Tips and tricks for new engineering managers — I never wanted to be a manager, but everyone always brought it up. In my first performance review, my manager suggested it as a possible career path, and when I changed teams, new managers would often ask if that was on my horizon. I remember being offended that it kept…

3 Reflection Exercises for entering a new season of life — This week I turned 30! 🥳 It’s not the most important moment of my life, but it has felt like a huge milestone. In the lead up to this week, I spent a lot of time reflecting. What would I miss about my twenties? How would my life be different…

How Diversity work can make and break your career — A few weeks ago, a colleague wanted advice on whether or not he should take on a leadership role for an Employee Resource Group (ERG). “Early in my career,” he told me, “everyone warned me against getting involved.” The implication was ERG leadership takes away time otherwise spent on your…

Six months into my first role in the tech industry, I organized a women in tech event. There were a lot of great moments from the event. This was the beginning of gathering women in the office and forming our community, but years later the only moment I remember was…

My sophomore year of college, a TA developed a crush on me, incessantly messaged me about his personal life, crossed physical boundaries, and told a friend he might be in love with me. He was older than me, he was the main person available for TA hours, and he had…

Questions to ask yourself before taking the leap — In college, after completing the intro CS course, I applied to TA. After TAing for two semesters, I decided I wanted to be a Head Teaching Assistant and while doing that I even applied for a leadership role within the department. There was a lot to enjoy about TAing, but…

With many of us working from home permanently or for the foreseeable future, the boundaries between work and home have become blurred. Maybe this has resulted in you working longer hours and you haven’t taken a long vacation since the start of the pandemic. Or maybe it has resulted in…

Outside of a few internships and other odd job tech roles, I spent my first seven years in the tech industry at the same large company. I know, I know. That may not have been the smartest idea. Trust me, I realize that. When it came time to job hunt…

What are the mantras and quotes that you find yourself returning to over and over? What are the words you turn to in moments of doubt or crisis? I have always loved words and quotes. In college I bought a quotes journal which I still treasure today. One of the…