An Eventbrite original series, BriteBytes features interviews with Eventbrite’s growing global engineering team, shining a light on the individuals whose jobs are to build the technology that powers live experiences.
Maddie Cousens is a Site Reliability/Backend Software Engineer who works out of Eventbrite’s Madrid office. This interview took place two weeks after Maddie moved from her San Francisco home to Spain. With the help of modern technology, we were able to chat across the Atlantic Ocean. I sat, a cup of tea in hand, in a Nashville conference room while Maddie relaxed in her cozy new apartment overlooking the streets of Madrid.
In this interview, we talk about what it was like to move overseas, how Maddie became the first woman at Eventbrite on the Site Reliability Engineering team and the things she has learned along the way.
Delaine Wendling: Before we dive into your move to Madrid, how did you become interested in engineering and how did you end up at Eventbrite?
Maddie Cousens: Well, I studied mechanical engineering in college but, after graduation, developed some doubts about whether it was the right career path for me.
After some thought, I ended up switching things up and taking a job in tech at Yext. I was in an operations role and quickly began writing python scripts to automate things. At that job, I realized I was happiest when I was heads-down coding. Around the same time, I found out about an all-women coding bootcamp based in San Francisco called HackBright Academy. Not only did I want to code more, but I was ready for a move away from New York City. I grew up in Berkeley, California and was excited about the opportunity to move closer to home. I ended up applying and starting at Hackbright that fall.
Hackbright is a 3-month, mostly backend, program in Python with a small front-end component. Eventbrite has a great relationship with HackBright and has hired quite a few women out of the bootcamp. Pat Poels, the Senior Vice President of Engineering, came to our demo night and saw my work. I got to know Eventbrite through Pat and immediately loved the culture.
DW: What kinds of things have you done in your time at Eventbrite?
MC: I started two years ago as a Software Engineer I. My first project was working on evolving Eventbrite’s one size fits all product to a tiered product. The new product packaged different levels of functionality at different price points. The goal of that project was to recognize the diverse needs of our creators and better align price to the value different segments were getting from the product.
During my second project, Eventbrite acquired Ticketea, a ticking company based in Spain. Eight new backend engineers, working out of Madrid, were placed on the project. San Francisco and Madrid have no time-zone crossover so the communication was difficult. I went over to Madrid for 3 weeks to meet and work with the team. During that time, I think the company realized it would be advantageous to have someone from San Francisco working in Madrid full time. Upon returning to SF, discussions with management began about moving to Spain, and within two months I packed up my life and moved. It was hard to leave my family and friends, but I was (and still am) excited for the adventure.
DW: What is the culture like in the Madrid office?
MC: There aren’t a lot of meetings so I enjoy having lots of uninterrupted blocks of time for coding. The people here are a lot of fun and, maybe they’re just playing it cool, but they don’t seem stressed out at all.
The team is small here, so it feels more like a family and has a start-up vibe, which I love. There aren’t many women on the engineering team here, but we are working hard to change that and are already making progress.
Madrid ladies at a Django Girls event
DW: What have been the biggest changes for you since moving to Madrid?
MC: Well, I now work in an office that speaks mostly Spanish, which is a huge change and opportunity for me to become fluent. Company communications and most meetings are in English but, socially, the office speaks Spanish. Eventbrite offers a service where you can talk with a Spanish speaker over google hangouts, but I want to do more in person language exchanges. We are starting a language exchange in the office which is an awesome opportunity for everyone, as there are so many languages represented.
Overall I am giddy about the possibilities and opportunities this move presents. I was walking around the city last night and saw the sun setting on a beautiful church and felt grateful. I went to Amsterdam last weekend, and I have plans to visit a lot more places in Europe since it’s so easy to travel over here.
As far as work goes, I wasn’t entirely sure what I would be tasked with here in Madrid, but I’ve found that I still write a lot of code, maybe more than I did in San Francisco.
Not long after this interview was conducted, Maddie transitioned from Software Engineer II to Site Reliability/Backend Software Engineer. I followed up with her after that transition.
