Real Talk: Always trust your gut.

In late 2015, I accepted a job at a little known start-up called Slack Technologies. They caught my eye after two brilliant women I worked with at Twitter went over. I was impressed that Slack was vocal about their focus for diversity & inclusion despite being a very small start-up. The people who interviewed me were empathetic, brilliant, engaging and collaborative. They were genuinely curious, kind and supportive when hearing I had just had a child. As a new mom with a 4 month old baby this experience went a long way and was a stark contrast to other conversations I was having with more mature companies in the valley. My gut told me these were the people to work with and this was arguably one of the best decisions in my professional life.

When making career decisions, people use different personal barometers to decide which role and company is the right one for them. The key is to be acutely aware of what is most important for you at this point in your career journey. Perhaps you are earlier in your career and would benefit from the mature trainings and support that a large company provides. Maybe you have grown within a large company for a better part of your career and you are looking to join a high growth start-up to have greater visibility and impact in your work. Perhaps you are going outside your comfort zone to do a completely new role at a company whose mission and product inspire you. Maybe cash is the deciding factor, with the opportunity for financial freedom for yourself and your family.

Being a new parent changes everyones perspectives on what they value most in ways they could not even imagine. This can also be a catalyst to re-evaluate what is most important for you in your journey and the work you choose to do while balancing your changing home life. This was true for my husband and even more so for myself. The most simplest advice is to listen to your inner voice and drown out the noise of what you think you should do. Trust your gut.

So I did just that and joined Slack as a new mom. Fast forward 6 years later and it all feels like an epic blur. A magical fantasy filled with wicked smart, humble, hardworking and collaborative people, where we worked really hard but also had a ton of fun doing it. We drove innovative diversity focused programs within hiring, we hosted events in our office for Dev/Color, Afrotech, Girl Geek Dinners, and more. We built out offices around the world and helped to launch new markets. Our work hired the teams that built new product features, helped to create Slack's annual conference Frontiers, and changed what "the face of tech" looked like. We helped to drive policy change internally and we supported programs that IMO have the ability to change the narrative of mass incarceration.

The thing about growing, is sometimes that growth takes you outside and away from the people that helped enable that growth. For the first time in my career I am leaving a company, team and role that was by far the most rewarding professional experience in my career. My gut is taking me somewhere new yet Slack will always have a special place in my heart.

Immense gratitude to the amazing founders and humans of Slack.