In this episode of Spilling The T, we delve into the crucial role of women in product development and how their increased involvement can drive business success.
Join us as we explore the insights, challenges and untapped potential that arises when women take the lead in shaping innovative products and services.
Our guest speaker, Shadi Rostami, Senior VP of Engineering, Amplitude, is sharing her expertise on why diverse perspectives are essential in product development.
SheCanCode is a collaborative community of women in tech working together to tackle the tech gender gap.
Join our community to find a supportive network, opportunities, guidance and jobs, so you can excel in your tech career.
hello everyone thank you for tuning in again I am Katie batesman the content director at she can code and in today’s
episode we’re discussing why women be more involved in product development is
vital for business success today we’re exploring the insights challenges and
untapped potential that arises when women take the lead in shaping Innovative products and services and
I’ve got the fabulous Shadi rastami senior VP of engineering at amplitude to
dive into this film with me today so welcome shardy lovely to have you with us Hello Kitty very excited to be with you
and your audience today and I’m very excited for the conversation
good thank you so much for taking the time out to have a chat with us today we have got a lot to cover
um but we would love to kick off come here a little bit about your background um how you got into Tech and just a
little bit about yourself please sure yeah actually I grew up in in
Tehran in Iran and when I was a you know high school students there used to be a
competition in programming across the whole you know internationally and all
of the Iranian team was always men there was never a woman in the team so I always had the dream of being in that
team and and I actually ended up being on the team when I was in high school and I went and competed in the
international Olympian informatics and I won a bronze myself but that kind of
inspired me that I want to basically follow the career in programming and development so I did an undergraduate in
Iran I left Iran I went to Canada and got my PhD at the University of British
Columbia in Vancouver and then moved to the States look at a number of companies that I’ve been at amplitude for almost
five years prior to unpleasurable that Paulo alternate folks and spent their 11 years from very early day of a company
until to the point that the company got about what 8 000 in and so on amazing I
love the fact that he said it was my dream as well to to join that team was was it just somebody that encouraged you
or were you just looking from afar thinking even though that’s that’s a team full of men I just I just want to
be part of that team yeah I think uh you know I was a I was a
geek you know when I was there it was you know there was this Elite group of people who would go and I almost aspire
to be one of them but you know as I said there was never a woman and sometimes actually Iran being a very patriotical
Society they tell to your faith that you know women are not as good or men are
smarter or you should you know think about other things so I was I think I always think that this was my Rebellion
against the system you know and just proving them that no it can be as good and we can also compete and you know as
I said uh you know and I have a number of good friends who are doing that actually uh one of my friend became the
first girl who went to the math Olympia and you know we kind of broke the feeling all of us you know aspiring to
do that and that was very exciting at the time excellent well I um I love the fact that
you rebelled against the system and I hope that continues as we go through this podcast and we hear other stories
in your career or you rebelled against the system um but we have so much uh to to get
through so we are going to kick off with um firstly why should businesses care about diversity within their Workforce
yeah I think um maybe I should maybe I should start tell you a little bit about amplitude and what does amplitude does
and then why is it important to have diversity amplitude basically we have companies build better products and
they’ve enabled them by looking at basically build their products when their
categories Drive growth and how do they do that by basically uh having a
self-service the entire customer Journey so they understand data they understand
what customer want and they improve their product uh so and I think that was
very passionate for me that’s why I joined amplitude because the vision really resonated with me about four and
a half years ago when I joined amplitude how can companies build better product is it’s very very important but another
aspect of you know how can build better products like having Better Business is
having that diversity of thought understanding how people bring different perspective if you all look alike then
you know we will all you know you know agree with each other and tons of each other and be you know be good but if you
bring different perspective then we can basically disagree we can bring up the
perspective we can get into passionate conversation and at the end I always use
the term they said the the collective brain of the group becomes more than the sum of the brains so because you know I
I’m discussing with you with the group setting you bring up an idea even though
it’s not might not be the perfect you know idea but that inspires me to build upon that and build something else and