DW: You are the first woman within Eventbrite to be on the Site Reliability Engineering team (SRE). Was that something you wanted or was it a need of the company?
MC: The transition came out of a need for the company. Not having SREs here in Madrid was a big blocker for the teams being autonomous. However, I have always been interested in infrastructure; I was actually interviewing for SRE jobs out of bootcamp but decided I would be a better SRE if I became good at Software Engineering first. So this transition has been really exciting for me.
DW: What advice would you give a new engineer?
MC: Always give yourself permission to ask questions and continue to learn. At the beginning that might be easier but, as time goes on, a whole new imposter syndrome develops. You may think you can’t ask questions anymore because you “should” know these things now, but it’s important to accept that you’re never going to know all of software engineering. Everyone says, “if you’re comfortable, then you’re doing something wrong.” The point isn’t to get to a place where you know everything; the point is to keep growing continuously.
I am also a huge proponent of bringing your whole self to work. I don’t hide my weirdo self anymore. Not only is this healthy for me but it gives space for others to be themselves as well.
DW: What is your favorite thing about working at Eventbrite?
MC: That’s a hard one because there are so many good things: I feel very supported, there’s a very authentic community around me, I like coming into work, and interactions with junior to senior level engineers are incredibly respectful; there is never a hint of condescension from anyone. I feel blessed because I have had so many amazing teammates, mentors, and opportunities for growth throughout my time at Eventbrite.
I just said the classic “the people” but tried to make it sound like I didn’t say “the people.”
DW: What has been the hardest technical problem that you’ve solved? How did you learn and grow from that?
MC: My hardest technical challenge didn’t involve learning or working with a particular technology; it was launching the project where we evolved Eventbrite’s one size fits all product to a tiered product that packaged different levels of functionality at different price points.
It was a fundamental change to the business – and mitigating risk, and developing a rollout strategy was a unique and interesting challenge. Throughout this launch process, I was so grateful for the people around me and realized that a stressful launch is made so much better with good people; teammates who work hard and are kind.
I also learned a lot about the importance of performance testing with that project. Near the end, we load tested an endpoint and realized it wasn’t performant at all and would hurt our production infrastructure. We had to scramble to add a bunch of caching and query optimizations. Keeping performance and reliability in mind from the beginning is something I will carry with me throughout my career.
DW: What do you like to do outside of work?
MC: I love to be outside. In San Francisco, I biked to work every day and hiked and surfed. I feel like I most enjoy the simple pleasures outside of work – good company, good conversation, being outside, using my body, sitting in coffee shops, reading books, meeting new people. I hope to travel a lot while I’m here. Being from California, “Europe” is so far away and a really expensive vacation. I hope to take full advantage of my close proximity to so many places I’ve always wanted to visit.
DW; Do you have any book recommendations?
MC: I love books!
- Memoir/Autobiography: Between the World and Me, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
- Best on Audiobook: Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
- For the Soul: Tiny Beautiful Things, The Gifts of Imperfection
- Novel: Americanah
- Fantasy/Sci-Fi: The Broken Earth Trilogy
DW: Do you have a role model? If so, who is it and why?
MC: Hmmm, not exactly but I am inspired by people who are very intelligent/knowledgeable, but the thing you notice first about them is their ability to teach or mentor. If you ask their opinion, they often have one, and it’s usually a good one. However, they don’t feel the need to evangelize. I also respect people who have a good work-life balance. They recognize that their job is important but that it’s not the most important.
DW: If you were a wrestler, what would be your theme song?
MC: Haha, probably ‘Phantom Pt. II’ by Justice… which was also my walkout song in college (for context – I played softball in college. Go Tigers!) A close second would be Too $hort – “Blow The Whistle” because I grew up in the East Bay on hyphy music and enjoy the mental image of me walking out to that song about to wrestle.
Thanks to Maddie Cousens for being so open and sharing her experience at Eventbrite! If you want to read more interviews with our engineering team check out the interviews with Nam-Chi and Diego Muñoz.