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Women in Tech: My bout with Sexism

May 13th, 2013 by Justin

I like to think that I’m not sexist, but my reputation may precede me.

At some point during my college years, I started using a reverse-psychology approach with women I knew (usually girlfriends) – telling them they couldn’t do something – in hopes that they’d be motivated to prove me wrong.

Ask my wife – this is the wrong approach. Reverse psychology only works on a certain type of person, usually enemies, and (hopefully) they’re not the majority. People want to be built up, not torn down. The other bad part of this reverse-psychology habit was that as I told women that they couldn’t do something, I was slowly and subconsciously telling myself that they couldn’t.

I had to stop doing it. Then, a wake-up call came. I learned I’d be having a daughter. Was this my punishment for my transgressions? Would this mean all of the secrets of the female psyche would be revealed to me? Probably not. But I want to make sure both my son and daughter, if they choose to follow my footsteps into a technology field, are both given the same opportunities and the same treatment.

As soon as I learned I was having a daughter, the articles about sexism in tech became immediately more personal and relevant. A lot of attention had recently been paid to conferences, female speakers (or lack there-of), and conference behavior. I took this all to heart as I was planning a conference that was held right before my daughter was born – WordCamp. I made a conscious effort to have a good representation of women speakers.

In the WordPress community, it’s not difficult to find and meet amazing women doing amazing things. Look at Lisa Sabin-Wilson, my neighbor to the east – she wrote a book. I’ve thought about writing a book – but she actually did it! However, you don’t have to be a superstar or “internet famous” to add to the conversation. Maybe that’s why I enjoy working with the WordPress community. It’s easy to meet all types of people doing great things.

Even though WordPress is written in PHP, I found that there’s a big difference between these two communities. I’ve only been to two PHP conferences: php|tek in the mid-aughts and most recently MidwestPHP 2012. At both conferences, the only female speaker was Sara Golemon. Maybe it was just coincidence. Sara is a highly respected contributor to the PHP community and she’s also a published author. But my feelings concluded that she had become the token female spokesperson for PHP conferences.

So what can we (especially men) do? First you need to change your mind. If you don’t have a daughter, imagine one of the few girls in your technology field as if she were. Is she being treated fairly? Are you treating her fairly?

Then start leveraging your power for good. Be your own superhero. If you’re organizing a conference, go out of your way to include women. Pay it forward: my business partner teaches a class called Black Girls Code. For those who don’t know him, he is neither black, nor a girl. If you’re involved with the interview process at work, bring some women in. I guarantee they’ll bring new perspective to your old boys club. It may only take a couple of GI Jane’s in a male-dominated field to turn the tide and welcome a new wave of female geeks.

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The Second Time

May 10th, 2013 by jessi

One day past my due date, the Doctor scheduled me for twice weekly non-stress tests, a biophysical (ultrasound) and an additional OB appointment. Because I was opting to do a water birth, they needed to make sure I was still healthy as well as the baby. This was Monday. Tuesday morning, contractions started but were [...]

39+ Weeks

April 29th, 2013 by jessi

I’m not looking for an eviction notice with this baby. I know better…this is the easy part even when physically it’s challenging. Like rolling over at night – it’s comical. Welcome to the absolute homestretch. Actually, my first due date was yesterday but they moved it to next week at my 20-week appointment so I [...]

WordCamp Minneapolis – My Mormon Wedding

April 29th, 2013 by Justin

Disclaimer: this is not meant to offend any Mormons. My wife’s family is predominantly Mormon (though we are not). However, I’ve witnessed several of her cousins announce their engagements after only weeks of dating. And their wedding date was typically 3 months out from there.

I would never plan a 3 month-long engagement because I don’t think it’s enough time to plan a decent wedding and maintain your sanity. Weddings only happen once (if you do it right). Get it right the first time.

Like young, naive lovers, WordCamp organizers also need to suppress their hormones. We tend to get over-excited about WordPress – like evangelists that have been given a free podium. Pocket your emotions, and follow the advice from those who have come before you.

This post could serve both groups as a guide on how fools rush in. It’s possible to plan something this big in 3 months, but believe you-me, it is much less stress to take your time. I wish we had followed this advice – but we didn’t. In 3 months, despite the odds, we still managed to pull things off.

Let’s do a WordCamp!

Since no one had organized a WordCamp in the Twin Cities since 2010, fellow MSPWP member Kiko Doran decided he would say “I do” – just to get the ball rolling. I decided to join him. My business partner, John Hawkins, has been organizing WordCamp Las Vegas since 2009. I figured he’d be a good resource to tap for questions. Besides, how hard can it be?!?

Kiko originally chose the date: 4/20. It came with an obvious Rastafarian theme, and he even had a logo put together before we locked in a venue:

WordCamp Rule #1

The first rule about WordCamp is that you don’t plan anything until you have a venue. Before Christmas in 2012, Kiko and I visited the downtown library and had the booking company save the date. Right before Christmas we were informed the space wasn’t available. The Friends of the Library get free reign of library rentals (as they should), and already had 4/20 wrapped up.

We quickly made an appointment with Minneapolis Community & Technical College, gracious host of the MSPWP un-conference event WordUP! They wouldn’t be able to meet until the first week of January. I wanted to keep our search momentum up, so we scheduled a visit to the University of St. Thomas (my alma-mater) around the same time.

St. Thomas’s downtown campus is great but all of the available large rooms were strangely spread out on different floors or in separate buildings. MCTC has a great space, and wanted to help sponsor the event. They weren’t available on 4/20 either, so our date had to be moved a week later to 4/27, which created scheduling challenges for my family in particular, but the show must go on!

