Muse and Metrics S5 EP1 — Resilience is Key with Alexis Snelling [Guest Bio, Summary, Audio and Transcript]

Guest Bio

Alexis Snelling: A Visionary in Tech and Beyond

Alexis Snelling is a dynamic force in the realm of technology and social innovation. As the CEO and co-founder of WeTransact and SkillVill, she has been instrumental in creating platforms that champion collaborative, skills-based networking. Alexis’s journey in tech began as a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, a role she embraced in 2019, just before the pandemic. This position not only highlighted her prowess in the tech world but also connected her with a global community of like-minded individuals who share her passion for inclusivity and collaboration.

Under Alexis’s leadership, SkillVill | WeTransact has emerged as a pioneering social innovation platform. It was featured at Google I/O Extended in 2022, garnering acclaim for its use of AI for good and leveling the playing field in entrepreneurship. This recognition is a testament to her commitment to creating spaces where underserved groups can collectively unlock resources and maximize their impact.

A former Olympic-level ice dancer, Alexis brings the same discipline, resilience, and dedication to her work in technology. She believes in the power of experiential learning journeys and has leveraged her athletic background to drive her vision forward. Her approach to technology and innovation is holistic, considering not just the technical aspects but also the human elements of connection, emotion, and storytelling.

Alexis’s passion extends beyond her entrepreneurial endeavors. She has been a vocal advocate for embedding ESG, DEI, and SDGs into the seeds of startups, fostering a more diverse and prosperous ecosystem. Her initiative #RealRaise, launched during the pandemic, reflects her commitment to experimenting with new ways of making innovation accessible to all.

Her accolades, including being named a Top 10 Woman Founder to Watch in 2023 by Forbes Group, are a reflection of her impact and influence in the tech world. However, it’s her ability to blend the worlds of art, technology, and social impact that truly sets her apart. Alexis’s journey as a tech leader, mentor, and advocate continues to inspire and pave the way for future generations of innovators and changemakers.

Summary

In this enlightening episode of “Muse and Metrics,” host Philippa Burgess engages in a deep dive with Alexis Snelling, exploring the themes of resilience, innovation, and the transformative power of community in the tech world.

1. Breaking Barriers: Alexis Snelling’s Journey to Google Women Techmakers Ambassador Alexis Snelling recounts her inspiring path to becoming a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador. Initially, she faced self-doubt about her fit for the role, but with her husband’s encouragement, she applied and succeeded. Her story is a powerful testament to overcoming imposter syndrome and the profound impact of support and belief, both from within and from others.
2. We Transact: Revolutionizing Collaboration and Action in the Digital Space As the CEO and founder of We Transact, Alexis discusses the creation of a platform that redefines collaborative engagement and collective action. We Transact stands as a beacon of innovation, demonstrating the remarkable ways technology can cultivate communities and facilitate solution-oriented teamwork.
3. From Ice to Industry: Lessons in Resilience from Figure Skating to Entrepreneurship Alexis draws compelling parallels between her past as a competitive ice dancer and her current entrepreneurial endeavors. She shares how the discipline, teamwork, and resilience honed on the ice have been instrumental in navigating the challenges of the business world, emphasizing the universal nature of these lessons across various life pursuits.
4. Philippa Burgess: A Journey of Academic Exploration and Career Evolution Host Philippa Burgess shares her own transformative journey, navigating through diverse academic fields and career paths. Her story is a beacon of lifelong learning, showcasing her brave ventures into new realms and her application to the Google Women Techmakers program, illustrating the enriching power of embracing change.
5. Celebrating Tech Community: The Impact of Networks Like Google Women Techmakers The conversation delves into the critical role of communities in technology, with both speakers reflecting on the nurturing environment provided by networks like Google Women Techmakers. They discuss how these groups offer invaluable mentorship, support, and growth opportunities, and highlight the importance of collaborative ecosystems in fostering innovation and empowering individuals in the tech industry.

Conclusion: This episode, “Resilience is Key,” masterfully intertwines the personal growth narratives of Philippa Burgess and Alexis Snelling with broader themes of technological advancement and community engagement. It offers listeners a rich tapestry of experiences, underscoring the importance of resilience, the empowering nature of supportive communities, and the transformative potential of embracing new challenges in the ever-evolving world of tech.

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Transcript

(This is a raw transcript — there may be errors)

00;00;06;29–00;00;23;21
Philippa Burgess
Hello and welcome to Muse and Metrics. This is your host, Philippa Burgess. This is season five episode one and today’s topic is resilience is key.

00;00;23;23–00;00;50;23
Alexis Snelling
Hi, I’m Alexis Snelling. I am a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador since 2019. So right before the pandemic, I’m so grateful to this community and meeting amazing women and also other Googlers from around the world. It’s not just women who attend or participate in this event. So it’s been an incredible community. What I do during the day time, or as they say, you’re my day job.

00;00;50;23–00;01;19;10
Alexis Snelling
I am the CEO and founder of We Transact. We have a my live stack and skill innovation platform. It’s a social network with a purpose. The love community is we are all about collaboration and how we can use this infrastructure and technology. We all have these devices in our hands. How can we use it so we can better connect and collaborate with taking action together?

00;01;19;10–00;01;26;01
Alexis Snelling
It’s not just about social networks where you sit around and talk, but it’s about doing and making that difference.

00;01;26;04–00;01;50;03
Philippa Burgess
I love that it’s within. Well, let’s start with your role as a tech maker. Ambassador. You stepped into this and as did I. And there is a level that we’re at when we apply, we’re accepted into the program and then there’s another level we get to being in the program. It I refer to it as being mentored by Google.

00;01;50;06–00;01;50;13
Alexis Snelling
And.

00;01;50;17–00;02;22;14
Philippa Burgess
The ability to network there and the resources that are available to us and the learning that’s available to us and the growth that we get in this community. And I see there’s a lot of parallels with skill level and we transact and things that you’re doing there. But let’s, let’s start the conversation. And in just your experience to date in the women tech maker Ambassadors community, where you take some of that learning and then we’ll apply it to you as a founder and talk more about your business and the opportunities there is.

00;02;22;16–00;02;52;22
Alexis Snelling
I love that. I think my story for my experience actually starts even before the application, and I’m going to share this because it’s something that I hope to inspire others. I didn’t think I would be a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador. I didn’t think I would get accepted. In my mind, I had separated myself out into a different bucket, right?

00;02;52;22–00;03;24;12
Alexis Snelling
So I was putting myself into, okay, my other co-founder, who’s my husband, he’s the technical co-founder. And so right from day one, I saw it come up at my feet and even think twice that, that’s something I could apply for. I’m a woman and I’m in tech. So that was something that I’m so grateful. It was actually my husband who kept sending me and saying, Apply for this, you’ll be great for this.

