Rails Girls

We recently had the pleasure of gathering with over 120 enthusiastic women and 50 coaches for the first ever Rails Girls SLC. This event was very close to our hearts: Big Cartel is a Ruby app, built from scratch out of a drive to make something awesome with no expectations of what it would become (to read more on that, give this article from our founder a good read). It’s exciting for us to expose more people to a coding language that can open up so much possibility. If attendees decide to pursue a career in tech and start to even out the gender gap, even better.

Because this was such a special project, we needed the perfect venue. The Ladies Literary Club headquarters was constructed in 1877 to provide a home for the Ladies Literary Club, an organization created by women in Utah to provide opportunities to meet, share ideas, educate one another and inspire cultured debates. With a history like that, we knew we’d found the perfect spot for Rails Girls.

In addition to some solid one-on-one time with coaches learning the basics, attendees heard the incredibly likable Hannah Bottalla yell f*#k from the podium. They got a pep-talk from Susan Petersen, the mastermind behind Freshly Picked, and much-needed encouragement from Big Cartel developers Lee Jensen and Andy Borsz.

With such an overwhelming response to our first Rails Girls, we’re already cooking up some ideas for the next workshop. If you weren’t able to attend, we hope you’ll join us in the future.

Sign up now to be notified about our next Rails Girls workshop. If you were one of the attendees or coaches, stay connected with your pals from the RG front lines by joining the Rails Girls SLC Google group.