Well, it was surprising for many when Aina Alive explained that you don’t really need be a core coding expert to break into tech. Aina’s journey of becoming a mentor was an interesting ride, where she had her sweet rendezvous with strengths and weaknesses while she was pivoting her early career. Starting as a fresh grad, she plunged into the industrial pool as an electrical engineer. However, she soon got acquainted with the intensity of her job responsibilities and the stress that came along. After pivoting her career multiple times, she took the driver’s seat and decided to accumulate all her experience to navigate her skills to a purpose-driven profession.
It appeared that this solution was Agile – a mindset and methodology for IT projects. Aina always believed that a big wave of innovation flowed from the IT industry. However, she often feared stepping into the industry due to a common assumption that she needs to be a coding expert in order to excel in it.
“When I was introduced to the Agile Coaching position, my heart stopped for a moment because this was my dream job. So, I became a Scrum Master first, completed an MBA in technology and eventually became an Agile Coach”, said Aina.
While she started understanding the ins and outs of the industry, she soon realised that she could leverage her knowledge to help others break into tech code free and arm them with the tools and techniques to be better leaders.
Often concerns like “dedicating years to learn to code” can become overwhelming, especially in a world where industries move at the speed of a jet. Aina’s aim was to address all these concerns and uniquely position all her mentees to help them bag a significant role in the tech industry.
Perhaps the most striking benefit of her coaching is a journey of gaining practical knowledge that nobody told you in your school or your professional courses. Aina says, ” Pivoting more than 5 times in my career introduced me to the challenging part of my journey, it was to identify the skills that you can transfer to the new industry and how to make the best out of that experience.”
They say, getting mentored by the ones who have lived the same industry experience that you are starting into gives you a different edge. That’s what Aina’s coaching, Bee Agile Coaching is built on! When you jump on the bandwagon, you get shaped for leadership roles like Scrum Master, Product Owner and Project Manager that prepares candidates beyond conventional teaching. Aina agrees that fun and engagement in any part of learning are imperative and thus, she has built her coaching’s foundation considering all those aspects.
She explains, “While we hear endless talks about how millennials and gen-z will take up the majority of the tech workforce, what we fail to keep in mind is the competition that comes along. With this boiling ground of competition, I know how important right tools and skills are and, on top of that, leveraging them in the practical world is what keeps you ahead of the curve.”
While Bee Agile Tutoring has successfully created tech leaders in the industry, Aina continues to use her experience and expertise as pillars of the coaching. Recently featured in NYC’s top 30 Female Entrepreneurs, she has also presented at NASA Space Apps event on the topic “How to get 6 fig job in Tech” and uplifted 100+ tech careers in no time, Aina now plans to expand her entrepreneurial footprints internationally. She is further on a mission to build a community of experienced individuals who can help the newbies to get fresher perspectives and candid insights.
