Networking & noshing: Peerspace celebrates SF Women in Tech
- Date: June 14, 2019
- Topic: Made in Peerspace
- By: Peerspace
Source: Peerspace
Truth be told, we’re still floating after our inaugural Peerspace Women in Tech event, hosted at Parisoma—one of our favorite San Francisco venues. It was a night of noshing, sipping on drinks, taking new headshots, and most importantly, networking and learning from each other!
We kicked off the evening with amazing bar bites from Palace Catering Cafe, fabulous drinks from the folks at Tend and Aberlour Whiskey, as well as professional headshots courtesy of ComePlum Photography.
However, what really made our event memorable was our interactive panel featuring four wildly inspiring, successful women in tech. We heard from Kati Schmidt, Tanya Peterson, Shivani Sharma, and Madeline Lauf.
Throughout our hour-long conversation, we heard about their career successes, challenges, and how they’ve ultimately achieved their goals—both personally and professionally.
Here are some of our key takeaways from this informative, insightful panel:
Prioritize time for yourself—and don’t apologize for it!
While it can be tempting to refrain from vacation, rack up your PTO, and see how long you can go without taking a day off, it’s in your best interest (as well as everyone else’s) to take a break every now and then. Not only does this much-needed time away refresh your mindset, making you more effective once you return to work, but it also models a healthy work-life balance to your team. Your future sense of sanity will thank you.
Take major risks
When an opportunity presents itself, no matter how daunting, absolutely don’t be afraid to seize the day and go for it. Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could happen by taking this leap? What might I actually risk by not trying?” More often than not, you’ll find that not taking chances actually winds up being riskier than just going for it. The sky won’t fall, and you’ll likely be glad that you challenged yourself.
Be authentically yourself and own it
Don’t let your gender or age prevent you from expressing your opinions or ideas. Instead, leverage these differences as assets, and bring your unique perspectives to the table proudly.
Don’t hesitate to confront uncomfortable behavior head-on
If a colleague treats you disrespectfully, address it head on. Speak to the offender immediately and use concrete examples rather than ambiguous hypotheticals. Know that many individuals have never received this type of feedback before, and all parties ultimately benefit from choosing to communicate these issues quickly and confidently.
Strive for diversity organically
When building a team, review your talent and identify where the gaps are. From there, hire individuals who can fill those gaps and provide fresh, new ways of solving problems. Watch how quickly your team grows diverse and multi-faceted, naturally.
Perhaps one of our biggest takeaways from this special evening was the level of energy and participation from all of you. Not only were we able to learn from our impressive panelists, but we also gleaned so much from every woman who took the time to share an anecdote or ask an interesting question. It’s your passion, curiosity, vulnerability, and strength—which we witnessed last night—that makes San Francisco’s community of Women in Tech so vibrant and powerful.
Cheers to many more events, celebrating and learning from each other.