00;03;24;15–00;03;51;09
Alexis Snelling
So ironically, the push and the support I had to even get into the program came from my husband and from that co-founder who had the technical background. And I think that’s a lot of women in tech. We don’t always recognize it as that, or we think we have to have some credential that is such a far away level of where we’re at.

00;03;51;16–00;04;18;09
Alexis Snelling
And we often don’t give ourselves credit for what we have accomplished in our communities and what we are doing then technology. So I think that’s the first thing I want to share in terms of my experience. I’m so glad that I just did it. At the end of the day, it’s a short application, but it’s really about showcasing what it is you’re doing for your community and how you’re inspiring, leading, connecting, sharing, growing, all these things.

00;04;18;09–00;04;44;28
Alexis Snelling
Like you said, we are very much doing with our company. It’s very mission aligned. So I knew the mission alignment was there, but really I’m so grateful that others encouraged me to even apply. So I would want to share that story because I think that really changed the trajectory of the the last three years of my life. For sure.

00;04;45;01–00;05;09;11
Philippa Burgess
Absolutely. And actually, even let’s even go back a further to a whole life, because I understand this not being in tech, but not always identifying in tech. And I think for me, I remember learning HTML and building websites in 1992 and I started college and the Internet was new, email was new, I was it moved across country to go to USC.

00;05;09;14–00;05;35;27
Philippa Burgess
My friends were back east and at colleges around the country and we had email. It was our way of staying in touch. It was brand new and I discovered the web and I was like, This is really cool and I’d like to prop up a website, but you had to hand code it. And I’ve always been technically inclined I most of it being using the software, but I had a creative journey and I think a lot of people saw me as a creative person.

00;05;35;29–00;06;03;29
Philippa Burgess
And I always felt when I engaged with people who were scientists, they were very clear, like, I’m in science, I’m in, and that extends to technology. And I never felt included. There was like, You’re over there, you’re one of the artists. People go over there and it didn’t feel welcoming or inclusive. And now that I’m studying it in an academic environment and I’m owning, I have as of this week, I will have a certificate in geographic information, Science and Technology.

00;06;04;01–00;06;25;15
Philippa Burgess
So it was a one year university program. I also am continuing a master of science, so I’m like, I’m in science now. You can’t exclude me from this. I’m in. I, I’m in and I’m in. So with that, I’ve always been in digital marketing. I’ve always been an early adopter. I may not have been writing the software, but I was certainly utilizing it.

00;06;25;18–00;06;53;05
Philippa Burgess
A huge amount of our technical training now is in working with software for mapping technologies. So I had a long career in the arts and entertainment, I had a long career in digital and content marketing, and then I’m now beginning my third career and have done this academic reset and really owning my identity as a woman in STEM, woman in tech, and then wanting to mentor, empower and inspire others.

00;06;53;08–00;06;58;05
Philippa Burgess
You also have had, well, a journey as an athlete and as.

00;06;58;09–00;06;59;03
Alexis Snelling
Other bucket.

00;06;59;10–00;07;09;16
Philippa Burgess
I work at. I refer to that also as creative because all athletes have showmanship you can’t get out in front of you’re performing. There’s an audience.

00;07;09;19–00;07;37;16
Alexis Snelling
In your spare set. I mean, in in figure skating, I was a competitive ice dancer and this is a huge part of my training background because I actually lived and moved across the country in the world to train with different experts and different teams. And so the idea of what a team is, a lot of people think, figure skating is a single sport, or maybe with a partner, which I was both.

00;07;37;16–00;08;24;00
Alexis Snelling
I did single and partner, but you don’t realize how many people go into that team. And so that is something that definitely I loved the training environments in the Olympic training centers, but it was something that is another area. So when you’re in sport and figure skating, you have a technical and an artistic score and that exemplifies exactly what you’re saying is once you reach a certain mastery of the skill, it’s no longer or a technology or physics mastery of physics that in action, which is like doing the maneuvers once you’re technically sufficient, profound expert level, whatever, that 10000 hours.

00;08;24;00–00;08;51;15
Alexis Snelling
There’s lots of ways to say it. Whenever you’re there now it’s like, how do you get into the flow state? And we hear so much about flow state, and that’s when the art and the creativity and all of these other things now can become expressive. Now it can be something that communicates and connects and that is much more the beauty of the human side of it is not just the physical or the technical, but the emotional.

00;08;51;15–00;09;17;12
Alexis Snelling
And what makes us so unique as humans, which is sharing and inspiring and passing on either a feeling or a story or an idea. And so it is very much, yeah, at the at the core, if you start looking at things a little bit differently, less about the boxes everybody else puts it into so that they can, you know, list you as the ESPN sports or whatever it is.

00;09;17;12–00;09;37;17
Alexis Snelling
But you really start looking at what the sport is designed and, you know, communicating and more as an artistic outlet. I’m so grateful for that early experience to really show me a positive environment of where you could reach your ultimate potential if you chose to.

00;09;37;20–00;09;48;24
Philippa Burgess
It was inspiring, and I can’t even imagine how hard and how long you trained. I mean, there is so much that goes into time and effort.

00;09;48;26–00;10;16;15
Alexis Snelling
To training as a discipline. I think we we definitely not everybody tells the story because there’s so much around the sport to talk about. But the training behind Figure Skater in particular is it’s close to 8 hours a day on ice off ice, whether it’s actually skating or Pilates or ballet or jazz or ballroom or all the other things that are required.

00;10;16;18–00;10;48;15
Alexis Snelling
And then, of course, you maybe get one day off a day and a half off. And then there’s all the psychological training that goes on when you get to the higher, higher levels. So whether that is mental visualization or all the things that go into psychology and neuro strategy behind it, it’s very interesting. You know, if you’re able to make it to that that level in the sport again, where you get beyond, okay, I can do it now, it’s like being able to call upon your skills when the moment in the moment.

00;10;48;15–00;11;08;13
Alexis Snelling
I think you understand that in arts and entertainment, there’s a difference between when you record something or you have lots of takes and you can edit it, you know, that’s like a different process. But when it’s live, it’s it’s really you can’t think about it at that point. It’s it’s really got to be in that moment and again, in that flow.

00;11;08;15–00;11;31;03
Philippa Burgess
You talk about that flow state. So then can I ask you to connect to that flow state? But before you get to that flow state, you talked about the training, the training to get to that flow state of being a founder, because being a founder is its own journey. And there’s there’s at least 8 hours a day that goes into that one way more way more.