then somebody else builds upon that and that’s how you basically get that amazing outcome for the business so
that’s why I think it’s so important to have that diversity of thought and experiences and science
to basically get the company and have a successful company and a successful business yes disagree how many people
would say you know it’s so important to disagree with your colleagues and with
your team and to have as as the lovely phrase you just use it a passionate conversation because you if you don’t
then you know that’s when you get those embarrassing PR um uh failures where somebody has
released something and nobody has come forward to say you know what in my experience I wouldn’t release that if I
were you I think nobody’s been able to say that yeah absolutely I think it’s so
important you know as you mentioned when you’re creating a PR bringing that perspective also or for example I have
this thing that we are discussing in a executive meeting talking about what we are going to be sharing with the
employees some of our vision and I think bringing that perspective oh no this is
you know maybe we’re not telling the right thing or maybe we are not articulating well or maybe it’s not going to resonate with people or maybe
we’re coming across a tone there for whatever that you have bringing that perspective is so important as you are
thinking about inspiring your uh your your employees and you know and building
the best company yes definitely and that and that leads into um as well I wanted to ask you about uh
why is championing women in Tech and more specifically product development so
important for the future success of the sector and as we’ve discussed there we’ve had that diversity of thought I
mean if you don’t progress as a company let alone as a sector yeah absolutely it’s a you know uh the
tech sector is a very male dominant I I’ve been at so many places and so many
meetings that I was the only woman in the room and what happens is that
sometimes when nobody else looks like you around the room you feel intimidated
you get to actually a little bit of imposter syndrome and and then you might
not even be willing to share that perspective because if you’re like oh maybe it’s not the right thing or maybe
I am you know not drinking or also another thing that can happen is that when you know you don’t feel like you
belong and you’re not part of that setting you might actually when somebody questioning something that you’re you’re
mentioning when you’re in that heated discussion or passion or discussion you might get defensive because you feel
like you don’t belong and that’s gonna hinder your ability to basically be that perspective so I think it’s so important
that creating that belonging definitely people bring their best and and that’s
why you can really build upon this diversity of thought and one of the things of one of the important aspects
of creating that belonging you to see how many people look around you know around the room around the company look
like you I think that’s so important that’s so important to invest in it in the sector to create that change and you
know uh you know since I actually remember when I was in college actually
in graduate school in Canada I used to go to high school students and encourage
them to pick up come to science because that’s my passion that’s what I really care about but I think we should be all
thinking about across the board how did we improve think about bringing more women you know into these fields and
also how to win companies uh creating opportunities for them and hiring and
growing so that we can change and and change takes time but I
think it’s very very important that we really think about it and advocate for it yes definitely and and do you think
that’s do you think that is what is putting women off from coming into the industry you know if you reach a company
and or even if you go for an interview and perhaps people don’t look like you or you can’t resonate with you know the
the hiring managers do you do you think that puts for me not but are there other things as well
yeah I think I think that sense of belonging is such an important feeling
is that I’m an immigrant right so I have experienced that do I feel belong here I
think the same thing you know uh you know as you’re going to an interview you’re feeling like okay do I feel like
I can work with these people or when you’re in a company or when you’re in a group setting do I feel like I can bring
my perspective do I feel like I’m valued and I think that is if you don’t feel
like or if you feel like you know you know you you don’t belong again it hits
your uh you know you know some of your you know issues or not
issued about sorry and we should declare them in the world issues but if you feel like that you’re becoming defensive
because you don’t feel like it basically hinders your your ability to be your best and you know that kind of impact uh
uh your you know the company is being successful one other thing that I always say that we always talk about diversity
uh you know but I think one very important of diversity is the inclusion
part and inclusion is going to benefit everybody it’s not just benefiting women or people that look different uh when
you have an inclusive environment I I always say that when I’m in a meeting when I’m facilitating conversational I’m
in a conversation I feel like I’m also I’m always watching to make sure everybody’s voice is heard if if
somebody gets interrupted and they they’re not able to finish their thought and I almost feel like my my role just
and say oh you know Kelly you had a thought do you want to finish that and and give them that space in in that in
