Hello, its the first day of summer. I hope your enjoying the good weather. This is a quick post this week. I attended the Women of the Year Lecture recently, and was introduced to the most amazing woman. I was quite embarrassed that I had never heard of her, given all that she achieved.
Dame Stephanie Shirley had quite a challenging upbringing, having fled Natzi Germany during the war, she was taken in by a British family, arriving with her siter as a refugee. She suffered great loss as an adult with the death of her only child. There were challenges in business as well for her. So much so, she used the name Steve in business correspondence.
Shirley achieved many things despite these setbacks. She became one of the pioneering female coders in the 60s, her company was responsible for coding the Concorde’s black box. And, when she floated her company she made many of her employees, alongside herself, millionaires.
I’m highlighting Shirley not only because of the amazing things she has achieved in tech, but because her story of challenges were equally important in forming who she became and what she achieved for herself and for other women. Her courageous, and heartfelt discussion was very moving and I recommend her book, check it out.
Enjoy
Sharleene May Bibbings's Blog 