Mums in Tech ft. Hiroko Nishimura

Firstly, can you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your current role?

Hi, I’m Hiroko Nishimura, and I’m a technical writer and technical instructor, specializing in breaking down technical concepts into beginner-friendly resources. I teach introductory AWS courses on LinkedIn Learning, and have published a book on the same topic. As a special education teacher turned IT engineer turned technical instructor and writer, I have found a perfect niche in the “zero to one” arena for anything technical. I call myself a “Professional Beginner” because I learn something from scratch, and then teach it to fellow newbies, jargon-free. Currently, I am working on rebooting awsnewbies.com, which was my original introductory Amazon Web Services resource website for complete beginners (especially non-engineers).

If you could sum up what it’s like being a working mum in tech in one sentence, what would it be?

Being a working mother in tech has been a blessing in the way it has afforded me flexibility that would have been almost impossible as a teacher, but also exhausting because of rapid advances that I feel I “should” be following all the time.

How do you find the balance between your career and motherhood?

The moment my babies came into my world, I felt a seismic shift in my priorities. What seemed of top importance before now felt potentially… optional. But while I know my children are the most important things in my life, I also realized that having my “own thing” that I am working towards, and am proud of being a part of, is equally important for both my mental health and my children’s development. And what I’m passionate about or working on doesn’t necessarily have to be paid.

I am in a very privileged position with my career at the moment, where I can work for myself, set my own schedules, and work on projects I’m passionate about while remaining available for emergency pick ups and days off. Being a mother seems like a more-than-full-time-work on its own, and I am constantly wavering between feeling like I need to move forward with my career and not wanting to sacrifice the QOL we have right now.

Honestly, I don’t know if there really is a pure balance between career and motherhood; just what works at the moment for the family, and making the best of it.

What has been your greatest challenge as a working mother in tech?

Similar to what I mentioned above: working in tech generally means you are always learning and never stagnant. I have found that challenging while concurrently doing the same thing with living humans who seem to change every week in needs, abilities, and desires.

What skills have you developed as a mother that have helped your work life?

One of the most important skills I developed since becoming a mother is the ability to set boundaries and say no. In my pre-kids world, I would bend over backwards to fulfill other people’s requests and needs. But once the babies came into my life, I no longer had the bandwidth or the resources to do so. I needed to evaluate anything that came my way based on where it fell in my list of priorities, and if it didn’t make sense for me and my family at the moment, I had to say no.

When you were returning to work, what one thing helped you / would have helped you the most?

Money was the single most helpful thing when I was returning to work. Or rather, the flexibility and options that access to money provided when considering how to care for my toddler while I worked. We were able to send my toddler to daycare and hire a babysitter when needs arose, which would not be possible without cashflow.

What do you feel should be the top priority for employers who want to support working mothers better?

I think the top priority for employers to support working mothers would be better access to maternity leave and flexible working arrangements. I was NOT prepared for the number of colds my toddler brought home from daycare in the first winter!

Any final words of advice for other mothers in the Tech Industry?

While I’m only in my 4th year on this journey myself, one thing I’ve learned over the past few years is that most things are not permanent. I tend to become the most depressed and anxious when something “happens,” and I fear that it is “forever.” Most things are not permanent, and even if they were, you tend to figure out how to live with them, or work with the challenges.

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