that setting but when you practice some of these and this becomes the culture of the company then it doesn’t only benefit
women it benefits everybody because now you have an inclusive environment and as I said people voice their opinion and
build upon each other and basically can create that value yes in that culture it
doesn’t happen overnight does it as you say it’s something that you you have to work on every day and for people to to
really feel like they’re they’re part of a culture where they feel included and they feel heard where you know you can
move forward as a business that is I think that’s so important for retaining good talent isn’t it because if you as
you said you know if you didn’t step in sometimes and say oh you know so-and-so needs to finish their point there might
be a really talented individual in there that just feels like they can’t get a word in so you know just just by
stepping in and allowing them that space which hopefully retain that that female
or male whoever it may be um at your company but yeah it doesn’t doesn’t happen overnight does it no
absolutely I think it’s so important and again you know all of these culture changes it’s always very gradual it
takes a lot of effort to become part of it basically become your second nature you
don’t think about it you’ve actually operate that way to think about that it’s important to operate that it’s one
of one of my favorite quotes is that like happens when preparedness meets
opportunities and I always tell my leaders who are reporting to me in in the engine organization your job is to
make sure your people get lucky our job is to make sure people get lucky and what what does that mean prepare them
challenge them give them a whole problem to solve you know get them go out of
their comfort zone and grow but at the same time be on the lookout to create opportunity for them am I creating
opportunity for for this person so that they can shine and they can be as lucky as you know you yourself are so I think
that is important and as I said when you practice this thing it benefits everybody but it’s all its benefits
women a lot because historically they have not been given the opportunity historically they have been pushed back
so then you’re you’re creating that culture it’s gonna benefit significantly yes so everybody everybody
has a voice to share and she said at the start your experience
um you know she in in the right company your experiences is really valued especially in product development
because you you said at the start about the importance of understanding your customer and your customer base and if
that’s not reflected in your Workforce or it is but they don’t feel like they have a voice then you know you’re not
going to move forward yeah absolutely absolutely
have any advice for women looking to get into engineering or Tech in general is there something that you wish you had
been told when you started yeah so I think one of the
but then the thing is that you know act like you belong even though if the
environment doesn’t look like you if the environment looks a little bit different than you but and what does that
belonging mean it means that when you’re in a meeting you’re there for a reason
and sometimes when I feel intimidated that oh but it shouldn’t maybe voice an
opinion but I say I am I am placed here I’m you know to basically represent that
perspective so that’s my job I have to get out of my comfort zone speak up here even though sometimes that can be hard
and intimidating especially when people are not looking looking like you so act
you know like you belong make sure that you’re presenting uh the perspective but
also be okay to get challenged and that’s part of being belong having that
sense of belonging don’t get defensive you know it’s okay you know I can we can all learn we all make mistake that’s
nothing like and as part of one of the things one of the values that we have at
amplitude and I really like is growth mindset having that growth mindset
having that I’m going through this uh you know some tough meeting or some
tough situation but I’m growing and I think look back I’ve had a lot of hard days and I go back at the end of the
week and say oh this was a tough week but no I was able to I learned this thing and that and God gives me that
satisfaction that helps me keep moving because that’s what you mentioned that sometimes then you go through these
maybe not uh best scenarios you might get disappointed and you might decide okay I’m done I’m gonna get out of this
company I’m gonna get out of the sector so so think about you know someone just positive positive thing that can help
you get going and go back and say okay yeah I grow I I was able to you know say
that actually I remember very early on in my career being a not a native
English speaking being able to even say my perspective in a career a crazy
way was an accomplishment okay I could say that and everybody in the room was able to understand what I was saying so
create those moments of giving yourself satisfaction so that you can go on and with that growth mindset the other thing
that I think is important is love matters and ask people to basically how
do you give you advice to enter your skill set whether it’s soft skills and
or whether it’s you know technical skills you know we always have to be constantly learning and growing and I
think and and I always you know there was a point of time I was leaving my previous company and somebody came to me
and said you know in another team they said that we quote you when you were saying like a
