Stella Loizou is a product engineer at Hubble.
She was previously part of the development team who built internal platform for the finance sector. She is now helping Hubble to apply to our platform cutting edge technologies such us React and Node.js
Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role
I studied Greek Philology and I have a masters in Classics from UCL. Now I am a software engineer! Quite strange right? I took a turn to my career. I had learnt a lot about our past, how ancients built civilisations and cultures, and It was time to learn about the future and help to build it. So I continue my studies in web developing. I have worked in software companies in Athens and Cyprus. Now I am working at Hubble where I am a full stack developer working with technologies that I love.
Did you ever sit down and plan your career?
Yes sure, if you want to achieve things in life you always have to plan and stick also to your goals
Have you faced any challenges along the way?
Yes of course. When I entered the tech world and I got my first job, I had to face the fact that being a woman in a tech work environment is the reason to be neglected and ignored. This specific challenge took me by surprise. I have tried a lot of things to overcome this obstacle and I have achieved that in the end. Changing country and company help me to understand that are not ALL tech environments are full with prejudices.
What has been your biggest achievement to date?
I have entered the tech field, even if it is a men’s world, and I am succeeding on that.
What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success?
Be strategic and determined
How do you feel about mentoring? Have you mentored anyone or are you someone’s mentee?
I love mentoring! I have been both a mentee and mentor. It is amazing to learn things from someone else that you admire as a person and/or professional. At the same time it’s so nice when you mentor as you can share your knowledge and at the same time you learn many things from your mentee.
If you could change one thing to accelerate the pace of change for Gender Parity, what would it be?
Education from early stages! Children must be taught that everyone has the same rights
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self what would it be?
I would say “When someone else says you can’t, say I can”
What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?
My next challenge is to enter the AI world and keep having work-life balance.
