Mirrors: Shreya Kapoor, Associate Program Manager of The Coding School
The AdaMarie Mirrors reflect back to us the many roads (often winding, never smooth) to success! Real stories of real women to see yourself reflected in. At first, you’ll see Shreya in this mirror, but eventually, we hope you’ll see yourself.
Welcome, Shreya Kapoor!
With a background in education and information sciences, Shreya Kapoor discusses the moment she realized that being in “tech”, doesn’t mean you have to be a coder!
Getting to Know You:
Field of Work: EdTech, Product
Expertise In: Program Management, EdTech, Customer Success
Current Company: The Coding School
Job Title: Associate Program Manager
One-liner about what you’re working on: Developing my network, taking courses/certifications, and exercising my people and product skills!
Currently geeking out over: How Gen AI is infiltrating everything but how people are going with the flow!
STEM Hero: Grace Hopper
Tell us about your professional journey – how did you get where you are now?
I began my journey as an Informatics major at UCI; I had no idea what the major really meant, but I wanted to stay as far away from coding as I could. However, after taking some painstaking coding classes and some other courses in project management and requirement analysis, I discovered my passion: connecting people using technology as a bridge. During my sophomore year (right before COVID, lol), I applied to soooo many internships and managed to land one with Amazon, getting to work within AWS.
Following a fully remote internship from my apartment in Irvine, Amazon offered me a full-time gig in Seattle if I could finish school in a year. And that’s what I did. I graduated within 3-years and moved up to Seattle. While there, I realized how much I missed the people aspect of work and after several talks with my manager, decided to tap back into my passion for education. I had always wanted to go to grad school and the timing just felt right. I ended up at UCLA’s school for education and information sciences where I was finally able to study both my passions of technology and education together!
Those experiences, along with other part-time jobs, helped me land my current job at an edtech nonprofit. Now I'm constantly looking for areas and projects where I can bring my expertise in being adaptable and customer-centric, and continue to grow!
We’re also curious to know your personal story and upbringing. What has made you “you”?
Growing up, the thought of coding disgusted me, leading me to believe that a career in tech was not for me. Coming from the Bay Area, I was constantly surrounded by people obsessed with careers in medicine or computer science, which really made me averse to doing either. Consequently, I applied to mostly cognitive science programs for college because I wanted to learn more about what people did things, what the reasoning behind decisions was and how society progressed through those decisions.
It wasn’t until I actually went to college and explored different majors that I began considering a career in tech. I discovered an affinity for helping design and build products that assisted with people’s emotions and needs.
We know that real life isn’t a smooth and linear journey. What was your initiating moment that led you to your calling - can you tell us about that moment, what helped you move forward, what you learned/discovered?
I think I've had a bunch! In first grade, my teacher inspired me to want to go into education. In high school, I took AP Computer Science Principles, which showed me that tech was more than binary and lines of code. During my undergrad, I applied to and joined a research group, that showed me the importance of qualitative research. In Seattle, I realized how much I liked communicating with all sides of a tech product. In grad school, I confirmed my desire to always help out "the little guy", and learned that my passion for education was actually just helping people get what they want and need. And in my current position, I'm discovering that I have a boundless energy to marry my technical background with my power to help others.
The idea that you have one "aha" moment is overrated! Taking a leap into something you think you'll like is never a bad thing, and sometimes just doing it and experiencing it (even if it isn't for you) is all you need for another "aha" moment.
You’re a working woman in a performance-driven industry. Where do you find balance?
What keeps me balanced is knowing that I'm in control of everything I do and execute. And while that can be daunting, it's also empowering to know that you have the control to step back and analyze the bigger picture. You are just you! You being in control of everything you do (how you act and react) also allows you to give yourself space, breathe, prioritize, and move forward.
If you were part of the human body, what would you be?
I would be a left thumb. Thumbs are so so so important (the amount of things we could not do without opposable thumbs is astounding), but also I like the idea of being a sign of positivity (or negativity! Thumbs down 👎) !
We’d love to feature your work! How can we spread the word about what you’re doing?
Org I support: Computer Science Teachers Association --> informing the brains of the future!
Article I helped write: Analyzing the sustainability of 28 ‘Blockchain for Good’ projects via affordances and constraints --> showed me the importance of research in literally everything!
Podcast I love: The Culture Study Podcast by Anne Helen Peterson