00;11;31;05–00;12;04;21
Alexis Snelling
In truth, even as an athlete, when you’re not in the 8 hours, that’s the one, you’re required to be doing things, but you’re always mentally there, too. And I think that definitely is very similar to an entrepreneur or at least what it takes. I don’t think a lot of people fully realize that, You know, they think as entrepreneur, I work for myself and it’s like, well, there’s a difference when you’re an entrepreneur because you really are responsible for every part of the business, every decision, every guiding where your team goes, making sure your team has what they’re doing it.

00;12;04;24–00;12;26;20
Alexis Snelling
We joke, we say in our family with my husband, it’s like it’s our baby, you know, and it’s true. It’s like you are raising a child. It takes that much nurturing. It is a 24 seven thing, even if you’re only working on it at certain hours or times, you’re always working on it because there’s more that any entrepreneur can do by themselves.

00;12;26;20–00;12;48;28
Alexis Snelling
And that’s where the team part and growing your team so important because there aren’t enough hours of the day for all the work that needs to be done. And you have to have the discipline and and the resilience. So I think the biggest correlation beyond discipline and being able to put in that amount of focus and time and determination is resilience.

00;12;48;28–00;13;11;24
Alexis Snelling
And that is one thing from skating. I can say my entire life I’ve built up that resilience muscle because if you don’t use it, you lose it. I believe that in life and resilience is the key because in skating you fall, you get right back up and fall and fall and fall. If you were to count all the times that you I couldn’t even imagine how many times we fall.

00;13;11;24–00;13;39;19
Alexis Snelling
And yet we get back up and you’re always just a step closer. One fall gives you more information to now go back and try it differently. Or that fall gave you more information to maybe go back, tweak something else. Maybe it’s you’re not eating well, maybe it’s you’re tired. So I think that process of learning yourself, evaluating yourself objectively, but in a proactive way, you’re trying to solve a problem.

00;13;39;24–00;13;58;26
Alexis Snelling
We don’t want to fall. So as an entrepreneur, you’re trying to solve a problem, and then there’s something blocking you getting to that, and then you focus on, okay, how do we fix that? And then you have to tinker and you have to try scientifically like, okay, was it this was this does this work? Because there there isn’t a roadmap.

00;13;58;26–00;14;17;18
Alexis Snelling
It’s you learning how to navigate and you learning how to really have a repetitive process that you could increase your odds that you’re going to get through and you’re going to make it to that next step because it’s just like life. There’s always something you’re going to be working on or need to figure out.

00;14;17;21–00;14;45;06
Philippa Burgess
Absolutely, Yes. And with that you were talking about, it just reminded me I’m in these YouTube communities because that’s kind of one of the things I want to sort of take my next journey. And they were and the way I articulate it is in this is this group is very much about just hit record to start. So it was I was not committing to recording learning, iterating and earning.

00;14;45;08–00;15;02;23
Philippa Burgess
It was that was sort of the steps that there is an iterative process here and you think you know the solution when you founded a company but that you won’t know until you put it out there. And then people respond to it and give you feedback. And I’m sure there’s an iterative process to really looking at a product.

00;15;02;23–00;15;29;04
Philippa Burgess
And I’ve just been participating in creating an audio summit for Google. I o Extend and I am watching the videos. I didn’t, I didn’t go to IO connect and so I’m now kind of playing catch up. And in watching the videos I am realizing just I remember Google as search and then I remember Google as email and then I remember and then I remember they acquired YouTube.

00;15;29;11–00;16;01;01
Philippa Burgess
But now seeing where the company is today and all the verticals that they’re in, I was buying a new TV and Google TV. I was like, I forgot I was in. Even in my mind that Google has become such a behemoth and is in all these verticals and then looking at everything that’s coming out with AI and all the opportunities for developers to sort of build on these platforms and where BART is going next and how art is really integrated with images because that’s something you don’t get with.

00;16;01;01–00;16;29;08
Philippa Burgess
Chartbeat. Yeah, and so I think that just being a founder, you have this vision of what you can create, but you also have this iterative process and you in some ways don’t know what you’re going to become. Bezos is an example of that too. I mean, he tried many things and fell down, but he had strong resilience until it was not the toy shop that he thought it was going to be or the bookstore that he thought it was going to be.

00;16;29;10–00;16;41;23
Philippa Burgess
It became that was included in it. But that’s the small part of what it is today. And of course, you have Amazon Web Services. Amazon is much larger than just the delivery service.

00;16;41;25–00;17;09;13
Alexis Snelling
definitely. And, you know, I think that that is partly why I always refer to it. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman or whatever, but thinking about it as a baby is the same idea. You don’t tell your child what personality they’re going to have. It’s you’re the child’s born with that. And there is a life inside art and creation.

00;17;09;13–00;17;36;07
Alexis Snelling
And there’s a life that’s inside a new idea or business that you’re creating. And you’re exactly right, because there’s so many factors in the world that shape and mold what that’s going to look like and what that’s going to grow up to be. And you really have to get out of silos. And I think that’s a big thing about being able to listen, make sure you’re not in an echo chamber if it’s just you as a founder saying this is how it’s going to be.

00;17;36;07–00;18;04;29
Alexis Snelling
It has to be like this. You know, you’re you’re really maybe not seeing the vantage point, like you said, from the market, from consumers, maybe even from other advisors or people, how it impacts them. I think there’s one thing in the world that’s so exciting about technology. You know, we were at this level of being able to use it and to create the ideas, but to go to market is not about the technology or the tools.

00;18;04;29–00;18;45;16
Alexis Snelling
The technical score. The going to market is now the artistic score. How do you communicate that to your audience? How do they feel it? You know, you may think you’re communicating this way and they’re like, no, that’s offensive, or No, we love it and we have to have it. And or we want one thing that I you know, And so that feedback getting out of your silo, that is when you’re located, whether you’re communicating in my life through dance and you hear that feedback of the applause or the feedback of the judges and the score and the recognition, whether it’s the feedback of how I felt when I landed, you know, that jump or

00;18;45;16–00;19;12;10
Alexis Snelling
that lift. And I just I knew it felt good. There’s all sorts of feedback signals, and I think that’s the human component that’s so exciting about technology and that excites me is that this is a tool that can convey human feeling, communication, ideas and connection. If you know, you can really start to value that. I think that’s the limitless potential, right?

00;19;12;10–00;19;53;08
Alexis Snelling
And so then you become less worried about I hear a lot of, you know, pros and cons of able. Any tool can be used for good and bad, but I think the potential for human connection is even greater with the tools. And I love the way that Google is really being responsive, all buying us the tools, providing communities of support as we discover that listening to us again, that conversation, that dialog, whether it’s, you know, learning how to use the tool, finding the community that could help each other, figure it out together, inspire each other with how we’re all using it and the potential of it.

00;19;53;10–00;20;18;05
Alexis Snelling
I think that’s the beautiful part of Google of and tech makers is we have very creative, innovative, out of the box or lots of boxes like us in our lives coming together. And that’s the intersection where again, it’s less about the technology, which is why I didn’t think I would necessarily be a good tech maker, you know, And it’s more about what are you going to do with it?

