Women In Tech: Resilience, Determination & Strength

Women in tech all have a unique story to tell, but they tend to have these powerful personality traits in common: resilience, determination, and a strong work ethic.

In honor of International Women’s Day, we’re highlighting one of the many women at BlackLine who exemplify these characteristics to a T.

Raquel Renteria is the release and change manager at BlackLine. She sits at the hub of product, development, QA, and technology operations, and orchestrates releases with the production environments.

Raquel’s career in tech began at Kinko’s corporate office. While working as a staff accountant, she spent time after work and on weekends, unpaid, to learn about the technology initiatives that were in progress.

She worked with development teams on a voluntary basis to create test plans and execute testing, tapping into her prior experience as a certified quality auditor. This was intriguing and came easily to her, and Raquel soon became a full-time technology project manager.

When she discovered BlackLine, she knew it provided the perfect mix of business and technology to complement her skill set.

Raquel is highly motivated to break down problems and find solutions. She is passionate about process improvement and likes to learn new tools intimately, to find ways to incorporate them into the day to day operations. Her love for puzzles and figuring things out make her current position the perfect fit – or sweet spot, as she calls it.

Things at BlackLine move fast, and Raquel’s strong ability to multi-task and thrive in this kind of environment comes from being a mother. “As a mom, you have to be on 24/7. You have to be able to keep your eye on everything at once, and the thought process is non-stop. That’s how my mind has to function at BlackLine.”

Therese Tucker is proof that determination and not settling for the status quo will lead to success. This drives Raquel to keep charging forward, finding new ways to improve her contribution to the company’s success.

She’s been with BlackLine for five and a half years and she’s not going anywhere soon. “I enjoy what I do. My role is dependent on continuous improvement. There is growing responsibility in the position and so much more to learn. The journey is just beginning.”

Her final words come from what’s driven her from accounting to QA consulting, and project management to release and change management.

“Thirst for knowledge is your greatest strength. Don’t let what you don’t know limit you and what you can do. Learn everything you can from each obstacle so you can conquer every hurdle.”

Interested in learning more about the woman who built BlackLine? Read Therese Tucker’s inspiring story.