goodbye to myself what do you mean you quote me said that in in the meeting you always say for for my curiosity or for
my education can you please explain this case to me and and and I think I you
know of course you know he was telling me that was very good because it puts other people at ease the reason that
you’re asking it’s just security but really it was mainly because I was curious I always want to learn I know
that there are so many things I don’t know and even though I might be ahead of engineering but there are so many things
that I can learn so being in that mindset I think it is very important but one thing that
I always want to mention that you know being in a in a in a stem field in Tech
field you know of course hard skills and technical skills is very very important
but top skills are so critical too and sometimes people overlooked that you
know and I think you know creating you know how do we collaborate with each other how do we communicate how do we
you know create you know content and you know even though I’m writing code but
how do I write a proper you know design documents or whatever that can help other people understand and and you know
and I always say that you know the most exciting things that human beings do is problem solving so critical thinking is
a very very important part of any ski any job that we do so there’s a lot of
these things that I think you should be as as somebody you know that are thinking about your career and say am I
am I growing and all of these aspects I’m like and which one and and the other thing that they always say is that
figure out what is your superpower and what is it that you bring to the table so how can you double down on that I I
actually um you know I I joke with my friend and I said you know many years ago I’m a I’m
a good coder but I’m not a good cook so if I have you know uh you know 20 of my
time which one should I specialize spend on cooking and make my cooking to become a moderate leather or shall I spend more
on coding and make that to the next level so knowing your superpower knowing where you are really good you can double
down and basically bring you know and and you know get to the you know and bring your superpower even further so
knowing yourself is very very important as you’re thinking about how you want to grow yes and knowing as well that your
superpower is not always what somebody else’s superpower is and as you said right at the start that you have been
placed in that room for a reason and you know you should be confident in that reason and yes sometimes I agree we do
have to remind ourselves and stay positive and think yes this is the reason even if I’m being challenged for
something I’m here for a good reason and I know my superpower but you have to cling to that sometimes I admit anything
oh I’m having a bad day yes I want to leave the industry um yeah yeah everybody’s skill set is
different and that’s okay as well to to be yourself um and and as you said you know to to
know are you good at coding and not good at cooking um that’s absolutely fine
exactly yeah you said very well knowing your superpower knowing what you bring
that I think that is that is so I always ask people when I interviewed them I said what is your superpower so tell
them that if they they really thought about it what they what they bring special and one of the other things that
I always say is that that may be more for me that a be
authentic you can’t fake your way and I can I can definitely not say maybe some
people are better actors or actresses and they can fake it but I cannot so and
you know I actually joke with my friends and sometimes I go to a board meeting and I get beaten up things are not very
good I think living that board meeting and going back to my desk again I’m a
head of engineering and I give energy to people so if I if I’m beaten up and I’m
walking down the Halls people are gonna get negative energy and I said I don’t I cannot fake it right so I said okay if
I’m going I have to think good about myself I have to feel good about myself so I go with the positiveness so
sometimes I say I’m such a good mom so it doesn’t matter so I’m going and you know think about it and I always joke
with my friends so sometimes when I’m dealing with my kids my kids are now older they’ve already left home but when
I think about that I’m dealing with my kids and things are really bad and they say oh I hate you or whatever I’m such a
good employee so that’s okay I also remember what what is going good
at this moment in time yes that’s great advice yeah and I think as well um
no I I love the fact that you mentioned energy and and that energy and that Vibe
and it all it all flows into that culture and that team as you know as to
um whether or not people feel you know they belong and they and they feel like they’re part of of your team
um what steps do you think an individuals take to Champion women in Tech you mentioned you know a few things
um that that you do there after meetings for instance but is there anything that you think individuals can do you know
you mentioned about giving people a voice and trying to help you know within meetings
is there anything else that you think people can do whether that’s internally or externally to to Champion women in
Tech yeah I think you know I mentioned uh the inclusivity makes sure that you know
meeting rules things are run in an inclusive ways uh also when you’re
deciding who should I give this project to who should listen just make sure
think about people’s superpower and how to do that a lot of it actually it’s a
