Category: News

Quiq’s Very Own Megan Weller

Megan Weller, a front-end software engineer at Quiq, is born and raised in Billings, Montana. When Megan isn’t crushing code, she’s working creative magic in other pursuits. This Women’s Month, get to know this talented developer who isn’t afraid to #codelikeagirl.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, and when you discovered a love of tech.

I discovered my love for tech at a young age. I was always naturally inclined to technology and soon became the go-to for tech support in my family. Although I did start my college career in graphic design, I took a web design class and discovered that I liked the coding part even more than the design part. The core reasons why I wanted a career in tech is that I enjoy problem-solving, design, and creating.

I like to think that I have a pretty creative eye when it comes to design and structure. As side hobbies, I enjoy calligraphy, interior design, woodworking, and designing invitations for my friend’s weddings and bridal showers. I’m creating something out of nothing with these tools that I have.

I think coding goes hand in hand with creativity. You have a blank slate and there are so many possibilities on what to create, how you’re going to do, and how it will be built. There will always be problem needed to solved and I do love a good puzzle. I never knew what I wanted to be when I was growing up, but when I realized that software engineering was a strong possibility, it felt like something just clicked and I knew it was right for me.

Q: What do you love about technology and what developments are you most excited about?

One thing I love about technology is that we are creating simple solutions to problems people didn’t know they had. Making applications and solutions to make life easier and more convenient. Take Quiq for an example, I could call the customer service hotline at a company but then I’m on hold for maybe 30 minutes and transferred several times. But texting a customer service number, and conversing that way is more convenient for me because it’s on my time and makes whatever problem I have so much easier to resolve.

Q: What are the skills or career paths that may be exciting prospects for women now and in the future?

I think this year and the past few months have made this day more important than ever. Women are rising up in the workplace and demanding equality. While I was in school and now as an alumnus, I attended events and groups dedicated to women in tech and engineering. I’ve heard speeches from trailblazing women like Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, Susan Wojcicki, CEO of Youtube, and MSU alumni like Jean Sweeney, a VP at 3M, and many more. All women had one common advice, which was to work hard and have ambition. There are some gender obstacles in the way, but they will not be the deciding factor. A career in tech is extremely rewarding and I’m happy I made my decision to get a degree in Computer Science. I’m excited to see where my career takes me and the changes made in the tech industry, where we one day will have gender equality. As Sheryl Sandberg put it, “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders”.

Adjusting to growth can be challenging and change can be hard for some people, but Gretchen Dickie, Senior Quality Assurance Engineer makes it look easy. From major career moves to the frequent and fast-paced changes in technology, Gretchen has been able to identify and seize opportunities that have helped her move forward as a one of many #womenthatcode.

As part of our International Women’s Day series, we invite you to get to know a bit more about the women at Quiq who are helping to move technology forward. We’re proud of the talent we have at Quiq and are excited to share the stories of the women that are helping to make this company a leading software for text messaging for business.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, and when you discovered a love of tech

The elegant logic of science and math has always fascinated me and led me to BS degrees in Medical Technology and Microbiology. It also led to a cross-country move from Wisconsin to a job as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist in a small hospital in the mountains of Montana. After being lucky enough to take some time away from my career to spend the early years of my son’s & daughter’s lives at home with them, I decided to return to school to pursue a new career path.

Technology professions were barely on anyone’s radar the first time I was in college but now offered seemingly endless possibilities. An MS in Computer Science exposed me to a new world of software design, theory, programming and problem-solving, and bonus – I got to take more math classes! After finishing my Master’s I joined RightNow Technologies (later acquired by Oracle), and held positions of Support Specialist, Business Systems Analyst, and Quality Assurance Engineer.

I’m now Sr. QA Engineer with Quiq, where I’m continuing to pursue my passion for contributing to the creation of software that can actually make people’s lives a little less frustrating.

Q: What do you love about technology and what developments are you most excited about?

