I wasn’t into computers, but from an early age I was really good at math and science. Those subjects just came naturally to me. One of the earliest after-school programs I participated in was a rocket launching program. When I reached high school, on the advice of some trusted friends, my parents steered me toward computer science for my one elective class, and that’s when I was first exposed to programming. My parents’ notion was that even if I didn’t become a software engineer, I would at least be able to talk with those types of workers fluently.

I think I was one of only two girls in the entire class — the rest of the students were junior and senior guys who programmed for fun. The whole thing was completely foreign to me, and my parents didn’t have a background in the subject themselves, so I was fending for myself. So yes, it was intimidating in that respect. But I picked things up and got a really good foundation in a procedural programming language called Turbo Pascal, which set the stage for everything to come.

[Laughing] I’m not sure whether I would say “supportive” or “coercive,” but even though I felt upset about it at the time, to say the least, this turned out to be one of the best decisions my parents ever made for me.

Nope. Throughout my education and career, I never really had a mentor. I had to be my own cheerleader and mentor, and that taught me that I have the power to direct my own path. It would have been nice if there was someone there to open doors or dispense sage career advice for me, but that person never came along. What I’ve realized over the years is that the resources we are looking for often lie within us.

Yes, not only because I wanted to show the way for other women, but because, again, I wanted to help women understand that in many cases they already have what they need to succeed.

As for how the platform came about, in the very beginning I was just planning to interview women executives in technical departments — VPs of engineering, CTOs, CISOs, those sorts of roles — for a podcast, and to release their stories to the world in the hope of inspiring others. The same week that the podcast launched, I was contacted by a prominent women in tech summit that was interested in me speaking over their summit lunch. I told them my story, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I was giving the opening keynote at the summit instead! That’s when everything took off.

Soon after that, I developed my first offering, which was an equal pay salary negotiation program designed to arm women with data and protect them from being underpaid relative to their male peers.

I wish it were more common that people would talk about their fears and insecurities about imposter syndrome. Behind closed doors, people will talk about how they initially panicked when they got a challenging or high-profile assignment. When people in the industry project confidence publicly, women especially perceive them as having their acts together and never experiencing similar fears. And that's just not true. I've had conversations about imposter syndrome with men and women alike. It’s important for women to understand that they’re not alone in feeling out of place.

Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn, and Twitter. To learn more about DevelopHer, visit the website.

Women Who Master puts a spotlight on women who have made outstanding contributions to STEM fields. The goal of the series is to celebrate those contributions, inspire future leaders, and help close the gender gap in technology.