[This is the thirteenth in a series of posts exploring the personal stories of real women in technology. Every woman in tech overcame, at the very least, statistical odds to be here; this blog series aims to find out why, and what they found along the way.  This week we met up with Adriana Gascoigne (ln), founder and CEO of Girls in Tech, Inc. If reading her story inspires you to share yours, please email me.]

Adriana Gascoigne is the founder and CEO of Girls in Tech, Inc. As a woman in tech, her passion lies in empowering, engaging and educating other women within the tech community. With an impressive background steeped in marketing, branding and business development, Adriana’s worked for companies such as hi5, SocialGamingNetwork, Edelman, and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. She’s also worked in an advisory capacity to Intel along with startups like Startup Exchange and Involver. Today you can find her launching HelpLearnAsia, an eLearning platform, which teaches SMEs in Asia online marketing tools. Chat with her in Spanish, Japanese or French about her passion and dedication to furthering women in tech.

1. Can you take us back to your “eureka!” moment—a particular instance or event that got you interested in technology?

The very first startup that I worked at (GUBA) was my light bulb moment in technology. It was a dream to be able to work with such a diversified group of technology professionals, while building a groundbreaking product and having such an impact in the development process of something so scalable, fun and useful.

I never thought that I would be so amused with my job at a startup; however, when something that you get paid for turns into a hobby, that’s when you know you’ve hit your “eureka” moment. So, I thank GUBA for breaking me into the industry. Technology will always be a part of my career.

2. Growing up, did you have any preconceived perceptions of the tech world and the kinds of people who lived in it?

Yes, I think everyone on the outside does. I believed that the technology industry was filled with massive amounts of coders and that was it. “Code monkeys” stuck in their cubicles typing out their 1’s and 0’s until the carpal tunnel kicked in. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

While the technology industry thrives on the talents of coders, developers and engineers, it doesn’t necessarily mean they were the only people involved in the innovation, design and monetization strategy behind the product or service. Innovation is the execution of an elaboration of something new, fresh and interesting, and I strongly believe that it takes a team of diversified professionals to build something that will work.

I didn’t realize this when I was growing up and now, through Girls in Tech, we consistently evangelize the fact that the technology industry caters to all different types of professionals with unique experiences and levels of “techie” aptitude.

3. As founder of Girls in Tech, what led you to this career path? When did you first start working with tech? Was it by choice?

Really, I fell into working in the technology industry when I relocated from Miami to San Francisco. I was debating on Continue reading Stories from the WIT Trenches: Adriana Gascoigne →