Meet Claire Hernandez

How did you learn about PDXWIT and what keeps you coming back?

I honestly can’t remember the exact details, except that it was 2014. I know I wanted to support the amazing idea of building a female community in tech. I attended a couple of networking events and a holiday party, and I’m still around.

 Since then I have participated in events, mentored amazing women and have the fun job of co-organizing Experienced Women in Tech for the past couple of years.

Can you give us some background on your career in tech? Did you intend this career path?

Tech was more opportunistic than planned.  When we moved to Portland I heard Sequent was a great place to work. Through networking and a bit of luck, I ended up there as the manager of customer service for America. The team of 70 included ~50 engineers.  It was my first exposure to tech and I liked it.

After that, I was hooked on tech and haven’t wavered. My roles have always been in services, and I have enjoyed journeys up and across the career ladder. Services has afforded me the opportunity to lead education, docs, support, technical account management, professional services, remote services and a dev team within support. That’s a lot!

I have worked in large, small, established, startup and every company in between. All have their pros and cons, and all give the chance to try something new. There was never a career plan or path when I started working. My philosophy is to keep an open mind while you seek or are presented with opportunities. So far that has worked out well in the absence of anything more structured. 

Tell us about a change in fortune that impacted your life.

I’m not sure I would describe this as a change in fortune but it changed my husband’s and my life. At 3 months old, our daughter contracted a life-threatening illness that, over a 24 hour period would determine our future one way or another. With the strength of will and a force of positive energy, she is now almost 20! At that time, I knew our lives would change in a profound way, but I wasn’t sure how. I thought I may become a more patient driver...I’m not. 

After a while, it became clear that we have a greater appreciation for things we would normally take for granted. That may seem like a no-brainer, and truly, many people live that way without having to go through anything traumatic. Every day is a fresh start and, while I don’t remember that every day, when I look around and appreciate the mundane, that’s good enough for me.