My name is Rachel Sellers; I have worked for oOh! as a Business Systems Manager for just over a year and every day I work to share my pride.
Growing up in the bible belt of Western Sydney and navigating my way through Catholic schools was a formative experience. Queerness and pride were foreign and scary to me as I began to develop my sense of self. I could not comprehend the idea of stepping outside of the heteronormative status quo so, at 23, I moved to London to explore life beyond what I perceived to be the social and emotional constraints of my life in Sydney.
In a serendipitous turn of events, I found a new career path around the same time. Armed with only a degree in Human Resources, I was invited to explore the world of IT and software development by a Chief Operating Officer (COO) who was willing to take a chance on me.
I quickly found myself thrust into a male-dominated industry, pushed and pulled between stakeholders who wanted to talk over me and engineers who weren’t used to dealing with a short, loud brunette who awkwardly asked a lot of questions.
I imagine that’s also how the first few women I went on dates with felt…
As my dating experience and professional confidence grew though, I realised a few key things:
- People love to talk about themselves
- Connecting with someone is more important than asking the perfect questions
- Resilience is key
Tech has taken me all over the world and afforded me amazing experiences like working with the government in Panama, building software with Ericsson (yes, the company that made your first phone) in Romania, teambuilding in Hong Kong, and taking in the glitz and glamour of South Melbourne
Throughout my various roles and companies, I have leveraged these learnings to help navigate the political and personal challenges that come with being a queer woman and a leader in tech. One positive aspect I have experienced over time is the strong parallel between the advancement of technology, the interconnectivity of humans, and the broadening of minds.
We have come leaps and bounds in so many ways and I have been fortunate enough to grow into not just the technology space, but into queer communities that have popped up virtually and in real life (IRL).
In the early days, my pride was small and often hidden until I felt safe enough to share it. It was rare for me to look around and feel genuinely free. Today I am leading a software development squad who are responsible for making sure that oOh! delivers content to the right place at the right time.
Every day I am lucky enough to bring my whole self to work and share my experiences and learnings to guide, platform, and hopefully inspire other people to share themselves. The undercurrent that exists truly is one of acceptance and openness.
And it’s not just pronouns in email signatures, it’s so clearly baked into the language and culture of the organisation through genuine actions. That’s why I view our partnership with Sydney WorldPride and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras so critical; it’s an example of how we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk too.
To me, pride is celebrating love and the progress we’ve made, while not being afraid to call out the ways we can all continue to grow and support the LGBTQIA+ community so it can thrive.
