Kendrick Umstattd (she/her)

Kendrick Umstattd (she/her) is a software engineering intern at Google, working on the Google Earth Engine team in Mountain View, CA. She is excited to be back for her second summer at Google, following an Engineering Practicum Internship in Kirkland, Washington, on the CloudML EngProd team. She joined Women of Silicon Valley this summer to help produce the summer intern series.

This fall, Kendrick will be starting her senior year at Yale University as an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science major. When Kendrick is not busy writing code in TypeScript or Python, she can be found travelling to San Francisco and Paris; searching for a new favorite book or podcast to enjoy; and getting involved in initiatives aimed at empowering more young women to pursue STEM.

1. When did you know that you wanted to work in tech?

It wasn’t until high school that I was introduced to computer science and engineering. My math teacher, Ms. Kezmarsky, took the female students in her Calculus class to Lockheed Martin for a Women in STEM day. It was there that I first saw how powerful these fields are, and I was particularly intrigued by the computer science work being done.

Shortly after, I completed a summer program in computer science, and I loved that the work was like solving puzzles. There would be times when an idea for a solution would come to me at a random moment in the day, so I would run to jot down a few notes to implement later in code. A number of years later, I still feel this same excitement, whether I am collaborating with team members at Google; working with the Yale Social Robotics Lab to provide socially-assistive robots to children with autism; or building and maintaining Yale’s college websites.

2. Who is a role model that you look up to?

I have always looked up to my mother. To begin with, she has built an incredible career. After graduating from Yale University with a B.A. in Russian and East European Studies, and receiving her J.D. from Yale Law School, she worked for the U.S. Naval Reserve and the Central Intelligence Agency. After moving to Leesburg, Virginia, in 1987, where she and my father began practicing law together, she served on the Leesburg Town Council from 1992 to 2002.

During the majority of my upbringing, from 2002 to 2016, my mother served as Mayor of the Town of Leesburg. I watched her in this role with such admiration, because every decision she makes is driven by a powerful desire to improve people’s lives. She has always listened to her constituents, working closely with them to ensure that they feel heard, and that they are able to see actions being taken to help them. She now serves as Leesburg District Supervisor on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors where she brings that same dedication, and she continues to be my ultimate role model.

3. Where is your hometown?

Leesburg, Virginia.

4. What is a struggle that you’ve faced and how did you handle it?

In both my personal and professional life, I like to approach any new situation with a well-researched plan. Before travelling to Paris, I read about everything from how to navigate the public transportation networks to where to enjoy the best views (Les Ombres, if you’re wondering); before my internships, I made sure to be fluent in the relevant programming languages, namely Java, Python, and TypeScript. What I’ve realized in the past year, however, is that although a plan is fantastic to have, there are many variables involved in any endeavor that can quickly make a plan outdated. When this happens, it is essential to be prepared to think on your feet and adapt. Getting comfortable with this idea has taken some time, but I enjoy seeing how I can respond to the unexpected without extensive time to prepare.

5. What is something that you are immensely proud of?

After my senior year of high school and freshman year of college, I interned at the North American headquarters of the behavioral research company Noldus Information Technology. One of my projects involved developing an integrated solution between Noldus’ software and Tobii eyetracking systems. There wasn’t any existing documentation about this particular assignment, so I was tasked with discovering on my own how to achieve this goal. As I went, I documented each step, so, at the end of the project, not only did I have a workable solution, but I had a guide that my colleagues could use after my internship ended. I was proud of what I had been able to achieve with the support of my colleagues, but I was even more satisfied with the fact that I was leaving behind a manual that could serve as a resource for the interns and full-time employees to come after me.

6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?

During this year’s GoogleServe, Google’s month of service in June, I volunteered with Girl STEM Stars for a day spent teaching young girls about computer science and robotics. Over the course of the day, we watched as the students came into their own, becoming more willing to code different solutions that might or might not work. This event reminded me why I am so glad that organizations like Girl STEM Stars, Made with Code, Girls Who Code, and Kode with Klossy exist, because these groups — and many others — are helping show girls and young women that the goal shouldn’t be to be perfect, both in general and in STEM fields. The goal is to try, maybe fail, learn, and keep trying.

