Are you full-time in tech as an entrepreneur?

“Let me answer it like this, I still have a job or a career in technology and I do part-time work in technology. Most of my part-time work is consulting, from an IT perspective. So, yes I am full-time.”

How do you balance it all? Being a mom, wife, full time tech career along with being a tech entrepreneur, how do you manage to do it all simultaneously?

“That’s a great question. What I try my best to do is to be as organized as possible. And unfortunately, I don’t have a strong social life. So I’m learning now to be able to balance work and home, and then also incorporate a social life.

Understanding the priorities, prioritizing my life, and organizing it in that way helped me to balance it all, especially because I’m a new mom. And so I need to remember that because yes, career is important, but family is even much more important. Learning to balance those two definitely is something that I practice now.”

Can you remember a moment when you thought, sigh… this is not easy? 

Tyrhonda smiled and said “Yes, I have those moments quite frequently as a matter of fact. I would say last year, during the pandemic, when we had a lot of projects coming on stream, especially because of the restrictions and people started to realize the importance of technology once COVID came.

And so the demand for technology became great. And, being able to meet that demand in a very short period of time there were moments when I said to myself, is this something that I can be able to do, and do it efficiently? During the pandemic, I definitely experienced those moments.”

Is there anything that you have learned from the pandemic that relates to the tech industry? Is there anything that stood out?

“What I realized, definitely with the tech industry, when it came to the pandemic is how important technology can be in solving problems as it relates not just to communication or completion of tasks, but to solving our health crisis. This was relevant not only in the Bahamas but throughout the world. I learned that it can be a very important tool. If properly used, managed and adopted properly. 

The pandemic has taught people who were once apprehensive to the idea of virtual work or virtual learning, people quickly realized that it is possible and it can work once executed properly. So people adopted technology much quicker that way.” 

The world experienced its fair share of challenges and setbacks since the pandemic. How do you keep moving forward despite challenges or setbacks?

“That’s a big question. How I keep moving forward is by remembering the overall goal. Remembering what my purpose is and realizing that one day it will be better. I know each day will not be the same.

Eventually, a new day will come, we will have better circumstances, and we’ll see a better road ahead. That is how I keep going. My goals keep me motivated. The purpose and why – why I’m doing what I’m doing is what keeps me motivated, keeps me grounded, keeps me moving and keeps me involved.”

Are there any women in technology who have influenced you or inspired you?

“Locally, there are a number of women that inspire me. One of them is my teammate, she’s actually on one of the projects that I’m working on, her name is Christie Powell. And what inspires me about her is that she is a millennial, she’s youthful, and she builds the actual interoperability platform that our country now uses to basically allow customers to be able to access government services online.

And that is the first time that it’s ever been done in this country. The first time it’s ever been done by a Bahamian. Because she’s a female, to me, that’s inspiring and I am so proud of our local talent to be able to do that.

I am also inspired by my former director Carol Roache. She afforded me the opportunity to be able to work on that project that I spoke about earlier. And while I was thrown into the wolf’s nest, I was able to get that experience because of her faith and trust in my capabilities to do so. So those are two women right now, top of my head, I can say truly have inspired me in technology and inspire me to be the best version of myself.”

Our time with Tyrhonda was winding down and there were still so many more questions we wanted to ask her. It was obvious that this interview could go on for at least another hour, but there were some crucial questions I knew we only had a few more minutes to get in. 

What opportunities do you see for women in technology in the Bahamas and the Caribbean?

“In our country, we have a large tourism-based economy and also finance-based. In the financial sector, there are a lot of women in the industry. However, with the new event or advent of cryptocurrency and digital assets, our country is starting to diversify its portfolio. And because we have a lot of women in the financial industry and in the tourism industry, I see an opportunity for them to become more diverse when it comes to technology with the introduction of cryptocurrency and digital assets in our country.

I think there’s a great opportunity for women in the FinTech space, and also inside of the cybersecurity space now that those different digital assets would have to be regulated. And because women are typically more dominant in the financial sector, I think they can begin to see how technology can become a part of their career as well.

So I think that’s how women, not only in the Bahamas but also in the Caribbean, can become more involved and opportunities can exist for them in this space.”

What will you say to other women who are trying to enter the tech industry and make a living out of their profession?

“First of all, find a niche market in technology. Find something that you are passionate about. Once you realize that technology is just a tool to solve a problem. And once you realize that you have this tool and you know what problem you want to solve, you will be in a good position when it comes to a career in technology.

So being skilled, finding the niche market that exists in technology for a problem you would love to solve. And once you find that problem or problems you would like to solve and be skilled in doing it, you will succeed, in my opinion, you will succeed beyond what your expectations are.”