Little Ms. Crate: gift idea for kids

If you read my blog, you know I'm an active supporter of STEM education, especially when it comes to girls. As a girl, it never occurred to me that working in technology was an option for me because I did not see any women role models. I fell into this field that I love in my mid-20s, but I wish I'd found it sooner. So one of my biggest volunteer missions is to be an active volunteer in my community so girls see that they, too could have a career in tech if they so choose.

Today, I want to share a new crate subscription that was launched recently on Kickstarter.

The service, Little Ms. Crate, introduces young girls to a new career in STEM or leadership each month, and spotlights female role models in the featured field. Crates samples are Little Ms. CEO, Little Ms. Digital Animator, Little Ms. Scientist, etc.

I think it's a great idea and I have supported it. If the venture is funded, then Lu will get a Little Miss CEO kit for Christmas. If you'd like to support the venture, here's a link to the Kickstarter page.

Moms as Mentors Building Bridges workshop

It's been a hectic few weeks at work trying to launch 2 marketing websites, complete with new links and assets. But when I read on my local moms' forum that Moms as Mentors was hosting a STEM mom/daughter bonding event, I decided to take the day off and go with Lucinda. I'm so glad we went.

It was a dreary day as we trudged out to Uncle Chris's prized Saab wagon, a loaner while my reliable-but-worn 10 year-old Camry was in the shop, courtesy of Uncle Chris. After a struggle with locks and a fight with the umbrella (who lost), we were on our way to Dedham.

We were the first participants to arrive, and Lucy made me a lovely name tag.

We visited the amazing science room at the Dedham Country Day School and its classroom pets, turtles. We ran into another JPmom Hillary and her daughter, who brought a friend.

We started the session with a big circle. The organizer kicked off the event with a fun activity where she asked questions such as "who has a purple toothbrush?" and if you fit the description, you ran into the middle of the circle. Then the daughters introduced their moms to everyone in the room.

Our main activity was pairing off with our daughter to build roller coasters for marbles using foam tubing, cardboard, masking tape, and some cardboard. The activity progressed in difficulty. The first challenge was to build a roller coaster that included a hill. Then we were to add a loop. Finally, we tried to incorporate both a hill and a loop.

We got right to work and Lucy started brainstorming. She surprised me with how many creative ideas she offered, and how easy it was to work together on this project. I noticed no resistance, only enthusiasm, as we worked through the various obstacles of the activity.

We finished the hill challenge quickly and set about the loop. We had a few failed attempts, wherein I held the tubing and Lucy let the marble go and she would retrieve it from across the room. I think I impressed her by introducing new vocabulary such as minimum viable product, beta, and testing phase.

On about the 5th or 6th run, we got the loop working. We spent the remainder of our time securing the loop with tape, cardboard, and trying to repeat our early success. Lucy was overjoyed when she got the whole thing working!

I was struck by how fun loving yet determined Lucy was throughout the morning. It struck me, as a scholar of Amy Cuddy and her research on power poses, how after each success, Lucy automatically threw her hands over her head, beaming and exclaiming. I use the power pose and a pep talk as part of my interview preparation, and it is very effective.

We had the chance to recreate the victory pose after we finished our third challenge.

Then we had a few minutes to walk around and admire the other teams' work.

For our final, much shorter, activity, we made bracelets for each other. Each bead was intended to signify something we appreciated in our relative.

At the end of the activity, we filled out surveys and a few participants offered observations. I shared that I was impressed by Lucy's patience. She told the group that she thought I was good at angles. and engineering.

We went to lunch afterward and shared the meanings behind the bracelets we'd made for each other. I told her that hers meant she was a true friend, excellent leader, loved the water, was a princess, had true love and kindness in her heart, and was a hard worker. Her bracelet for me had all sorts of holiday symbolism, and told me I was beautiful, kind, and loving, and a leader.

Don't worry if you missed this event! There's another one right around the corner this Saturday 11/14 in Boston.

Grace Hopper conference reflections

Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Grace Hopper conference in Houston, Texas. I first attended this energizing, motivating event in 2010. I spent that week in Atlanta, Georgia with 3,000 technical women, and meeting so many outstanding female colleagues inspired me to further my education. Three years later, I earned my high tech MBA with high honors from the D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University.

2015's Grace Hopper event quadrupled in size to 12,000. It was a fast-paced event with many wonderful sessions and keynotes.

Leaving Boston, I smiled to see my neighborhood represented in this poster at Logan airport.

After I arrived in Houston, I checked into my hotel and ensured that I was organized and ready to go. The George Brown Convention Center is a quarter-mile long from end to end, and I walked it several times daily.

I hope I packed enough shoes!

The view of downtown Houston from the elevator of the Hyatt Regency, where I had dinner with EMC Distinguished Engineer and friend Helen Raizen

On Wednesday afternoon, October 14, I watched Clara Shih, founder of Hearsay Social, deliver an opening keynote. I admired her tenacity and composure in the face of discrimination. Here's an article summarizing her tech startup experiences.

Clara Shih, founder of Hearsay Social

I attended 2 interactive workshops on Wednesday, Showcase Your Work: How to Give Your First Lightning Talk and Build your brand as an emerging leader or technical expert. These sessions offered a fantastic opportunity to get to know some women working in tech and share my experiences. I mentioned my favorite way of sharing my personal brand with the world, a twesume: a 140-character version of your resume that you can tweet. 

I also had a chance to pop over to Helen Raizen's session. At an interactive student lab, she was sharing her 4 decades of experience in the tech industry to an eager crowd of students.

On Thursday, Hadi Partovi, founder of the Hour of Code, spoke to the crowd and encouraged all of us to participate. I do as well; it's a really amazing volunteer opportunity! Please read about my experiences here.

