From Fresno with love. Irma Olguin Jr. (she/her) is the founder of Bitwise Industries, an organization dedicated to turning underrepresented communities into tech hubs—which is great, because we all know that’s where the money is.

Here, Irma explains what launched her start, what roadblocks tech newbies face, and the best advice she’s ever gotten.

Why did you get into tech?
There wasn’t much of a “why” at the beginning of my journey—it was serendipitous. When I was a teenager, I took the PSAT on a whim to get out of class, which led to a full-ride scholarship at a university across the country. My family and I worked all summer to afford the bus fare there. When I got to school, I didn’t pick a major, but picked a building to take my classes in because of its all-glass exterior—it happened to be where they taught computer science. I didn’t even have an email address before college, but once I started taking classes, I was learning desirable skills that I would otherwise never have been able to.

How did you feel in the tech space once you started working?
I was a queer, Brown woman working in tech in the early 2000s. It’s isolating to be the only person who looks like you and shares your experiences at the place you spend 1/3 of your life. People don’t take you or your work seriously, and determine that you haven’t earned your spot, even while they had the door held open for them. This drove me to build a company where diversity is foundational to our work, and where we hire for potential above all else.

What made you decide to go back and build up your community?
Once I started working entry-level jobs, the money was life-changing. At the same time, I couldn’t help but think of all the other people like me who were never given the same opportunities. A lot of people are capable of being successful in tech, but they’re discouraged from college and can’t pull time from supporting their families, or they make missteps in life and have a criminal record bogging them down. I felt I had to give back to the place and people who made me who I am.

How do you choose the areas Bitwise serves?
We don’t need to be in places where the tech industry has already landed. We look into underserved cities across the country where economies have stagnated and the local workforce has been overlooked for far too long. Take Fresno, for example. It’s the agricultural heart of the world, but the families who have worked the fields for generations aren’t reaping any of the industry’s wealth. Providing tech training and creating local jobs provides more opportunities for these folks to climb the economic ladder. And because they’re staying in Fresno, they’re thinking of how tech can work in their hometown, and they’re developing tech solutions for agriculture, for local businesses and nonprofits, and for their kids’ education.

What barriers do people face when trying to start a career in tech?
Being able to afford to start is a barrier for thousands of people, and it’s not just about affording college. If you’re in a household that’s living paycheck-to-paycheck, it’s hard to justify going to college for 4 years when that time can be spent providing for your family. Though you know the time invested in learning would eventually be worth it, the immediate loss in income is a non-starter. That’s why Bitwise’s low-cost training, paid apprenticeship programs, and wraparound services like transportation, financial assistance, and childcare are built to address those issues head-on.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
The best advice I’ve ever received is, “Don’t take a ‘no’ from someone who can’t give you a ‘yes’ in the first place.” It means you should take a moment to assess if that person is the right person to get you where you want to go. This was something that slowed my progress in the beginning. Any “no” was defeating, but that’s just not reality. Some “no’s” are much more devastating and meaningful. Others are less so. I had to learn the difference.