Tracy Lee is a serial entrepreneur and Google Developer Expert who loves to build companies and communities. She is the co-founder of This Dot Labs, a JavaScript web development firm.
Q: What's your background, and what are you working on?
I have spent the majority of my professional life as an entrepreneur. My first major project was a company called "Dishcrawl", which led curated food tours in cities all across the US. When I sold that company in 2015, I took some time off and began coding, and getting into developer advocacy, and I definitely found a passion for that. By 2016, I co-founded This Dot Labs, a JavaScript web development firm, and I'm currently acting as the CEO.
Q: What motivated you to get started with This Dot?
I started This Dot not only to get exposure to a ton of cool projects, companies, and people, but also to help where I could with developers who are trying to get some professional experience, or who need access to learning tools. From the start, we've focused a ton of our energy and resources cultivating a free and open community of learning and professional development through our Contributor Days events, JavaScript Marathon, the Women In Tech Mentorship Meetup, and our Apprentice Program, just to name a few.
Q: How have you attracted clients and grown your company?
A lot of the clients we work with come to us either through a mutual connection, or because they attended one of our free community events. Frequently, it's our guest speakers who are able to connect us with their colleagues and friends who are looking for ad hoc development work, or architectural guidance. I think our continued focus on creating useful developer resources through our blog, Youtube channel, podcasts, and events supports our visibility, and fosters a feeling of trust for prospective clients.
Q: What are your goals for the future?
We have no intention of slowing down. Currently, we're adding more developers to our roster by the month, which is something we couldn't say just two years ago. This is going to help us take on new technical challenges, and a more digitally diverse client base. A huge goal of ours is to be able to have enough available work to run a larger developer apprentice program so that we can foster, and hopefully benefit from all the new talent entering tech.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you've faced and obstacles you've overcome?
Sexism in tech and everywhere, to be quite frank, is still a thing. It's a delicate balance, figuring out how being a woman works to my advantage, and also navigating the barriers that are up.
Q: What's your advice for female founders who are just starting out?
Take advantage of all of the networks and resources that exist out there. There are a ton of online groups, meetups, and conferences that offer professional development resources for women. But also, spend some energy getting involved in other communities around your profession, or interests. There are programs and individuals who aren't privy to some online spaces where female founders and women technologists congregate, and those can be places that offer a ton of value as well
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