Interview with Exporo Frontend Developer Susanne Brenner

Who are you and what do you do at Exporo?

Susanne Brenner: Hey, I’m Susanne, a little over 30 years old 😉, mother of two children and frontend developer at Exporo.

As a frontend developer, what sparked your interest in working in the technology industry?

Susanne Brenner: I have an affinity for design and I love “beautiful” things. Interior, Clothes, … Originally, I did an apprenticeship as a designer and my tasks consisted of setting up rooms, designing advertising campaigns, branding vehicles, designing clothes for merchandise and developing logos.

Through an internship in an advertising agency after my training, I made the first contact with frontend development and immediately recognized that the possibilities for design are seemingly unlimited. So I decided to start further training as a media designer and successfully completed it within two years. Since then, many designs for websites have emerged. My curiosity about implementing the design myself ultimately led me to work as a frontend developer. I have never regretted this decision.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve learned during your time at Exporo?

Susanne Brenner: It’s never too late to get excited about something new and Exporo is the perfect company because Exporo as an employer also values personal development. For example, Exporo offers the opportunity to further educate yourself through self-selected courses. After my maternity leave, I was able to update my knowledge in a Javascript online course.

What do you like best about the tech stack at Exporo?

Susanne Brenner: I’m definitely in love with our CSS framework “tailwind” and our housemade component library based on vue.js. We are always up to date with our tech stack and the hardware is always kept up to date.

In your experience, does being a woman in your job pose any additional challenges?

Susanne Brenner: No, in general of course, it doesn’t matter who wrote the code. However, my teammates appreciate that we as women bring “more spirit and calmness” to the team, and of course I’m very proud to do that. Due to remote work since the Corona pandemic, gender roles are becoming increasingly blurred and I think that’s good for the IT industry. It is the results of our work that distinguish us and not the hands that create them.

Great! How do you balance work and life as a mother?

Susanne Brenner: With the right team at my side and Exporo as a place to work, life as a working mother is very comfortable. It is impressive how much support I am given as a mother at Exporo. I can flexibly adapt my working hours to the needs of my children and I can work from home. After my maternity leave I reduced my hours to have more time with my family and Exporo supported this decision as well.

The industry as a whole lacks some representation of female developers. How do you feel about this based on your own experience?

Susanne Brenner: To be honest, I think that’s a shame, I don’t know the reasons for other women, but I’m sure everyone who is interested in technology should also pursue this career objective.

In your opinion, how much has the industry changed since you started?

Susanne Brenner: A lot has changed in technology, more and more frameworks have emerged and working as a Frontend Engineer has become more and more exciting. The first websites I developed were user-unfriendly and far from looking the same on all devices. Today the browsers and the developers are on a different level and so we can design interfaces that the consumer also likes to use and view. Not to forget that we add much more value to apps today and this market was only served by corporations in my early days. It always means continuing your education, but it also means always being able to discover and develop something new.

What advice would you give to women entering tech?

Susanne Brenner: There’s no reason not to do it.

There’s a lot about bias. What are your thoughts on this?

Susanne Brenner: I’ve never had bad experiences working as a woman in engineering. I’ve never been confronted with in my career and consider myself very lucky to have worked in fair surroundings and with super supportive teams so far. From other women in tech or working moms I have learned that my own positive experiences is not to be taken for granted - although it clearly should be.