Girls in Tech!!!

I grew up in a matriarchal household, therefore I was never told at home that I couldn’t be what I wanted. My mom’s strength and can-do-will-do spirit luckily transferred to my ate [aw-teh] (older sister) and myself. My mom is a dining table storyteller, and one she tells with a smirk is when she drove off male bullies who were threatening her younger brother in the Philippines. While my mom doesn’t concern herself much with politics, she is a total feminist.

Up until this point (finished with undergrad, currently in grad school), I have been spared from the same intensity of sexism I’m sure my mom and grandmother had to face en route to their goals. I am so priveleged to be able to say that; a combination of my upbringing and my locale have made it all the better for me. Because I have not had that much experience in being marginalized based on sex, I’m incredibly scared for the moment when I will be.

1 The conference

This summer, I am interning at Gap, Inc. (Lucky me!) Sally Gilligan, Gap’s CIO, spoke at San Francisco’s Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference, so she invited all the female tech interns to the conference and invited us to lunch afterward. Sally offered us her hindsight during her 11:20 talk, exactly the foresight we needed to succeed in our internship. In particular, she discussed that in order to set boundaries and not dry ourselves of energy, we must get comfortable with “no”.

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2 Two quotes

I ended up only took notes for the first few talks. I noted two quotes from Robin Matlock, the CMO of VMWare that I loved.

“If you are failing, then you are probably reaching very far – good! Embrace that.”

“There are not enough mantras in the world to compensate for poor performance.”

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3 Final thoughts

My experience at Girls in Tech Catalyst was really special. I have never been numb to the power of women, but I felt it even more strongly today. The conference was obviously well thought-out. Timing was kept punctual, perfect for my millenial attention span, for the eloquent speakers who were experts from diverse backgrounds. The advice and inspiration the speakers radiated was tastefully succinct, and I believe I’m better for it.

A woman can be unheard in the workplace for so many reasons, and I am super new to industry. I’m not used to being unheard, and I don’t plan on getting used to silly stuff like that. Like Katie Dill, Lyft’s VP of Design, advised, I am going to earn my credibility amongst those who matter through my best work and attitude, then I’ll definitely speak my turn.

What made the experience all the more special was being able to share today with my fellow Gap-people. I’ve had great moments, especially at our company lunch. I’ll be writing more about my Gap internship in the future. For now, I’ve got to get to bed… I have to wake up in about 6 hours!