What happens when women have a seat at every table in enterprise tech? At WebDevStudios, we believe the answer is stronger teams, more innovative solutions, and space to build your own path to leadership. In the enterprise tech space, many companies emphasize the importance of diversity. At WebDevStudios, we prefer to let our roster do the talking.
As a leading Enterprise WordPress agency, we are tasked with engineering complex, high-traffic digital ecosystems for some of the world’s biggest brands. You can’t do that without having the absolute best talent in the room. We are incredibly proud to share that 50% of the WebDevStudios team are women… a statistic that vastly outpaces the 24% industry average. (Women in Tech Statistics 2025: Male to Female Ratio, 2025) You might also find it interesting that we are 50% woman-owned, under the direction of our Managing Partner, April Williams.
March 8th is International Women’s Day. To celebrate, we asked the women of WebDevStudios to share their unconventional paths into tech, the complex enterprise challenges they are solving today, and their advice for the next generation of women in open-source.
<WDS_Women />: The Untraditional Paths to WordPress
If there is one common thread among the women at WebDevStudios, it’s that there is no one-way street to becoming a tech leader. Curiosity-driven careers are a common trend that converges everyone’s road here at WebDevStudios. Passion and curiosity often outweigh traditional computer science degrees, and it is this drive to keep asking, learning, and experimenting that sets the pace for our team’s growth.
For April Williams, Managing Partner, entering the tech space was a literal family endeavor. In 2010, she joined forces with her husband, CEO and Co-Founder Brad Williams, to rescue the growing engineering team from mountains of paperwork. Today, she is the operational backbone of WebDevStudios, proving that leading an enterprise tech agency isn’t just about writing code… It’s about building a sustainable, thriving business from the ground up.
Dr. Jen Miller, our Director of Business Development, saw the digital writing on the wall decades ago.
“As a journalist, I recognized the web as the next frontier and began blogging, writing page content, and building websites for clients in 1994,” she shares. Her evolution took her from a syndicated blogger to creating her own marketing agency, and eventually to founding the community Women Who WordPress, all of which paved her way to joining the WebDevStudios executive team in 2024.
Laura Byrne, Account Manager, traces her tech roots all the way back to managing early education websites and moderating Harry Potter forums.
“This was when WordPress was just starting, and it was so much easier to manage things that way versus Dreamweaver or FrontPage,” she recalls.
For Lindsey Bell, our Lead Engineer, it started as a childhood hobby of building sites on GeoCities and Angelfire. Years later, while looking for a career path, she rediscovered web development.
“At some point, I found WordPress and started making sites. Then I started using CPTUI, eventually finding WebDevStudios as the creator. When a job that fit me came up, I applied.”
Xaviera Aguilar, Senior Project Manager, found her way into the industry completely by accident.
“I was working in logistics… and my brother decided to open a small WordPress agency. He offered me a job as the Operations Manager. I started joining client meetings out of curiosity and ended up liking it. From there, I went to Digital Marketing, and one thing led to another, and I ended up as a project manager for web projects.”
JC Palmes, our Principal Technical Manager, holds a degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering, but worked as a content editor, SEO analyst, and web designer before diving into development. What was the catalyst? WebDevStudios leadership.
“At some point, I found Brad [Williams] book on WordPress. I may have ‘borrowed’ them,” JC jokes. “Those books pulled me into WordPress pretty quickly… When an opportunity opened at WebDevStudios, it felt like a natural move. Lisa and Brad helped shape how I learned WordPress, so working at the company they built was something I couldn’t pass up.”
For Autry Reeves, Delivery Manager, the initial draw to the tech industry was rooted in family and flexibility.
“I have always wanted a job that allows me to be around my family as much as possible… I knew it was more likely to find remote, flexible jobs within tech,” she explains. What started as a practical career choice (beginning as a freelance content writer in high school) quickly blossomed into a genuine passion. “I ultimately began to really enjoy working within WordPress, building sites, and then found WebDevStudios.”
For Jennifer Farhat, Frontend Engineer, her journey crossed international borders and completely different career fields. Originally from Margarita Island in Venezuela, Jennifer was actually a tennis coach before diving into Computer Science.
“Nine years ago, I moved to Canada, and continued growing in my career in tech and kept working with WordPress, a platform that has stayed with me throughout my journey,” she shares. Three years ago, she brought her 10+ years of web development experience to WebDevStudios, drawn in by the agency’s strong culture of continuous learning and collaboration.
WomenDevStudios: Architecting Enterprise Solutions
When you work at WebDevStudios, you aren’t just building websites; you are solving massive, high-stakes puzzles. We asked the team to share a recent win or complex challenge that made them step back and say, “Wow, I am really proud of that.”
For Laura, the pride comes from strategy and translation. She recently conquered the massive challenge of “disentangling all the needs of an RFP and matching client-speak and concerns to what WebDevStudios can deliver.” The result? We won the enterprise contract.
While our engineers are writing the code, our Delivery Managers are the glue keeping those massive initiatives on track. Autry points to her leadership in overseeing WebDevStudios’ internal product suite as a major point of professional pride. “I’m really proud to have been part of our products team and managing things there,” she shares, highlighting how crucial organization and proactive management are to a product’s successful lifecycle.
