Hey, there! I’m Debbie Madden, founder, owner, and chairwoman of Stride Consulting. 

If you’re watching or reading this, then you might be considering joining us in Chicago.

I want to tell you why I’m prouder than ever to be part of Stride. My hope is that in sharing this, I’ll get you as excited as I am for Stride’s future. Maybe you’ll be so excited that you’ll want to join and be a part of our incredible journey.

The past 12 months have been rough, for some more than others. Yet, a big bright spot for Stride coming out of this past year is that we have expanded out of NYC for the first time! 

When we started Stride in 2014, we chose New York City as city number one. As a third-generation New Yorker, I take to heart the old saying, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” 😉 We’re putting that old adage to the test.

Now, seven years later, I am thrilled that we are building a team in Chicago!

Not many people know this about me, but my very first job was in Chicago. After I graduated college, I moved to Lincoln Park, all on my own. I didn’t know a single soul in Chicago. Nevertheless, I got to work, and started my career at Mondelez. Chicago has held a very special place in my heart ever since.

When I started Stride, my aim was to teach the world best practices in software development, one team at a time.

When COVID first hit, Stride had to reinvent itself. Overnight, we morphed from co-locating and embedding with tech teams in NYC to teaching best practices in software development fully remotely.

Thanks to the amazing Striders, we were able to quickly come together and realize a better future—a future where we are able to hold true to our mission and finally achieve our goal of expanding outside of NYC.

Today, we are more focused and stronger than ever. We are fulfilling our purpose, driving towards our vision of unlocking human potential by engineering better systems.

Let me say that again: Engineering better systems. To me, this is pure awesomeness. 

Marc Andreessen famously said, “Software is eating the world.” Since then, I’ve been saying that it is great software that’s eating the world. Truly good software starts with better systems, both human and technical. And Stride is right there in the center, engineering better human and technical systems to help teams get to great. That’s epic!

Let’s take a minute to talk about remote versus in-person work. 

The tech industry is largely remote…for now. We don’t know what the future holds. I believe that

• in-person collaboration is second to none, especially when teams are being creative, which is what software development largely is;
• remote teams are likely here to stay, in some fashion, for “a while.”

What does this mean for you, as a prospective Strider?

As one of the first members of Stride’s Chicago office, you are getting in on the ground floor of a team that will give you all the support and guidance we’ve honed over the past seven years. Pair that with the entrepreneurial spirit of a startup, and you’ve got an incredible opportunity and adventure ahead of you. 

As Chicago grows, you’ll have the freedom to collaborate with the rest of the Stride team to define the culture that works for you. 

If this sounds at all exciting to you, reach out to learn more.

We’re starting with engineering hires and plan to expand hiring to other roles as we grow our Chicago office.

My hope is that, together, we will continue to build an incredible company!