Current Status: still pinching myself to ensure last week was no dream... 🧞♂️
#ICYMI :
• Cisco was named #1 #WorldsBestWorkplaces by Forbes and Great Places to Work — NUMBER ONE, y’all! ☝🏼 It’s something I’ve known all along, and now the 🌏 does too!
Saying it the morning we were finally able to say it loud and proud was...surreal. Watching our employees celebrate across the globe left me with goosebumps and misty eyes more times than I could count.
We may look like we're having fun (because we are!) — but we work our faces off too.
You should come join us, btw! ➡️ @WeAreCisco
• Team Talent Brand rocked the announcement while showing #GHC19 what’s up with multiple social activations and employee storytelling opportunities.
It was my 5th Grace Hopper Celebration for #WomenInTech, and the week was unlike any other — with an incredibly positive, inspiring force of Cisco women behind it — and moments of me just taking it all in. Grace Hopper has changed a lot for us in those 5 years, and those 5 years have not only made me realize that I, too, am indeed a #WomanInTech — but it's made me a better, stronger voice in that arena too.
I’m often proud to be on my team, but I about burst from pride last week. It’s wild to think of how far we’ve come, how much we’ve grown — and how we’ve done that together. From a team of four, to six, to now eleven. No matter if we're face-to-face or virtually across the globe; this is the best team I've ever known and we are proof of what amazing, empowering, trust filled leadership looks like.
• And, yes. I was named a Cisco Bridge Award winner — and am now up for our Community Hero award for my work with the St. Baldricks Foundation for children’s cancer research.
4.5 years ago when I researched Cisco, before I even interviewed, I was captivated by Our People Deal and Cisco’s dedication to giving back. I knew instantly I had NEVER seen a company THIS dedicated to changing the world — and that was before they provided employees FIVE DAYS, outside of our PTO, to give back in ways we're most passionate.
I’m honored and incredibly proud to be a small piece of it all, and still nearly stunned that I am 1 of 10 Bridge Award Winners for FY20. Truth be told, in the entry I submitted at the end of September, I said I almost didn't apply because I just didn't think I was doing "enough" — that what I was doing paled in comparison to the other incredible work I knew was happening within Cisco.
"Don't compare your life to others. There's no comparison between the sun and the moon. They both shine when it's their time."
I've since been reminded (by just about everyone) that what I do is, in fact, quite big. And I knew that, trust me — I do, and I have, and I did.
But...(and those closest to me will also tell you this) — I am the mouse with a cookie of fundraising for children's cancer research — I always want more, it never seems like enough — knowing that everything I can give and do is exactly what these kids deserve.
I know it's enough, but I also know they need more.
That I have now been given a rare opportunity to raise even more awareness (and hopefully action) for #ChildrensCancerResearch — it’s honestly a gift I will be forever grateful for and one that will never be lost on me. That Cisco supports me and encourages me to fight even harder for these kids, and that I am among such incredibly giving people, with huge hearts, doing amazing things for our world — I'm humbled.
These are my people.
My passion for wiping pediatric cancer off this planet is fueled even further knowing that Cisco is a company with true heart — and one that encourages us to be human, and — even more so — to better humanity.
So, when I walked into our booth at Grace Hopper, last week, right here in my hometown of Orlando, FL and saw the words, “You are exactly where you need to be.” I knew those words had never been more true.
5+ years ago, I fought to stay here. I had some people tell me I’d never find what I was looking for in Orlando — but, then — they don’t know Orlando, and they surely didn’t know Cisco.
Now, I think they do. 😎🌉🍊 At Cisco we love our Moments that Matter — last week, for me, was filled with them.