You Can See It If You Believe It With Preeti Wadhwani

Preeti Wadhwani is a Mobile Developer at Curve Tomorrow, a health technology company. She is also the founder and director of the Women Who Code Mumbai network! 

Preeti was gracious enough to meet with our Senior Content Creator, Cait Sarazin, and discuss how she furthered her career in the tech industry and how she built a thriving community of women developers in her city. 

Can you tell me about how your career has progressed? What was the process once you had your first tech job and advanced through the ranks? 

First, I earned a Bachelor's degree in Engineering. I noticed that mobile development garnered a lot of attention while I was searching for a job after graduation. I looked into the field and found an internship at IIT Bombay, a well-known school here in India. They presented me with the challenge of converting an Android application into one operable for Windows mobile. I had some experience in the latter, so they asked me if I could do the first module in a week. 

I worked with IIT Bombay on Windows mobile development for a while, but I grew increasingly interested in Android development, so I decided to pursue it. A major company hired me for a management position, but the role wasn't very exciting. I wanted to code. 

So, I moved to a startup. My job was to handle their product's Android development. However, not only was I new to Android, I was the only developer, so I had to tackle the challenge head-on and started learning as much as possible. 

I began exploring different tech communities in Mumbai that could offer me guidance and direction. These communities helped me tremendously because as someone in the very early stages of her career, it was useful to have people to talk to and a way to overcome my fear of not doing everything right.

I enjoy confronting challenges, though. I eventually landed my current job, which required me to learn a new language and navigate managing a remote team. 

After benefiting from different communities within the tech industry as much as I had, I decided I wanted to create one of my own and offer the same support. I started connecting with different people and organizing meetups. There was no Mumbai chapter of Women Who Code at the time, but I became eager to start one after I came across the organization's website. I applied to be a chapter director and built one from the ground up. 

Thank you for sharing that, that’s quite a journey. It sounds like you’re a bit of a pioneer, starting the first Mumbai chapter and advancing in Android mobile development. What did you learn and what skills do you have that have helped you be successful when you didn’t have everything figured out yet? 

Always keep learning. Whenever I start something new, I get this fear, “What if I’m unable to do this thing? Maybe I’m not good enough for this.”  But then I tell myself, “It’s not that bad, I just need to put some time into it.” It will be all right — all I have to do is learn.

Continuous learning and practicing are essential. Absorbing as much as I can builds my confidence, which I do through speaking with people and reading books. If you’re consistent in continuous learning, anything that looked intimidating to you before won’t look so scary anymore. 

What was starting the Women Who Code Mumbai chapter like? What did you do that made the network successful? 

A few years back, I was the only Android developer and woman developer in a company. There is a gender gap in many tech companies, so I thought that I could do something to close it. I began looking up different women in tech communities around the world on Twitter. I decided that there was a need to start a community in Mumbai because women developers need a network where members support and encourage each other. 

So, I made an effort to attend local community meetups and talk to women developers. A few of us decided to create a Whatsapp group to connect with peers, ask questions, and talk about different things. It took about two years to connect to grow the network, and by the time I knew a few of our members well, the Women Who Code opportunity came knocking. It was perfect timing. Even though we didn’t have a chapter before this, Women Who Code is well known in Mumbai, so its presence helped expand the network substantially. 

As for my personal qualities, I would say the way I talk to people helped make the Mumbai chapter successful. I’m a people person. I’m good at asking others what their problems are, listening, and making them comfortable around me. 

I’ve learned that seeing people do something you want to do motivates you to do it as well. I felt motivated to rise through the ranks thanks to the women I follow on Twitter. That’s why I’ve put in so much work building a tech community for women in Mumbai: the encouragement we provide each other is essential, but visibly pursuing our dreams reminds us that it’s possible.  

That’s great. You mentioned a gender gap in Mumbai — can you talk about some of the challenges of being a woman in Mumbai in the tech industry? 

I’ve been lucky. The organization I work for believes in minimizing the gender gap and supports me a lot, so I don’t feel any kind of pressure or work in a negative environment. Other women I’ve talked to, however, have shared stories with me about not feeling supported in their workplaces. The constant judgment affects their mental health. 

Having role models and allies in senior positions can help women overcome such obstacles. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that the dropout rate amongst women in the tech industry is very high. One of the things that can make a difference is support in the workplace: allowing people to work flexible hours, understanding if they have children, and creating encouraging environments. Companies that make women work late hours don’t help. 

I love that. You mentioned that you work remotely — what is that experience like compared to your time in an office? 

I have the option to work remotely, but I prefer going into the company’s local office. I used to work fully remotely and was very excited about it, but I quickly realized that I like to be around people. However, I still coordinate with our distributed team members in Melbourne, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. 

One advantage of working in a remote company is flexibility. It benefits work-life balance, which is essential to me. I need time to live my life and focus on self-improvement. 

Do you have any remaining pieces of advice for women in the tech industry?  

If I have any advice to give anyone, it’s try to say whatever you have in mind — regardless if it’s  big or small. Doing so will help you grow. 

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Preeti Wadhwani is a Mobile Developer for Curve Tomorrow and director of Mumbai’s local chapter of Women Who Code.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/preetiwadhwani/

Twitter: pwadhwani2592

IG: preetiwadhwani