7. Favorite food?

Bison steak at the National Museum of the American Indian. I was last there with my mom after we participated in the D.C. March for Our Lives.

8. Favorite book?

If I were to create a “starter pack” of books for young women, Sheryl Sandberg’s books would be at the top of the stack. “Lean In” has received a lot of well-deserved attention, but her second book “Option B” deserves a mention, too. There are many great pointers about how to handle a situation where things don’t go as planned for you or someone you care about.

9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?

I have such a love for writing code and building new technologies. There is something so satisfying about working on a dedicated team, bouncing ideas off of each other, and then sitting down and implementing what you have discussed in Python or TypeScript. If I had to choose a different job for a day, I would want to be sure that I was still just as close to the technology, but it could be fun to look at it from the other side as a tech reporter. In my free time, I read and listen to reporting done by Kara Swisher of “Recode Decode” and Lauren Goode and Arielle Pardes of “Wired”. Teaming up with any of them, and analyzing technology from a different perspective, would be a great experience.

10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?

Think about your goals with a “launch and iterate” mindset. Having goals allows you to build a plan and make an educated decision about what your next steps should be. This is the “launch” part. Iterating, which is equally important, comes into play when reality opens your eyes to an opportunity or priority shift you couldn’t have foreseen. Your goals are not written in stone. Seize these moments of realizations as opportunities to update your goals to match your new understanding of yourself and the world.

Stephany Yong (she/her)

Stephany Yong (she/her) is a Product Manager at Glossier, formerly at Facebook, and Head of Marketing at Women of Silicon Valley. Prior to Facebook, she worked at Instagram, YouTube, and Box. The proud daughter of two immigrant engineers, she cares deeply about creating equal access to educational resources especially in STEM and celebrating the stories of strong, inspiring women.

After graduating from college in 2016, Stephany moved to San Francisco, where she spends her free time exploring the city’s food scene, hiking around the Bay Area, and rooting for her hometown LA Lakers.

1. When did you know that you wanted to work in tech?

Going into college, I didn’t have much prior exposure to Silicon Valley and the tech industry. I actually spent most of my free time in high school writing for the school yearbook and wanted to pursue a career in journalism.

During freshman orientation at Stanford, there were dinnertime conversations where kids were casually talked about their startup ideas or which systems engineering class they were taking. I was intimidated by those discussions and wasn’t sure if there was a place for someone like me in tech.

Nevertheless, I still wanted to learn more about the startup scene, so I got an internship at a startup called Pixlee, which at the time was based out of the Stanford startup accelerator. After class, I would take a bus to their office, where I worked on marketing and copywriting. After a quarter of interning there, I was absolutely enamored. I got to work with some of the most intelligent, humble, and scrappy people I had ever met, and had a front-row seat to a founding team finding product-market fit and raising their seed round.

Through that experience, I began to draw parallels between the product development cycle — of deeply understanding a people problem and building a solution — with what I loved most about journalism, which was getting to the core of what people care about and creating a compelling story around it. From there, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in tech.

2. Who is a role model that you look up to?

My mom. When she was 17, she moved from Shanghai to West Virginia by herself to live with her uncle and went on to study Electrical Engineering in college. She shared her love of math with me, stressed the importance of doing things in a principled manner (i.e. show your work), and taught me that although you can’t control the hand you were dealt, you can move forward and build what you can with what you have.

My mom is a wonderful role model of a woman that can hack, sew, build, and run anything she wants to, whether it was maintaining our household, fixing up one of the apartments she manages with my dad, rewiring the piping in my bathroom, or helping me construct a trebuchet for my high school physics class. She embodies what a female engineer is in my eyes — determined, resilient, and a humble problem solver.

3. Where is your hometown?

Chino Hills, CA.

4. What is a challenge that you’ve faced and how did you handle it?

In navigating my career, I’ve encountered imposter syndrome at almost every turn — whether it was when I decided to switch my major to computer science late into college (facing the internal dialogue of — wait, programming doesn’t come naturally to me), or when I was applying to PM jobs (wait, I don’t have any formal software engineering experience), or when I started out as a full-time PM at Facebook after college (wait, I feel severely under-qualified to lead this very talented team).

I’m still very much a work in progress on this front, but I’ve been lucky to have amazing mentors and managers who have seen the best in me even when it was not entirely clear to me if I was good enough — they’ve pushed me to speak up more, go for promotions, and take on increased scope.

