Superhumans Leading Loudly in a Quietly Biased Industry

When I first came across the title "Using Your Superpowers to Lead in a Male-Dominated Industry," I paused. Not because it was dramatic or flashy, but because it felt honest. It hinted at the quiet strength, the everyday resilience, and the steady work of women making space for themselves—and others—in tech. Having followed sessions like “The Lonely Only” at previous DrupalCons, I knew this one would continue an important conversation. And I wanted to be there for it.

I spoke with Shanice Ortiz and Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs from Four Kitchens ahead of their panel at DrupalCon Atlanta 2025. We talked about leadership, equity, structural barriers, and the subtle yet powerful actions that push change forward. What stood out was how grounded they were—not selling a blueprint for instant change, but sharing their lived realities with clarity and conviction. Their stories weren’t polished for performance. They were thoughtful, firm, and refreshingly real.

This conversation isn’t about grand statements. It’s about what happens when women are trusted, when allyship moves beyond token gestures, and when leadership is measured not just in results, but in the way people are supported and heard. Here’s what Shanice and Theresa had to say.

If you're heading to DrupalCon Atlanta 2025, be sure to check out the session featuring Shanice, Elia, Theresa, and Jim. It'll be held at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, in Hanover FG (LL2), on Tuesday, March 25, from 3:00 to 3:50 pm.

TDT [1]: We will start by introducing the panel of your DrupalCon Atlanta sessions, "Using Your Superpowers to Lead in a Male-Dominated Industry".

Shanice Ortiz: Yes, sure. I've been with Four Kitchens now going on four years.  I'm the Director of Projects, and I'm going to be transitioning into a Client Partner role. But for right now, Director of Projects.  

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs: I am a Project Manager at Four Kitchens. I also oversee and manage the Continuous Care offering that we have.  Basically, what that means is that I just make sure the team is collaborating, make sure that we are kind of connecting dots and finding ways to be efficient and better in our process for our clients.  

Shanice Ortiz: We have Elia Milan, and she is our Chief Operating Officer. She's been with the company way longer than either myself or Theresa, upwards of ten years.  And Jim Vomero—he's one of our Engineering Managers. So he oversees a portion of our development team.  

TDT [2]: How did you come up with this idea about having a session with four panel members and the topic to be the role of women in a male-dominated tech world?  

Shanice Ortiz: I think the impetus of this particular session, stemmed from last year's keynote. We delivered a keynote at DrupalCon last year in regards to being the only female representative in your company, department, or even the trajectory of your career. You were the only one or one of the few in your actual realm of expertise.  

We were talking in respect of how Four Kitchens actually has a really good representation of females on the leadership side.  Not only from the perspective of being part of a team, but then also having the added responsibility of leading and guiding and having your voice heard. So we wanted to get a few of our female leaders together with the accompaniment of Jim as well. So that way we can provide some perspective on what that looks like.  

TDT [3]:  You mentioned the keynote from last year and how leadership roles for women are still negligible compared to men. How did that session go? Did it land the way you hoped?

Shanice Ortiz:  Yeah, it went really well. It was called "The Lonely Only" and delivered at the Women in Drupal luncheon. So, all-female attendance, which was nice. You were surrounded by peers who’d experienced similar biases, stereotypes, and windows of opportunity—either opening or closing—in tech. We focused on what it’s like to represent a much larger population as one person in the room.

TDT [4]:  I looked up the numbers before this conversation. Women make up just over 27% of the tech workforce. It’s still such a small number. As someone who’s part of that 27%, what do you make of that?

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs:  Yeah. That’s even lower than I expected. I want to see it grow, and I think we’ll get there—slow baby steps. But 27% is a small number compared to the people coming out of school and the opportunities available.

Shanice Ortiz: It depends on the company—and on how open your colleagues are, especially the men. Women can support and grow each other, but if there’s a ceiling in place from the top down, you can only go so far. The goal is to find environments that foster growth—and then bring other women along with you.

We have a long way to go even to get to 50 percent.

TDT [5]:  Four Kitchens seems to have broken through some of these barriers. I’ve read that your leadership is described as “highly collaborative.” What makes it different? What structures or decision-making processes help?

Shanice Ortiz:  We operate under the EOS framework—the Entrepreneurial Operating System. It’s a structure some agencies use to reinforce collaboration. At  Four Kitchens, when you’re accountable for something, your voice is heard in that area.

Theresa can speak to this more recently, having stepped into a program manager role. But once she took that role, she was given space to make it her own. There’s a lot of trust here, no matter your gender. Expectations are equal. You’re expected to hold your own and be accountable.

