In a minute, I’m going to introduce you all to three incredible FullStorians. But first, I have to introduce Grace.
Grace Hopper was an American computer scientist and a pioneer in the world of computer programming. She worked on one of the first computers and changed the game by popularizing the idea of machine-independent programming languages. Basically, she was an all-around superstar.
Grace Hopper also happened to be a woman, making her a pioneer in more ways than one. But almost 30 years after Hopper’s death, women are still highly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics, women in the United States represent less than a quarter (24%) of those employed in STEM occupations.
With a mission to inspire, motivate, and move more women in technology, AnitaB.org hosts the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. The event brings together women technologists from around the world; this year, several of Fullstory’s women technical leaders were in attendance.
At Fullstory, we are grateful to have many brilliant women on our team. Women who work tirelessly to build a product we can all be proud of. With Grace Hopper top-of-mind, we wanted to spotlight three of the women leading our product—these are their stories.
Stephanie Brubaker, Director of Engineering and Founding Engineer
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I've always been a hopeless nerd, loving puzzles and math and any kind of problem to be solved. I went to Swarthmore (a liberal arts school) as an undergrad and Georgia Tech (pretty much the opposite) as a graduate student. I'll make up any excuse to do a soldering project, and the results are mostly successful.
What made you decide to work at Fullstory?
I joined Fullstory as employee number five, back when we had no product and no revenue. There's no better way to learn how to get a product off the ground than to actually try it, and I looked at this as another form of education. Even if we didn't make it, I would have learned a great deal about the process of building a company. What made me choose Fullstory over other Atlanta startups was my trust in the talent and ethics of the founding team. I had worked with several of the members before at Google and knew that they were the real deal.
What have been some of your career highlights at Fullstory so far?
I've gotten to see a lot of milestones at Fullstory, but one highlight was shipping the version of Fullstory that we refer to as FS4. It was a major update to both the underlying technology and the user interface, so a lot of pieces had to line up for a successful launch.
It was right before Thanksgiving and we were moving offices, and it just so happened that our launch date fell during the time when we didn't actually have office space. In typical scrappy start-up fashion, we made a command center in Bruce's (Bruce Johnson, Fullstory Founder and Chief Product Officer) basement with a bunch of couches and card tables and coordinated the release from there. It went off without a hitch!
What were your highlights from attending Grace Hopper?
Hands down the best part of Grace Hopper was the Leadership Summit. Listening to advice from women who lead companies in all stages of growth was really powerful and gave me a lot to think about.
What’s a mistake you made early in your career that you learned a lot from?
I had a job early on that I really didn't like, and I've always felt that I should have moved on sooner. However, I still use so many of the lessons (good and bad) that I learned in that role, so I really don't think there's such a thing as wasted time. I do think, though, that the most common mistake is not asking enough questions. Humbling yourself and asking questions is the cure to Imposter Syndrome because you quickly learn more and gain confidence, and it's really important to learn from those around you.
What book(s) are you currently reading?
I tend to read a lot of mystery novels, but when I feel up for non-fiction, I usually choose autobiographies. Two that I've enjoyed recently are Hillbilly Elegy and When Breath Becomes Air. I also enjoyed the non-fiction book Evicted. My favorite books are about real people and the struggles that they're facing.
Agata Bugaj, Head of Product Management
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I currently lead the Product Management team at Fullstory. Prior to that, I worked in product management at The Home Depot, did management consulting at Bain & Co, and engineering at IBM. I got my undergrad in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and my MBA from the University of Michigan. I’m originally from Poland, but have lived all over. I’m the mom of two very loud, energetic, and incredible little boys. My happy place would have to be somewhere hiking in the woods, reading a book in peace and quiet, or cooking and baking with the kiddos! Oh, and travel. I love to travel. If there's a passport involved, count me in.
What made you decide to work at Fullstory?
Two key reasons: the product and the people. I was a user of analytics tools in my past life, and I felt that Fullstory had absolutely nailed many of the pain points that I experienced. I was excited about the quality of the product and the potential for its evolution. Additionally, I was so impressed with every person I met during my interviews. I get to work with an incredible group of design and engineering practitioners: people who not only excel at their craft, but are driven, creative, customer-centric, and have a bias for action. It's such an inspiring group.
What have been some of your career highlights at Fullstory so far?
We recently launched Conversions. I'm incredibly proud of how this product came to life. It was 100% rooted in customer need and developed at every step along the way with customers at our side. We had an empowered, cross-functional product team that had a clear mission. We were able to take best practices in product development to get the product where it needed to be.
When I look back at the beginning and our hypotheses about what we were building, and ultimately what we shipped (of course will continue to evolve!), it's a true testament to the importance of research, prototyping with customers, and being able to say, "Welp, that hypothesis proved false." We deprioritized work we initially thought was important, and brought in other arcs that we didn't think mattered to customers. Now that the product is in the wild, we're continuing the journey and developing based on customer need. Not only am I proud of our team for what we built, but even more excited about what's next!
What were your highlights from attending Grace Hopper?
