#31 - Serving Women in Tech and Creating Career Opportunities for Underrepresented People - Meg Bartelt

Meg's Bio:

"I worked in the tech industry straight out of college. Through the first Dot Com Boom. Aaaaand through the crash. When I got laid off. Fun times.

In my 30s, I got bored with my work in tech, and I changed careers into financial planning. I also got married, had two babies, moved cross-country twice, went back to school for a graduate degree, bought my first home, decided (I mean, not unilaterally) to have my husband retire from tech and become a stay-at-home dad, and started a business (this one!).

I don’t know if I’d have had the guts to do all of that without the money and flexibility my husband and I both got from the tech industry. Which is why I love working with women in their early to mid career in the tech industry.

It’s such an exciting time of life. And the opportunities are almost boundless. But it’s so stressful. And oh my goodness, what do you mean “estimated taxes”?!

I’ve learned that if we are intentional and if we do the work, our opportunities in the tech industry can help us build that fulfilling life we all crave.

What else about me?

Wellllll, I grew up in Newport News, Virginia. I went to Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where I majored in Economics, gained 10 pounds (unlimited Fruit Loops? whut?!), and learned to banish writer’s block. I moved to the Bay Area in 1998 and worked as a technical writer for 10 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, mostly in the software-security sector. ‘Tis also, it should be noted, where I met my husband. We both worked on the Engineering team at a small startup.

After I changed careers, I got my Master’s of Science in Financial Planning from Golden Gate University. I then worked for fee-only Registered Investment Advisors, back in Tidewater Virginia.

In search of a home better suited to us, my husband, my two daughters, and I moved to Bellingham, WA. Julia the Dog—a sweet girl, if not technically a good girl—joined us a couple years later.

So much of what makes me happy—hiking, biking, cooking, yoga, kale, and ancient minivans missing hubcaps—are part of the fabric of life here. For those rare times when I have a stretch of silence and time, I love reading books about European royal history, sci-fi/fantasy, and Anything Russia.

I am a Certified Financial Planner™ professional, a Registered Life Planner™ and a member of the XY Planning Network and the Financial Planning Association."

Meg's Social:

Twitter- @MegBartelt

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/megbartelt/




Music in this episode was obtained from Bensound.