Wentors’ Insider Stories
Bessy Mukaria is one of our wentees from the just concluded International Women’s Day Mentorship Cohort. An amazing lady with a passion to get things done.
We reached out to her, to get an insight into who she is, beyond our mentorship program.
Meet Bessy:
Tell us a bit about yourself outside your career
When Bessy ain’t behind a laptop, she is either doing an outdoor activity, with friends or family. I am passionate about mentorship, and in my free time You’d find me listening to a podcast or trying out a new baking recipe.
What’s one thing you’d tell your younger self if you met her?
I would tell my younger self to be bold and show up more. The fear and the thoughts of being not good enough are just in the mind!
What other options did you have other than tech?
My degree would have rendered me a statistician.
How did a career in tech become the eventual choice?
After diving into data science, I realized that it was something that I actually loved. And being a resource in the data science field, encouraging and helping women around me to pursue careers in tech encouraged me to stay.
How did you start out a career in tech?
With just an undergraduate degree in data science, I knew that I didn’t want to become just a statistician. I started joining communities and doing online tutorials geared towards upskilling my programming skills to complement my statistics knowledge so as to be a data scientist.
What would you call the most challenging part of your career?
Pivoting from statistics to data science. Starting out, I was all over the place. Didn’t know where to specialize or where to start out. Over time it got easier.
Did you have anyone fill the role of a mentor in your life?
Yes, I did.
What do you think would have made your career less challenging?
Getting a data science mentor at an earlier stage.
What’s that one turning point moment for you in your life?
My turning point in life was when I realized that there was an inner child that was too serious and I allowed her to laugh a little louder and allowed her to breathe whilst growing.
How was the We-Discover mentorship cohort for you?
The We-discover mentorship program was not only a source of light to my career as an analytics engineer who’s specializing in the data science field but also an opportunity to build meaningful relationships with incredible women in technology. My mentor played a huge role through her guidance and through her shared experiences, It affirmed to me that as a woman I could get it done if only I believed I could! She went the extra mile to connect me to a data engineer who would guide me in my career through professional mentorship. The group set up also provisioned an opportunity for me to learn from my fellow wentees, holistically regardless of the different specializations in the tech industry.
How I wish every woman could get a chance to grow in such a community as I did!
We are committing ourselves to ensuring your wish comes true.
-Wendy
If you’ve got little girls, what would you want them to know about the world?
That there are an infinite number of opportunities, as a woman do not limit yourself in going for them. It needs a mindset of growth and abundance.
If you can, would you have had it any other way?
Not at all, however, I would embrace mistakes and failures differently. As opportunities to learn and grow and not as instances that weigh me down.
