I may work for a global organization, but I still live in rural Central Pennsylvania, working from my home office. Not long ago, I was at a school function, where I was curiously asked by one of these neighbors what type of company I work for. “I work for New Signature. We are an official Microsoft partner that helps businesses with all their technology challenges and goals.”  

“Wow! That’s neat,” she responded, then asked me what I do for New Signature. “I’m a writer,” I replied. 

“Oh, so you write code?” she asked. 

“Nope,” I smiled. “Just regular words.” 

She ended by asking me what a technology company needs words for, which I found to be a very interesting question for a few reasons: 

  • It seems to me that many people have an antiquated idea about what a writer might do every day. It seems obvious to me, but many people have the idea that writers only starve in a draft apartment while they attempt to get their book published, or they envision someone huddled over candlelight, penning away with a quill.
  • We are surrounded every day by television commercials, emails and the internet which houses copious amounts of information. All that information is disseminated by words, words that don’t simply just appear, but words that are strategized and toiled over by writers like me. It’s not a dead art, or limited to novels. It’s a very-much alive creative trade that drives business all over the globe. I also found it interesting that she would assume that I could write technological code. I felt somewhat flattered that she would lump me in with the New Signature experts that I view as literal geniuses. Because while we all speak and write with words, our languages seem to be vastly different.
  • In addition, I’m a woman. And in the world of technology, women are not historically as welcome in this arena. Even today, only 25% of technology jobs are held by women. So when a middle-aged woman from rural Pennsylvania can freely and automatically assume that I, a 30-something female, would be a genius PowerShell or HTML or JavaScript coder, I feel confident that we have reached a new era in the relationship between women and the technology career field.
  • It’s true; I write words. But aren’t words also code? They help us to express our feelings, thought, opinions and, in terms of New Signature business, they help us to make sense of some very complex concepts. Not only do we help our clients solve their technological challenges, we are also human. Not every person we speak to at every company we work with has the wherewithal to understand how to manage their infrastructure properly, how to use AI to dive into the deepest of insights, how to develop a digital operating model or how to use Azure Resource Manager templates to fast-track to the cloud. 

So how do we bridge the gap? How do we connect with people to explain goals and solve technological challenges that seem impossible? We use words. Words are the code we use to educate our clients and communities. Words are the code we use to connect with other humans as we guide them on their journey with us. Words are the code we use to build relationships and show our innovative, authentic and generous culture.  

Do I write code? The short answer is yes. Regular words that help us connect and communicate with our customers, educate around our services, guide them into a relationship with us, and find success with the technologies we need to grow.