscow State University EcoGuild. It is a student organization that arranges different eco-activities. For example, monthly recycling day where we arrange special points near dorms where students and locals can hand over their recycles and learn about eco habits in general. Last year our events grew significantly, now we arrange such events in malls and museums. Also, we post eco-education content on social media. It's great that our group grows, and more and more people want to recycle.

Since I don't move much while I'm at work I try to keep myself moving by cycling and swimming. Also during warm seasons, I like to take part in walking city-sightseeing excursions around the city center. 

What is your advice for the girls just starting their tech careers in IT?

I guess my main advice for girls who start their journey in IT is don't be discouraged by other people's opinions. If you like programming and technologies and are ready to study hard, you will certainly find your place in the sun. Here I want to add that when I was a freshman at my University, around 20 percent of the group was girls, but I see that for this year's freshmen the percentage is higher than 30.

Anastasia Lubennikova,
Senior Database Developer

What do you do in Postgres Pro?

As a PostgreSQL contributor, I specialize in PostgreSQL index access methods, backup solutions and data structures. My B-tree index deduplication feature, which enables index size reduction of up to 3 times, was committed to PostgreSQL 13 (it was available to Postgres Pro Enterprise users since version 10). In 2020 I joined PostgreSQL’s Code of Conduct Committee. I also contribute to various initiatives at Postgres Professional, mostly as a Senior Database Developer.

Do you have any hobbies and/or social activities you are involved with?

I try to maintain work and life balance, as work at times becomes really fascinating and takes all my attention. My hobbies include yoga, long walks around the city, and, more recently, music lessons. Speaking at conferences can probably be listed as a social activity, same for CoC membership. I hope that my example helps people believe that IT is not scary!

What is your advice for the girls just starting their tech careers in IT?

I have several pieces of advice, actually. Keep on learning to become specialists of high value. Share your knowledge to master what you have learned even better. Don’t ever stay with people who don’t have respect for you. Believe that there are many open, supportive and adequate people in this world. Frankly speaking, I have been dealing only with them throughout my career. Other people, not having these personal and professional qualities, are not worth your time investment.

Marina Polyakova,
Programmer

What do you do in Postgres Pro?

At Postgres Pro, I develop & maintain a variety of features (ICU by default, serialization/deadlock failures in pgbench, Postgres Pro Certified versions for local markets, pgpro_controldata).

Do you have any hobbies and/or social activities you are involved with?

I like swimming, bodyweight exercise, World of Tanks and Lego assembly :)

What is your advice for the girls just starting their tech careers in IT?

Actually, I got this advice from my dad years ago: before making something your primary occupation, you should ask yourself if you are ready to do it day and night feeling happy. I would also add another point to it: don’t feel wrong about finding a workplace where you will feel comfortable.

Daria Lepikhova,
Junior Software Developer

What do you do in Postgres Pro?

Here at Postgres Pro, I hold a Junior Developer position. I write code and tests for it, at times I spot bugs and fix them, too.

Do you have any hobbies and/or social activities you are involved with?

Well, as for hobbies, I do some sports (yoga and skiing), some hand-made stuff, some music and some travel. My social activities are quite common, I work, raise kids and meet my friends.

What is your advice for the girls just starting their tech careers in IT?

I think, my advice will work not only for girls but also for all novices in IT. Don’t be scared by your own mistakes, we all learn by mistakes. Don’t be afraid of asking questions and doing research enough to find answers. And please don’t stop if you like what you do!

Ekaterina Sokolova,
Junior Software Developer

What do you do in Postgres Pro?

I am a Junior Software Developer with Postgres Professional. I’m also completing my university studies at MSU.

Do you have any hobbies and/or social activities you are involved with?

I’m a member of the MSU sports & fitness aerobics team. From time to time, I take part in various competitions. I’m also responsible for photography and videography in my department's professional committee, I’m in charge of the Media section. I really like taking pictures & videos at events and prepare them for publishing.

What is your advice for the girls just starting their tech careers in IT?

Don’t be afraid to reach out to those who have a truly deep understanding of the issue you need to resolve.

What do you do in Postgres Pro?

As an Information Security Engineer, I do tasks related to information security, writing and maintaining the corresponding documentation, act as an information security analyst. Later on, I expect more hands-on tasks to pop up, i.e. information security testing.

Do you have any hobbies and/or social activities you are involved with?

Like many other people, I like movies, literature, video games, board games, music and traveling around the world. I love concerts and sightseeing, unfortunately, 2020 was the year when I didn’t go out much.

What is your advice for the girls just starting their tech careers in IT?

Surely come to IT industry and contribute, don’t listen to people who doubt your efforts and still consider information technology a ‘men-only’ field, it isn’t so! Go through various professions, there’s a wide range of options, IT isn’t about being a software developer or a system administrator, as external people tend to commonly think. Give it a try and dig into what you like most, what looks most appealing to you. Be ready to beat stereotypes (unfortunately, even now some companies and managers are biased against women in IT, like it isn’t XXI century now), but be wise while responding to condescending comments addressed to you. Ask questions, it’s normal to be unaware of something. Failures are also a part of the normal work process. It’s more important to have enough determination to learn and make progress, using the failure experience, if necessary.