Product Hunt + SoulCycle
I am frequently asked what it’s like to be a woman working at Product Hunt. My reply, “It’s so freaking awesome!”
It is truly awesome. I am part of an amazing team. I do not feel different or like an adjunct team member, nor do I feel like I have to conform. I can be myself, which means I do not have to be a male version of myself — something a lot of women struggle with. Which means, I buy flowers for my desk. I wear hot pink headphones. And I share my love of SoulCycle.
SoulCycle, is an exercise class with a cult-like following. It’s a dance party on a bike. The classes are high-energy. The music is great. And it is an amazing workout. My best guess is that 80% of the riders are women.
Like Product Hunt, SoulCycle is about community. It’s what makes the place so special. Perhaps this is why I appreciate and love both.
So, what does SoulCycle have to do with being a women and working at Product Hunt?
It is the absolute best example I can give of just how special and inclusive this team is.
I’ve spent most of my career in rooms where I was part of the 20%. In fact, I’ve frequently been the only women in the room. I’ve been asked to get coffee and yelled at for not having printouts. (FWIW, the printouts were not my responsibility, but I was the youngest of two women in the room). More importantly, I’ve often been expected to conform. But this is not the case at Product Hunt.
Today, most of us in the Product Hunt HQ went to our first team SoulCycle class. Everyone made their way from different parts of the city to an early morning class.
The best thing about it, the team went because it was something that I loved, not because it was something that they had to do. And they went knowing most of them would be in the minority. After the class, someone asked me if they went because Product Hunt paid for it. Nope, they paid for it themselves.
Everyone went to experience something new because another person on the team was excited about it; it did not matter that it was something ‘girls’ typically do.
So, ask me what it's like to be a woman in the Product Hunt team — and now you know why it's so freaking awesome! I think our smiles below, post SoulCycle class, speak for themselves!