5. What is something that you are proud of?

I was working at Box the summer before my junior year in product marketing. I loved the people and the company, but I wanted a role that centered more on building products. I had lunch with a senior female product manager (PM) at the company, and she told me that in order to break into product management, I would need to have a strong technical background in computer science. Although I’ve since learned that great PMs come from various backgrounds (including non-technical), at the time I took this advice at face value.

For someone who likes to plan out everything, switching majors halfway into college into an engineering discipline was severely out of my comfort zone. Although I enjoyed the handful of computer science classes I had taken to get my feet wet, coding didn’t come naturally to me. It took a lot of work for me to overcome that fear of failure, but once I set my sights out on pursuing a career in product, I went all in.

For two years, I played catch up and took extra classes, which led to long hours in the library and at office hours. But looking back, it was well worth it — in the process, I ended up taking some of my favorite classes at Stanford in human-centered design that reaffirmed how I wanted to build consumer-facing products. Later that fall when I passed the technical Google Associate Product Management interview, it affirmed that I had the chops to be a PM at a tech company.

6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?

This idea of living life at your own pace. I think there’s this meme around turning 30 (especially for women) that you need to be at a certain place both personally and professionally. And once you pair that with Silicon Valley culture, where you’re constantly bombarded with stories of a founder of X having accomplished Y by the age of Z, that pressure to hit targets by a certain age seem even stronger.

I think it’s important to bring into perspective that our careers span several decades and that it’s ok to make decisions that maximize for long-term growth, as opposed to immediate payouts. It’s something I’m actively working on, but getting rid of superficially imposed timelines seems like a good first step.

7. Favorite food?

Clam chowder. I’ve yet to encounter a clam chowder that I haven’t enjoyed, whether it be in a cup, in bread bowl, or from a can.

8. Mac or PC?

Mac

9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?

I’ve gotten into a few lifestyle podcasts lately, so I would try out being a podcaster. The podcast in question would be some cross between Armchair Expert and We Met At Acme.

10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?

You’re a lot more resilient and capable than you give yourself credit for. You have as much of a right to be where you are as anyone else; while you should be self-aware of your shortcomings, don’t downplay your strengths. And on a slightly unrelated note, the Lakers are going to suck for the next few years; do not feel obliged to become a bandwagon Warriors fan.

Clarissa Bukhan (she/her)

Clarissa (she/her) is a Strategic Partner Development Manager at Google and Editor-in-Chief at Women of Silicon Valley. Prior to Google, she was an early member of the business development teams at Box and Optimizely. She is passionate about advancing the role of women in technology through education and storytelling. Before Women of Silicon Valley, her work in this field included serving as a committee member of the Box Women’s Network and as a mentor to female high school entrepreneurs through BUILD.org.

Outside of work, she can often be found reading, traveling, chasing around her two young kids, or sometimes trying to do all three at once.

1. When did you decide you wanted to be in the tech industry?

After graduating from college, my original intention was to work in journalism. I took a job with a company that produced “advertorial” reports (which are basically sponsored articles) for international newspapers. We got to live in a different country every 4 months, which was a dream, but the way that work got done at that company was very old-school. We faxed contracts back and forth and kept track of calls, contacts, and calendars on paper. A good percentage of our work day was spent managing these administrative tasks.

At the end of my first year there, we found ourselves in the middle of the recession, and the company was struggling. I came back to San Francisco and figured I’d do something short-term until I found a role that I was really passionate about, so I took an entry-level job at a startup. At that company, I was suddenly introduced to a whole new world of technology — CRMs to manage contacts, e-signature tools to manage contract signing, collaborative calendars, and shared drives. I realized how technology had the power to change the way that work gets done. From then on, I was hooked and have worked in tech ever since.

2. Who’s one person in your life you looked up to when you were younger?

My grandmother was a pretty phenomenal person. She grew up in the Philippines and came to the US in the 1950s to pursue her Masters degree in banking at Columbia University in New York. There weren’t many women pursuing advanced degrees in business at the time, and I imagine that there were still far less that were foreign/international students, but she did it.