What do I love about technology?  Each day brings new challenges & opportunities that allow me to continue learning – no matter what your age is, there’s something new to learn every day.  I enjoy everything that goes into releasing software – witnessing the innovation and ideas the team comes up with every day, contributing to design decisions, implementation, testing, and seeing the outcome of all the hard work in the product we release to our customers.  Things move fast here and are always changing – tech careers are never boring!

Q: What are the skills or career paths that may be exciting prospects for women now and in the future?

My path to a technology career was a long journey with lots of turns, but it’s proof that the possibilities are endless if you decide to take that path – and the exciting thing is, even after you get to your destination, there may be surprises.  After getting a CS degree I fully expected to pursue a career as a software engineer, but along the way, I discovered that I loved other aspects of this profession more than coding.

There are so many options available in this industry that no one should limit themselves to a narrow view of what technology professions look like.

Quiq Supports International Women’s Day

Quiq is proud to support International Women’s Day by highlighting three of our own Quiqsters who are helping to move technology forward. Our first profile is our very own CMO, Dani Wanderer. Dani has been working for tech companies for over 25 years. She’s helping move technology forward by supporting and mentoring incredible women to pursue their dreams, fight for what they want, and provide opportunities to help them succeed.  Aside from being a mom of two and avid hiker, Dani is the only Bozeman-based board member for Make-A-Wish, and working to make lives better for critically ill children.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, and when you discovered a love of tech

I didn’t start off with a love of tech. I started off with a passion for languages and studied French, German, Spanish, and Latin in high school. At the time, I wanted a foreign language to be part of my job but knew that just majoring in a language in college was not going to result in a high-paying job. I decided to add a business to my degree and pursue international business, and as I entered college, I selected German over the other languages I had studied. This was primarily due to the fact that the Berlin Wall was coming down during that time and I thought there would be a great opportunity to live abroad and work in a German business after graduation.

“Sometimes the path you plan to take has some roadblocks and other paths open up.”

Sometimes the path you plan to take has some roadblocks and other paths open up. I had planned to attend Thunderbird for my masters and thus had selected Arizona State University for my undergraduate school. My mom and I visited the ASU campus and after seeing the campus and meeting the counselor, that it was clearly not the place for me. Being a planner and hater of change, not to mention a teenager, I was devastated. My mom, bless her, decided to drive me down to Tucson to see the University of Arizona. Despite being a very reluctant and negative participant on this detour, the first person I met there actually asked me what I was interested in doing and where I saw myself after graduation. Those questions revealed a whole new opportunity that was just perfect for me. U of A had just launched what they called a 3/2 program, which was a 5-year program where participants would receive a liberal arts degree in 3 years and a masters in 2 years. I was one of the first people to take on that challenge – keep in mind it can take some undergraduates 5 years to get one degree and I was going to have to buckle down to get 2 degrees in 5 years. The upside benefits were that I could still get a degree in a language and also end up with a masters degree in finance, but also, as an out-of-state, working student, I could minimize the years of tuition and student loans.

So, how did I discover my love for tech? It came when I was recruited out of the U of A for a job with Hewlett Packard. Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska did not afford me much exposure to tech, not to mention I grew up with more “blue-collar” than white. Hewlett Packard was under the leadership of John Young and then Lew Platt, so the HP Way was very alive and well. That is where I discovered and fell in love with tech.

Q: What do you love about technology and what developments are you most excited about?

What do I love about tech companies?
– the speed at which they move
– the constant change and continual innovation across every single team, not just product/engineering
– addressing new and different challenges every day
– the energy of the culture and people

Q: What are the skills or career paths that may be exciting prospects for women now and in the future?

I believe that we should continue to encourage women in business, supporting their path to senior leadership, and becoming a CEO is still a huge opportunity. There are still only 27 female CEOs in the Fortune 500–that is 5%!!! Encouraging women to go into business and work their way up through the ranks and grow their skills must still be a priority.