Women in Tech: “we move into year 20’s, we’re seeing more and more women buck the trend by bringing new and thrilling concepts to life in the tech space”

July 31, 2020September 2, 2021 Rovi Mohon Women in Tech

Four years ago, we launched a diversity series aimed at bringing the most inspirational and powerful women in the tech scene to your attention. Today, we’d like you to meet Abby Ritualo, one of the committee heads of Orange County Technology Council.

Today’s Woman in Tech: Abby Ritualo, one of the committee heads of Orange County Technology Council

Abby Ritualo singlehandedly builded OC Marketing Solutions, an online resource for marketing services- online and even print materials. Abby has spent the last few years building her website while also holding down a full time position as a Marketing Director in a resto-bar-hotel company.

When did you become interested in technology?

My first contact with technology was during my teenage years when using chatbox, a cross-platform messenger. I was able to connect with friends and new people from all over my school from my computer in the Philippines and was able to connect from my relatives overseas too. From that moment on, technology for me was a means to connect to the everyone around the world. It made me feel closer to faraway places, and made it easier to connect to my family that lived abroad.

I wanted to learn more about technology and get better at using it so I could continue with my exploration of the world.

How did you end up in your career path?

I graduated Bachelor’s in teaching major in English. But Marketing and throwing pitch , ideas and strategies has always been my first love. My career path was decided entirely on the back of one simple question: “What career path will allow me to continue making a great marketing strategies and will not be obsolete and also will allow me to showcase to different places around the world?”. The answer was simple, a career in technology.

A day in Abby’s life

During day time my current role is Marketing Director for ISA East Company. I structure collaboration projects with key open source projects to collaborate resources and knowledge they need to build open source solutions more effectively. Every day is different and that’s what I love about my job. It requires creative thinking and a lot of collaboration across our company and with our partners. It requires research and development everyday.

After a full day of work in my full time position, I do my sideline which is my online marketing business. It started from referrals until one day I just kept on receiving inquiries and service orders from my website.

My week involves exploring potential new projects, revising ongoing deliveries, checking in on the outcomes of collaborations, and also structuring new internal initiatives within our company. Spreading the word and sharing our wins and lessons is also part of the journey, so we spend a good amount of time on communications and PR.

I have led the way at our company to create a marketing strategy from scratch, defining what it means to do social innovation the open source way.

What are you most proud of in your career?

I’d definitely have to say starting and building the consumer loyalty program application, that allow our restaurant and hotel to give discounts and promos to our loyal and repeating customers while at the same time making money from it. I was given the opportunity to take an initial idea and execute it, and watching it evolve into what it is today has been the most fulfilling experience of my career. After starting the application from scratch, it reminded me of the endless opportunities we all have when we have the right mindset, perseverance, the right support system, company culture and tools.

I am also proud and thankful for my education and all the skills I have gained throughout my career that have led me this far. My education has definitely provided me with a lot of valuable knowledge and skills that have given me the confidence to take on new challenges. Living and working abroad 8 years has also taught me how to be bold and not scared of the unknown. It put a lot of things in perspective, and showed me first-hand how different cultures and people see problems differently.