Cloudera is committed to building a more diverse environment and its Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I) team is working with leaders and team members across the business to help narrow representation gaps.
From fashion to data flow, Cloudera's Margot Tien discusses her career transition from fashion design to cloud computing and her co-founding of Cloudera’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community Employee Resource Group amid the racial tensions of 2021.
It started with feeling stuck and ended with a brand-new career, with lots of hard work in the middle.
Expanding her perspective
Margot is a Software Engineer on the Cloudera Data Flow Experience team, but for about a decade she worked in the fashion design industry. It was something she always wanted to do, and while she enjoyed the work she started to feel stuck. She wanted to work in an industry that was constantly evolving and breaking new ground.
“I get a lot of satisfaction around constantly learning new things and expanding my perspective,” she says.
After researching new career paths all roads pointed toward working with technology, and specifically cloud computing.
“While most people don’t think of fashion design as technical, a lot of the behind-the-scenes work requires the use of software tools and calculations that appealed to my analytical side, and I saw software development as something that would be a good fit,” explains Margot.
Supportive culture with training opportunities
She began her journey by first joining a full-time coding bootcamp, at the end of which she participated in a series of mock interviews. A Cloudera Technical Manager volunteered to conduct those mock interviews and saw potential in Margot. He referred her to Cloudera university recruiting, which ultimately led to an interview.
“While the interview process was smooth, I was anxious, and at a point where I was moving into uncharted territory,” she says. “I had self-doubt, but I knew this is what I wanted," adds Margot.
“Since I’ve been working at Cloudera, what stands out the most is its supportive and collaborative culture,” Margot comments.
“I came in green and felt intimidated by this whole new world of technology. I had tons of questions and felt comfortable reaching out to anyone in the company for help. I have found this not to be the case in my previous companies," she explains. “The company also offers training opportunities through Udemy that have been very helpful.”
Community with a mission
After settling into her role, circumstances came into play that presented a new journey for Margot. Racial tensions gave way to a community of support and greater awareness.
In 2021, welcome or not, the news seemed to constantly stream into homes. Margot was just trying to get through another pandemic year, when she watched as a story unfolded around the senseless shooting of six Asian women in Atlanta. This tragedy, combined with frequent reports of violence against Asian Americans throughout the country, hit home.
As an Asian American woman, she was looking for a community where she could express her anxiety and concern about these recent events and offer support to others like her. So once again Margot entered uncharted territory and partnered with Clouderan Ankita Koratkar to form the Cloudera Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Employee Resource Group (ERG).
What started as a community of support around recent tragedies grew into a larger community with a mission to "Partner with Cloudera to empower and support the diverse needs of AAPI employees while facilitating professional development and promoting cultural and social awareness."
“It’s important for us to take time to learn and understand each other’s culture and heritage,” says Margot. “While there are many differences, through increased awareness and ongoing dialogue we also find the commonalities that bring us together.”
Creating an atmosphere of support
As an Asian American growing up in California with parents of Taiwanese descent, she wanted to fit in with American culture. But as she grew up, she came to really appreciate her heritage.
“What stands out for me the most about my culture is the trait of selflessness,” Margot comments. “Putting family first before one’s own need."
“This carries over to the greater community, if you have the means and ability why not help?,” she adds.
This is the mindset she brings to her life and work with the AAPI ERG. Margot continues to create an atmosphere of support in her community and at Cloudera.
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.