She ended up meeting my grandfather during her time in New York and went on to raise 10 children. As someone who became a mom for the first time just two years ago, I can’t even fathom the physical and mental toll that carrying, birthing, and raising that many children must have taken on her, but she did it.

She was a wonderful mother and became the matriarch of our huge, crazy family. She passed away a couple of years ago, but every time this whole parenthood thing gets tough (which is often), I find inspiration in thinking of her.

3. Where’s your hometown?

San Francisco, CA.

4. What’s a time you faced a struggle?

One of the most challenging periods I’ve been through recently started in October 2015. My uncle Rocky, the youngest of my mom’s siblings, went in for a fairly standard surgery and unfortunately did not survive. A couple of weeks later, my aunt, uncle, and grandmother (from the same side of the family) were involved in a tragic car accident, which took my grandmother’s life. We lost 2 loved ones, unexpectedly, within a one month period. For a family as close as ours, this was a huge blow.

At the time, I also happened to be pregnant with my first child, working full-time, and attending my first year of business school at UC Berkeley’s evening/weekend program, so there was a lot going on. I was managing feelings of grief, on top of the physical (and emotional) discomforts of pregnancy, while trying to stay afloat at both work and school. As an introvert by nature, I tend to turn inward when I need to process things. I prefer to handle difficult situations on my own, rather than talking it out or asking for help. However, this time I literally could not manage alone.

I found comfort in leaning on my family, who were coping with the same experience of loss, but were still somehow able to bring some levity to those long days spent in ICU waiting rooms. At work, my manager and colleagues were supportive and gave me the flexibility to take as much time off as I needed. At school, my study group stepped up for me and made sure that our work was taken care of in my absence. As someone who doesn’t often ask for help, this experience reminded me of the importance of community, and of giving and accepting help from those around you.

5. What’s a time you did something you were immensely proud of?

I had a proud moment recently, while I was on maternity leave with my son. My husband and I were in the process of buying our first house and were hoping to get a specific type of loan. Ten minutes after filling out the preliminary paperwork, I received a call telling me in a very dismissive tone, “Yeah, that loan isn’t going to be an option for you.”

I was shocked and asked how they had come to that conclusion so quickly. The loan officer told me, “You’re on maternity leave. We can’t qualify you unless you go back to work before closing.” The closing was in 4 weeks and I still had 2 months of leave left with my son. I was floored. It was the first time that I had felt the sting of discrimination for being a parent. It felt wrong, so I instinctively pushed back.

Who were they to assume that I might not come back to work after maternity leave? Why was the fact that I had a baby preventing us from getting a loan that we were fully qualified for financially? Were they saying that if I’d had my son one month earlier, this wouldn’t have been an issue? How was that fair? Was this even legal?

It turns out, it wasn’t. I did some research and found the specific law that protects people from being discriminated against in real estate transactions due to familial status. I shared that with her and told her I wanted to speak with whomever the ultimate decision maker on the matter would be. After much back and forth, things ended up working out in our favor and we qualified for the loan.

I was proud of the fact that I had refused to accept that initial decision, had listened to that gut feeling that told me it was a biased outcome, and had held my ground. It seems like a small win, but honestly, a couple of years ago, I don’t know that I would have had the wherewithal to question a decision that seemed so final.

6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?

I recently returned to work after my second maternity leave, and it’s prompted me to think a lot about how to lead a balanced life. There’s a lot of fodder about whether working moms can “have it all,” but I think that’s the wrong question. It’s not about being the ultimate PTA parent while climbing the career ladder to the very top, the real question is — what is the right balance *for me* to feel fulfillment in both my family life and my work life? The answer to that is nuanced and likely different for every working parent. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what that answer is for myself.

7. Favorite food?

Having grown up in San Francisco, I have to say that Dungeness crab is probably my all-time favorite food.

8. Favorite book?

Reading has long been my favorite hobby, so I have a lot of favorites! I love fiction and find myself particularly drawn to books with offbeat (often “unlikeable”) protagonists, so a few favorites are A Confederacy of Dunces, Ask the Dust, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and Everything is Illuminated.

9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?

I’ve always wanted to be a journalist, so I would love to try that out for a day.

10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?

