Sarah's South Side Code: From Factory Floor to Tech Tower in Chicago's Comeback Story

This is your Women's Stories podcast.

Imagine this: you're Sarah, a single mom in Chicago, staring at the eviction notice on your kitchen table after losing your job at the factory during the pandemic. The world feels like it's crumbling, but deep down, a fire ignites. This is your story of resilience, listeners, the kind that powers Women's Stories podcast.

It started in 2020, when the layoffs hit hard. Sarah, that's me, had raised two kids alone since my husband walked out a decade ago. Bills piled up like snow in a Midwest winter—rent for our tiny apartment on the South Side, groceries for my daughter Mia and son Jamal, who dreamed of college. Friends said, "Give up, Sarah. Start over somewhere cheaper." But resilience isn't surrender. It's that quiet voice whispering, "You've survived worse."

I remembered my grandmother, Elena, who fled domestic abuse in rural Mexico in the 1970s, crossing the border with nothing but a backpack and her infant daughter—me. She cleaned houses in Los Angeles, facing sneers and low wages, yet built a life. "Mija," she'd say, "resilience is roots digging deep in rocky soil." Her words echoed as I applied for every gig: Uber driving at dawn, sewing masks at night. Rejection stung—dozens of nos from temp agencies—but each one toughened my skin.

Then came the turning point. Enrolling in a free community college course at Harold Washington College, I discovered coding. Nights blurred into code lines on my old laptop, borrowed from the library. Professors like Ms. Rivera saw my spark. "Sarah, you're a natural," she'd encourage. Six months in, I landed an internship at a tech startup in the Loop, TechBridge Innovations. From factory line to software tester—resilience rewriting my script.

But it wasn't solo. Community fueled me. Joining Women Who Code Chicago, I met trailblazers like Aisha, who broke barriers as the first Black woman engineer at Google, and Lena, who reinvented after divorce by launching her bakery, Sweet Resilience Bakeshop. We shared war stories over coffee at Dollop Coffee, affirming each other's wins. As the podcast Women's Stories on Spreaker highlights, these bonds turn personal triumphs into collective power, nurturing communities where we lift as we climb.

Today, two years later, I'm a full-stack developer earning enough for Mia's tuition at University of Illinois and Jamal's art supplies. My apartment? Upgraded to a cozy two-bedroom overlooking Lake Michigan. Resilience taught me self-discovery—shedding others' scripts for my truth. It's finding your voice amid silence, reinventing in second acts, celebrating small victories like that first paycheck.

Listeners, your story holds the same power. Whether overcoming adversity like Sarah or nurturing dreams in quiet moments, resilience transforms. Tune into Women's Stories for more.

Thank you so much for tuning in today. Please subscribe for weekly inspiration. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI