Finding My Authentic Self and Bringing It Every Day
Hi there–my name is Lisette Cervano, Executive Assistant at HoneyBook. I support two of our Founders– our CEO, Oz Alon, and Chief of Creative & Vision, Naama Alon. We work out of our headquarters in San Francisco. Also, I am a Queer woman of color born & raised in San Francisco. You could say I’m an ultra unicorn.
Earlier in June, I celebrated 4 years with the company. This has given me an opportunity to reflect on the past years with HoneyBook. Here’s what I was reminded of…
When I found HoneyBook I was at a crossroads in my career.
I had been in the tech scene for about 5 years. I had experienced partnering with an entrepreneur, building a scrappy startup from the ground up, successfully scaling an organization as well as spending time working at a Unicorn company supporting it’s Founder/CEO, VP of Engineering, & VP of Business & Corporate Dev. But something was always missing. I knew I needed to find my next play.
I asked myself, “What do you want?” And here’s what I came up with:
- To Be Authentic — I was looking for an organization that allowed me to bring my whole self to work.
- Company Size — I wanted the challenges and impact found in a smaller company, but I knew I didn’t want to go back to early stage scrappiness. I wanted a company that was maturing and scaling.
- Women Founders — In the 20 years of my career as an Executive Assistant, I still hadn’t had the opportunity to support a woman executive and this was an aspiration of mine.
- Diversity — As a Queer woman of color I am passionate about creating inclusive and diverse spaces. I wanted to align with an organization with the same values.
- Product — In past job searches, this wasn’t a deal breaker for me, but I realized that being connected to the product you are building directly impacts your happiness and success. I wanted to fully stand by what I was going to build.
HoneyBook checked all the boxes.
My criteria was defined, and my search began!
It was difficult at first. I could easily find products that resonated, but it was harder to find companies that checked the other boxes.
AngelList was a great tool for my specific search criteria. It led me to HoneyBook and HoneyBook serendipitously had the perfect role for me–Executive Assistant to CEO. I did research on the company and the boxes started to check: the right size, two female co-founders, gender diversity (60% women employees), and a product that I connected with deeply on a personal level. The cherry on top? Core values that deeply aligned with my own. I knew this was something I had to pursue.
However, there was one box that still needed to be checked off–being authentic. This was something I had to determine on my own.
Finding my authentic self.
The moment I started interviewing with HoneyBook, I knew something was different. The most defining moment of the interview process came in the form of a question in the assignment.
The question was, “What is your proudest achievement in life?” I had 20 years as an EA under my belt. I had seen a lot throughout my career and could’ve provided a cookie-cutter answer. However, that answer would lack what I had been missing in all my previous roles–authenticity.
Answering this question had a profound impact on me, so much that I still have my answers saved 4 years later! Here is what I answered:
My proudest achievement in life would be where my career is today. I say this because the journey wasn’t always the easiest. Due to personal circumstances, I made a decision to focus on my career straight out of high school. I took on a job that left me with a lot of responsibilities and many late nights in the office, but I knew the opportunity would open doors for my future. I decided then that I would take on any career challenge that came my way, no job has ever been too small or too large. I have put my heart and soul into every opportunity I’ve been given, because it’s just the way I’m built. I realized over the past 5 years, that all the years of work and personal experiences, no matter how difficult, have helped me to develop into the type of professional I am today. I am truly proud of my work ethic and my commitment to continue to be the best at my craft that I can be.
It’s hard to feel seen and feel proud in a world where you are the minority. I am a Latinx, Queer, woman raised by immigrant parents. I never went to college, but while writing this I realized, I AM THRIVING.
I can confidently say that HoneyBook is the first place where I knew I could truly be my most authentic self.
How HoneyBook became my safe space
In the past, I would joke with friends that there was the Real-Lisette and Work-Lisette. At HoneyBook, I no longer live a dual life. At HoneyBook, my coworkers are more than people I see for 8 hours a day, they are my family.
When people ask me, “Why HoneyBook?” this is what I say:
I care about diversity and inclusion in our company. Everyone in this company knows this about me. I support women of color coming into tech and I make sure people from the LGBTQIA+ community have a support system. I’m undeniably myself and that’s part of why I love being at Honeybook. No one ever asks me to tone down my passions, no one has ever said, “Hey that’s not what we want here.”
Instead HoneyBook values my diversity and all my superpowers.
