Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Walker.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in Camden, NJ and I was placed into foster care at one month old and adopted by family at eight years old. Between being bullied at school and having a rough home life growing up was traumatizing for me but I was always really smart. I was always reading a book, always fixing things on the computer, and always doing other DIY projects. When I was 15, my sophomore year in high school, my adoptive mother passed away. I ended up staying home from school the rest of the school year and found myself picking up her duties like cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and helping take care of my niece who she had just gotten custody of who was two years old. My father and I did not get along that well and I ended up finding a job to help me pay for personal care products. Shortly after, I was told to contribute to the bills in the house. My Junior year I tried to go back to school for my classes and set a goal to graduate that year as well. I found myself getting back into trouble and on homebound instruction again. I still ended up getting all my classes and credits to graduate early.
At the time, I was working for a kiosk in the mall fixing iPhones, iPads, and iPods and then they went bankrupt. After looking for multiple jobs, I realized I should get a degree in the electronics field so I could secure another job like the one I had. I didn’t have enough knowledge to know how to pick schools properly and I ended up going to ITT Technical Institute and receiving my Associate’s Degree in Computer and Electronics Engineering Technology while I was attending this school, I took a programming class that really caught my attention and I landed a job as an Electronics Engineering Technician. My colleagues at this job were very insightful and had gotten me really excited about software and started gifting me with things to learn like python books and Raspberry Pi’s. I started teaching myself Android Software Development and thought I needed to go back to school to get a degree in Mobile Software Development. I did some research and found Full Sail University which ended up being a worse school than ITT Tech. This school told me online schooling was flexible and it wasn’t flexible at all. While working a full-time job in a factory working 12 hr shifts, I was trying to keep up with school work they said should take 40hrs a week but actually took way more. In my four weeks course, I had my instructor M.I.A for three weeks of it. He came back and said he was going through a divorce and that’s why he wasn’t showing up. He failed everyone in the class and the school wanted to charge me so much money to take the classes again. I couldn’t keep up and they weren’t being lenient with extensions. If you turn in your work 1 minute late you lose 25pts of your grade. You needed a medical excuse to get ANY type of extension on an assignment even one day. I reluctantly withdrew from these classes and just fell into working so much at the factory. I had finally talked to my sister (my adoptive mom’s biological daughter) who I hadn’t really spoken to since our mom died when I was 15. We were catching up and I told her about how I wanted to go back to school to be a Software Engineer but I was working so much just to survive. She offered for me to move in with her in Virginia with my dog. I canceled my lease, sold all my furniture, packed up and moved there as soon as she gave me the go. From there, I found a mentor that owned a software company which is what I wanted to do since I started my software journey. He paid me to learn and with that knowledge, I landed my dream job as a software engineer January 2020. Since then, I have been working full time as a software engineer, started my own tech company and take modeling gigs when I have time.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has truly been a rocky road. Starting with being bullied and having it rough at home, to my mom passing away, to me and my dad not getting along that well, picking terrible schools, to working to survive rather than being able to focus on my dreams but God truly knew what he was doing and my sister April and her husband Mike really gave me the opportunity I needed to restart and work hard to reach my goals.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I am the CEO/Founder of a Software Development company that specializes in bringing originality and innovation to small and large businesses as well as individuals by providing them an affordable way to get premier software. Apart from other software companies, we offer many different options for paying for software because we understand it can be hard for a small business to have thousands of dollars on hand to pay for their Software. We also don’t just create your mobile app and wish you luck with it. Apart from other, we offer marketing and maintenance services to help see that your software does exactly what it needs to do for your company whether it’s to just provide convenience for your customers or have an extra revenue stream. We aim to be your one stop shop for software solutions for you and your brand. We offer mobile app development, web app development, web design services and much more. Please check out https://vivifysolutions.net/ for a full list of services.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I think having a mentor that genuinely wants to see you exceed is important otherwise, you will end up with someone who wants to charge you for their knowledge as well as keep things from you so you don’t surpass them. I looked for a mentor for a while and finally, my sister told me about my aunt who owned a tech company. Attend networking events in your field and follow up with people you meet who are where you want to be. Build a rapport with them before asking them to be your mentor. Meeting people face to face is extremely advantageous because you get a more genuine personal connection. Online networking events are also a great place to meet people in your field.
Contact Info:
- Email: victoria.walker@vivifysolutions.net
- Website: www.vivifysolutions.net
- Instagram: iamvwalker
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vivifysolutionsinc
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/vivifysolutions
Image Credits:
Modeling photos by Afif Cherif Studio PrimeTime
