7 minute read
Rani Johnson
For the Love of Technology Rani Johnson
Chief Information Officer, SolarWinds
Advertisement
Rani Johnson was born in Clear Lake, Texas, in the Houston area. She had an extraordi- narily college-focused childhood. Many of her friends’ parents were astronauts, and almost everyone in her community had ca- reers working in the technology and medical fields where she grew up. Her father was an engineer, and she quickly learned his work ethic from a very young age.
“I declared my major to my parents at seven years old.” Johnson always knew she was go- ing to be an electrical engineer and was highly inspired and fascinated by the sciences. “It was just all around me…I guess my parents got tired of me taking things apart in the house…the television…to try to figure out how they worked.” So, Johnson was given the opportunity at the age of seven to sit in with a class full of adults at a community college and started learning how to program computers, really enjoying every minute she was there.
She spent countless hours with her 50-in-1 electronic projects lab kits and went away to college summer programs in science and engineering starting at the age of 12. Looking back, she realizes and deeply appreciates the sacrifices her parents made for her to have these experiences to develop her natural abili- ties which they could see that Johnson was so passionate about. “I went to Stanford… to Clark Atlanta University, and they were expensive programs for me to pursue my interest in STEM.” She admires the consci- entious way that they raised her to be sure that she explored her gifts. For example, one year for the holidays, both Johnson and her sister were given bicycles by their parents as their presents. Her sister, who was not into technology, was simply given a bike, but Johnson’s bike was left unassembled for her to
figure out how to put together. Johnson now sees the value in that act and also that it was a kind of emotional sacrifice they must have made, “because it’s easier to make a happy kid than it is to have a frustrated kid failing at putting the bike together three times… And it’s a Christmas gift, too.”
For as far back as she can remember, it was always Johnson’s dream to have the experi ence of going to Spelman College in Atlanta, to attend a private, liberal arts all-women institution of higher learning. She remained diligent with her studies in high school, made top grades and ended up with a full-ride scholarship to Spelman when she graduated. Then she earned an electrical engineer degree from Georgia Tech to continue her journey into preparing for a technical career in com puter science and engineering.
Up until her move to Austin in 2006, Johnson had spent a considerable amount of her pro fessional working life at a software company out in California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was that company’s partial relocation which brought her back to Texas.
Her transition into becoming the CIO to run IT at SolarWinds has really given Johnson some very valuable insights and even more di rection at this point in her career. She admits that she has often felt like "the only one" in some workplaces. Until she got comfortable with being different and finding her voice being confident in a room filled with people that didn’t look like her. “Don’t be afraid to lean in”. She began to shift her focus more onto being a role model and mentor to oth ers considering going into tech sciences as a career. “I wish more African Americans, especially women, would join the field. We’re grossly under-represented. Tech is exciting, it’s all about innovating, doing something that may not have been done before.” Good work pays off. But it’s fun work too. For people at the entry level, “I have team members who make over $150,000 with no college degree. It’s a fantastic field to explore.”
She has learned and shares with others that there is no need to be afraid or intimidated when it comes to being different, that it’s okay to stand out. In fact, Johnson has even been able to use that very fact about her identity more now to offer that other perspective when
she needs to, to highlight the challenge of getting her ideas out there in problem solving and to advocate and promote her team’s excel lent accomplishments. “Even if I’ve never met somebody, they know who I am.” The fact that women of color in leadership are less often found in her field, especially in the highest ranks of management, “is only an obstacle if you make it an obstacle. Get past feelings and just work, because good people rise to the top in time. Just be persistent and continue, because when you’re very successful, you’re also going to be the only one there, too.” She encourages more people of color to consider jobs in the field, even without tech-focused degrees like project management.
Johnson learned in her earlier managing of teams that self-marketed teams received more funding and accolades. Now she spends a lot more of her of time and energy making sure her team gets the acknowledgements and raises they deserve when they excel at the projects which they work very hard on. John son’s team plays a very significant role in the company. They lead its IT infrastructure, the whole environment that supports the corporate IT services. It is her responsibility to provide information security, enterprise business applications, and run the billing systems which are at the core of customer management systems. In addition, her team provides general IT just to make sure that the company has the services and technology up
and running, whatever is needed to perform its different jobs.
The best part about her position is “getting the chance to help people change the trajectory of their lives. My teams are passionate about the work that they do for this company and they do a fantastic job.” Each day, Johnson looks for ways to build people up and help them realize that they can do anything or be anything, especially when she sees talented and competent people who may be under confident on her team. These are people who give over 100% in their positions and have an obvious gift that just needs nurtured. Johnson enjoys helping them “rise up from whatever they started in…and really produce leaders who care, who are courageous and passionate about what they do…and that’ll pay dividends on their team.”
These days, Johnson’s job is very demanding. In contrast, back in California, she used to be an avid runner, go boating, get out and “do all the fun, adventurous things…Now, I just like to rest when I have down time. There are days I work 17 hours physically… because in IT we run a 24/7 shop, and not a day goes by without something happening, a power outage…there’s always a crisis.” For that reason, in what leisure time she can come up with, Johnson looks forward to spending time with her husband and just staying home in the peace of their quiet neighborhood.
Rani Johnson
Chief Information Officer, SolarWinds
Rani Johnson was born in Clear Lake, Texas, in the Houston area. She had an extraordinarily college-focused childhood. Many of her friends’ parents were astronauts, and almost everyone in her community had careers working in the technology and medical fields where she grew up. Her father was an engineer, and she quickly learned his work ethic from a very young age.
“I declared my major to my parents at seven years old.” Johnson always knew she was going to be an electrical engineer and was highly inspired and fascinated by the sciences. “It was just all around me…I guess my parents got tired of me taking things apart in the house…the television…to try to figure out how they worked.” So, Johnson was given the opportunity at the age of seven to sit in with a class full of adults at a community college and started learning how to program computers, really enjoying every minute she was there.
She spent countless hours with her 50-in-1 electronic projects lab kits and went away to college summer programs in science and engineering starting at the age of 12. Looking back, she realizes and deeply appreciates the sacrifices her parents made for her to have these experiences to develop her natural abilities which they could see that Johnson was so passionate about. “I went to Stanford… to Clark Atlanta University, and they were expensive programs for me to pursue my interest in STEM.” She admires the conscientious way that they raised her to be sure that she explored her gifts. For example, one year for the holidays, both Johnson and her sister were given bicycles by their parents as their presents. Her sister, who was not into technology, was simply given a bike, but Johnson’s bike was left unassembled for her to