You don’t *always* have to make the smart, pragmatic choice. Some of your greatest adventures will come from decisions that you make on impulse, so embrace spontaneity and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Raquel Small (she/her)

Raquel Small (she/her) is a Paralegal at Google on the Litigation team and Head of Community for Women of Silicon Valley. She is also a newly minted Master of Communication Management from the University of Southern California.

Originally from the NYC area, she is the child of a proud Jamaican mother and a Panamanian father, and she believes empowering women and people of color is the only way to make society better.

In her very limited free time, she likes to bake, try new restaurants, and exercise because of all the baking and dismantling of the patriarchy. She currently lives in San Francisco with her husband Eric and her cat Foxy Cleopatra.

1. When did you know that you wanted to work in tech?

I have always been interested in technology. When I was in high school I was big in the Live Journal community and taught myself HTML, PaintShop Pro and a bit of CSS so that I could sell journal templates. I spent an inordinate amount of time on the Internet and always assumed that I’d have a job that was related to it. When I got to college, I took some pre-law classes since I was dead-set on becoming a lawyer at the time. One class in particular, Cyberlaw, completely changed my life. The class was all about the law surrounding the Internet and specifically about how far the law lagged behind. After that class, I knew that I wanted to be an intellectual property lawyer specializing in copyright law on the Internet.

2. Who is a role model that you look up to?

My mother is the most amazing woman I know. She came to America from Jamaica at only 12 years old, completely alone, to live with her aunt and uncle. By age 15, she was completely supporting herself and eventually landed a job at the United Nations where she’s been for almost 40 years.

She worked herself to the bone to put me into the best schools and extracurriculars and taught me to work hard and never take anything in this life for granted. Currently, she is working in Sierra Leone for a few months and has spent several months in the Philippines, Georgia, and Zambia helping to build women’s health centers. She is the most fearless woman I know and always taught me that independence is a woman’s greatest asset.

3. Where is your hometown?

I was born in New York City but grew up in a small town right outside of it called Englewood, New Jersey. Sometimes it’s hard for me to admit that I’m a Jersey girl but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate it. We have amazing beaches, thousands of malls and the best Taylor Ham, egg and cheeses you’ll ever have. I even got married on the Jersey Shore (not the fist-pumping part).

4. What is a challenge that you’ve faced and how did you handle it?

After studying for the LSATs four times and actually working up the nerve to take the test twice, I applied to law school in 2014. I applied to eight schools, but got rejected from nearly all of my top choices. My whole life, I had been told how smart I was, what a great lawyer I would be, and I truly believed that I had checked all the right boxes and taken all the right steps to achieve that goal. In hindsight, that was an incredible amount of hubris on my part.

Getting rejected from the top schools essentially shattered my dream of being a lawyer, which was something that I’d held on to for over 10 years. I did get into some schools and I could have chosen to go to those, but a small voice inside of me told me “this isn’t right”. I had worked so hard for this moment and I wanted it to be completely perfect. I was unwilling to accept anything less, so I decided to listen to that tiny voice and not go after all. It was immensely scary to give up on something I had put so much of my time and resources into, but I know it was the right move.

At some point, the dream transitioned more into a status symbol than something I actually wanted to do. In my job, I worked with lawyers daily and saw how much they loved their role — which was something that I never felt. In hindsight, I had plenty of signs along the way that law school wasn’t for me, but I chose to ignore them because I thought it was part of my “process”. I struggled for a long time with feeling like I had failed (which was honestly a new sensation for me) but in the end, I know I made the right decision.

5. What is something that you are immensely proud of?

I am immensely proud of receiving my Masters of Communications Management from USC this past May. After the whole law school debacle, I re-grouped and decided to get my Masters in something that felt more familiar to me — Communications. In reflecting on why I chose not to go to law school, I realized that whatever career I chose needed to be something that my personality fit into, not the other way around. While I’m sure I would have been a fine lawyer, I think I would have always felt like a square peg in a round hole.

Getting my Masters while working full-time was one of the most time-consuming, emotional things I’d ever done. Working in litigation, the job is extremely deadline driven and there were times when I would work a 13 hour day only to turn around and have to work on a paper due that night. It pushed me to my mental, emotional, and physical limits at many different points, but somehow, I made it through.

6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?