very basic people management skills with a lot of managers don’t don’t know it so
it thinks we can all get better is that know what energizes people and you know
your employee you know okay what to excite them and create example starts creating that opportunity for them it’s
so important if a person has a passion of eventually becoming a a manager first
of all understand why and then if if you think that that you know and then look at the create opportunity within the
company okay I need a tackle maybe she can be the tackle that drives this thing and then eventually gets on her a career
goal of being a manager or or if you know if if somebody has you know passion
of you know uh driving some you know uh socially impactful thing create an
opportunity for them to do that so I think it’s very very important that we we we constantly think about uh how how
are we creating opportunity for people but at the same time and I think you
know I use the example of manager the leaders really set the tone so I think it’s very important that other leaders
you know that you’re setting the tone for the for the Antarctic and actually I
always say that what is the battle and be I’m thinking and making sure that I want to pick up and I want to make sure
I advocate and you know for example for me inclusivity is one of the most important things and and I think if I
because if as a leader if I’m not setting that and if I’m not leading then
you know you know it’s just gonna be pure talks and it’s not gonna be happening you know you’re releasing the
example of what you’re doing in in meeting and and your your normal uh
day-to-day activities as you said it’s it’s you said you know
the example you’re setting the example because sometimes talk really is cheap
and you know you can say something as a leader but if you’re not doing it every day your team will pick up on that and
think well why do I have to do that if you’re not doing that so yeah absolutely it’s not it’s not just what you say it’s
how you lead um and set an example to set the tone um for your team which is so important
yeah absolutely for example if you’re saying that I want to increase the number of women in the organization what
are you practicing in your hiring yourself right what are you doing how are you doing that no people follow your
your lead if you’re not really having you know uh you know female uh in your
interview panel or female make sure female candidates are going to our you know in the in the in the candid pool
and going to the final stages then you won’t have you know a female hire so what are you doing on that so how are
you setting that and you know setting for the organization so I think um it is very important and also you
know that’s another you know another uh management skills that can apply they
can be very important as a manager it can make you a better manager is that how do you give feedbacks to people uh
you know whether they’re male or female but everybody again has a superpower they also have some weaknesses how do
you make sure that you give them feedback so you don’t you’re not tapping into the insecurities and you’re getting
uh people so they’re just all of these that come and again it comes back that
your your my role as a manager is to make sure every people in my all gets
lucky how do I uh it will help them grow what is how do I help them get out of
their Comforts or take the most another challenging job and how do I create opportunity for them I think that is
that is the motto that I have and one of my other quotes I feel like I’m giving
too many quotes but one of my other quotes is uh Perpetual optimism is a
force multiplier so being an optimist being that we can do the change whether
it’s a cultural change whether it’s delivering functionality whether it’s you know winning in a deal all of this
is about being Optimist and thinking about that I I can do it we can make
that happen and then you can be successful when when you set your mind to it yes I I absolutely love that I
think it’s something that definitely from the top trickles down um and and as you said you know before
that just sets the tone for for the way that the team thinks and how they
approach their day-to-day as well even when things go wrong and projects you
know they occasionally they go wrong and that also sets the tone of how they pick themselves up after things have gone
wrong um and and continue to move forward instead of just thinking that’s it I
must leave I’m going to renew my CV and off I go which again you lose good talent
um so for those uh there are still few women um in the tech industry and particularly in product
um but for those women within the industry and how do they uh advocate for themselves
yeah I think again it it goes back to be feeling the
belonging right you belong here you’re here for a reason and be confident that
I can do it I you know Elvis you know there’s a terminology that people say be
hungry uh be willing to to do more you know and I think it goes back to uh you
know not being satisfied actually my daughter she’s there she’s studying computer science she’s doing an
internship right now she finished her second year I go tell her and say uh you know how’s your project doing or
internship projects is going well are you asking for more are you satisfied okay finish my project and they’re there
are you are you going and are you hungry enough so I think I think that goes like
that because people people pick up that you know uh Kayla is willing to do more
so she’s finished so she’s done a good job but she’s willing to do more so when the next new exciting logical
opportunity comes I have Kelly in mind that I know that she’s told me that she