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs:  And I’d add that people at Four Kitchens are very centered, male or female. That helps women grow into leadership roles. We're also remote, but we do it well—different Slack channels, regular check-ins, fun, shared spaces. That communication frequency fosters collaboration and a strong support system.

Shanice Ortiz: There’s also an element of safety that allows us to be open. Differences of opinion are welcome. There’s room for healthy conflict, and it never feels like you’re being targeted. It all stems from trust.

TDT [6]:  You’ve both taken different paths to leadership. Shanice, you started in advertising. Theresa, you came from digital strategy and project management. Did you foresee leadership in your future—or did it just happen?

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs:  I’ve never really promoted myself. If I felt undervalued, I’d just leave and look for something better. I’ve never been the person to say, “I deserve more. That leadership position should be mine.” Maybe there’s something to unpack there. I kind of wait and see. This leadership role fell in my lap. I didn’t expect it. But once I saw the opportunity, I realized I had to take it.

Of course, imposter syndrome kicked in. Plus, I’m a mom—so anything that might take more time away from my family makes me hesitate. But yeah, I didn’t plan it. It found me.

Shanice Ortiz: Same for me. I started at Four Kitchens as a project manager—just owning my own projects. Then the director of projects role opened up, and the company posted it internally first. That told me they already had someone in mind—they just wanted to see if the person would apply.

I hadn’t been thinking about leadership. I liked being a solid cog in the wheel. I was good at it. Leadership sounded like a lot of extra stuff I didn’t want to deal with.

But once I stepped into the seat, I saw everything differently. You start to notice people’s strengths and opportunities to stretch them. Theresa was always quiet but gave strong input—clear, thoughtful feedback. When her role opened up, I was like, “Hey, you’d be great at this. Ever thought about it?” I’m so glad she said yes.

TDT [7]:  Theresa, you mentioned imposter syndrome. I was reading one of your co-panelists, Elia Milan, talk about that recently too. It’s often used to describe what women feel in leadership roles. But honestly—don’t you think it’s often more external than internal? Like, people constantly judging, and those judgments getting baked into the system?Have either of you had to push back against that kind of underestimation? How did you handle it?

Shanice Ortiz:  That's a good question. At Four Kitchens, it’s easy to push back. No one stops you from trying something. If you want to experiment, you can. There's a culture of saying, “Sure, go for it, see what happens.”

Outside of Four Kitchens, though, I’ve had to advocate for myself—especially in job applications. There were times when a résumé just got rejected, and I’d have to ask, “Why?” Turn it into a conversation instead of just accepting it. Instead of feeding that into the imposter-syndrome bank, I turned that into a dialogue. So that you can tell that annoying little voice in your head to go quiet.

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs: I agree with that. At FourKitchens, we have room to challenge ourselves. That helps a lot.

TDT [8]: Four Kitchens really sounds like a great example of how to treat employees—regardless of gender. But in tech more broadly, there’s a clear drop-off. Women often don't make it to senior positions. What are the invisible factors holding women back from mid-level to senior roles?

Shanice Ortiz:  In my experience, it’s largely about perception. Four Kitchens is one of the few places I’ve worked where I didn’t report only to a male leader. In every other company, even if the whole team was women, we were still reporting to a man. 

Being able to someone in the future trajectory is half the battle, that is the perception piece right there. If you never see yourself in the leadership roles, it’s hard to imagine getting there. It’s about seeing someone who looks like you in the position you’re aiming for. That changes everything. Elia, started out as an Administrative Assistant at Four Kitchens is now the COO nd that is like a huge spectrum of closing her claim to the top.

At my last company, the Director of Tech was a woman. Starting to see these women in the role, that was powerful to witness. It gives you the idea that maybe one day I could be there as well, I might nit be ready now but I could be. So perception is a huge part of it.

Also, there has to be a real desire to diversify your team. Someone might look perfect on paper, but if you’re not considering team makeup or different lived experiences, you’re missing out. That’s where race, gender, and identity all intersect.

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs: Exactly. Leaders need to intentionally look around and ask, “Do we have diverse voices at this table?” And that means not just listening to the loudest voice—because often, that’s a white male. Sometimes, it’s about reaching out to someone and saying, “You’d be great at this. Have you thought about it?” That kind of direct support matters.

TDT: There’s a big difference between performative inclusion and real leadership change. One pretends things are improving; the other makes actual moves. I think we’re all on the same page there.

