Meet the Member - Sara Galova

Introducing Sara Galova, one if our longest standing Lisbon members (5 amazing years) and a self proclaimed cocktail fanatic! We caught up with Sara among the plants in our Lisbon home to find out her advice about getting into coding, just how many students SheCodes is set on teaching in the years to come and more! Read on to find out how it all began & what it takes to be part of the team.

What is your name, what is your business and how long have you been at Second Home?

My name is Sara, I’m a graphic designer by trade and I currently work as a COO for SheCodes. I’ve been at Second Home for 5 years now.

Share a little bio about SheCodes.

SheCodes is here to help bridge the gender gap in the tech programming industry by providing knowledge that is becoming necessary in today’s increasingly technological job market. This September, SheCodes celebrated its 5 years anniversary. Apart from that, we’re excited to announce that more than 100,000 women have learnt to code with SheCodes.

How long have you lived in Lisbon?

I’ve been in Lisbon for 6 years now and absolute love it.

What is your favorite thing you’ve tried since coming to Lisbon?

I love to walk around and explore the city. The neighborhoods are constantly changing and it’s exciting to see the city grow and develop in such a short time. Other than that, I love the local seafood and Portuguese cuisine!

Three items you’d take to a desert island?

My laptop (I guess), a tent, and a cocktail shaker.

Food you couldn’t live without?

Definitely Sushi.

What is best thing about SheCodes? / What are you most proud of about SheCodes’ work?

I’m really proud to have seen SheCodes grow from a small side-project with a goal to teach 10 women to code to an amazing online product that has taught more than 100,000 women all over the world. The best thing about SheCodes is surely the impact we have on our students and the fact that few months of a coding workshop can completely change someones life and career outlooks, it’s very empowering.

What advice would you give someone who wanted to get into coding?

Get started as soon as possible! There are bunch of free (and paid) tools online that can give you a look into development world so that you can see which way and how you’d want to utilize your coding skills. Also, don’t be shy about not knowing things and being a newbie, everybody had to start somewhere. And don’t be afraid to ask questions!

What are the key qualities you look for in a team mate?

I would say diligence, empathy, and team spirit.

What is your favorite part of SH?

I really like the vibe that SH has and the fact that people know each other. It creates a nice community feeling and gives opportunities for people to grow their projects and get inspired by others and their work!

What are the main challenges and successes for SheCodes at the moment?

One of our biggest challenges right now is growing and scaling the SheCodes Foundation project. In the SheCodes Foundation we’re offering our workshops, free of charge, to women in over 77 developing countries. As for the biggest successes, we’ve recently hit a big student milestone (100,000 students) and we’re set on teaching 1,000,000 students in the upcoming years.

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