October 13, 2023 — As a leader, you not only need to figure out your own work/life balance but also ensure that you’re modeling the right behavior to those you manage and lead. Or at least do your best not to accidentally model a harmful one. This can be tricky under normal circumstances for a typical person… but how do you go from fully multi-office-bound to involuntarily fully remote for years with the unexpected curveball of a proposed remote-forward but hybrid solution just when you’re getting used to the former?!

A woman in tech leadership, an immigrant from a somewhat different cultural background than most of my team to begin with and now with a bonus of many other cultures mixed in, likely in a different place in life than most of the people I lead: how did I learn to better understand and empathize with people who rely on me for leadership but live a different kind of life.
I made mistakes and so will you, but hopefully my list will help you avoid some big ones in the future.

April 27, 2023 — Sapevo che crescere un bambino sarebbe stato un’avventura, ma non immaginavo che avrebbe impattato così tanto su di me, e di riflesso sul mio lavoro di sviluppatrice. Eccomi quindi a raccontare la mia personale esperienza di crescita professionale, per dare coraggio a wannabe genitori e offrire qualche spunto di riflessione a datori di lavoro.

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December 18, 2022 — Affrontare qualcosa di nuovo, come contribuire a WordPress o fare un cambiamento di carriera, non è sempre facile per le persone oltre una certa età. Parlo per esperienza! Ho iniziato a contribuire al progetto globale di WordPress nel 2015 all’età di 41 anni senza avere esperienze precedenti con progetti Open Source. All’età di 45 anni, sono stata la co-lead di due release major di WordPress.org. E a 47 anni, ho iniziato una nuova carriera con XWP.

All’inizio è terrificante, soprattutto in un mondo che richiede ai giovani lauree, master, specializzazioni, e tirocini. Tuttavia, ho capito che anche le competenze della “scuola della vita”, come la gestione di progetti e team in settori molto diversi tra di loro o l’agenda di una famiglia, sono preziose.

In questo talk, condividerò ciò che ho imparato negli ultimi dieci anni, quando ho iniziato a dare un’orientamento diverso alla mia vita, in una fase considerata relativamente avanzata soprattutto nel settore tech.
Spero che i questi suggerimenti aiuteranno le persone in situazioni simili a sapere cosa aspettarsi lungo il percorso e le incoraggeranno ad affrontare la loro prossima sfida.

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January 17, 2020 — Since founded in 2003, WordPress has touched millions of lives and businesses. Young and old people have learned skills that have connected them to jobs and opportunities they never thought they could have. Businesses have been created, innovations of plugins and apps have also been birthed. Telling our WordPress stories will inspire the next generation.

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October 1, 2019

January 6, 2019 — How I regained strength and confidence after having to deal with the consequences of my biggest fear: REJECTION.

If you struggle with imposter syndrome and are afraid of being rejected, this talk is for you! Also, I might mention ‘borrels’ 😉 #shareyourrejections

December 10, 2017 — I used to be really embarrassed of my story. I worked really hard to learn what “normal” looked like so I could act that way. I lived from the webpages of Urban Dictionary, hours of MTV’s reality shows and TLC’s “What NOT to Wear”. I obsessed about what I said to people but I never really mastered the ability of stopping myself from blurting out strange things. I obsessed over whether I was invited to things. I was desperate to fit in.

This desperation to be “normal” and fit in is something that I kept trying to do in every area of my life.

When I began interning as a UX designer for an agency, I obsessed over whether my designs were cool or fit in with the right trends. When I got involved with marketing, I signed up for course after course to figure out how to market the right way. I spent my life copying other people’s methods.

Then I got to know people in the WordPress Community. I noticed how unique each person was and I noticed how these differences were celebrated. I felt at home, even though no one else acted like me. I started following a lady called “Bridget Willard”. She claimed anyone could be a guru. She fascinated me. She helped me learn to embrace my own story.

I quit caring about what was “normal” or what I was doing “right” and I started being myself. I stopped being ashamed that I was born Amish or that I’m a single mom. This didn’t mean I started sharing EVERYTHING from my life, but I did make it a point to do everything from my heart. I asked myself how I felt about things. I started trusting my own gut.

Today I’m building a brand with my cousin and friend, Urban Southern. We’re weaving our story into this brand. We were both born Amish and we have both struggled to embrace our heritage but now we do. We focus on sharing real life moments. We make our own videos for our ads with our iPhones. We post fun stories on Instagram every Friday to share about our process and favorite memories from our childhood. People are loving it! The results are pretty cool so far. Within four months of launching our revised brand, we were invited to New York Fashion Week in the Spring of 2017. We are currently collaborating with Vintage Vogue in Paris.

Before my cousin and I started working together, she was presenting the brand as a very generic leather goods brand. We went from selling a total of 45 leather items in a year and a half, to now selling more than 45 leather bags in our slowest month since we’ve begun to work together and getting personal with our brand.

I’m personally much happier and I’ve had cool opportunities for my art career as well. I painted live for an event with the City of Denver this Spring and shared my story publicly. Now I’m headed to Uganda this month to paint murals in a school.

It doesn’t matter who you are, you have a unique story to tell or a unique way of solving problems. What you already have inside of you and in your life experience is exactly what you need to do what you want to do in the world. Use it.

November 22, 2017 — El Growth Hacking está de moda. Hay cientos de aplicaciones y utilidades para hacer crecer tu comunidad. ¿Pero por qué usar otras herramientas si WordPress es lo suficientemente potente para ello¿. Veremos el uso de WordPress para hacer crecer tu comunidad ayudados de Landing Pages, MicroSites y alguna que otra sorpresa. Espero que sea lo más práctica posible y el que salga sin aprender algo tienen los cafés en la WordCamp pagados.

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June 29, 2017 — Working with abstract things like the web can sometimes be demotivating. Remote work with no colleagues to talk to can make matters even worse. I’ve always considered myself a developer, but over the years I’ve also been a consultant, an agency founder/CEO and now a team leader. Even though I love development, with different roles and different clients and projects it sometimes has been a struggle to find motivation to continuously do my best. I will share what I have learned how to cope with the pressure, focus on stuff that matters, and finding meaning and motivation in my work.

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February 4, 2017 — This is the story of how I became involved with WordPress, and the WordPress community, and also how attending WordCamp Sydney 2014 changed my life.

It will give examples of how giving back to WordPress can be beneficial in many ways, and also hopefully inspire those just embarking on their WordPress journey to follow their dreams, and maybe even some tidbits for seasoned WordPressers.

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