TDT [9]: I read the blog post, Four Kitchens put out recently. It emphasized that real leadership is about action, not lip service. Do you have a tangible example of moving the needle for someone? Someone you mentored? Helped grow?

Shanice Ortiz: Yes. When I became Director of Projects, I had to help configure the right team makeup for new projects. We had several launching at once, and our usual engineering leads were booked.

So I asked, “Who’s ready to step up?”

One of our senior female developers came to mind immediately. I’d heard great things from project managers, and I saw her becoming available. I talked to our Director of Engineering and asked, “Is it time to get her ready to lead?”

He was completely on board. We supported her through the transition, and now she’s one of our go-to engineering leads. She’s still the only woman in that role, but she had the skillset and the drive—and she wanted it. That was all she needed. So we were able to push her in the right direction

If the Director of Engineering wished, he could have blocked it, but instead, he helped make it happen. That's allyship!

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs: We had another example too. One of our developers was taking UX classes on the side—just for fun. A client project came up, and we asked if she wanted to try applying those skills. It was outside her comfort zone, but it was a chance to stretch—and grow.

Shanice Ortiz: That also speaks to something we noticed recently—how often female colleagues look out for other women. It’s not just waiting for someone to ask. It’s us saying, “Hey, you’d be great at this.” That proactive support is a different kind of allyship. Performative allyship often waits to be asked. Real allyship reaches out first.

TDT [10]:  Let’s talk about the session title. Using Your Superpowers to Lead in a Male-Dominated Industry—it’s catchy. But it also feels like a statement. Like women need actual superpowers to make it through. Why that title?

Shanice Ortiz: When we were coming up with the title, we were thinking about all the little things that come together to form the bigger picture. It’s those small, supportive actions that create safe spaces—like looking out for your female colleagues.

Theresa mentioned our Slack channels—we have a women-only channel at  Four Kitchens. Even though we’re a very collaborative team, sometimes you just need a space to talk to other women. That’s where we share, vent, or just connect. It’s a kind of superpower—creating safety.

Then there’s allyship and recommending others for opportunities. That’s another superpower. Using your seat at the table to speak up for others, to make sure their voices are heard—that matters.

All those things add up. Like when someone says, “You’re interested in this—you’d be great at it.” What if there’s a hybrid skill set we haven’t tapped into yet? That kind of encouragement can make all the difference.

Theresa Jacob: That’s the thing—those are little superpowers. You don’t always see that at other places, unfortunately. The fact that you even have to pull at those and try to bring others along is a shame, but it’s also a way of lifting people up.

I think my superpowers are a bit different. I didn’t come from tech. I’m more of a relationship builder, a collaborative type. I focus on making sure our clients and teams are working well together. And that, in itself, is a superpower.

TDT [11]:  So, this session—Using Your Superpowers to Lead in a Male-Dominated Industry—what kind of conversation do you hope to start at DrupalCon Atlanta? Especially thinking about the broader Drupal community.

Shanice Ortiz:I’d love for folks to share their own experiences—how they’ve broken barriers, created allyship, or navigated imposter syndrome.

We included Jim on the panel—he’s the only male member—because we didn’t want to do another all-female panel like last year’s keynote. We wanted to bring in a male perspective, especially since allyship and support from men are key to women thriving in these roles. Jim will be facilitating and asking us questions around imposter syndrome, allyship, and leadership styles.

That’s a common thread. We’ve all had strong leaders—some women who were amazing, others who weren’t. We want to highlight that range.

We’ll also be asking Jim some questions about his own experience supporting women on his team, and what he’s learned through hiring and trying to build a more diverse team. The first half of the session will be us sharing how we approach this at Four Kitchens. Then we want to open the floor—for attendees to ask questions or share their own stories.

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs:  I would love for people to ask questions around like what can I do at my company, how can I bring this sort of thinking into my role, how can I bring this into my every day, right? Because we don't get past that 27 percent unless it's other places that are also doing that.

TDT:  Right. Women are still often expected to just fit in. Don’t speak up. Don’t ask for more. Acclimate, be silent, keep your head down.

But conversations like this push back on that. They encourage people to go back to their teams and ask real questions—start change.

Shanice Ortiz: Exactly. The conversation is the catalyst for change. We have to keep it going.

TDT [12]:  I was reading that Jim Romero has actively supported identifying and uplifting underrepresented groups. How important is it to have leaders like him—engineering managers or others—who intentionally seek out and support talent that might otherwise be overlooked?