00;20;18;07–00;20;45;09
Alexis Snelling
How are we going to change the world with it? And I think for me, that’s what’s been so rewarding about the community, is you develop, I think, a tangibility. Things are so far away, things are actually accessible. So I feel empowered that I can do something. It’s not just this behemoth Google like I actually know people at Google now, and I actually know women and like people are all over the world like you who are doing amazing things.

00;20;45;09–00;21;08;12
Alexis Snelling
And there’s something about just having access and the ability to be in the room is so important because it gives us, I think, on a human level, permission to go out and do it. You know, this theme this year was Dare to Be. So I think that fits in really well with the theme of International Women’s Day this year.

00;21;08;14–00;21;43;22
Alexis Snelling
So this year, when it came out for me, it was dare to be in terms of collective coming together, collaborate and make an impact. I didn’t want to dare to be like, It’s about me. I want to dare to be that. It’s not about me, it’s about us. And it’s about our communities. And if we’re going to dare to be and we’re going to make a difference in the world or the next generation, or just your own community, you some problem that you’re facing, We have to dare to be together.

00;21;43;22–00;22;05;29
Alexis Snelling
We have to come together. We have to discuss these things. We have to identify them. And it’s really that I think it’s one thing from from COVID. And the lockdown that I saw was a lot of hours. Obviously, as a founder, founder, isolation was a very publicly discussed thing. It’s always been there, but at least it was coming out right.

00;22;06;05–00;22;27;22
Alexis Snelling
And it was coming out because of these stories. So I think dare to be for me was in order for me to take that next step wherever I want to go, you know, if you never take it alone. And so I really wanted to dare with our events. And what we did is we created this online celebration. Dare to be that would be inspiring.

00;22;27;29–00;22;55;21
Alexis Snelling
Bring people together digitally, make it very accessible so that no matter where you are, you have to you don’t feel isolated. The collaboration, the community. And really after this celebration, what we did is we had our template of our event, kind of what videos we did, reflections, things we talked about. It was a lot more about like talking with each other, peer to peer feedback, sharing stories being heard.

00;22;55;23–00;23;22;19
Alexis Snelling
So that was different from our previous years where we did a lot more panels or a workshop. This was really able to kind of get more human and hopefully make people feel like they could really get to know people in that room. And that was really, really powerful. So that template we then passed on to other Google women tech makers to keep the torch going and think about, okay, now how can we sustainably give this?

00;23;22;19–00;23;42;19
Alexis Snelling
So all the things we learned from this event, you don’t have to figure it out yourself and maybe somebody else will pick up that template and use it. And they did. We had over ten different Google women, tech makers and leaders, and it even extended outside of the tech maker community. We had positive planet get involved and some other organizations.

00;23;42;19–00;24;14;16
Alexis Snelling
We had student developer clubs get involved. So it was fun to see the collaborations across GDG programs. And so from that standpoint, the experiment was successful. The template idea was like, okay, we had this great event, so why should it just die at the end of the event like it should live on? And so thinking about it, like the Olympic torch, like you pass the torch and then the next person takes it to the next village and was like, okay, well if we template this, we did everything online.

00;24;14;16–00;24;39;03
Alexis Snelling
So what if I handed this template? Think of it kind of like as a run of show of how you could run this program yourself. Then they could take it, copy it, they could tweak it a little bit themselves, you know, give them the room to really, like, put their own local flavor on it or, you know, but the idea is keep that dare to be theme alive.

00;24;39;05–00;25;02;03
Alexis Snelling
And and also that it doesn’t stop like if keep this going because I’m always curious you know we had such great conversations from the event one on one with just the four or five people maybe in our little breakout group. But wouldn’t it be cool to hear everybody else’s breakout groups, you know, like that fly on the wall idea?

00;25;02;03–00;25;28;12
Alexis Snelling
And and so that’s really where the templates were like, wow, if we could do this, then there may be a way potentially, if we got it all in the same platform, that we can all keep these conversations and these stories to continually inspire and have that user generated content, meaning things that they answered or talked about that they choose to share could continue to share.

00;25;28;16–00;25;47;27
Alexis Snelling
And it it was just a really kind of fun idea that came out of our recap session. Again, communicating with others. I followed up with the other leaders who had hosted their own events. They said, Hey, how did it go? What did you like? What worked? What didn’t work? You know, you you need that honest feedback. And it came out of one of those discussions.

00;25;47;27–00;26;05;11
Alexis Snelling
So again, the back and forth, the connection, the human feedback is where so many of these really cool ideas germinate from because we all have different superpowers. And when you start putting them together, it’s sometimes takes off.

00;26;05;13–00;26;07;18
Philippa Burgess
I want you do.

00;26;07;20–00;26;31;02
Alexis Snelling
The you level up, even if you fail, even if you fall, it’s you need to just build those muscles. Know I applaud what you’ve done during the pandemic. You know, taking that leap, taking that first step. That’s really why I had to be pushed into the Google of the tech, because I’m so glad I was. But, you know, that’s that’s a hard leap sometimes.

00;26;31;02–00;26;53;03
Alexis Snelling
And for some people, it’s it’s not. But we all have those moments and it’s often those most challenging and difficult leaps that we make. We just push through or do it anyways. That and that being the most rewarding we learn the most from. It’s a huge, huge part of that, like founder, isolation, founder, Wellness, taking care of yourself.

00;26;53;03–00;27;18;27
Alexis Snelling
And during the pandemic we felt it quite a bit because there was such a slow down in funding and investing during the pandemic. And so it did affect a lot of startups, you know, being able to offer it or even to keep going. So, yeah, depending on what size of a startup health insurance is so important because you don’t even realize the piece of mind it provides until you don’t have it.

00;27;18;29–00;27;43;01
Alexis Snelling
And of course, that’s when like you get sick, right? That’s when you need insurance. You get sick when you don’t have it. So I don’t know what that Murphy’s Law is. You know, that seems to be the case. And absolutely, it’s one of the the big things that can keep you up at night. You know, those things that you might take for granted when you have a corporate job are just provided on a daily.

00;27;43;04–00;28;04;14
Philippa Burgess
Yeah. And so you have to both health insurance, cash flow, all of those things that you have to take into account as a founder and just starting the new semester, I was keenly aware of things. I definitely was looking at things because I was in this mentally knew space. Yeah, and I, I saw the first one that came through was a scholarship for the intelligence community.

00;28;04;16–00;28;26;20
Philippa Burgess
And I have no let’s be clear. I spent a career in Colorado working in the cannabis and CBD industry. Yeah, but I decided I was like, You know what? This looks interesting. I will apply because I had spent the better part of 2020 to microblogging on Tik Tok in support of Ukraine. And I was like, Hey, I have an undergrad in international relations.

