Growth Hacking Women in Tech: thelydperiod Podcast
In my career, I've had the opportunity to share my experiences and background with thousands of people across the world. It's weird to say "in my career" given the fact that I am only 19 years old, but everything that I've done, from my on campus extracurriculars to my professional internships, has built up the path that I'm currently on.
Being able to write articles and be interviewed about how I've gotten to where I am today is always a humbling experience, because I get to reflect and rehash the steps I've taken and the (many, many, many) mistakes I've made along the way. I've been able to understand that my status in society as a student at Cornell and an intern at Qualcomm has been because of my family and my upbringing, the schools and programs I've attended, and the connections I've made.
Every time I explain where I came from and where I want to go, I try to emphasize that this was a path that worked for me; my advice is based off of the way I see the world, and may not be useful in any way to people who come from different backgrounds.
However—and this is the reason why I put myself out there to be a part of these publications—hearing someone else's story, no matter how little you can relate to it, can really help shape your own individual perspective on your growth as a person and as a professional. Especially as a woman in tech, being able to potentially be someone's role model or inspiration through the simple fact that I have been relatively successful in my life makes me feel all warm and fluffy inside. With everything I do, I hope to be someone that young girls (and even younger children in the demographics I'm not personally a part of, such as people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and male allies) can see and encourage them to think "Yeah, I can do that, too."
In that vein, I recently recorded a podcast with @thelydperiod (a.k.a. Lydia Jones) about my journey as a woman in tech, a student, and a rising professional. Not only was it exciting (and also slightly terrifying) to share my story through voice alone, but I also got to speak with and learn more about another fellow woman in tech who's my age but comes from a completely different background (born in the U.K., dropped out of school, founded and sold the app FitFlash at 15, founded and is currently running another start-up called HallHang, working a full-time job at Amplify as a Product Specialist—generally taking over the world).
I would definitely recommend listening to the podcast (found under @thelydperiod on iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify) because it was a great conversation between Lydia and I, and she asked a lot of questions that had never come up in an interview before. I'd also encourage y'all to listen to her other podcast episodes! She treats podcasting as a way to share her stories almost immediately and in a casual fashion, whether in the car on her commute home or chilling on her couch, and the content she covers is relatable, helpful, and interesting to listen to.
I hope y'all enjoy hearing the sound of my voice (I sure don't—do I actually sound like that?) and hopefully this is the first of many podcast appearances to come!
To listen to the podcast yourself, either search for "thelydperiod" on iTunes, Google Play Music, or Spotify, or follow the links below:
