Holly Blagburn

I would advise them to never do a job that they don't thoroughly love. If IT is your love, then do it. But never stay in any particular area of it longer than 2 years, because it takes you not long to find another job that you like, in that area. And the more you move, the more you learn, because you become more flexible. When you move into a job, even if you've never done it before, just say okay and go for it. In about 6 months everything starts to click, and people are more apt to promote you if they think you're not afraid. Just jump in and go, and it'll happen. Fake it till you make it.

The challenges in the field are because it's really a male-dominant field, and so we have to kind of force our way in. The opportunities are because there's so many different aspects of IT. It's always going to be around. And if you can't do one, you can learn another. So I think the opportunities are phenomenal. As women, we learn that because raising families and doing things, we understand that sometimes you may not know anything about what you're doing, but you learn. Even as being a mother, when you first held your child, how much experience did you have? You're really experience, but you learned.

What we value really as a family is faith. Our youngest son has brain cancer, and there's nothing they can do. He's not bitter about it, he's dealing with it, and as long as he can do that, we can. Our daughter is paying for a family cruise because it's probably going to be her brother's last. They're all active in church. Our faith is the strongest value we have. It's maybe an opportunity to know how Mary felt when she watched Jesus carry that cross. She knew the end and there was nothing she could do. She had to trust God.