When blockchain company Ripple Labs Inc. general counsel Brynly Llyr was a law student at Berkeley, she wasn’t sure where her legal career would take her, and she wasn’t looking in-house. But since her law school days, Llyr has found her path, and it’s led her to a high-level position at the intersection of three male-dominated fields: finance, tech and the law.

She returned to her alma mater Feb. 16 afternoon to discuss her journey from Berkeley to Big Law to blockchain. In a question and answer session organized by student-led group Blockchain at Berkeley, Llyr opened up about how she realized the in-house path was for her and the gender equity challenges that the blockchain technology industry faces.