Welcome to my blog, and please make yourself comfortable 😌🍵
I’m Margarida, but everyone calls me Guida (pronounced “gee-duh”), and I identify as a few different things: a daughter, a girlfriend, a sister, a solutions architect, a cyclist, a baker, an engineer - the list goes on. I have many passions, and one in particular has been tickling my brain and has pushed me to create this blog: the passion for personal and professional growth.
Now, I’ll be honest — writing is new territory for me. So, if you’re reading this, we’re both in for an adventure!
What’s this blog about?
Both my life and career have been far from a straight line, and many times change came with a heavy daunting feeling attached to it, but years later I’m thankful for how valuable that change has been for my growth as a person and as a professional. Every transition I’ve been through has reinforced my belief that growth isn’t about climbing the career ladder or managing people or losing weight as quickly as possible. For me, growth is about finding sustainable ways to evolve, feeling fulfilled, taking that next uncomfortable challenge, and maintaining a healthy balance between discipline and fun.
The ability to adapt, learn, and push forward through challenges is really important to me, both at the workplace and in my personal life. Through this blog, I’ll explore stories of resilience and continuous learning, and share ideas on how to cultivate the mindset that I find valuable for jumping into new challenges and succeeding in them.
This blog might not be for everyone, but if you’re navigating your own growth, you’re feeling stuck, or you’re just interested in whether my personal experiences are any more exciting than my writing 🫣 then it could be for you.
Not just for women, not just for techies
I care deeply about empowering women and girls, and I work in tech, so I will be covering topics that focus on women-specific challenges, and topics that apply to the tech industry. However, many of these challenges (eg impostor syndrome, career shifts, or the pressure to advance in your career quickly) are universally relatable and just as many will be felt by the people around you whom you care about. So, even if you don’t identify as a woman and don’t work in tech, this might still be of interest to you.
Not about quick fixes or shortcuts to success
I’m all about cultivating healthy and sustainable habits that help me grow over time and about building the resilience mechanisms necessary to deal with the unexpected, so that’s what this space will be a reflection of - no “3 steps to success” or “How to climb the ladder by next week” advice here. Whether you identify as a man or a woman, as techy or as someone who’s just curious about tech, my goal is to inspire you to find your own sustainable way forward, no matter the obstacles.
Not seeing your path as something set in stone
I’m hoping this blog will help with breaking down the myth that a career path is pre-established and that you might ruin it by trying something different, and challenge the idea that because you can’t do something today, you won’t be able to do it tomorrow either.
The power of story telling
I believe that our stories — whether they’re about health and fitness, career changes, learning something new, or overcoming challenges — are powerful tools. Sharing these experiences helps us reflect, grow, and most importantly, realize that there’s no one “right way” to build a career or a life.
I’ll be writing about my journey and the lessons I’ve learned along the way, and hopefully be joined by a few people sharing their own stories. If in doing so this blog manages to inspire you - even just a little - then I will have achieved my goal.
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts and learning alongside you as I step into the wildly uncomfortable territory of sharing my stories and thoughts publicly.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. I’m excited to share the ups, downs, and everything in between as we engineer our paths together.