For JC, the victories are deeply technical. She highlights two massive achievements: helping shape and maintain WDS BT (our internal block theme framework that improves how the whole team builds sites), and architecting a highly complex custom search system for an enterprise client.
“The custom Algolia search system built for Christianity Today Pastors… was a beast,” JC explains. “It touched everything. Frontend, backend, indexing pipelines, APIs, and a lot of custom logic to make the editorial experience work the way they needed. It’s probably the most complex full-stack project I’ve worked on. When it finally all worked the way it was supposed to, that felt pretty good.”
That innovation extends to the very latest WordPress capabilities. Jennifer points to the team’s cutting-edge frontend work as a major source of pride. “Recently, we’ve been delivering some great projects using Full Site Editing and even incorporating AI into parts of our workflow,” she explains. “It is very exciting to be contributing to innovative work alongside such a great and wonderful team.”
The Reality Check: Navigating the Tech Space
Being a woman in a historically male-dominated industry comes with unique lessons. When asked what they wished they knew on day one, the team offered brilliant, candid advice.
“You don’t need to know everything to belong in the room. Early in your career, it’s easy to feel like you have to prove yourself all the time. Over time, you realize the best engineers aren’t the ones who act like they know everything. They’re the ones who ask good questions, stay curious, and dig into problems.” – JC Palmes.
“Everyone has questions—voice yours.” – Dr. Jen Miller.
“The loudest voices in the room aren’t always right; they are just loud. Reiterate your points clearly, frequently, and don’t let anyone else dismiss them or take credit for them. ‘Soft skills’ are not soft; being professional, reliable, and client-facing are going to get you far.” – Laura Byrne.
“There will be some people who doubt your skills from time to time. I’m fortunate to have only encountered that very rarely with clients. Regardless, it’s satisfying to do a good job and prove them wrong.” – Autry Reeves.
“Find other women who support you, whether other engineers or leaders. Having a woman mentor, informally or formally, is so important.” – Lindsey Bell.
“The tech space is always evolving and becoming more inclusive every year,” she notes. “More and more women are entering the field, supporting each other, and contributing to building better technology. It’s a reminder that diversity in tech helps create stronger teams and better products for everyone.” – Jennifer Farhat.
Pushing to Main: Advice for the Next Generation
To wrap up, we asked our team what advice they would give to young women looking to break into the tech and WordPress space today. Their collective answer? Don’t wait for permission.
- Break Down the Gates: “You have the internet and AI at your fingertips,” says Laura. “Don’t let anyone try to gatekeep you, saying you don’t have the background to get started. Don’t wait for people to say you can come in the door; knock the door down.”
- Ignore the Stereotypes: “Don’t let the stereotypes intimidate you,” Xaviera adds. “Whether you see yourself as a developer, a project manager, or a sales leader, every role is within your reach. If you’re willing to put in the time and focus, there is a seat at the table waiting for you.”
- Ask Questions: “It’s hard as a woman because you often feel the need to overachieve and prove yourself,” Lindsey admits, “but asking smart questions can only help you grow as an engineer and leader.”
- Sweat the Details: “Be proactive and thorough when it comes to details,” advises Autry. “Whether in a technical or non-technical role, those are qualities that are always needed.”
- Just Build: “Build things. Don’t wait until you feel ready,” JC advises. “The fastest way to learn is to pick a project, build it, break it, and fix it again. Every time you do that, your confidence grows.”
- Embrace the Learning Curve: “In tech, there is always something new to learn, and it’s easy to feel like you need to know everything before applying for roles or sharing your work,” says Jennifer. “The reality is that growth happens through building, experimenting, and sometimes making mistakes along the way.”
- Jump In: “Jump in, smile, ask questions, and learn all you can,” Jen encourages. It is simple advice, but incredibly effective when stepping into a new, fast-paced environment.
- Start Participating: “Stop waiting to be an expert and start being a participant,” April says. While she keeps WebDevStudios operating behind the scenes, her roots in the WordPress community run deep as a former WordCamp organizer. “Many of us feel we need to master a skill before joining a conversation, but in tech, learning is just as important as doing. My best advice is to build your support network before you think you’re ready… Surrounding yourself with like-minded people doesn’t just teach you how to code; it teaches you the confidence to realize you belong in the room while you’re still learning.”
The Future is Female (And Full-Stack)
The narrative around women in tech is shifting. It’s no longer just a conversation about getting a foot in the door; it is about taking the wheel. The women at WebDevStudios are living proof that the future of enterprise development is diverse, highly skilled, and unapologetically ambitious.
“The more we make space for different voices and experiences, the stronger the community and the industry become,” JC shares, reflecting on her journey from feeling isolated to leading major WordCamps and complex builds.
When women are at the forefront of digital strategy and engineering, the web becomes a more dynamic and capable space. We are proud to have a team where 50% of the voices driving our agency forward are women, and we know that the next generation of female developers is going to push the boundaries even further. Don’t wait for an invitation… the future needs your code, your ideas, and your leadership.
“When I started, it wasn’t very common to see women in developer roles, and it could feel pretty isolating,” JC reflects. “The more we make space for different voices and experiences, the stronger the community and the industry become. Tech moves forward because people share knowledge and help each other figure things out.”
Happy International Women’s Day from all of us at WebDevStudios!
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