Passion is infectious
I have a theory, passion is infectious. This has happened to me more times than I can recall where I get inspired by the passion of people around me. Most recently, at the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) 2021. To give you a little context, Grace Hopper Celebration is the flagship, annual event organized by The AnitaB.org to “bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront, and highlight the contributions of women to the tech world.” For the last two years, the celebration has gone virtual which has its pros and cons but that’s a conversation for another day.
But this newsletter is not about the history of GHC. This is about two keynote sessions in particular that got me inspired. I will try to put down my key takeaways from these sessions and hope it inspires you as well.
Turning Failure Into a Data Point by Payal Kadakia, ClassPass Executive Chairman & Founder
I first came to know about ClassPass a year ago when it became the first unicorn startup of this decade and I was so inspired by Payal’s journey, the risks she took, the challenges she faced, and how her company navigated the fitness industry through a global pandemic. In January last year, ClassPass hit the unicorn status and as Payal described, “their best month ever”. But then almost immediately after, studios around the world shut down in the wake of the pandemic. I can only imagine the challenges and uncertainty she would have faced as a founder when the entire revenue model of the company needed to be modified. But the resilience of her team flipped it from real-life experiences to digital and just two days ago ClassPass joined forces with wellness giant Mindbody. And as a listener, it was incredible for me to see her paving the way for all female entrepreneurs in technology.
Daring to Dream Boldly by Diane Jurgens, Disney CIO
If there’s one thing I learned from this session it was to constantly dream big, try new things, and challenge oneself. From being the first in her family to go to college, travel all across the globe, work for a diverse set of companies like Disney, General Motors, Boeing, etc, Diane has always dared to dream boldly, and her journey inspires others to do so too. I was awestruck by the work Diane has done in her professional career, from programming robots to creating a new industry segment in China. Even in the 20 minutes she spoke, Diane imparted so much knowledge about technology and business.
I have always heavily resonated with the idea of passion driving the best of human existence and going after the things you want. I know there’s always the fear of “What if I fail?” but there’s also the hope of “What if I fly?”
For You💚
Quote of the Week:
On the other side of your greatest fears lives your greatest life. - Robin Sharma
An App I’d Like to Share:
When2meet: A very simple and easy tool to plan the best time for your group to meet.
On the Website
8000 Miles Away: If you would like to follow my journey as a graduate student, start with this article. I will try to write one article every month talking about my life as a graduate student.
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See you soon. Cheers!