About Me — Ronke Babajide
Woman in IT, Natural Scientist, Life Coach, Speaker, Podcaster, Writer
Talking or writing about yourself is about as comfortable as a visit to the dentist or if you have lady parts, a visit to the gyno. You know you should do it, but you really don’t want to. At least if you’re an introvert like I am.
I don’t enjoy being the center of attention, but I sincerely believe you need to push at the edges of your comfort zone to grow and experience new things. Also, for most of my life, being different from most people around me, I didn’t have a choice. So here I am, trying to tell you something about myself.
My Family Background
It all started when my mom met my dad. They fell in love, and they had me, hi I’m Ronke, and my life is kinda crazy. Well, yes, sort of, they had my older brother 13 months before me.
My dad came from Nigeria to Austria on a scholarship. He really wanted to become a doctor. But, he couldn’t stand the idea of cutting into people, so he settled for a business degree and a life of wishing one of his children would fulfill this dream for him — spoiler alert, none of us did.
My mum was training to become a nurse at the time. She met my dad, who was hanging out with his less squeamish, doctor candidate buddies at one of the famed African parties at the AAI (Afro - Asian Institute). They hit it off and had my brother and me in short succession.
Luckily the pill became available, and there was a short reprieve until they had my younger brother and sister.
Growing Up
My father got his degree, and in the 1970s, we moved to Nigeria. Yes, I’m old. I won’t tell you exactly how old, but I’m Gen X and a digital immigrant. I still know how to read a paper map. I just don’t like to; I prefer Google Maps. I also prefer Google Maps to Apple Maps, but that’s a story for another time.
I grew up in Nigeria, where I went to a German school. Courtesy of that time and my mum’s preference for speaking high German instead of dialect, I’m stuck with sounding like I grew up somewhere around Hannover.
My accent and skin color made me a novelty when I moved back to Vienna, Austria, to study Chemistry. Nobody knew how to place me. A non-white but not black either girl, a foreigner that spoke like a university professor. I was the odd one out, but they decided I was fun and interesting, so they accepted me.
After I finished my Ph.D., I started working in IT. Interesting segue, right? If you want to know more about that, I wrote an entire story on how the Internet changed my life.
Again I became a novelty: a woman in IT. This was when most people didn’t even have a clue what role IT would play in our lives. I frequently was the only one in the room that was different—sticking out like a sore thumb — female and black in a white male world. Most of the time, I didn’t mind, and it didn’t stop me from succeeding, but it made me very passionate about bringing other women into the field.
Work and Life
I’ve been working in Tech for more than 20 years. I’m now a Lead Solution Engineer for Cybersecurity at one of the biggest software companies in the world. I love technology and I enjoy talking to people about it.
As I mentioned, I don’t like being the center of attention, but I’ve learned to live with it and apply it to my advantage. People notice me, and they also remember me. That makes it easier to reconnect with them, especially for someone like me who has problems identifying people in crowds. My recognition value has saved me from many awkward situations, and it helps me build relationships both in my job and in my personal life.
Also, even though I need very regular respites away from them, I really like people.
I even got a degree as a Life Coach to understand people better. Truthfully, for a short period after acquiring the degree, I liked people slightly less. But I’ve recovered from the disappointment in humans’ resistance to improvement and change and enjoy working with people again.
My mother always loved books. She devoured them; I can’t remember a time in my youth she wasn’t reading. Apart from the weird German accent, she also stuck me with an indelible love for books. It has waxed and waned depending on the workload, but it never went away. Between work, family, friends, and hosting a YouTube channel, I trick myself into consistency by hosting two book clubs, one for my female friends and one at work.
I now live in Vienna with my husband. We sealed the deal 2 years ago after being together for 10 years. Mainly because we don’t want to deal with the legal hassles if one of us gets sick or dies and we’re not married. We have no kids but 3 adorable Siberian Cats.
If you’d like to know more, connect, or ask questions feel free to connect on LinkedIn. I’d love to get to know you and maybe you’d like to invite me to a coffee.