Advertisement
Advertisement

Tech troubles? Geek Girl to the rescue

Share

The nickname Geek Girl might be a slight to some. For Leslie Fishlock, it’s a badge of honor that marks her role guiding women and girls through the wonders of technology.

Fishlock, 50, got her start in a dot-com startup in Boston 19 years ago and never looked back. She moved to Point Loma five years ago, drawn by warm winters and the hot technology sector.

To spread her love of tech, she founded her organization “Geek Girl,” which holds conferences, camps and chats, for everyone “from beginner newbie to startup savant.”

Advertisement

Q: Where did the name and concept for Geek Girl come from?

A: “Geek Girl” was actually the name people gave me. In my spare time, I would help friends and others out with hardware and software issues, and if people could not remember my name, they would say, “Just call the Geek Girl”. Geek Girl then turned into an organization where we would be a resource for helping people in tech, showing them what is hot and trendy, and providing them accelerated learning for their small business or job.

Q: Please describe what Geek Girl does.

A: Geek Girl empowers everyone in tech, especially women and girls since there is such a dearth of women in computer tech. I am an advocate for women who want to go into tech, change their careers to tech, and work with organizations to improve the odds of getting more women and girls in tech, as well as all kids, especially in underserved or underrepresented areas.

Q: What are some of the events and services Geek Girl offers?

A: Geek Girl TechCon is our annual tech conference. We had our third one this past June at the University of San Diego. We have several others around the country. We have many other monthly events around town where we offer workshops on many different subjects such as programming, social media, WordPress, etc. We have networking meetups, special events and partner with user groups, tech groups and startup groups. We also have a program called “Geek Girl for Hire” where you can hire a Geek Girl to help you with any tech issues or with training.

Q: What makes technology intimidating for women as consumers?

A: I think it has been a normal progression from years back where women were either not allowed or dissuaded from areas of tech, and even things like mechanical shop. It was a guy’s thing. I know I was the only woman in my programming classes, which I find rather crazy since women really were the programmers years back with ENIAC in the 1940s. Though we tend to only think these days of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when we think about tech, Ada Lovelace was the first programmer back in the 1800s and Admiral Grace Hopper was a force to be reckoned with developing computer languages. Since then we have Meg Whitman and Marissa Mayer leading global tech companies. We need many more women like that.

Q: What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned through your startups?

A: Failure is an iteration. Never be afraid to fail. If you’re not failing, you’re not learning. And it’s a known fact, and personal experience, women have a hard time dealing with failure, because we are perfectionists and want everything perfect. We just need to turn that failure into learning and accomplishment.

Q: What are your three favorite apps?

A: Only three? Now that is difficult since I have so many I use for efficiency or just fun. Right now I just used Instagram, the Star Wars app and Square. But Evernote, Periscope, Slack and so many others are fabulous.

Q: What are some of the useful advances you see coming down the tech pipeline?

A: Payment systems are getting more intuitive; using your phone to pay for items, whether it is ApplePay or others without having to swipe. More people will be using their mobile phones for commerce and communication. Live video streaming like Periscope, Meerkat and Blab are the “in thing” right now. Drones and robotics are extremely hot, especially right in our backyard with the Qualcomm Robotics Accelerator.

Q: What’s the best advice you ever received?

A: My parents always said to play nice. But I think the best advice was in this quote: “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” — Winston Churchill

Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?

A: I’d be a chef if I was not in tech and I hate email ...

Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.

A: Take the dogs to dog beach, farmer’s market, buy sunflowers and Gerbera daisies, check out the newest restaurants, Instagram my way through San Diego and be thankful I can wear shorts, T-shirts and flip flops all year round.

What I love about Point Loma ...

The beautiful view of the bay, the Coronado bridge, the mountains and downtown. Ten minutes away from everything — dog beach, airport, Liberty Station, downtown, etc.

Advertisement