Her Story
About Brenna
Brenna Collin has spent approximately 20 years in the tech industry, beginning with an advertising role that involved 2D art, website design, and interstitial pages. She gained experience in radio and post-production at Booter Angle and Friends in San Francisco before pivoting to tech. Collin has held positions at U.S. Bank as a product lead, Capital One, several UX agencies, and most recently HID Global, where her work supported building security technology and digital wallet solutions. She transitioned into UX design after about 10 years in gaming, where she performed art direction and production work. Collin takes pride in her roles as a people manager and designer, appreciating the creative aspects within the tech field. She has participated in professional organizations including the NNG group, Hutek in San Francisco, and a women game developers union.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Brenna
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I started going into interviews as if I didn't need the job, and that helped me land the jobs. The minute that I stopped caring is when people sort of read into that, and then I would get the job. On the job, putting yourself in other people's shoes, find out what their bottom line is, and just speak to that.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I'd say I have very hard boundaries. Men like to talk over you a lot, and I'd say if they're gonna do that, you teach them the first time not to do that ever again. You make that really uncomfortable for them. So, if that means being quiet as you run a meeting until they're done talking, and then say, are you done? You hold that space for yourself so that men don't, like, just stomp on you in the tech world.
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