I have been thinking a lot about self-care. It has become such a buzzword lately that it seems like it’s lost a lot of its meaning. I read an article recently that said something to the effect that if you find yourself looking for ways to self-care constantly, maybe it’s time to rethink your life. Self-care is meant to be a momentary relief from a crazy situation, not a way to escape your daily life. I’m trying to look for more ways to have the kind of life that I don’t need self-care from.

7. Favorite food?

Pizza — it’s good even when it’s bad.

8. Favorite book?

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. The protagonist of the story, Francie, always showed such resilience much like the titular tree that grows through concrete. I’ve read it four times and always find some new nuggets of wisdom.

9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?

Growing up, my dream was always to be a tornado chaser after I saw the movie Twister. I loved science when I was younger but it fell out of favor for me once I realized how much math was involved. Tornado chasing is incredibly dangerous but there is something about the high-risk, high reward nature of it and being that close to something so deadly that always excited me. I think it’s why I like rollercoasters so much!

10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?

Just do it the right way — not the quick way. It’s tempting to want to just get things over with and move on to the next more exciting thing but if I have learned one thing over the years, it’s that the process is the reward. There are so many things that I missed out on because I was just looking to leave the job or hand in the test that I get upset when I think about how I didn’t take advantage of those opportunities to learn and grow. It feels torturous in the moment, but it really does yield better results.

Sheree Haggan (she/her)

Sheree Haggan is a Staffing Services Associate Lead at Google. She embraces an authentic voice as an empathetic advocate of diversity. She is an out and proud biracial lesbian, who aims to rekindle kindness in humanity through strategic event planning with transformational content and leveraging strong and diverse partnerships within the tech community.

She has worked in the mental health field as a life coach, in academia as a Multi-Cultural Program Coordinator, and has spent the past few years working to improve opportunities for underrepresented populations within her role at Google.

1. When did you know you wanted to be in tech?

My brother Sayid submitted my resume to tech companies when I was job hunting for a diversity role in academia. He saw my potential in the tech industry before I did. When I received an email that Google wanted to interview me for a role in People Operations, I decided to move forward purely to practice my interviewing skills, but I felt that the tech industry was out of my realm of expertise.

The moment I saw myself finding purpose in the tech industry was while reading Work Rules by Laszlo Bock, in preparation for my first interview. Suddenly, I was no longer interviewing for practice, rather to fulfill my purpose. Laszlo says, “If your goals are ambitious and crazy enough, even failure will be a pretty good achievement.” So, even if I didn’t get the offer, I knew I had to give it my best.

2. Who is a role model that you look up to?

My older sister has been a lifelong (s)hero for me. They say you can’t be what you can’t see. I could never see my own potential, so my sister has always been the person to show me who I could become.

As a child, I had a speech impediment. I was made fun of when I spoke, so I made the mistake of not speaking and was highly introspective. My sister became my voice and safe harbor until I found the strength and ability to speak my truth. I went through speech therapy, studied Communication, and was able to get the resources that I needed to tell my story. She not only brought me along, but involved me equally. I walk in her footsteps daily, using my voice to advocate for those without one.

Andrea Gibson has a poem where she says, “Fear is only a verb if you let it be.” My sister taught me that emotions are messengers meant to tell us something. Fear is meant to inform us and keep us safe. Sometimes, it misunderstands situations. Fear does not understand the difference between a situation that will grow us vs. break us. So, rather than take fear for face value, we have to use discretion and filter the fear with logic. Humans are unique in that we have the ability to operate with intellect whereas animals operate with instinct.

When I was afraid to speak, my sister taught me that fear is natural. She talked me through the fear and helped me discover that my fear was rooted in a false understanding of the situation and that the risk of not speaking held a stronger consequence than the risk of speaking and messing up. It was a total paradigm shift for me. Now, I crave public speaking because I know the power and impact of my own voice.

3. Where is your hometown?

I was born and raised in Southern Idaho. It is a small and conservative town. My family was one of very few black families in the community. We experienced a lot of racism. People filled my brother’s locker with KKK posters in high school, they wrote “n*gger” all over my campaign posters when I was running for student body President, and my dad was fired from his job solely because of the color of his skin. It was a tough place to be raised, but it taught me so much about privilege and oppression. I know what it’s like to be different, but I was also raised so conservatively that I know what’s it’s like to not know difference as well. This lens has allowed me to have empathy for people who do not know better and hold those who do accountable.