00;28;26;20–00;28;49;12
Philippa Burgess
I have an interest in geopolitics, so let’s see what I can do here. And I was accepted. And then I, I spent the past year being mentored by the ICI community, and then very shortly thereafter, I found the application for Google women tech makers. And I was like, Sure, why not? And it was that sense of I’m just this is all new to me and I’m not really sure where I’m going with this.

00;28;49;12–00;29;14;14
Philippa Burgess
And then the third thing and probably the the biggest piece of that was taking my certificate program and deciding, Hey, okay, I’m feeling like I’m getting a handle about this, but there’s so much more that I need right now and I’m going to go ahead and apply for the full second master’s. And that I was actually then I kind of worked it out with them that I’m like, No, I won’t, because they just absorbed my coursework into that.

00;29;14;14–00;29;36;19
Philippa Burgess
And I’m like, No, no, no, I want this certificate. I’ll take the extra classes and then I want the master’s. And they’re like, Okay, cool, that works. And so as of this week, I’m finishing the just certificate, so I’m certified and then I’m continuing on with this Masters of Science and Human Security and Geospatial intelligence, and that is in the intelligence community and in technology.

00;29;36;21–00;30;16;10
Philippa Burgess
And so now I couldn’t be more pleased that I am being, as I kind of refer to it, mentored by Google and by the intelligence community. And so I have this whole little sort of niche that I’m pursuing, which is Jew and which is geographic intelligence related to AI and machine learning and that sort of technology. And so that’s one of the the niche channels that I’m sort of wanting to roll out is a conversation that is just specifically focused on this intersection of intelligence and technology, which wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t just hit, apply and hit apply.

00;30;16;12–00;30;42;27
Alexis Snelling
And that’s that’s why I’m so glad you’re sharing that story, because you just need to do it. I think this is a moment in the world where so many things are possible that there aren’t enough people, you know, in the arena. We need everybody in the arena. We need everybody’s ideas. We need everybody’s, you know, interest to be focused and honed.

00;30;42;27–00;31;05;17
Alexis Snelling
Because what you’re saying is exactly right. Like, don’t let your past experience limit you Think about what skills that brings or maybe what you would like to do in the future. I think it’s all about your potential. That’s something we believe very greatly in our company is it’s not about your resume and who you are on paper anymore.

00;31;05;20–00;31;25;22
Alexis Snelling
It’s about who you want to be, who you want to collaborate with, and how you’re going to level up together and where you’re going from here or where you’d like to go. It’s more about the future and it is from a data perspective of and being able to, you know, change your outcomes or predict from data what’s happening.

00;31;25;22–00;31;42;15
Alexis Snelling
But these are all things that are very exciting right now, and I think people just need to give themselves permission. I’m talking to myself. Back in the beginning I would have been like, What’s the harm? Just fill out an application. 10 minutes of your life could change it.

00;31;42;17–00;32;05;19
Philippa Burgess
I was actually thrilled that because I shared it with my department and one of my professors applied and then one of my professors forwarded me her acceptance email and was like, That’s so cool that my PhD professor is now a week to go. We’ve been talking makers about her. So I immediately said, Well, you know, offline, I’ll share with you my experience and ways that we can collaborate.

00;32;05;22–00;32;26;11
Philippa Burgess
So very pleased with that outcome. And also you you bring up you’re actually reminding me of
garbage men and I want to talk about garbage men for a second because what you were saying about thinking about the future reminds me of alignments. And I reference this hypergrowth company because I was I was there for five years. I was absolutely huge learning curve for me.

00;32;26;13–00;32;31;19
Philippa Burgess
I didn’t go to business school, but man, I learned a lot there in.

00;32;31;21–00;32;36;26
Alexis Snelling
The real world how it really works very well.

00;32;36;29–00;33;02;22
Philippa Burgess
They actually were all using one book as sort of their management Bible, teaching them how to lead and manage. And and I read that book and I really loved it. And I do think every founder, if you’re looking for an actual manual, the book scaling up is excellent, especially if you’re in that growth stage. And where I reference garbage men as one of their sections is getting the right people in the right jobs.

00;33;02;25–00;33;27;01
Philippa Burgess
And there was a Irish company, garbage garbage company, and they were just having trouble hiring. They just weren’t finding the staff they needed. Yeah. And then they found one guy who was super enthusiastic about this job, and he he was all about it. And they’re like, Who are you and why? And when you say we’re talking about the future, it’s also talking about alignment.

00;33;27;03–00;33;27;21
Alexis Snelling
Yeah, he.

00;33;27;21–00;33;34;09
Philippa Burgess
Was a lightweight boxer. He loved getting up at 4 a.m. and this was his workout.

00;33;34;15–00;33;35;00
Alexis Snelling
Yeah, he.

00;33;35;00–00;33;59;11
Philippa Burgess
Loved getting off early and then going to the gym and doing his actual, like, gym training. But he’d already had his morning workout with this job. It was super perfectly aligned for him. And they were like, we get it now. We would like more people like you who this is a benefit to their lives and the schedule works for them.

00;33;59;13–00;34;31;21
Philippa Burgess
Like, I think that it’s aligned personally and professionally, and I think a lot more people are talking about that. Yeah, one of the future challenges that I am considering is the fact that I’m now keenly aware that I have parents in their mid eighties. They live on opposite coasts. I was living in the middle, but I had a breakup that led me home and I refer to myself as a caretaker, not a caregiver, because I take the care that I get from my parents, but I’m also at the ready to help and always help with bills.

00;34;31;21–00;34;50;00
Philippa Burgess
That’s a lot of technology and a lot of security and making sure that my kids and and yeah, the things that I look at my life now as this sort of online grad student stay at home daughter I have health insurance I have enough cash flow and I’m like, what am I going to do? Where do I work with this tri city life that I have?

00;34;50;00–00;35;06;07
Philippa Burgess
And that’s where I’m leaning in online because I’m like, am I thinking is at least if I can figure out this video thing, I have this background entertainment, but you can’t put that on a resume. It means nothing to anybody. The only way you can do it is to actually do it to showcase. I learned a few things.

00;35;06;07–00;35;31;17
Philippa Burgess
Let me apply them, learn more and figure at the end of my schooling I’ll either have a very nice portfolio or I’ll actually have a career and it’ll be its own thing. And that’s that’s why this is so important to me to level up and to take this all to the next level and to collaborate is this idea that I’m thinking of the future, but it’s also thinking about alignment like that.