Keep Calm and Carry On

After securing a venue things got crazy. We enlisted several people from MSPWP to help out. We let our organizing committee members run with whatever roles they felt they’d excel at. And excel they did! We had specialists for sponsors, venues, catering, and swag. Not to mention the normal kick-ass web development and design that comes with a group of WordPress geeks. I sincerely hope we can assemble a similar team next year.

We did a weekly conference call to make sure things were on track, and used Basecamp for all other communications during the week. I do believe the regular week-in week-out activity helped us keep our hormones in check.

The conference’s last day was 4/28 which was the due date of my wife’s pregnancy. Thankfully, she made it through the weekend labor-free.

Lessons Learned

If I learned anything, it would be to start planning a full year in advance. I think Kiko realized this as he started to talk to me about 2014 before the 2013 event had officially started. I like his enthusiasm but insisted that we first make it through our reboot of this conference before discussing the next year.

I hope we can continue to build long-lasting relationships so the whole community can benefit from a great event like WordCamp. One great partnership has been MCTC. They’re looking to add a WordPress course to their curriculum, and we hope that they can be a long time venue sponsor of WordCamp in the Twin Cities.

Also don’t expect that you, as an organizer, will get to enjoy the event. This same principle applies to a wedding. The best outcome you can have is that your guests enjoy themselves.

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The Last Few Weeks

April 16th, 2013 by jessi

I’ve apparently forgotten I’m having a child in the next few weeks (or, eeek, sooner!) because I keep piling projects on my plate at work. At first I told myself I just needed to get through this weekend. I’m planning an event that I requested be moved up a week since I would be full-term [...]

The S in S-Corp is for Save

April 15th, 2013 by Justin

This article’s concepts should be considered independent from the layout of your business: whether it’s a sole-proprietorship, partnership, LLC, etc. We’re only talking about how you file your taxes. This article is also geared towards freelancers, subcontractors, and small companies.

Schedule C

For most people getting started on their own, there is the “Schedule C.” You pay your 15.3% Medicare & Social Security, plus your income tax quarterly, and hope everything works out on tax day. This is a great way for anyone to feel the “pain” of how much you actually pay in taxes. It can hurt so much that you’ll wonder if there’s a better way, and there is. Enter the S-Corp.

S-Corp

It stands for “Subchapter S Corporations” and is commonly referred to as a “Sub S” or “S-Corp.” I believe the “S” actually stands for “Shareholder.” It is also known as the “Newt Gingrich/John Edwards Loophole” as they helped bring it into law.

As an S-Corp, instead of filing one return, each shareholder files two: a normal W-2 and profit-share filing called a K-1. You take your total profits for the year and split it into two categories for each of these forms: Wages & Earnings (respectively). It’s up to you how to split this: 25/75, 35/65, 50/50 – and there-in lies the loophole.

You can opt to pay yourself less than “reasonable compensation” for your W-2 and save more. The IRS knows this, so as soon as you send in the S-Corp election paperwork, they’ll send you an ominous letter like this:

However, it’s not all doom-and-gloom. A good starting point to split wages & earnings is 50/50 and you still stand to save some money.

A Simple Comparison

This is an oversimplified example using a Minnesotan making $50,000 a year paying taxes at a 25% federal income tax rate and a 7.05% Minnesota income tax rate.

Schedule C

Income: $50,000
Less Social Sec. / Medicare ($7650 @ 15.3%): $42,350
Less Fed. Income Tax ($10,587 @ 25%): $31763
Less MN Income Tax ($2,239 @ 7.05%): $29,254

S-Corp

Income: $50,0000

Earnings (K-1): $25,000
Less Fed. Income Tax ($6,250 @ 25%): $18,750
Less MN Income Tax ($1,321 @ 7.05%): $17,429

Wages (W-2): $25,000
Less Social Sec. / Medicare ($3,825 @ 15.3%): $21,175
Less Unemployment Tax ($105 @ 0.5%): $21,070
Less Fed. Income Tax ($5,267 @ 25%): $15,803
Less MN Income Tax ($1,114 @ 7.05%): $14,869

That leaves you with $32k rather than $29k. With tax preparation costs somewhere between $300-$700, it’s still worth it. My tax preparer, Randy Valtinson at Central Tax Service, charges $400 to do my S-Corp filing. He’s a S-Corp evangelist if I’ve ever met one. I’m glad there are tax nerds like him out there fighting the good fight for us.

Timing it Right

Another word of advice. If you’re currently filing a Schedule C – time the switch to an S-Corp wisely. I did mine in the middle of the year – not smart. I continued to pay my quarterly taxes at my Schedule C rate and added unemployment tax payments on top of that. It was a tough year that made me doubt that the S-Corp election was worth it. I didn’t feel any relief until a full tax year later.

Learn from my mistake. Your Schedule C should cease on December 31st and your S-Corp should start on January 1st. It will make life much easier for you, your tax preparer, and your wallet.

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Spring Snow Day

April 12th, 2013 by jessi

This is what happens when it snows in Minnesota and someone wants to go out to play.

36 Weeks

April 11th, 2013 by jessi

As with anything you do a second time, time flies. Having fun? Maybe. The second pregnancy is mostly the same but it has its challenges. The obvious difference is having an almost 4 year old climbing on me when I want to nap on the couch. So last night, I let him watch 2 episodes [...]

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Let’s do a WordCamp!

WordCamp Rule #1

Keep Calm and Carry On

Lessons Learned

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Schedule C

S-Corp

A Simple Comparison

Schedule C

S-Corp

Timing it Right

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