4. What’s a challenge you’ve faced in your career journey?

Coming from a low income close-knit family, every day away from them is a struggle. Sometimes I feel like I am choosing a career over experiencing life with my family. I miss out on a lot. I missed the birth of my nephew, countless birthdays, and so many everyday memories. With every visit, I am watching my parents and nephews age and realizing the great sacrifice I am making. However, I have to make these sacrifices so that future generations in our family can have and do more. I learned a term called “transitional character”. It is the person in the family who, in one generation, changes the course of the family’s lineage.

I come from a family who works very hard. However, I also come from a lineage where poverty, obesity, addiction, and a lack of education were all too common. My sisters and I have decided to change that for our children. I studied and worked hard to attend and graduate from college. I have one sister who is a nurse and another who is a Marriage and Family Therapist. I am very proud of who we have become and the impact we will continue to have. I have always had a job and a side hustle. I have to take risks because I didn’t give up living a life close to my family for mediocrity; even if mediocrity by society’s standards is better than the life that my family had before.

So, on top of working at Google, I’m currently writing a book and developing a speaking career. I am refining my character daily and challenging myself to be more kind, tenacious, and creative. It is hard. Sometimes I want to pack up my things and move to Idaho to live a simple life. However, when I think of my nephews, nieces, and the children that I hope to have — I remember that I was blessed with the responsibility and capability to transform their lives, and I choose to stay.

5. Describe a time you were proud of yourself.

I kissed a girl for the first time at age 14. My entire world changed. I had a closeted relationship for a few years and when we broke up due to religion, it was one of the most painful things I had ever experienced because it was not only my first heartbreak — but I had to suffer it alone.

I grappled with my sexual orientation and decided to try to change. I became immersed in church and thought that if I tried hard enough, maybe I could be attracted to men. I thought it was working, when in reality it was just that I hadn’t come across another girl that I was attracted to.

In college, I found myself attracted to a girl and it terrified me. All the years of trying to fight the way I felt and one girl walks into the room and it felt like it was all for nothing. I met with a friend who gave me several pages of Bible verses to meditate on. I did and the next week, the feelings I had toward this girl only intensified.

I had a choice to make. I chose to live my truth. I asked for her to stand by me when I came out. I knew what my life was but did not know what it would become. I mourned the loss of my friends, family, straight privilege, and the persona I had created. However, now I find joy in learning about and living freely as the person who I truly am. I am proud of myself every single time I choose to live my truth, knowing that it comes at a cost.

6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?

The ability to choose joy in what you do.

I carry a lot of responsibility. I feel I am the one who will transform my family financially. There is freedom in financial stability. I aim to provide my family and future generations with that freedom. So, sometimes I have taken jobs that I am not happy doing with the belief that it’ll be worth it because it is a ‘stepping stone’. However, I’m realizing that in doing work that I am not passionate about, I am not maximizing my potential. I can advance 10x faster doing what I love, even if it is a temporary setback. I suppose it is like a slingshot approach. One step back so I can spring 10 steps forward. So this year, I am focused on taking purposeful risks and not compromising joy and my passion for a stepping stone. I prefer to sling shot over stepping stones.

7. Favorite food?

Pão de Queijo is my addiction. It is a Brazillian cheese bread.

8. Mac or PC?

Mac.

9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?

I’ve always wanted to be a speech coach for people who are struggling to own their voice. I believe that the best speakers are those who are most afraid to speak. They have spent a lifetime listening — and it is from them that I feel the most wisdom is housed. I’d like to help provide the tools and develop the skills necessary to give power and a platform to those who fear public speaking the most.

10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?

Loving people does not mean giving them full access to your life. Sometimes the best way to love toxic people is to cut them out completely. There are people who take our joy and then there are those who amplify it. I wish at 18, I would have surrounded myself solely with those who amplify joy.

Xiomara Contreras (she/her)

Read this article on Medium.