00;35;31;17–00;36;00;27
Philippa Burgess
We are more conscious about the mental health issues we’re more conscious about, especially as women, especially as women, what works for our personal and our professional lives. How do we put that all together? This whole conversation about, you know, what is work from home versus what is hybrid? I’m fine with this concept of hybrid. If you want me in a local office for six weeks, but then I’m going to leave town, it’s not like, you can work from home for two days around the corner and I don’t like commuting anymore.

00;36;00;27–00;36;14;07
Philippa Burgess
I have no desire to spend an hour in the car each way. I’ve done that and I don’t really want to do that again. So there’s there’s there’s sort of new boundaries that I have. I refer to it as ageism. I’m like, You’re not judging me. I’m judging you.

00;36;14;10–00;36;37;10
Alexis Snelling
Yeah, Yeah. And, you know, and that’s part of it is now it’s like, how do we find that alignment? And it becomes a little tricky using like older systems that maybe only see us as that resume or those buckets because they’re going to say, this is a good match for you, but they don’t take into consideration those other layers of who you are.

00;36;37;10–00;36;57;06
Alexis Snelling
Like you just said, I need to be in three cities. There’s nothing on LinkedIn that says I need to be in three cities. You’ve got one city that goes under your profile, you know, and most likely you’re going to use the city that you think is going to help you with whatever your career choice might be at that point or where you want people to see you from.

00;36;57;08–00;37;23;12
Alexis Snelling
And we really are in an era now where that digital freedom is amazing, but we have some challenges with, okay, well now these older systems that were designed when we used to only live in one place or, you know, maybe not have all these other layers, you could just be working and come home at night and have dinner.

00;37;23;12–00;37;31;28
Alexis Snelling
You know, this like American dream of what it is 9 to 5 that doesn’t necessarily exist anymore. And so I.

00;37;31;28–00;37;47;04
Philippa Burgess
Was serving you there because I actually realized when I actually because I’d always done a lot of contract work or worked for myself. And then when I had this job, I was like, wait, we’re not having a 9 to 5 because they’re like, you need to be here at 730. And you don’t leave till six. And you know, and then there’s the our lunch break.

00;37;47;04–00;38;05;15
Philippa Burgess
But we feed you, we bring food. The obviously you sit at your desk and work through I’m like there’s a 9 to 5 here. It was not like and it was there was because the lunch hour they expect you like that doesn’t count even though you’re working at your desk. So I mean technically you could call it 8 to 5 or you could call it 9 to 6.

00;38;05;20–00;38;25;12
Philippa Burgess
But there’s absolutely I have not seen 9 to 5. And now other you know, historically, if you say, well, first of all, if you go a historic, historic, the family work together on the farm or in the carpentry shop or the the whatever they were, they were a family business. You worked at home together as a family. And but then one man went out to work.

00;38;25;19–00;38;31;25
Philippa Burgess
But housing, in theory, was affordable enough that you can live really relatively close to your work. Now, we’ve all got.

00;38;31;28–00;38;31;29
Alexis Snelling
A.

00;38;32;01–00;38;49;28
Philippa Burgess
Different price of the housing market. And so to then have a location where both people, husband and wife, who both need to work because you need both incomes and that it’s commuter friendly to both people. Yeah, it’s it’s it’s getting more and more the.

00;38;49;28–00;38;59;00
Alexis Snelling
Cost of commute is higher. The cost to, you know, not just economically, but now we’re looking at our planet and the cost.

00;38;59;00–00;39;03;09
Philippa Burgess
Of the environment of commuting is is expensive. I mean, they add.

00;39;03;09–00;39;48;02
Alexis Snelling
Up and people are changing those ways. Right. And we’re demanding and expecting, okay, this isn’t the outcome I want. This isn’t the dream I’m willing to choose after in finding that alignment that’s right for you, your values. Well, what it takes, discovering what your values are and to it’s then trying to find others who align with that. Which is why it’s so beautiful that we have communities that are specific like Google of a tech makers, very specific to really what this group is about, how we try to have our impact in the communities and bring those these conversations really to the forefront so that we can have a positive ripple effect of what we’re doing

00;39;48;03–00;40;20;08
Alexis Snelling
and make sure that we have not just representation, but we’re really helping each other level up. And I think that’s what’s so exciting that, as you said, Google mentoring you. We also mentor each other. And I think that’s one thing that’s so exciting about working with Google is that they are mentors. There are so humble and have so much humility, and that makes you realize, I have some values here, I have some things to bring to the community and that’s rare in a group.

00;40;20;08–00;40;51;21
Alexis Snelling
A lot of times maybe they’re just like a leader and everybody reveres that leader. And what I love about, or at least the communities that align with my values, are ones that it’s about respect, about acknowledging everybody’s superpowers, about what we have a common goal that we’re trying to accomplish that brings us all together. And so those are the things that I think whether it’s alignment for your lifestyle, your job the community is how you spend your time.

00;40;51;23–00;41;12;21
Alexis Snelling
This is where the future’s going. It’s not leaving after the pandemic or going back to the way things are people really have to and there’s so many reasons why. But I think I’m very excited about the fact that this is a new direction for sure changes. I think that’s what’s so crazy is none of us expected the pandemic, right.

00;41;12;21–00;41;41;01
Alexis Snelling
We the the really great thing about having the community and others sharing their stories, as you never know when that’s going to be relevant to you or maybe really important to you or something you needed to hear right at that exact moment. Just holistically, is that as humans communicating with each other, there’s not just, hey, we could do this to solve our situation, but it’s like, are you okay?

00;41;41;03–00;42;10;28
Alexis Snelling
How are you feeling while you’re going through this? You know? And I think that balance now of like realizing, okay, if we can remove some of the stressors, if we could acknowledge more how we feel as we’re going through this process, that that’s where there’s so much room for exciting innovation and improving. Hey, I know this is a hard transition when you’re just starting a new career, you’re like, you are starting your new business, or there’s a transition where you’re learning something.

00;42;11;01–00;42;35;18
Alexis Snelling
Working with really here, I like how you said caretaking for your parents. I am a similar situation to you, but things in life pop up and so I’ve been able to really be resilient, be able to adapt, but have those communities that you could tap into. And I think that’s kind of the investment in terms of surrounding yourself with aligned communities.

00;42;35;18–00;43;06;16
Alexis Snelling
So that when moments do happen, you know they’re going to give you so much if you’re at it’s an it’s really a community that you’re aligned with and it’s all about finding, as I say, your tribe. But it’s true. You really do need to find that so that well yeah it’s it’s one of those keep in mind like all founders stories are everything appears like a huge success right That’s but it’s not and it takes lots of time and lots of years to get to this point.

00;43;06;16–00;43;32;20
Alexis Snelling
So I’m going to share just the abridged version because we’re so excited about where we are and where we’re going now because yeah, that moment you had where you saw that superpower, that was something that I always felt to throughout my various careers. When you go into one industry and you rise to a certain level and then you go to a different industry and you’re jumping maybe from industries according to other people.