I attended a cool session, Driving Success Through Innovation & Change, that got you out of your technical mindset and into a problem solving way of thinking. I went with a new friend Jenny I met in the coffee line. She's an entrepreneur from Dallas. We became fast friends and have been keeping in touch after the conference via text. I love how a chance meeting at an event like this can present you with professional contacts or personal friends, or both!

Learning strategies for adapting to quickly changing circumstances

Not surprisingly, this tech conference came with an app. It integrated with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and allowed you to post status updates. I really enjoyed using it, and was able to connect to lots of attendees in this way.

A post with Ashley Trotman, also from Boston

Finally, what would Grace Hopper be without the parties?! I attended a reception Cisco hosted and landed the coolest swag, an LED fiber optic barrette that my 6 year-old daughter quickly absconded with.

At the EMC reception (photo credit Laura Tenney)

 

Google's TechMakers event had these cool, frequently changing lights they called sugarcubes

Sucarcubes from further away

Here are some photos from the ending reception held at Minute Maid Park.

With my new friend Lisa

With new friends Jenny, Alex, and Alon

Dance party

Here are some other memorable moments.

 Sheryl Sandberg's keynote (photo credit Laura Tenney)

Adding my contribution to the pride wall: "I am most proud of my daughter"

Shuttle selfie at the end of the conference

Please check out the Grace Hopper wiki for access to most of the conference material. The group Systers, a technical listserve, maintains it. Definitely sign up if you are a technical woman; they have many interesting discussions. Additionally,here is a link to download some PPT slides from the event. 

My heartfelt thanks goes to my manager Jay Chitnis for supporting my professional development and giving me the chance to share the unique qualities and culture of EMC with so many new colleagues and friends.

Loving Kindness Meditation

I've had a lot of changes in my life lately, so I've taken up regular meditation as a way to introduce some calm into the chaos. I found one ritual especially useful.

I swim once or twice a week in the amazing pool my company maintains. It's always a calming experience. This week, I decided to introduce a loving kindness meditation into my swim.

As I learned in the book Real Happiness, a loving kindness meditation focuses on the following mantra:

May you be safe
May you be loved
May you be happy
May you live with ease

First, you apply this to yourself. Then, you can focus on loved ones, family members, and friends, and the universe if you like. The book recommended that you test your compassion by directing your meditation at a challenging person in your life.

I was amazed by how much this small exercise calmed my brain and made me feel at peace. I had a brighter outlook and a calmer mindset that lasted for the rest of the day.

Next time I'm having a challenging day, I'm going to recall this feeling of goodwill, and pause to do a loving kindness meditation.

Summer check in

Wow, it's been longer than I realized since my last post back in June. I have certainly had a busy summer. Lu has been to 9 weeks of interesting, enriching camps. We took a trip to NH and ME to visit family and friends. We've all been enjoying the frenzied pace of summer and all of its activities.

Work has been busy, with a successful launch of my latest project today. And I've been working on my personal growth, specifically on my intention early this year to relinquish control over more and to go with the flow. To surrender.

With over half of the year behind me, I'm reflecting on what has changed by fully embracing my new attitude. It's nearly universally positive. I'm still putting in every effort at work. I am being the best mom and wife that I can. I am slower to anger and arguing less. I am still busy, but somehow I am learning to stress less over little details and embrace the moment.

I'm off to Jamaica early tomorrow morning for a relaxing beach vacation with my husband. Unknowingly, he booked the same property we had stayed at 15 years ago on our first trip. The resort has a new name, but I'm sure it will feel like returning to a familiar friend's house after a long hiatus. I can't wait! Now to pack ...

Swan Boats field trip

I had the privilege of attending Lu's field trip this week to the Swan Boats in the Public Garden.

We started from the school and took a public bus to the train, then walked over to the public garden.

We spotted a swan right away!

Everyone was well behaved on the boats, and we all managed to stay dry.

We waved hello to the rest of our group on the other boat.

After the ride, we headed over to Boston Common for a picnic.

Then everyone headed over to the playground for an afternoon adventure.

When playtime ended, everyone was feeling pretty silly.

What a lovely day for a field trip!

Think working from home is too good to be true? Think again!

When I was pregnant with my daughter in 2008, I realized my life was about to change drastically. Along with the awesome responsibility of being the caregiver of another human came a lot of other, smaller responsibilities such as doctor appointments, play groups, packing lunches, etc.

In anticipation of returning to work, I decided to propose a new schedule including some work from home and time flexibility. My priority was to ensure my commitment to meeting my job responsibilities. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon the amazing web site Work Options, which I used to help me craft both my telecommuting and my maternity leave proposals. I'm happy to disclose my affiliate status with this excellent company.

Note the old-school flip phone

The freedom to work when I want, where I want, allows me to deliver superior results for my company. I am available for questions at extended times. I feel inclined to work late on a deadline knowing that I control my schedule the next day. Most of all, I feel empowered by the trust that my employer instills in me to use my best judgement, and in return I put forth my best effort. For more on what drives motivation in the workplace, I suggest Daniel Pink's recent book Drive.

Since 2008, I have always had the privilege of working in an environment that afforded me some flexibility. Since this is such an amazing situation to have, I want to give as many friends, colleagues, and readers as possible an introduction to Work Options.

Please join me at 9 pm EST on June 11 for a free Work Options telecommuting webinar specifically designed for Charismama readers. I'm delighted that Pat Katepoo, founder of Work Options, will be online to answer your questions. I look forward to seeing many of you online.

Just click on this link to register! It's free, so you have nothing to lose but so much to gain ... like control over your own time.