Permanent Stability and Other Fairytales We Tell Ourselves

Permanent Stability Can Be Achieved? Being laid off at my first job out of college was the biggest blessing. I appreciate it in hindsight because it taught me that it was impossible to have life figured out and to accept that as fact not feeling. This helped me rewire my brain to no longer associate…

Politicians Are Politicizing the Mon Valley’s Poverty

Yesterday I spoke in front of approximately 300 US Steel workers and supporters to give insight on what a three billion dollar investment deal would mean to the Mon Valley, and specifically my neighborhood. I also spoke about what a decrease in investment in the neighborhood cost and it’s about more than jobs. People are…

Bravery, Burnout or Both?

After almost 10 years of accidentally falling into tech, I quit! I got laid off after giving a company 9 and a half years of my life and looked at my 401k and saw the lack of sustainability when it came to a retirement plan I tried to make the new job work but it…

The Other “B” Word

Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “The only thing constant is change,” and as a millennial who has been through several recessions, 9/11, and a global pandemic all before 40, I embrace the chaos now. I no longer believe in once-in-a-lifetime experiences and if some of us had more money I’d suggest that we all collectively play…

4 Years

Four Years ago the world shut down. I remember that February I had just gotten home from New Orleans celebrating my birthday and my biggest worry was how and when was VRBO going to compensate me as that’s the trip where the rental was infested with fleas. This was before I had a dog so…

Tech Talk & Why There’s So Few Women in STEM

A study was released this January and its results should stun absolutely no one. The study revealed that of the 25% of women working in tech, minority women are less than 10% of it. 5% of women in tech were Asian. Black women only represented 3% while Hispanics made up less at just 1%. I…

Finding My Why

“People don’t buy what you do they buy why you do it.” Author and entrepreneur Simon Sinek spoke so eloquently in his 2009 Ted Talk. As a connoisseur quote collector, that stuck. I may have forgotten the other words in the talk but Mr. Sinek was in his bag when he wrote that one down….

My Top 3 Reads of 2023 & What They Taught Me

On my 2023 Bingo Board was to read more. And this year’s theme was quality, not quantity. I wanted to pick up some books that I could think about, and I accomplished that with a few fillers in between. If I had to pick my favorite three books that were new to me (as I’ll…

Gamifying Goals: Checking in on My 2023 Bingo Board

“Winning isn’t everything,” is great but winning something sure feels good and that’s why I gamify my goals. After surviving 2019 and 2020 even the little wins we create for ourselves feel good. In January, I decided to randomly put resolutions on a Bingo Card, thanks to good ‘ol Canva. Occasionally I check in on…