had the capacity so I think it’s very important to be to be you know showing
your ability to to learn and grow and take on more and be hungry yeah the
other thing that is important is uh not only advocating for yourself
advocating for other people again being that voice so that it’s not just you so creating lifting everybody you and it’s
not only for women it can be other marginalized group and so on and so forth but one one last thing I want to
mention and hopefully nobody gets to that but sometimes you have to change your environment and sometimes it’s it’s
like not to be working right and it’s and sometimes you’re okay don’t think of
it as a failure that’s the case sometimes you know you know that’s that’s life is and you know maybe I’m
not thriving here and I’m not gonna be successful here I have to go somewhere that I can be valued and I can find that
opportunity and I can grow and so on so I think you know I’ve been very lucky in
my career I never had that situation uh so but I can totally see that and if I’m
somewhere that I feel like that I’m not valued and I’m doing all of this thing but I’m being push the side but that’s
something I might decide that and I I know giving up is very very hard to do you don’t want to give up but sometimes
you know changing the environment going somewhere else that can be valued is important and before it’s too late as
well and and I’ve had ladies on here who who have been in that situation and they said when I did decide to leave change
my environment and try something new it was the best thing I ever did and as you said there it’s not a failure it’s just
thinking of it as well I’m not going to do that again that’s not for me I’m going to try something else or you know
I don’t work in that type of environment and culture but a lot of other people are thriving in that type of business
and that’s absolutely fine too it’s just not for me and um I I did have a lady on
here who said to me it’s the best thing I ever did not leaving it too late so it didn’t you know really knock my
confidence and I just you know she figured out her superpower and she moved on and she did something brilliant a
different company and where she could really Thrive um but yeah it takes a while to figure
out as well I think throughout your career to try and navigate um yeah
absolutely actually I’m gonna give a personal story but it’s not about Korea it’s maybe a little bit too personal but
uh I’m divorced so when I was going through divorce I was actually deciding stage shall I live but it was a very
hard decision it’s a very very important decision I have two kids and I remember I talked to a therapist and you know the
most important advice that she gave me is that in any decision that you are making think whether the decision of the
love base or fear-based if you deciding to stay it’s because you know I love
this environment I can make in those mistakes but if you’re deciding to stay because you’re afraid of being alone or
you’re afraid of things are happening then you’re making bad decision and I think that became a very important thing
for my decision in my but important everywhere else again as you’re deciding that shall I stay or shall I leave this
environment make sure that it’s not based on fear it’s not based on I’m not gonna able to find a job I I’m staying
here because you know I love it I feel like that I can be charged challenge I can grow here I can you know I have that
then stay if you are making decision based on fear and usually they’re not the best decisions yes and but I love
that because it really is just that black and white as long as you remove the emotion from everything and just
think of it as yes I’m making this decision in life in as uh in love or in
fear then it becomes very clear as to where you should be next um and and you know how you should be
spending your time I love that that’s great advice um we’re going to talk a little bit
about um representation at the top uh because we obviously need more female representation
um at the top but what more can be done to help women into into leadership roles you touched upon it a little bit
um there about you know encouraging women um through the ranks and basically just
remembering to look behind you and pull others up behind you as you as you go um is there anything else that you think
we could uh encourage women um in into leadership roles
yeah I think the two aspects one is that encouraging women to advocate for themselves helping them grow seek out
mentorship seek out groups so that they can they can find that space But the other thing is there is that there
should be a burden on companies to have practices to you know to do that so for
example at amplitude we have this this practice that if you’re hiring for a
leadership role you have to make sure that you know the the final you know
person can be male or female but in the interview process people who are going
through the interview process you have to have a presentation you have to have people you have to have some female or
margin uh marginalized groups in the interview process because that that
gives you you know a good enough pull of course challenge hiring is all the
challenging is always hard but do the extra work right build extra work you know don’t go over the easiest path do
the next level get people and then then you can you can you know find who’s the best person for your need for your
company so you know and again it goes back to Leading by example if you’re doing that at the top and going and
