My Childhood Trauma Gets Me Great Performance Reviews
They call it leadership, I call it survival

My technical architecture diagrams mirror my childhood drawings — everything in its box, every connection mapped, no surprises allowed. In design reviews, I track micro-expressions like I once tracked my father’s moods. The senior developer’s slight hesitation becomes a red flag. The product manager’s tightened jaw signals incoming conflict. My colleagues praise my foresight. My …

This Is My Salary — and Why I Tell Women Everywhere
Smashing the salary taboo that keeps women underpaid

The first time I said my salary out loud, I felt like I had broken an unspoken rule — one that was never meant to protect me. The morning of the tech conference, I sat in my hotel room revising my slides about industry trends. My practiced talking points about cloud architecture felt hollow against …

My Retirement Gift to Big Tech? Brutal Honesty in Job Interviews
I had nothing to lose, so I said exactly what I thought

The Chief Technology Officer leaned back in his chair with corporate confidence. “Our technology is actually in great shape,” he said. From my seat across his glass-topped desk, I pulled up his company’s public-facing documentation — last updated in 2019, full of broken links and outdated processes. I slid my tablet toward him. His confident …

I Said No to Bigger, Better, Newer — It Was Weirdly Controversial
Choosing what I love over what I’m supposed to want

In the office parking lot, my colleague circled my ten-year-old Honda like it was a crime scene. “When are you finally going to upgrade?,” he asked, gesturing at his new BMW. I could have laughed. I could have shrugged. I could have pretended I hadn’t heard him. Instead, I looked him dead in the eye …