Month: September 2014


Sep
2014

I want to be a better friend to you

categories: Life

With the sudden death of a dear friend and an even more amazing husband, father, and entrepreneur, I’ve realized that my friendships lack the quality they should. Growing up, I suffered from serious FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and befriended every person within reach so I would always be included and invited. As the years have passed, I’ve learned to lessen my grip on always having to be involved though I still suffer from it more than I’d like. I’m also extremely nosy, but that’s a post for another time.

Now I have a trillion wonderful friends that I see or talk to in real life very little. Most of our interactions are, of course, via social media and email now. When we do get together it’s just playing catch up on the latest happenings in our lives. While I enjoy getting to catch up, I realize our conversations lack substance many times. They’re “superficial” to put it bluntly. I love being the cheerleader for my friends and raving about their recent accomplishments and milestones, but where are the real talks? I’m to blame as I always just ask what’s new with them. Why don’t I ask the harder questions? Why don’t we talk philosophy, religion, politics, life experiences? I’m not 100% certain what I want to ask or what we should discuss, but I do know it’s more than just what we did last weekend or our recent move. Don’t get me wrong, I love catching friends up on our lives and hearing about theirs, but where are the 4 hour conversations about life? When did we get too busy to waste an afternoon just waxing poetic with those we love about the world?

So be ready because the next time I see you, it may be a lot more than “What have you been up to lately?”

 


Sep
2014

Girls, the time is now.

categories: women

photo

I was recently interviewed about being a woman in the technology sector, namely challenges I faced getting to where I am and continue to face. This isn’t the first time I’ve had the question; people are fascinated that I’m the director of IT for an advertising and technology company. It wasn’t an easy road, but it wasn’t as hard as people think. I studied hard, worked harder, and continued to move up in positions throughout my career because I proved myself.

My biggest disappointment with the technology sector these days is that there aren’t enough of us in it. By us, I mean women. Many times over the years I was the only female at the table in a room with 10 or more men. It took a while to learn I was there because I earned it and my contributions are important. I was intimidated at first, painfully quiet during discussions. The more meetings I went to, however, the more I realized some things were missing from the conversation and that was my cue.

These days I’m more than comfortable being the only woman at the table, leaning in, learning, and sharing my knowledge. I am grateful I have been in more than one position to pay it forward and hire equally qualified and smart women in the field. The one question I always get asked is what advice would I give girls considering technology as a career. My answer is, “Don’t give up. Stick with it, even when you are singled out or made to feel inferior. It is a predominantly male field, but it won’t always be like that with our brains and determination. Girls, the time is now to start taking over the tech industry!”