Design and Culture Thoughts of the Day

They say, "know your value" but what does that mean? Hopefully it doesn't mean comparing myself to a mule and selling myself?! Of course not. But how do you quantify your value? How do you know what kind of impact your work has made? I'm going to break down the following brilliant and on-point article into simpler, more approachable steps-- or habits or thought processes rather than steps. It's an excellent article, but there's a problem with it. It uses experienced corporate language to explain simple things, and this makes it unapproachable for recent grads, and those inexperienced with business and the corporate world. So-- let's begin de-coding. Research Your Market Value My value? Ew. I don't give anyone else the right to determine my value. This article is encouraging me to determine it for myself. I have to know how much money I want to make or someone is going to low-ball me. How do I know? People want to keep money in their own pockets

Bay Area Womxn in Games constantly works to include transwomen and has a spectacular board of advisors from a variety of backgrounds. We are open to new leadership. Here's one example of how we have striven to include speakers of all backgrounds, despite the closed-minded tendency of sponsors and other organizations. I'm responsible for the first 2 years of the Bay Area Womxn in Games conference. When we partnered up with Women in Games International (WIGI) we were thrilled to finally meet our goal after 2 years of independent organizing. We were going to meet the organization that started it all, who inspired us to create a local organization in the first place, and they invited us to their board meeting. However, as we attended a few meetings, the conversations became more and more depressing. The people who were elected to be leaders did not know how to lead. After all, you have a team of unpaid volunteers. Let them be motivated to contribute the way that their natural s

Let's face it. When you're looking for work in the industry of your dreams, it's really easy to think wishfully. No one wants to suspect that so many start-up companies are here to rip you off. Sometimes you don't plan on working for free, but you end up working for free.  How does that happen? Start-ups are notorious for looking for young people who have no problem working for free. If you don't have rent to pay and just love to code, you may be completely fine working for free. And start-ups know that. They wishfully think that this type of person is you.  They may also ignore and avoid your subtle attempts to discuss money and negotiate contracts with you as well. You may feel rude asking about money, and you may trust that they're going to do what's right and pay you. This kind of trust is tragically dangerous. So let's look at some warning signs at when a company expects you to work for free, and are so eager to get the app built, that the

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Sometimes before starting a project, you have to emotionally unpack. It's hard to stand up and do a talk when you're carrying baggage from your past career endeavors. You just feel like you're hiding something. My former self, a young early-20-something, knew it all along. I wouldn't want to tell my past self what I've gone through. I wouldn't want to discourage her. Honestly, it's okay, and I'm fine. But here's the depressing truth (that a worried and pessimistic recent college grad could predict)-- most of the previous projects on my resume that I can use to bolster my credentials were lead by corrupt leaders. All of them men. It's hard for me to talk about Gameheads because I don't want to think about the problems that the organization's culture had, how that kept me from contributing, and what I now know about the leadership there. Honestly, I can't say much about it without overstepping my bounds in a problematic way. Onl

Being a freelancer is no longer feasible. I'm completely jaded about every corporate job at Facebook or Google. They don't want people like me. They don't want people who are creative or think for themselves. They want people who fit... the Mold. I'm a dynamic person and I deserve my own business. My thoughts on starting a business before starting one: 1. Why go through the trouble of starting your own company when there are so many out there you can join?  Well, see my previous posts on that one. Company cultures, personalities and attitudes, inability to make a real living or a real wage. Still pissed at EA for only hiring me as a contractor for 21.00/ hour. And I lived with it! I couldn't even pay my rent on that. Who could? 2. Doesn't it cost money to get started? What if that becomes a total loss? Getting started isn't hard when you read up on how the professionals do it. It cost me like nothing to read a business book my friend lent me, but