Member Highlight: Anastasiia Potekhina

Our next featured member might be already a familiar face. We know Anastasiia since she was one of the people running the PyLadies stand during the Women in Tech conference this year.

Anastasiia works as a Backend developer in a consultancy company called Helicon where they create software for Swedish energy companies.

“I’ve been working there for 2 years now and I really like what I do and I am proud to be where I am”

She is very involved and actively attends local tech community events. Her journey into tech and eagerness to keep learning were some of the reasons why we wanted to shine a spotlight on this amazing member.

Let’s get to know Anastasiia better.

What made you choose tech?
My story of how I got into tech is quite fun and non typical. I am a self-taught developer without any tech background. I was studying Finance and got an MBA at Umeå University.
At one point I really wanted to go for a PhD and do research about how not-sustainable technologies such as Blockchain might be used for sustainability purposes, but got refused from all the universities.

I decided to try a year later and in the meantime read books on how Blockchain works. Half of the books were filled with code examples, most of them in Python. So in order to understand them I started learning Python and had way too much fun with it. That made me realise I don’t want to be a PhD anymore, I want to solve problems with code and become a developer.

What does the Women in Tech community mean to you?
The community means a lot to me!
When I just started learning programming I remember seeing WIT posts on Linkedin and I was dreaming to be there live, to meet all the women in person and talk to them.

But I didn’t have money and the opportunity to come, and it became my wish to join someday and experience everything.

After 2 years my wish came true! I was so happy I could be there. Now I am attending every year, remembering my journey, appreciating my hard work and diligence.
Looking back I am surprised at how I didn’t give up, because it was hard, but looking at the examples of speakers from WIT gave me strength.

If you could give one advice to an aspiring woman in tech, what would that be?
My advice would be to: do tiny little steps towards your big goals, while truly appreciating and loving yourself for taking them. But most importantly have fun and search for the core
and gain understanding of the problem.

Anastasiia’s Fun Facts:
What’s a hobby or interest you’re passionate about outside of work?

• Dancing: I used to be a dance teacher for around 8 years. I was teaching High Heels, Stripplastic, Jazz Funk. Last year I started pole dancing and I really enjoy it.
• Hiking to the mountains: Every summer, me and my partner go on a big 10 day hike into the wilderness.
• Downhill skiing: I am not the best skier but I love skiing down over the hills for my difficulty level (I like blue, a bit red tracks maybe). I hope I can explore skiing in the Alps one day.
• Roller skating: 3 years ago my Instagram was full of videos where girls were skating or dancing on roller skates and one day I decided to buy skates and learn it.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I would travel to space. I think seeing Earth, our home, where all the history happened, where everyone we love or used to love lived must be a great experience, maybe even life changing. It might also help us understand how little our problems are and how wars and hating each other doesn’t make any sense.

Do you have any pets? Tell us about them!
My partner and I have 2 cats together. A mother called Shanti and her daughter Pukko. They like walking in the forest with us and they are smart enough to follow and not run away, so we don’t even use leashes. Pukko is very fluffy and extremely curious but also scared of her own shadow. Shanti is a strong female leader who often brings mice into the house to show that she is a wonderful hunter. She is super chill, self-confident and a badass at the same time.