Spotlight: The Voices of Women at DataDome

At DataDome, diversity is woven into our DNA. We gather talent from?25+?countries, and?28%?of our employee base identify as women. As our industry evolves, it is important for us to educate, inspire, and support women interested in a?career in technology—and to recognize the various professions one can pursue depending on their skills and interests.

We tapped into the minds of women from various backgrounds, skill sets, and geographical locations to explore a bit about their experiences as women in technology, including:

• How their interest in technology began.
• How their paths led them to their positions at DataDome.
• What advice they would give to women interested in tech.

Allow us to introduce you to some members involved in our Women Empowerment Pod—one of DataDome’s DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) focus groups dedicated to increasing gender parity internally and externally.

Dominique Regalado, Solutions Engineer

Dominique (“Dom”) Regalado is one of DataDome’s Solutions Engineers based in Austin, Texas. She is involved in pre-sales engagements and helping match our clients’ business needs to our technical product, which involves onboarding clients and garnering long-term partnerships.

“I’ve always been interested in ‘how things work.’ I was raised among engineers and learned how to build a computer even when I was younger. When I began taking Computer Science classes in college, I started learning how simple code can turn into the most complex systems and it really drove me to learn more.”

She began her career as a software developer, but soon realized she enjoyed talking with people and helping them learn. She was introduced to solutions engineering after college when she began working professionally with cross-functional teams and directly with clients.

"When I found out there was a technical role where you can also be client-facing, it was the best of both worlds."

She advises any women interested in tech to simply take the leap and try it out.?“Technology has so much to offer, and there are so many opportunities to find your passion in it. Everything will evolve with technology, it will stay relevant no matter which career path you go.”

Dom knows you don’t need to have a traditionally “technical” mind to thrive in a technical industry. Women support most major business units at DataDome to power our engine, including business operations, customer success, finance, marketing, people operations, sales, security, site reliability engineering, software engineering, solutions engineering, and threat research.

Lucia Nassif, Account Manager

Lucia Nassif is an Account Manager on our sales team and co-leader of our Women Empowerment Pod. She lives in Spokane, Washington, and is responsible for building DataDome’s customer base in the west coast of the US—this involves researching prospective clients, proactive outreach, relationship building, and client management.

Prior to realizing her love for sales, Lucia was a Marketing Program Manager. This allowed her to apply her creativity and capture the interest of potential customers, which led her to transitioning career paths.

"I learned I wanted to not only open doors to new business, but also close new business and become a master in relationship-building."

She loves the thrill of the sales hunt and the challenges that come with learning about a customer’s pain points, developing a solution that addresses those challenges, and in turn, earning their trust.

“Remember, it is okay to change directions and change your goals over time as you learn what inspires you,”?Lucia added.?“Be direct and transparent about what you want. Be curious and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Put a game plan together and follow-through, don’t let anyone get in your way.”

Laure De Griève, Software Engineer

Laure De Griève is a Software Engineer on our integrations team, located in Lyon, France. She is responsible for building new protection modules and improving current solutions to protect users from bots and fraud. Her team’s goal is to provide a wide range of?integrations ?and support to our customers from the onboarding phase to production.

Laure describes her work as varied and challenging. Not only does she research the latest features and create proofs of concept, but she also participates in calls with our customers.

“When I was 8, my grandmother gifted me with a small computer and a whole new world opened up to me, where the knowledge is bottomless and it’s easy to build and experiment. Technology evolves constantly and to this day, I’ve never been bored with it.”

Laure’s initial interest in technology began at a young age—but it wasn’t until later in her studies that she decided to pursue a degree and career in software engineering. She never considered allowing a lack of female representation in technology hinder her aspirations.

"I was lucky enough to be raised in a family that is oblivious to gender stereotyping and therefore I never based my choices on that. To be interested in a subject is sufficient to be legitimate."

It is no secret women have historically been underrepresented in technology, beginning with educational settings. A?study ?released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in September noted that young women make up 25% of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields today. Ideally, we would like to double that percentage.

“There is still a lot of adversity in STEM studies for women, from misjudgment to sexual harassment. With experience, you will learn to spot [biased] behaviors, to ignore remarks, and find environments that are safe.”

DataDome is dedicated to providing a?safe and comfortable working environment ?in which all employees can thrive and grow—regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, or any other personal characteristic. We prioritize the effort to highlight DE&I because it is essential to innovation and our core values of?team spirit,?growth, and (com)passion.

The Path Forward for Women in Tech

Dom, Lucia, and Laure are all paving the way as leaders within their professions. They develop themselves by deepening their industry knowledge, enhancing their awareness of technical landscapes, directly mentoring others, and staying up to date with tech trends and news via podcasts, social media, and the DataDome blog.?

Some outlets they recommend are?techcruch.com ,?LinkedIn, Daily Tech News Show, TechStuff podcasts, and @tech.ladies and @stereotypebreakers on Instagram.

This article marks the first piece of our?Spotlight: Voice of the DataDome Woman?series. Next, we will hear from other female leaders inside the dome on their career advancement journeys, career progression at DataDome, and other relevant topics.