I had the opportunity to attend Grace Hopper in 2002 when it was a conference for about 600 attendees. This year there were over 20,000 attendees, so it was exciting to see the growth and momentum of the organization. Also, the connections I made, whether if it was with folks from Fullstory or other places, were all incredibly meaningful to me.
Admiral Grace Hopper is a hero to many. Who are your heroes?
Marty Cagan: When it comes to Product Management thought leadership and defining this practice, Marty is it. Hands down. I have found his teachings to be instrumental in helping me develop as a practitioner as well as lead and coach others.
Grant Achatz: I've always been amazed by his culinary genius. But more importantly, what he went through with stage 4 cancer, a disease that could have left him with (best case scenario) the inability to taste, and how he overcame all of that while continuing to be one of the best chefs in the world. It blows my mind.
My grandfather: feels like that one's obvious. 😉
What’s a mistake you made early in your career that you learned a lot from?
At the beginning of my career, one of my former managers once said to me, "If you do the things I'm asking you to do, I'm paying you way too much."
At first I didn't get it. I interpreted this as, "Am I not supposed to listen to my boss?" But really, what he meant was, "I need you to use the thought leadership skills that I hired you for. I don't have all the answers, but I expect you to."
The point is every one of us is hired for a reason. We have a set of skills, experiences, and perspectives. We need everyone to bring that to work with them everyday. Yes, there's a role that leadership and management play, but, ultimately, you're closer to the work that you're doing. You know more about that arc than anyone else does. Your boss is operating on the inputs that they have, but so are you.
You should feel comfortable challenging and asking questions, influencing upwards, and pushing back if something doesn't make sense. We (and especially PMs) are not order takers. By definition, we can't be even if we wanted to be. So it's critical that we take all of the inputs, regardless of where they're coming from, ask questions, debate, be open to being wrong, and ultimately have a perspective on the right course of action. Then we need to figure out how to bring everyone else along, whether that's our boss, partner, or stakeholders.
What book(s) are you currently reading?
I just finished reading High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil. It’s such a great read, especially given where we are at Fullstory.
Jessica Greenfield, Tech Lead and Software Engineering Manager
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a backend engineer who started out with C programming at age 10. My dad handed me a book on C and said something like, "I think you should learn this”—then left me to it. But I didn't love programming until my 8th grade basic class, where I used my spare time to build a text-based battleship game. I realized that pretty much anything you can imagine, with programming you can build.
After getting a degree in Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech and working for a few years, I headed off to China for two years to teach English and travel. I met my husband there and dragged him back to the United States. I then got a master's degree in Chinese just for the love of the subject before finally returning to the world of IT. I like to knit and heckle my kids and husband, who happily heckle me right back.
What made you decide to work at Fullstory?
I had worked with Bruce and Joel Webber (Fullstory Founders) at a startup called AppForge in the early 2000s. We went our separate ways until mid-2017, when I happened to be feeling like I had plateaued in my current position. Bruce randomly pinged me on LinkedIn, and I was like, "Bruce, omg I wonder what HE's doing now?"
I read through the Fullstory website and blog posts and liked what I saw. Then I applied and came in for an interview. I walked away from the interview thinking I had completely failed, but was so grateful for having had the chance to talk to four really smart people whom I would be eternally grateful to work with. But I got the job!
TL;DR: I guess you could say it's the people at Fullstory that made me want to join and stay.
What have been some of your career highlights at Fullstory so far?
I'm very lucky to have been part of building our webhooks platform (more information on this coming soon!). I feel like it's going to drive a lot of value for Fullstory and for the upcoming integrations that we and our customers want to build. I'll be focusing on integrations next, trying to dive into deeper use cases and help nail down what our integration strategy looks like for the next few years.
What were your highlights from attending Grace Hopper?
I've been to many technical conferences in my career, but this was my first Grace Hopper. The highlight for me was just seeing so many women technologists together in one place.
I had a moment on the first day where I just stopped walking for a second because I was emotionally overwhelmed. I've spent most of my career being the only woman in the room, sometimes even in the building. We still have a long way to go, but seeing this community and the women who were building gave me a rare moment of pure joy.
Admiral Grace Hopper is a hero to many. Who are your heroes?
I've never really had heroes in the sense that there was someone who made me consciously say, "I want to be like this person." I admire my mother's grit and persistence; once she decides she's going to do something, nothing gets in her way. She removes obstacles with grace and a complete lack of drama.
My aunt has had a subtle but lifelong influence on me. She made it feel like it was normal to pursue my interest in math and science despite being a girl. She was a biologist, and I grew up being regaled at Christmas with tales of life in the field, from checking toxin levels in freshwater fish to working with wild boars.
What’s a mistake you made early in your career that you learned a lot from?
I didn't do enough introspection; I didn't spend enough time putting events in context and making sure that I learned all I could from them. I focused on my knowledge and technical skills, but understanding people, workplace dynamics, and yourself is just as important to being a successful engineer.
What book(s) are you currently reading?
I'm about to start reading Mythos by Stephen Fry, which is a retelling of Greek mythology told as only Stephen Fry can tell it. I read a collection of Greek myths for the first time in fourth grade, and have always loved various retellings.
