A great career shouldn’t come at the expense of your identity, but this is a tradeoff many of us have to make. Written during Latinx Heritage Month, this article examines the role that remote work plays in preserving Latinx culture across the U.S. In life and in business, we talk a lot about trade-offs. We learn that we can’t have it all, that there are certain things we need to sacrifice to get ahead in life. And as a Latinx person, that often means trading off between two of the
Building a network is a common recommendation for career development. A strong network can help you access unique opportunities, and offer advice to help you grow and handle challenging situations. Yet, many people — especially introverts — struggle with networking because they feel they lack the mental energy, time, or know-how. They sometimes have the perception that networking requires meeting more people than they can handle, or that the people they want to connect with are inaccessible. Over time, I’ve learned to overcome those challenges and grow my own network
RIIIICKYYYYYYYYYYY. That moment the red saloon cruised towards the alleyway, as the window slowly came down to reveal a shotgun-wielding menace to society (who upon writing this I’ve come to learn wasn’t, in fact, Chris Tucker), his eyes gazing with the worst of all intentions towards our lovable Ricky, is etched into movie Folklore. Poor Ricky. Singleton’s acclaimed masterpiece introduced mainstream cinema and the wider world to the life and times in South Central LA, where life for those living in it was akin to living in a warzone; where
Earlier in my career, I was interviewing for an HR position and I asked about the company’s work with diversity and inclusion. The response I got was formulaic—like she was reading something from the employee handbook. It was clear they had discussed keeping up with “the conversation” but there was no passion for inclusivity and no buy-in for the measurable impacts it has on business success. I see this a lot. Companies understand that there’s a huge cultural shift happening. Business success has become inextricably linked to company values —look at Patagonia’s earnings or
Originally published here on Medium Last month, my company Hustle Crew celebrated its third birthday. It’s a significant milestone for many reasons. Three years is the same amount of time I spent at university completing my bachelor’s degree. The longest period I’ve ever worked at a single company (Groupon, 2011–2014). Most importantly it’s far longer than many experts I met at the start — from other CEOs to investors — thought this business would last. I’ll spare you our origin story as I’ve shared it before, but in 2016 when I set
Posted in Open Design by Sara Zhang “Product Designer.” When I first moved to San Francisco and was looking for a job in the design world, this title appeared in listing after listing, and I had no idea what it meant. I wondered, What is product design? What is product? And what on earth is Sketch? The year was 2013, and I was fresh out of Florida State University with a shiny new art degree. I’d been creative since I was young and began taking art classes in middle school.
During the earliest stages of my nontraditional software engineering education, I would often sit down to code and place my computer on a table covered with books of poetry. I loved coding but drew my power and sustenance as a Black woman from the words of poets like Jamila Woods, Jericho Brown, and Fatimah Asghar. The apparent contradiction between my interests always left me with a tiny itch, somehow, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the feeling was trying to tell me. I went on improving my coding skills while
Every generation experiences a moment where it’s forced to sit with a new aspect of technology that temporarily calls everything that once existed into question. I know, for example, that my parent’s generation who became young adults in the 70s and 80s, felt this way about TV and computers. It was as if screens were taking over—multidimensional objects that offered viewers a lens into multidimensional spaces, providing new ways to connect, forever transforming the worlds of entertainment and communication. Those who had grown up without the presence of screens probably
As we near the end of Black History Month in the UK, our hope is that black British history surpasses a months celebration to become an integral part of British history. There are dozens, if not hundreds of unsung black heroes across British history from Alice Kinloch, the South African activist who came to Britain and founded the African Association who created the first Pan-African conference in London in 1900. To others such as modern-day educator, rapper, entrepreneur and activist, Akala. The renowned author of The Sunday Times Best Seller
This post first appeared on Elpha, a community for women in tech to talk candidly online” If you’re a woman (particularly a woman of color) in tech, you’ve probably felt it. That feeling that you’re the “only one” in the room. The feeling that you don’t belong, that you need to prove yourself, that you’re alone. According to a study by Leanin.org and McKinsey & Company, one in five women report being one of the only women in the room. In senior leadership, this is twice as common: 40% of women are the only
