Women in Technology: Leah Koerper

The Events Calendar’s Product Owner on her first job, creative problem-solving, and the enjoyment of other people’s cats on video calls.

Leah Koerper’s first job was helping an older woman with household tasks. “I’d do every thing from sorting her mail to fixing her printer to creating cookies,” she says. “It was an awesome first job, and Jane and I stayed friends until she passed away at 100.”

Koerper grew up in Corvallis, Oregon, an hour-and-a-half south of Portland, where she now lives. She attended Whitman College in Washington, majoring in Classics and studying ancient language and history.

A probability meeting at WordCamp Portland led Koerper to The Events Calendar. “I had helped organize the event and was drained, so on the after-party, I searched for probably the most comfortable chair within the bar and sat down in a gaggle of parents I didn’t know,” she says. “One in every of them talked about how he could find people to rent with the precise technical skills but was having trouble finding pleased people he desired to work with. I said, “I’m a pleased person. Hire me!” The subsequent week I began a trial doing support for The Events Calendar.”

Koerper has now been in tech for 9 ½ years, all of which have been at The Events Calendar, where she works as a Product Owner. “I tell people who I make decisions about what features we’re going to construct and the way they need to function for the client,” she says, “after which work with designers and developers to make that occur. So it’s numerous communication and translation from customers and customer needs through the varied team roles to a final product.”

Creative problem-solving is a highlight of the role for Koerper. “I appreciate how dynamic my role is and the way it’s not likely about being deeply expert in a single thing but about having quite a lot of skills and having the ability to bring them together in a way that is sensible,” she says. “Being a product owner, particularly, is a novel intersection of creative problem solving and logical pondering.” The added challenge of needing to speak what she’s pondering with colleagues who do have different skillsets and ways of pondering is one other source of enjoyment for Koerper. “I also really, really love working from home,” she says.

Launching our Event Aggregator product was a proud accomplishment for Koerper. “I believe it was the very first thing I’d really strategized from start to complete. Zach and Matt were the developers on that project, and the three of us spent numerous evenings working late and having numerous silly fun,” she says. The product was a giant success and still is considered one of The Events Calendars’ highest sellers.

Along with her role as Product Owner, Koerper also manages the swag shop for The Events Calendar, handling logistics and coming up with unique gifts for work anniversaries and milestones.

Loyalty to her team keeps Koerper motivated. “All the pieces I’m in my profession today got here from learning and experience I gained on the job,” she says. “The team has been kind and supportive through difficult times in my life, and there’s all the time been a spot for me here through nearly 10 years of profession growth and life changes. It’s nice to be an element of something like that, and I feel very indebted and appreciative.”

One other big motivator for Koerper? Seeing other people’s cats on video calls. (“Shout out to Zach Tirrell’s geriatric grandpa cat, Oscar, who’s about 1,000 years old.”) Outside of labor, Koerper enjoys crossword puzzles, horseback riding, traveling, and spending time together with her cats, Frances and Bookcase.

For young people considering exploring a tech profession, Koerper thinks it’s essential to know that tech just isn’t all numbers and code. “Take into consideration what form of skills you could have, think concerning the form of lifestyle you wish, think concerning the environment you ought to work in. Then consider if tech is the precise field for you.” Koerper says the reply could thoroughly be yes because tech firms need an array of skill sets, not only coders and developers. “I lean on my more technical coworkers,” she says. “They usually lean on me. All of us bring different and essential skills to the team. It’s really about determining what you enjoy doing. Which will or may not occur to steer you to a profession in tech.”