Xiomara Contreras is an Associate Product Marketing Manager at Google where she builds strategies and campaigns for the small business team. Her work focuses on increasing the number of multicultural businesses that are online by helping them grow with Google products. She graduated from Northwestern University with a major in Communication Studies and a minor in Latina/o Studies. She is a proud Chicagoan and attended a boarding school in Concord, Massachusetts. Xiomara is also a first generation college student, and the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She is interested in the intersection of social justice, education, and technology. You can find her painting, drawing, writing memoirs, learning to do digital drawings, and volunteering with organizations the that helped her get to where she is today, including High Jump Chicago, the Daniel Murphy Scholarship fund, and the Pullman Foundation.

1. When did you know you wanted to be in tech?

I never decided that I wanted to be in the tech industry. I thought it was only for engineers and did not think about the business side. I was undecided in college about my career goals, so I applied to the Management Leaders for Tomorrow program to develop professionally and find internship opportunities. My MLT coach pushed me to apply to tech companies, even though I did not believe I had anything to offer to the industry. I knew little about it and was not sure if I would find my passions there. Even so, because of her encouragement, I applied to several tech roles, including the Google BOLD internship. This lead me to a full-time role in marketing, where I am still learning a lot and tackling daily challenges. I am curious to see where my tech and marketing experience takes me in the years to come.

2. Who is a role model that you look up to?

My older sister. Growing up, she faced a lot of obstacles, teachers gave up on her and some of our family members had low expectations of her. Through all of her struggles, my sister was always there for me — taking me to school, cooking food for us, and standing up for me. I was in middle school when she moved out of the house, but she still checked in on me and my little sister. She worked after school and on weekends to help our family, and to support herself now that she was not living with us.

When the local community college kept putting her in remedial courses, she made the choice to do a medical assistant program. Although the program put her in debt, she pushed forward and made what she could from it. I’ve learned from her to stand my ground, be loud, fight, and not let others step on me. Now, she is the mother of two beautiful children that have changed my life, and everyday I wonder how she does it.

3. Where is your hometown?

Chicago.

4. What’s a challenge you’ve faced in your career journey?

I had some difficult years in high school. I attended a boarding school in Massachusetts, starting at the age of 14, and had to adjust to a predominantly white and wealthy institution. I was behind in my education and no longer felt intelligent. Though I had supportive teachers and friends who wanted me to succeed, I still felt like I did not deserve to be there. Why were they dropping over 50K a year on me? I was also weary of sharing my home life with my peers, almost ashamed of where I came from.

During my sophomore year my mother and stepfather divorced, leading to a downward spiral of emotions and financial trouble. During my junior year, my mother got into a car accident, which left her unable to work for a year, and later she could only work a few days per week. I moved five times during high school because of our financial struggles, and during my senior year we were evicted from my grandmother’s house, and then had to figure out how to pay for funeral expenses for both my great grandmother and grandfather within a span of four months.

I felt guilty that nine months out of the year I had stability — a room and three meals a day. Through all of this, I somehow came out of my shell during my junior year and I found strength in my family. I learned that sticking together prevented us from hitting rock bottom; living in cramped apartments with other family members, getting help from my other grandfather, and making sacrifices for one another. Through all my worrying, my mother assured me that things would be okay and that I had to focus on my education. She wanted nothing to get in my way.

5. Describe a time you were proud of yourself.

My proudest moment was giving the graduation speech at the Latinx student congratulatory in college. I was honored to have been nominated and to speak to these beautiful families. Many people in the room were first generation college students, immigrants, and working class people. It was so special to see them in a room celebrating something so revolutionary, so against what this country expected from us. When I gave my speech, I shared my grandmother’s and my mother’s stories. I cried and the audience cried with me. Instead of feeling embarrassed, I felt community and support. I gave the speech in both Spanish and English. I was proud to have been a product of this collective love, of sacrifices, of dreams handed down to children, and of people who chose not to forget where they came from.

6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?

Mental health in communities of color, access to resources, and destigmatization. How do we make sure we are not over medicating Black and Brown kids with ADHD, but also make sure they are being recognized and served? How do we open up conversations about depression and anxiety and overcome generational differences and provide free therapy and access to medication? What is the balance here?

7. Favorite food?

My abuelita’s mole rojo.

8. Mac or PC?

Mac.

9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?

Eighth grade teacher.

10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?

You are worthy. You are an asset in any room you step into. You are more than your academics. You deserve a break. You need to take care of your mind and body. It is okay to fail. It is okay to not always be strong and let yourself cry and let others hear you cry. You are not everyone’s rock.