Celebrating Women At Ember

Celebrating Women At Ember

March 04, 2021

In celebration of International Women's Day, we are highlighting a few of Ember’s leading ladies who #ChooseToChallenge.

These women are not only pioneers within Ember; they are paving the way for future generations of inspired young women, showing them they can do and achieve anything they put their minds to.

Melissa Miller and family

Melissa Miller

SVP and General Counsel

Q: What does 2021’s International Women’s Day slogan #ChooseToChallenge mean to you?

A: The slogan reminds me of my personal responsibility to empower women. I choose to hold myself accountable for challenging glass ceilings, challenging injustice, and challenging myself in the workplace and everyday life.

Q: Advice to young women who are interested in pursuing a career in Law?

A: Pre-law school, do an internship (or several) to make sure this is the right career path for you. Post-law school, find a mentor. When I was coming up, it was very challenging for women to find mentors, and I didn’t have one. It’s one of the reasons I’m so adamant about making sure other women do.

Q: What gets you up every morning?

A: My son, and the challenges and joys of a new day. And dessert, of course.

Q: 3 words that describe you.

A: Doer. Transparent. Brave.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to drink out of your Ember? Drinking temperature?

A: Decaf English Breakfast tea at 138 degrees!

I choose to hold myself accountable for challenging glass ceilings, challenging injustice, and challenging myself in the workplace and everyday life.

Raj Chadha with son Sahib, daughter Jasleen, husband Manjit

Raj Chadha

Senior Android Developer

Q: How did you choose your career path?

A: During high school, I was one of the five girls who volunteered to take a computer science course. After taking this course, I found my passion for programming. I got the chance to study at UCI and decided that computer science is the future I want.

Q: Advice to young women who are interested in pursuing a career in Tech/ Computer Science?

A: Computer science is a highly competitive field, but it is also a very rewarding career path. Although computer engineering is a male-dominant field, there are more and more young women pursuing careers within STEM. It is up to you to establish yourself in any field you choose.

Q: What is your favorite part about your job?

A: My favorite part about my job is that every day I get to do something different. I develop software that does not exist. To do this, I need to challenge myself along every step of the journey and have a broad imagination.

Q: What women inspire you and why?

A: One woman that inspires me on a daily basis is my mother. A piece of advice she gave me at a very young age that stuck with me is to never give up and to never fear the unknown. If you work on anything with full effort for six consecutive months, it will become a piece of cake for you. I have applied this mentality in many scenarios in my life and it does work.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to drink out of your Ember? Drinking temperature?

A: My favorite thing to drink out of my Ember Mug is coffee. My ideal drinking temperature is 140°F!

It is up to you to establish yourself in any field you choose.

Jolene Abbott with her mom Leslie Abbott

Jolene Abbott

SVP, Head of Global Marketing & Ecomm

Q: What does 2021’s IWD slogan #ChooseToChallenge mean to you?

A: For me, I see this as challenging that inner voice that can deter you from going after your dream. That voice that can creep in (usually when you’re trying to sleep) and gives you doubt. Maybe it says you can’t accomplish something, that you’re not smart enough, experienced enough, etc. Choose to challenge that fear. Acknowledge it, but then work through it. Step by step.

Q: What women inspire you and why?

A: The list is endless! I’m inspired by women daily. I’ve recently been digging into my family history. I’m very lucky to have a considerable amount of my family story documented via memoirs and letters. I recently read a 96 page story about my great, great grandmother who came to the US from England. I read about her hardships, the chores she hated doing as a young girl, the joys they found as a family; then later, falling in love, and losing that love when her young husband died. It made me appreciate how much I have, and how my path was paved by the many strong women before me.

Q: What gets you up every morning?

A: My Australian Shepherd, Rue. She won’t let me sleep past 6:15 AM even if I wanted to!

Q: 3 words that describe you.

A: Curious. Determined. Effervescent.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to drink out of your Ember? Drinking temperature?

A: I’m pretty simple. My favorite thing is my morning pour over coffee. No cream or sugar, just set at 136°F and I’m good to go.

Choose to challenge that fear. Acknowledge it, but then work through it. Step by step.





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