{"id":6704,"date":"2025-02-25T12:17:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T12:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.opensource-db.in\/wp2\/?page_id=6704"},"modified":"2025-02-25T12:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T12:19:09","slug":"postgres-woman-of-the-month-karen-jex","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/test.opensource-db.in\/wp2\/postgres-woman-of-the-month-karen-jex\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen Jex"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Introduction:<\/b><\/h3>

My day job is Senior Solutions Architect at Crunchy Data, which I came to via a long history as a database administrator (DBA). I’m a PostgreSQL Europe Board member and I chair the PostgreSQL Europe Diversity Task Force. I\u2019ve just been recognised as a PostgreSQL Contributor, which I\u2019m really proud of. I live in a little village in the French Alps with my family and our 2 rescue dogs where I love cycling and mountain biking.<\/span><\/p>

Journey in PostgreSQL:<\/b><\/h3>

Completely by accident! I had been an Oracle DBA for 20 years when the company I was working for decided to use PostgreSQL for their next project. Since I was the “database expert”, it was my job to learn how to use Postgres and then teach the rest of the team about it. I went to some Postgres events to help me to get up to speed, and quickly became involved with the Postgres community.<\/span><\/p>

Can you share a pivotal moment or project in your PostgreSQL career that has been particularly meaningful to you?<\/b><\/h3>

Being nominated for and elected to the PostgreSQL Europe Board earlier this year was a really proud moment for me. It\u2019s a huge privilege to be able to work on behalf of the community in that way.<\/span><\/p>

Contributions and Achievements:<\/b><\/h3>

The contribution that I\u2019m most proud of is forming the PostgreSQL Europe Diversity Task Force. I\u2019m working with a committee of fantastic volunteers who are all really enthusiastic about making sure the PostgreSQL Europe community is a diverse and welcoming space where everyone feels valued.<\/span><\/p>

Have you faced any challenges in your work with PostgreSQL, and how did you overcome them?<\/b><\/h3>

Whether it\u2019s a tricky technical problem or any other challenge that comes up, I can always talk it through and get help from one of my friends in the PostgreSQL community. That sounds really sickly sweet, but it\u2019s true!<\/span><\/p>

Community Involvement:<\/b><\/h3>

As well as the ways I\u2019ve already mentioned, I love being involved with PostgreSQL conferences. I\u2019m on the<\/span> PGConf.EU<\/span><\/a> organisation team, I\u2019ve chaired the talk selection committee for several events, and I volunteer to help out at events whenever I can. It\u2019s very rewarding and it\u2019s a great way to get to know people and feel involved with the community. I also love to give talks at PostgreSQL and developer events to spread the love for PostgreSQL and for databases in general!<\/span><\/p>

Can you share your experience with mentoring or supporting other women in the PostgreSQL ecosystem?<\/b><\/h3>

Although I haven\u2019t been involved in any official mentoring schemes (yet!) I\u2019ve received a lot of help from, and try to give support to, other women in the PostgreSQL community. L\u00e6titia Avrot is the first \u201cPostgres Person\u201d that I met when I started my Postgres journey, and she went out of her way to make sure I felt welcomed and included. It made a huge difference to me, and we went on to become colleagues and good friends. My goal, whenever I meet a new member of the community, is to be as welcoming and helpful as L\u00e6titia was to me.<\/span><\/p>

Insights and Advice:<\/b><\/h3>

Believe in yourself, and surround yourself with people who believe in you too.<\/span><\/p>

Are there any resources (books, courses, forums) you’d recommend to someone looking to deepen their PostgreSQL knowledge?<\/b><\/h3>

I always find this question hard to answer, because there are so many PostgreSQL resources out there, and it depends what level you\u2019re at, what kind of learning resources you like best etc.<\/span><\/p>

If you like reading blog posts, Planet PostgreSQL could be a good place to start – it aggregates blogs from lots of different people in the PostgreSQL community, so you might find one or more that you want to follow.<\/span><\/p>

There\u2019s no substitute for in-person events for watching talks and connecting with people, but a lot of the PostgreSQL conferences also make talks available after the event. Talks from some of the conferences under the PostgreSQL Europe umbrella can be found here, for example.<\/span><\/p>

Looking Forward:<\/b><\/h3>

Partitioning has become more and more useful and robust over the previous releases. The next big step for me, and the one that would make me much more confident recommending partitioning to customers as a strategy for managing large tables, would be global indexes on partitioned tables.<\/span><\/p>

Do you have any upcoming projects or goals within the PostgreSQL community that you can share?<\/b><\/h3>

The PostgreSQL Europe Diversity Task Force is going to take up a lot of my time and energy for the foreseeable future. The committee will be meeting in person during<\/span> PGConf.EU<\/span><\/a> so we can make solid plans – hopefully we\u2019ll have exciting news to share very soon after that!<\/span><\/p>

Personal Reflection:<\/b><\/h3>

Sharing experiences with and supporting my PostgreSQL colleagues, and working together to make sure the whole PostgreSQL project continues to be successful.<\/span><\/p>

How do you balance your professional and personal life, especially in a field that is constantly evolving?<\/b><\/h3>

PostgreSQL is my career and my hobby, and it\u2019s where a lot of my friends are so it does tend to take up a lot of my time! Fortunately, I have a lovely family that reminds me to switch off the computer and spend time with them doing the things that we enjoy like getting out on our bikes and taking walks in the mountains.<\/span><\/p>

Message to the Community:<\/b><\/h3>

Welcome to the PostgreSQL community! If there\u2019s anything you\u2019re not sure about or need help with, don\u2019t hesitate to reach out and ask a question or even just say \u201chi\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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