Tiffany Janzen isn’t your typical coder, transitioning from fashion to software and becoming one of the most popular tech platforms across social media. She breaks down everything from AI to coding, conducting interviews with leaders in the field on her podcast Talk Tech with Tiff.
What sparked your interest in tech, and how did you first break into the industry?
Ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to build different things. At the time, it might have related more to fashion or anything that I could get my hands on physically to build, because growing up I didn’t have access in school to a ton of different computer science courses. I was from a really small town and didn’t even know what was possible with tech.
It was in my last year of university where I was going to school for something more related to graphic design. Once again, I still thought it would relate back to fashion, because that’s what I associated with being able to build different things.
It was required to take a coding course, and it was a very basic course — HTML and CSS — but I was instantly drawn to it. I thought, “This is like a superpower.” Literally, whatever I had an idea of, I could now build. It felt so incredible to me and so exciting. So that’s really what sparked my interest in tech.
But having not felt like tech was a place for me up until that point, it brought up a lot of questions: Where do I go from here? I’m just finishing university, and now I’m finding this thing called coding. Where do I go from here?
My interest has always been around building different things and empowering others through that. Coding at the time — and still today — felt like the right avenue for that.
What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions people have when pursuing a career in tech?
One that I hear often (and I had too, even though I pursued a technical career path in tech) is that you need to be technical to be in tech. There are so many roles within tech now that do not require you to be technical. In reality, you just need to be someone who’s curious, creative, and wants to solve really interesting problems. Then you can find the right tools to do so. And I think with the advancements AI has brought and the different tooling, that’s more possible than ever.
I also think there is a misconception of whether the room will be filled with all men. Are there going to be any other women who can build with me? Where’s the diversity? The industry is progressing past that, but we are not fully there yet. But we need a diverse group of individuals building these products to ensure it’s serving equally a diverse group of users.
Take things like the headrests in our cars. If it was designed by a diverse group of individuals, including women, maybe it wouldn’t be just a flat back that’s always bumping my head. There’s a lot of parallels to how software is built. If it’s built by one group of individuals, it’s going to serve one group.
In my first role as a software developer, it was a team of all men. After about a year, I noticed that, despite loving fashion, all I would wear was black t-shirts and black pants. It wasn’t representative of me. I was doing that to try and fit in.
That was a really big moment for me to realize that if I want to grow in tech and help inspire others, you can’t be what you can’t see. We need to be authentic to ourselves so younger generations can see, for example, that you can still go into tech and like fashion and creativity.
What are some challenges you face around representation or credibility, and how have you navigated them?
It was definitely more so earlier on in my career, and I think it was twofold. One, earlier on, I didn’t have as much confidence to speak up, push back, or correct individuals. Oftentimes in meetings I would share an idea, then 10 minutes later, a male colleague would share the same idea, and it was praised. I almost just accepted that, because I didn’t know how to navigate it.
I learned (and I’m still learning) there’s a way to advocate for yourself and speak up in a respectful way, while acknowledging that I deserve to be here. I should be here. I have the credibility, the credentials to back me up. Finding that inner confidence. But it’s easier said than done.
For me, it was taking small steps. Something that was really challenging was sharing my ideas or getting up on stage for the first time and giving a technical talk. Rather than trying to take a huge step forward all at once, I would speak up once in a meeting. Then build on that.
How do you think that social media is shaping access to tech education and just general awareness?
I think it’s really exciting. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of pros and cons with social media, and that’s something we can’t ignore. But when it comes to tech education and awareness, I think it’s absolutely huge.
Now you go on social media, and you can see some incredible educators and creators who are sharing their stories and insights on tech and different tech verticals. And what I love about it is there are so many wonderful individuals doing so, and everyone has a different story and journey. So there are so many people to relate to in different parts of what they are sharing or working on.
I also think it really highlights just how big tech is and how many roles there are. You don’t have to be an engineer to be in tech. You can be in marketing or advertising, and social media has really brought that awareness. It’s also brought a deeper understanding as to what people can do with tech and how they can become a part of it. It’s such an exciting time. I feel like now more than ever, we’re equipped with this knowledge.
If you want to build a career that you are passionate about, success will follow that. If you’re passionate, you’re going to put so much more energy into it. You have to stay true to yourself. And I think social media has hopefully helped individuals, especially young women, feel more comfortable with themselves by seeing others do the same.
What is one thing more people should understand about what it takes to succeed in tech?
You need to be comfortable with constantly learning and constant change. We’ve seen tech move at such a rapid pace, especially the last few years with AI, and there are so many other tech advancements coming up that are going to keep getting faster.
There are two ways to look at that: You can get on the train and be part of it. When you’re on a train, you don’t feel how fast it’s moving. Or, you can sit on the sidelines and see how fast it’s going and feel like there’s no way you could catch up.
I think being comfortable with change and accepting that you’re never going to know it all is really important. That was a big thing for me when I was first learning how to code. I thought I needed to hit a certain point before I could get my first job or build my first thing. But over time, I realized you will never learn it all. That’s okay. You just need to be comfortable with continuing to learn to get to the next step.
It doesn’t have to be exhausting. You don’t constantly have to be studying, but just being curious. And I think that’s what makes tech such a fun industry and career — no day is the same, and you’re constantly building with new tools. Earlier in my career, I didn’t feel comfortable asking big technical questions in front of a large group, so I preferred one-on-one. So finding different ways to learn or ask questions that make you feel most comfortable really helped.
And with social media and the internet evolving — YouTube, chat tools, different platforms — you can find an answer to your questions, which helps you feel more comfortable.
What advice would you give to students who are considering a career in computing or technology and don’t know where to start?
I would start by trying out a bunch of different things. There are so many different areas in tech that you can explore, whether you want to be an engineer or go on the marketing side. Before you commit to a path that you’re uncertain about, go online, look on social media, and start getting curious about different paths out there.
Even when you do choose what path you want to go down, you don’t need to stay on that path forever. That’s the beauty of technology. I started out as a software developer, worked many years in corporate doing that, and then moved into developer relations, which is more so a blend between coding and marketing because I wanted to do more public speaking and different things like that.
I wish someone had told me earlier on in my career that even if you choose not to stay in that career path the skills you are learning today will still be extremely valuable. That is something the next generation really needs to hear too, because of how fast AI is moving. A lot of times we wonder how this is going to impact a current role, but I would encourage individuals to think instead about how what they’re building today is going to help them a few years from now.
You might not be in the same role, and that’s okay. That level of knowledge you are building can’t be taken away from you. It will transpire into other roles.