going that extra mile people follow that okay now I need to also go a little extra miles and and you know take the
effort so all of these are very very important some of these practices and
policies and so on as well as you know creating opportunity to make sure that you know we we have more representation
uh at the top and just do the extra work yes there are some companies you know a company
um like yourselves you know you you do the extra work some who don’t they’ll hear other companies say things like oh
you know over a half of our you know half of our management team we’ve managed to get to a 50 50 split and then
I think other companies think that just happens by Magic you know as you said
it’s it doesn’t happen by Magic it you have to do the extra work to get there um and just be mindful of that just you
know as you said even ensuring that that Paul by the time that you you know that people are reaching final interview
stages that that pool is diverse um to give everybody you know an equal
chance and then obviously the best candidate gets the job but you know you need to ensure that that talent pool is
diverse in the first place and that doesn’t just happen by Magic
absolutely yes yeah you know it doesn’t happen in Magic but if you want to build the best company you have to work hard
and do the extra mile and go for that actually you know one of the things that I’m very proud of my staff in the
engineering staff meetings that because it’s a very diverse group of people not only gender diversity or racial
diversity the thought diversity people are bringing so many different perspective and you know somebody is
very extroverted somebody’s very introverted so we are figuring out bringing that perspective I think so
important as you’re as you’re building the right company and building the best team yes and and you mentioned a little
bit there about um your interview process um amplitude and and um the polling of candidates
um what do you think businesses can do to develop their own diverse Workforce obviously that’s that’s one area do you
think there’s anything else that businesses could do yeah I think one thing that is important
uh is to have more uh diverse Workforce
right so investing in earlier on and they said I’ve been since I was in graduate school I would go to high
school and try to educate not educate and Inspire girls to come into that
field so companies can invest in creating you know fundings or programs
or hackathons or something to get people excited at an earlier age so I think
it’s very important to not forget about the top of the funnel the earlier age people bring you into that and I and I
as I mentioned I have two daughters and one of them she’s studying computer science the other one is she hopefully
should declares come to science and this year she has to wait for a year to declare merger but a major I said okay
if I haven’t done anything I at least continue with the 2×2 two more female to
the field so thinking about how you can you know as
companies how can I partner with University partner with Community College fundament environment
that can create that uh that you know that opportunity but the other thing is
that if you’re hosting a hackathon make sure that the the style is inclusive and
make sure that you know FEMA because it’s it’s you know when it’s very easy
that if you are a if you’re an underpresented part of underrepresented group and nobody looks alike like you
and it’s very easy to get discouraged uh especially when you’re earlier and you’re so creating having that mindset
and all the thinking about that very important if you’re if you’re getting you know you know for example one is
very important for amplitude is that or as I said top of the funnel of our employees are usually intense we get
interns and they like it and they come back eventually they become employees so how do is your group of interns how are
you going and seeking them out and how and when they come what kind of experience are you creating for them so
that they they like and they say yes that experience that you’re creating and and and remembering to
ask them for feedback on that as well because that’s something that companies forget about you go in and nobody asks
you are you enjoying your experience can we change anything yes absolutely
Absa because I’m I’m so much older than other interns right I don’t yeah I I am
you know and I don’t know what might be very exciting for them to kick about and making sure getting their perspective
and again going back but I think you know one of the values that we have at
amplitude that I really like is humility and and advise humility is important is
that because we believe everybody’s uh point of view is very valuable people
bring that you know it’s not because I’m you know I’m old and I’m experienced I know everything no there’s so many
people who can bring them much better uh clean to the table uh perspective and
point of view so I think everything with that sense of humility and be open to
get and it goes back that get the feedbacks make sure that you’re you’re improving things and constantly and have
empathy right there’s people are coming they’re new they’re young they don’t people don’t look around like them as
much so how can I create experience for them that is the right experience yes I
love that that is a lovely um place to end it on because Charlie we were already out of time thank you so much
for taking the time to come and chat with me today it’s been an absolute Joy having you on so thank you
thank you so much it was a pleasure and to everybody listening as always thank you so much for joining us and we
hope to see you again next time