00;43;32;20–00;44;01;25
Alexis Snelling
Right. But actually, if you’re seeing your through line, what really connects you between all that? You’re being really true to who you are and your alignment. And you’re you’re reaching actually closer to like your full potential. And this is something that I’ve always seen my co-founder and my husband David, has always experienced. You, and it’s something that we really wanted to create a better way to be seen for your skills.

00;44;01;27–00;44;31;00
Alexis Snelling
And that’s really where the products that we were testing and evolving with collaborating and working turned into, though, which is now our our big release that’s coming up. We have our data right now, but it’s really centralized around that very same idea, that moment you have is when you find that or you’re in the right place at the right time with the right resources you need and everything clicks.

00;44;31;03–00;45;05;05
Alexis Snelling
It’s it’s just something that is so life changing and it can change the trajectory of where you go for the rest of your life or where you’re going to go for the next journey of your life. And right now, during the pandemic, a lot of people are at that, those crossroads. And so it just seemed like the right moment in time where a lot of people are going through this or reevaluating that Technology is also giving us more freedom to consider, maybe a crossroads we wouldn’t have ever considered before.

00;45;05;05–00;45;32;11
Alexis Snelling
Maybe before we thought we were stuck. So that is really what’s exciting about Skill Ville. It’s a collaborative social network where we could all help each other level up, but also it’s designed in a way that is freeform enough for you to explore all these different interests and really connect with different tribes for a specific thing that you want to try to learn or accomplish.

00;45;32;13–00;45;52;17
Alexis Snelling
You were part of that real estate group. It didn’t quite feel right, but you needed to be a part of that group to figure that out. And so the idea of circles is that, you know, you could do that without having to like, you know, maybe commit to a four year degree or, you know, we need to do those things to experiment.

00;45;52;24–00;46;18;03
Philippa Burgess
And I think that that’s a big thing is I think a lot of learning is there’s a perception that, it’s in the ivory tower, it’s behind the degree and I see how much information is available. And essentially the courses that I’m in, they’re a series of books that you read, a series of articles that you read, you process the information, you answer some questions, you have discussions about it.

00;46;18;06–00;46;42;03
Philippa Burgess
There’s a lecture that ties it all together and says, Why are we reading this thing? And kind of, here are some of the key things I want to point out and sort of gives you a high level summary of all of the connecting themes. Yeah, and there’s a lot of reflection on and there is a process, but there it parallels so many free or low cost resources that are out there.

00;46;42;05–00;47;08;15
Philippa Burgess
And in my education, I’m hearing certain things a lot over and over again, and I’m taking them to heart, which is, Hey, you want to do spatial data science, you really need statistics, you really need calculus. And that was just never included in my academics, But it’s available for me to learn through Khan Academy. Yeah, I can ask Chatty Beatty and Bard lots of questions about it as I’m learning.

00;47;08;17–00;47;37;03
Philippa Burgess
I have four free downloaded every time I see these books and they’re available, I download them and so I now have I have a library probably of over 700 data science and math books and other things that I need to kind of lean in and and collect them and gather them and organize them and, and then also website and I just like I have so much they’re just I’ve been just gathering that is either part of my studies or adjacent to my studies that I want to learn.

00;47;37;09–00;47;46;22
Philippa Burgess
Same thing with the intelligence community. Everybody values foreign languages. And so I’ve been leaning into my foreign language study doing the things that I’m completely doing on my own of.

00;47;46;24–00;47;47;07
Alexis Snelling
Your own.

00;47;47;12–00;47;48;08
Philippa Burgess
And yet.

00;47;48;11–00;48;11;13
Alexis Snelling
So important. Yes. Like everything you’re doing. And they need your own degree to get you to where you want to go. You’re like handpicking the different skills and putting them together because what you’re doing is so unique. There isn’t like an ivory tower degree. That’s exactly what you want to do. But you’re pulling together all the right resources for yourself.

00;48;11;16–00;48;35;12
Philippa Burgess
I’m definitely figuring it out. And I think that, you know, there’s there’s a part of me that has in which I it’s just kind of as we’re kind of wrapping this up, like let’s let’s visit some of the leadership skills and some of the leadership skills we’ve looked at in my leadership class is that leadership divides into where you can say if there’s four categories of leadership, look, an articulate and kind of discussed.

00;48;35;12–00;49;01;09
Philippa Burgess
One is strategic leadership and the second is operational leadership. And I love this class because it actually reminded me that these skills exist in one person and one organization. And I’ve always had these conversations. My father, who sees them as separate, he’s like, Are you the strategic person or are you the operational person? And as a marketer, I have learned that the best marketing you will ever do is excellent operations.

00;49;01;11–00;49;22;01
Philippa Burgess
Do what you say you’re going to do. Treat your employees well like just button things up, have good operations. And because I as a marketer, I was sort of done putting lipstick on a pig. Yeah, yeah. And that is where I was like, if you guys don’t tighten up your operation and all the beautiful marketing isn’t going to solve your problems.

00;49;22;03–00;49;38;13
Philippa Burgess
So I think that to me, when I was in this, they were like, No, no, you can be both strategic and operational all in one mind and one person. I was like, Yes, because that’s who I am. I can be high level strategic, but I’m operations. I’m like, if I say we’re going to do something, then we get it done.

00;49;38;16–00;49;58;23
Alexis Snelling
Finding that right fit is so important and the definitely from a management leadership position, the historic most recent historic kind of primary models are definitely kind of those are separate roles, but it’s so becoming outdated, I hope.

00;49;58;25–00;50;19;13
Philippa Burgess
And then the other two and I think that I’m seeing in some of the other especially the Google IO interviews I’ve done recently, is a lot of the learning and the growth that’s happening for these women who are new and I think new kind of in the last year. Google of tech makers is really owning their identity as thought leaders and as bridge building leaders.

00;50;19;16–00;50;43;14
Alexis Snelling
Yeah, definitely. And that is a huge thing. I’ve definitely connected with Google. On the tech maker. I mean, that’s like part of their superpower toolkit for sure. It’s like the technical, the artistic score, right? You know, one’s going to make sure operationally happens and it keeps going or whatever the strategy is. We know where we’re going to know where we’re driving the ship.

00;50;43;17–00;51;20;24
Alexis Snelling
And then you’ve got the other side, which is, you know, making sure everybody on the ship is, you know, not having a mutiny or they’re saying like, you know, like it’s like it’s interesting to see that it’s the similar dynamic because it’s the human component and you cannot undervalue or estimate that human component. And we’re seeing right now the human component really kind of having its resurgence because people are expecting and demanding more of how they’re treated and they’re, you know, I think that’s pushing leaders to have to acknowledge that.

