From Tech Academy Graduate to Atlanta Entrepreneur: Jillian’s Story
We can all agree that the Atlanta airport is often stressful to navigate. For women especially, Jillian Anderson noticed an additional travel stress point…
As a graduate of our first Web Development course in 2018, Jillian knew she wanted to pursue a career in tech even before the six-month course.
“My mom got me a VTech laptop as a kid, which started my interest," said Jillian. "From then on, I became the tech savant of the family and graduated from Albany State with a degree in computer science.”
But finding a job wasn't as easy as Jillian anticipated. Eventually, she came across City of Refuge online as an opportunity to rebuild her confidence.
“I was really at a low place confidence-wise about my ability to do things as a young adult," said Jillian. "It felt like a quarter-life crisis.”
It didn’t take long for the web developer course to both restore her confidence and spark an entrepreneurial spirit in her.
"I was working a pizza delivery job to make ends meet while taking the course when I was in the car listening to a podcast," recalled Jillian. “The podcast was called How I Built This, and they had the founders of Lyft on it. When I realized one of the founders had a computer science background, I was like… what! I can do this too!”
With previous experience driving for deliveries and Uber, Jillian used her background and refreshed knowledge in web development to identify a problem worth solving: women's safety in rideshare.
After graduating from our program, Jillian developed an app over the next six months known today as HeRide, a Public Ride Sharing & Travel service. Unlike other rideshare apps, HeRide exclusively employs female drivers.
“When I used to drive at night, women would tell me how thankful they were that I was a woman when I picked them up,” said Jillian.
With 250 active drivers in the Atlanta area, 19,000+ users, and 33,000 downloads of her app, HeRide is growing rapidly. So much so that airport travelers will now see it on Rideshare signage when navigating ground transportation!
“This year has been very rewarding,” said Jillian. “We finally have signage in the airport, which has increased our numbers times 10.”
In terms of her success, Jillian thanks City of Refuge for the confidence restoration it gave her and encourages others to follow in her footsteps.
“Don't be scared to learn something new. This program will put you ahead of those who attended school for years. You'll be shocked at how far you can take what you’ve learned.”
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