Shirley Tenholder

I attribute my success to being diligent and learning to adapt through the years, because everything has changed a lot from when I first started. I've focused on learning what's new, like Agile and Jira, which I've been doing for about 7 years now. The company is finally starting to roll more into that, so I'm getting to use more of that knowledge again. Being flexible has always helped me throughout my career. I've also tried to learn from the people I've worked with over the years, watching how different people react to different situations and how they handled things. This has given me new and different ways to view how I could do things, and I try to gain some kind of experience out of everything.

The best career advice I've received is to stand up for yourself and remember that everyone makes mistakes - you just need to make sure you learn from them so you don't replicate them throughout your career. I've learned a lot of things over the years, and I try to gain some kind of experience out of everything. I've also learned from watching the people I've worked with, seeing how different people react to different situations and how they handled it. This has given me different ways to view how I could do things and approach challenges.

They need to stand up for themselves and let what they know shine through. Don't let other people put you down - stand up for yourselves. It's not as bad as it used to be, I don't think, because I went through it myself. I started back when it was pretty much a lot of the 'good ol' boys' and being a programmer back in the 80s, there weren't a lot of women in it. So my advice is really about having confidence in yourself and not letting anyone diminish your abilities or contributions.

AI is one of the new things we're looking into, seeing how that can help us do our jobs better. I'm trying to get some training in that. I think the challenge is not to let it overwhelm us - we need to learn how to use it to make ourselves better. You need to embrace it and go with the flow. I find I'm one of the older ones sometimes, but I've got to adapt to these new technologies and opportunities.

I value honesty and loyalty above all. In my work, I like working with teammates who are willing to share experiences so we can help each other out. That collaborative spirit where people support one another is really important to me. I guess that's the same thing with people in my regular life as well - I value those same qualities of honesty, loyalty, and mutual support whether it's at work or in my personal relationships.