Shanice Ortiz: The reason is twofold. First, because it’s the right thing to do. Second, because real innovation doesn’t come from like-minded or same-minded thinkers. Following the status quo limits progress.

That’s why it’s important for leaders like Jim—and other engineering managers—to build diverse teams. Everyone brings valuable skills, especially people from underrepresented groups. If everyone looks, talks, and thinks the same, that’s not a place I want to work. I want to be somewhere that creates its own culture and celebrates others too.

And managers—it's their job to lift their teams. The role isn’t just about their own growth; it’s about bringing everyone along.

TDT [13]: Here’s a hypothetical question. Say someone’s been feeling the need for change in their workplace for a while—but they don’t feel safe or confident enough to speak up. Then they attend your session, and they feel fired up. What do you say to someone like that? How should they go about making change?

Shanice Ortiz: I think it’s a twofold question, because unfortunately, some work environments are just culturally toxic. It doesn’t matter who you talk to, how you say it, or what you're saying—it’s not going to get through in a way that leads to actual change.

But if you're at a company that's more open and just doesn’t know how, or they're stumbling through trying to do it the right way, I’d say this: take a play out of Four Kitchens' book. We rely on radical candor, and one of our core values is building genuine relationships.

We’re pretty direct about expressing needs and feelings—saying, “This is what I’m thinking.” The biggest part of pushing for change is starting with conversation, yes, but also understanding that when you’re talking to folks who don’t have the full picture, it needs to be more fleshed out.

These are the challenges I’m seeing at the company. These are a few ways I think we could bridge that gap. Here's how we could move forward. It’s about planting the seed—not just pointing out the issues, but pairing that with some kind of solution to help make the conversation smoother and more actionable.

TDT [14]: You’ve both worked at different kinds of companies—some diverse, some toxic. What’s one outdated leadership practice that needs to go?

Shanice Ortiz: An outdated leadership practice? Promoting someone just for the sake of promotion—especially if they don’t understand or care about the day-to-day. Some of the worst managers I’ve had were like that. They were focused only on performance, not the people doing the work. Yes, performance matters, but there has to be some humanity in it.

I’ve had managers who were newer to the company than I was, and they were better leaders than some of the most senior people I’d ever worked for.

And another thing—leadership should actively assess team structure. Make sure the teams are balanced. Check if women feel supported. Even something as simple as looking around the leadership room and asking, “Do we have diverse voices here?” That doesn’t happen enough.

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs: And I’d say—not so much outdated, but underused—leaders need to regularly assess team structure. Are women supported? Is there balance? Just look around the room in a leadership meeting and ask: do we have diverse voices here? That alone could change things.

TDT [15]:  Now bringing it back to the Drupal community—has Drupal historically been a catalyst in conversations around diversity, inclusion, and accessibility?

Shanice Ortiz:  Maybe more than some parts of tech, yes. But in the big picture? It’s still small. I think Drupal has made strides in ethnic and racial diversity, but gender inclusivity? There’s still a long way to go.

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs:  And you notice it at the conferences. You see people from all over the world, which is amazing. But if you count the number of women in each session? You can do it on one hand. That says a lot.

TDT [16]:  We’re almost at the end. What needs to change for us to stop having these conversations about imbalance in tech leadership? What small changes today will create real change in 10 or 20 years?

Shanice Ortiz:  I’d say for me, it’s about shifting from performance-based thinking to people-based thinking. In hiring, people often look for someone whose code is pristine, who can handle the toughest migrations, who’s got years of senior experience at big-name tech companies. But that doesn’t tell you who the person is. The fastest coder or top performer might be the least collaborative person on the team.

So when you change the focus—from “who checks all the technical boxes” to “what kind of person do we want in this role”—it changes everything. Yes, skills matter. But so do the qualities that shape how someone shows up in a team. That mindset shift creates a very different hiring conversation.

Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs: I totally agree. Zooming out a bit, I’d love to see little girls start learning how to code. Those toys and tools are usually marketed to boys. But we need girls to feel like this is a space where they can thrive. That’s how long-term change starts. There’s work to be done in our workplaces, sure—but we also need to start younger, with the next generation.

Shanice Ortiz: Actually, Theresa, I don’t know if you knew this, but at last year’s keynote, Laura talked about how her dad was a coder. He introduced her to it when she was young. She started coding as a hobby, and later, she leaned into it to build her skills and earn more. That was a huge influence.  

Just because you have a daughter doesn’t mean she can’t sit next to you and learn what you’re doing. You never know what kind of interest that could spark. And for Laura, that early exposure was exactly what got her to where she is now.