Braze Senior Software Engineer Samantha Abbott’s Advice on Elevating People Around You and Advocating for Yourself

There’s no question that the team here at Braze is made up of exceptional people—you see that reflected in the recognition we’ve received for our customer service and overall workplace culture. But while Braze customers and partners benefit from the knowledge and insights that Braze employees bring every day, we don’t often have the opportunity to hear publicly from one of those exceptional individuals.

Today is one of those days. Braze Senior Software Developer Samantha Abbott recently sat down with Women Who Code, an organization focused on inspiring women to excel in technology careers, to explore her experiences as in the technology space.

Abbott on teamwork:

“As a senior engineer, it's expected of me to develop junior and mid-level team members’ skills. I have to be able to talk to the people on my team and mentor them. Sitting in a closet coding all day and not paying attention to what's going on around me isn’t an option. You need to be able to elevate people around you and convince others that your architecture, code, and process decisions benefit the company as a whole. You need to be capable of bringing people together to execute your plans, otherwise, you won't accomplish anything.”

Abbott on the unexpected benefits of a liberal arts education:

“I’ve noticed that my English background helps me form an argument and communicate with more malleable language. Sometimes, I find myself weighing my words much more carefully than my male colleagues, and I spend more time thinking about how I'm going to argue for a particular architectural, coding, or process decision that I want to implement. I also spend a great deal of time thinking about how I can approach conversations to convince as many people as possible to be on my side, whereas some of the other engineers I've worked with don't think like that. They're just bulls in a china shop. That can work, but I tend to get more people on my side by massaging situations more. It’s certainly a double standard.”

Check out the full interview for more wisdom from Abbott. If you’re interested in learning more about Braze and our open roles, check out our careers page.