If we were sitting across from each other right now, steaming mugs of coffee in hand, I’d probably start by saying, “Wow, 2024 really did a number on us, huh?” I don’t know about you, but between my daughter’s hip surgery, growing my business, and the aftermath of the election results, I’m already side-eyeing 2025 like, “Can we take it slow this time?” “ Resilience can’t be built in the midst of chaos. It’s built in the pauses—in those moments of reflection, recalibration, and most often joy....
3 months ago • 1 min read
Four years ago, a Technical Senior Manager gave me some unexpected feedback: “Yvonne, you say ‘I’ too much. You should work on saying 'we' more, and focusing on teamwork." At first, I was taken aback. For women in technology—or anyone navigating male-dominated spaces—where community and team building skills are often essential for our survival, surface-level feedback such as this can evoke intense feelings of self-doubt. You start to question whether your work contributions are truly valued...
7 months ago • 1 min read
The other day, my three-year-old asked me, "What's your favorite animal?" As much as I wanted to say: “Unicorns!” 🦄 (because who doesn’t love a little magic?), I surprisingly blurted out: “The Chameleon.”🦎Why a chameleon?It’s not just because they can change colors to blend into their surroundings, although that’s definitely cool 😎. It's because they are intrinsically designed to adapt to their tree-dwelling habitat. And I've done a LOT of adapting in my life."Yvonne, I Need You to Tone It...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Have you ever tried to lead a conversation about diversity or workplace equity, only for someone to say, “Why are we even talking about this?” I have. While still in Corporate, I had scheduled a meeting with our team's new People Partner responsible for Inclusion & Diversity. I was excited to share my strategy, goals, and the wins I had achieved before he came on board. But as I started talking, he interrupted me and said, “Honestly, nobody cares.” 😞 Yep. Nobody cares. For the last...
8 months ago • 1 min read