Angela Coronica has just marked 30 years in an industry she “intentionally accidentally” fell into.

Being strong at sport, Coronica initially wanted to become a physiotherapist in high school.

Missing the cut-off, and at the advice of her parents to find a good job, she noticed pages of ads in the newspaper for computer-related roles.

“I thought: ‘that's a good base degree’. I'm good at maths and at science. So, I did a computer science degree.”

Now the director of Google Cloud Partnerships and Alliances in Australia and New Zealand, Angela was then one of eight women out of 150 men, although this was no deterrent.

“I loved it. I could very quickly translate the theory into the practical. And why I sort of fell into my career is that my personable, authentic personality lends itself to leadership.

“I operate bi-modally in that I understand a lot of the tech, and I also have an authentic passion and desire, and naturally empower people to bring out their best.”

For Angela, the purpose of technology is to genuinely improve people's lives whether it’s education, social or business.

“I'm someone who’s always been an evangelist for technology for good and technology for benefits.

“It's an industry and a capability that's moved so quickly because of the productivity and agility it brings.

“What's exciting is where this technology is going to go in the next five years through this springboard of more digitisation and seeing how it will be part of everyday use.”

Yet it was a conscious choice to follow the leadership path over a purely technical role.

“I had to make a decision at one stage in my career about whether I was going to go down a technical path or down the sales marketing path.

“That's when you do your soul searching, as we’ve probably all done at different times in our lives, and look at your strengths and what you're passionate about.

“And I chose the more people, sales and leadership path because I do genuinely get a kick out of supporting and developing people,” she says.

A love for numbers

Angela has seen how imposter syndrome can hold some women back from believing they have all the skills or experience to take the next step.

‘In mentoring, I try to help them get over that by saying: ‘yes you can do this, you are capable.’”

Her advice to young women considering a career in tech is that there is so much opportunity.

“You can go whatever avenue your heart and your head desires, but don't be limited by thinking it's a techie, geeky kind of field.

“There's so much opportunity and there's so many different kinds of roles.”

Away from the rigours of work, Angela loves nothing better than being in the water.

“ I always want to be in walking distance to a beach.”

With her husband and son, they make an active sports-loving family who seek out an interesting life of different activities, exploring new cuisines, and 007. “I’m a James Bond fan, so give me anything James Bond,” Angela says.

And a lockdown past-time has now become a new hobby.

“I’m a mad expert at Sudoku. That was my COVID skill and I can now do expert level without having to put in the numbers!”

Your values are in your DNA

Her love for sport and physical activity has never waned and has helped Angela draw on internal strength over a full career.

In a busy, fulfilling life, she nevertheless always makes time for the things that matter.

“What I've learned about myself is how much I value integrity. So, integrity is everything in terms of how you engage and the stamina that you need to have.”

“I'm very active and sporty… I'm a working mum and I’ve had some pretty robust roles. There’s resilience and grit that you need to be successful and it’s something I haven't had to work at too hard. It sort of comes naturally to me and it aligns to my DNA, which is to be curious. I was born curious.

“And my curiosity has never stopped, which links to the IT industry because there's always something to learn."

Angela Coronica is a Member of ACS.