00;51;20;26–00;51;46;14
Alexis Snelling
And it’s interesting to see those changes happening. But I think the leaders of tomorrow will definitely have that in their superpower toolkit, or at least hire people who do and and empower them with those superpowers. As a human, don’t disrespect me. This is when I work. This is when I don’t work. And, you know, setting those boundaries, having clear common expectation, are all part of it.

00;51;46;16–00;52;15;24
Alexis Snelling
But managers and different groups are really going to have to familiarize themselves with the community dynamics. Now that we’re living in a virtual world or a hybrid world, they’re different. And so they’re living by these community engagement tools which may work in a classroom or in the old corporate office when you’re required to be there. And, you know, but they don’t work in a hybrid or digital world.

00;52;15;24–00;52;43;12
Alexis Snelling
I think, again, having the understanding of the differences in those cultures, it’s something we’re all learning and sharing. Like there is no answer to this effect. Communities are fascinating, but it is something you have to be able to define for yourself and your organization and with your teams. Have everybody on the same page and and know it’s going to evolve and let it evolve because otherwise these conflicts come up.

00;52;43;13–00;53;16;15
Alexis Snelling
We’ve got you know, both sides have their own perspective on it. And yet really the failure is that they don’t have an environment that’s conducive to both of their goals happening. Transparency, accountability, like communicating, like all these things. They are much more important now than ever because again, technology is enabling us to expect it. We expect to be able to see things.

00;53;16;15–00;53;38;09
Alexis Snelling
We expect that they follow through. Like all of these expectations happen because technology, when we buy something online, we get a tracking number, we get a receipt, we get up, it’s in writing like. So it’s interesting, as technology evolves, the culture evolves and then the expectations that need to evolve and that means the communities and how they manage those expectations also have to evolve.

00;53;38;11–00;54;04;28
Alexis Snelling
So it’s it’s a it’s a wonderful kind of leveling up of the whole macro of how the world works. But yeah, you got to be ready to adapt and acknowledge that things have changed more in the last ten years than the previous 50 is one thing that you were talking about. We kind of started in the beginning was like talking about how we have to start as like what we’re doing and what we’re trying to work on.

00;54;05;01–00;54;39;00
Alexis Snelling
And that’s actually our first couple of tabs because I was thinking about how does our digital environment kind of mimic this and its task things I’m doing. There are specific to me resources that are relevant. So instead of seeing all of it, like the 200 books that you were saying, it’s only going to pick out the books that are relevant to what you’re working on right now so that blinders on, so you don’t get analysis paralysis that really resonated when you shared that with me and then staying up to date as like things change and reflection and feedback loops.

00;54;39;03–00;55;04;01
Alexis Snelling
Yeah, sometimes you don’t want to answer those things in the group or in that meeting. And so being able to do it privately here, I just realized are tabs kind of like mimic and like seeing all the different circles you’re part of. Like you’re exploring the language over here and you’re exploring, you know, like all of these things, like this is kind of the world that we created so that we could digitally connect with people.

00;55;04;04–00;55;44;13
Alexis Snelling
And really what’s so cool about what you’re describing is being able to have a personal area and being able to have a circle area where you actually can engage with people together and have conversations that are aligned and being able to connect with people and, you know, see, those things are really, really powerful tools. And, you know, this is kind of like one of the things I just wanted to share because I feel like what you’re describing, being able to have an area where you could be you being able to have an area where, you can get together with other people and you could have these moments.

00;55;44;16–00;56;26;15
Alexis Snelling
It’s interesting how what you’re describing in like how you empower people have this space that that’s actually a parallel to what it is that we created and what we do. But in a way that I haven’t even looked at before. So your stories today, I was like every time you were describing a story, I was thinking of where would live in here and you know, that is it’s just something that I wanted to share because I think storytelling, connecting, talking, this peer to peer is part of the magic sauce that corporate in the past maybe has not encouraged.

00;56;26;17–00;56;49;09
Alexis Snelling
And that is actually more human than anything else we’re doing. And I feel like the more we can connect ourselves, even if it’s 10 minutes, it’s even if it’s 3:00 in the morning, you really have to be able to access that when you need it. And it’s because we’re all different. We’re also human in terms of what our needs are and how those are going to change.

00;56;49;09–00;57;26;01
Alexis Snelling
And our needs are at different times. And so I think that’s kind of what we’re realizing is there’s there’s this need for like human connection that needs to happen around these things. And it’s not so rigid. It’s more agile like this kind of like switch between your personal curiosities and what you’re working on. And maybe also something else you’re exploring and having this space where you kind of do change between those things and really get into that flow state like, you know, I did with sports or and other things.

00;57;26;03–00;57;50;26
Alexis Snelling
I think that’s really important because the more you’re in that flow, the more you’re kind of kind of connect with the right tribe or the right information or put them put it together. But I think it’s just that what you’re describing as this leveling up that you’ve been doing the pandemic, you’ve been able to experiment with that on your own, despite all the obstacles of exploring finding discovery like you have bulldozed out all those opportunities for yourself.

00;57;50;26–00;58;10;16
Alexis Snelling
And that’s that’s huge. And, you know, to be able to have a space where you could do that or could do it with others and never feel alone on the journey, I just I’m very grateful for your story and sharing it because that as founders, we have to share those stories. And I think that’s what gets us through the difficult times.

00;58;10;19–00;58;31;13
Alexis Snelling
It helps us stand up. When we fell, we’re feeling like, I just can’t do it anymore. So yeah, I just wanted to share that. I realized as we were talking, all the stories fit into this and it’s fun. You know, I think that’s the other thing is learning doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have to be, you know, these are exploring things you’re curious about.

00;58;31;13–00;58;56;00
Alexis Snelling
Yes, you can do things that you need to level up and in it and it’s important. But yeah, it’s a lifelong process. And having a place that you can go and be fully who are and have that freedom to explore, have that freedom to fail, a safe way to level up. I think those are all things that people crave and they have to like create their own environments.

00;58;56;03–00;59;20;17
Alexis Snelling
But yeah, the digital environments where we really see such amazing opportunity for you don’t have to figure this all out by yourself. And now we have this great community where it’s going to help connect you and align you better and in more real time. It’s like your path and where you’re going and what circles you’re deciding is interesting to you at that moment on your journey.

00;59;20;17–00;59;53;22
Alexis Snelling
Because everything changes tomorrow might be totally different. Yeah. Now we’ll have this talk. I’m sure in another year it’ll be totally different. So and, and how it kind of comes full circle because the way our, our circles kind of bumped into each other was through Google Women Techmakers, which was just all based on our alignments there. So you know, we’re seeing this happen in the real world and I’m excited for more, more ways for all of us to collaborate, come together and do more.