Vijaya Nirmala Gopal’s family faced financial challenges when she was a child. Getting education was an uphill battle. But her mother's constant support and fierce fight against restrictions secured her education and made her the first English medium-educated girl in the family.
Breaking into tech
After completing a two-year diploma in computers while simultaneously working as a developer, she entered the tech industry in 2004. She had gained a decade of experience in data management when stagnation crept in. She decided to upskill herself to stay relevant. “I was exploring upskilling options, and that's when I discovered that AWS cloud was making an impact all around, so I started learning about AWS," Vijaya shares.
Newfound support
She got into DevOps and each day taught her something new. “I had to figure out a lot of code solutions myself and I decided to note them for others to use as well,” says Gopal. During this time, Vijaya also reconnected with Bhuvaneswari Subramani , an old friend, who motivated her to publish her research-based blogs online. “She (Bhuvaneswari) genuinely supported me, woman to woman, and encouraged me at every step. She also introduced me to AWS user groups and that changed my life,” says Vijaya.
At AWS user groups, Vijaya got the chance to interact with people from various backgrounds, actively sharing their knowledge on use cases and expertise.
She now actively shares her AWS experiences in her blog named Cloud Goddess and has also contributed insights via articles on different forums.
"To all the developers out there, always be willing to learn and share your knowledge with others. Collaborating with the community will always help you choose the right career path and the direction you want to progress in," Nirmala adds.
