1. What are you reading right now?
“The First 90 Days” by Michael D. Watkins. It’s a professional book about how to hit the ground running in a leadership position. (How fitting, right?!)
2. Do you have a favorite Toast restaurant?
Yes, a ramen place in Coolidge Corner called Ganko Ittetsu Ramen.
3. How did you get interested in STEM?
Video games, actually. My favorite game is Metroid Prime, but growing up I enjoyed playing with Legos, Barbies, and Hot Wheels. I’ve always been math-oriented, so in high school I took a web design class. It was exciting to build something useful. I even made a website for my uncle’s business.
4. How did you get to Toast?
After graduation, I started working at Goldman Sachs in NYC doing derivative settlements. I loved the job, but personal reasons brought me to Boston in the summer of 2014. I landed a job at the Society of Grownups, a company dedicated to providing financial planning services for millennials, where I found myself as the first engineer on the team. There, I helped build an engineering team from the ground-up. Emil, Director of Engineering at Toast, reached out recently and brought me to Toast.
5. How do you like it so far at Toast?
I’ve had a great experience at Toast so far. The environment is definitely fast-paced and collaborative. When I was onboarded as a team lead, I was challenged to immediately develop a roadmap and manage team of engineers ranging from interns to SE5’s.
6. What’s your favorite thing about your career?
There’s unlimited opportunity and always something new to learn.
7. And your least favorite?
Regularly feeling like you don't know what you're doing. Right now, I'm managing people more senior than myself. Never done that before. But being thrown into new situations is ultimately the best way to learn!
8. What’s been your most challenging project?
I once built Robot Advisor to provide financial advice to people based on an online profile. It’s way harder than it sounds! The usability and compliance piece was the hardest. From a compliance perspective, you can’t mislead people and often cases are nuanced, but at the same time you don’t want to overwhelm the user with too much information.
9. As a woman in tech, what has your experience been like?
It’s been mostly positive. College was a little tougher, you’re exposed to a lot of people with a lot of different backgrounds and some have very traditional views of women.
10. How can companies increase diversity and promote a more inclusive culture?
Companies should lead by example and place deserving women in leadership positions.
11. Finally how do you like your toast?
Traditional-- homemade English muffin toasted medium golden with butter.
12. Anything else you’d like us to know?
I ride a motorcycle, a 1986 Honda Nighthawk 450. I’m also a ski racer!
If you'd like to learn more about Toast and open career opportunities, see here: https://pos.toasttab.com/careers
