You tweet/write/speak a lot about the terrible forms of harassment that you've had to face as a consequence of being outspoken and visible in the tech community. Honestly, how do you deal with this happening all the time? How do you let it not take an emotional or mental toll on you? Particularly when you have folks approach you face to face, like after a conference talk?
Kim Arnett [she/her] leads the mobile team at Deque Systems, bringing expertise in iOS development and a strong focus on accessibility, user experience, and team dynamics.
It's really hard but I honestly thing that my growing up in a very abusive household taught me survival in home and social settings. Like, it still bums me out but the rewards I get for being in the industry - meeting awesome people, solving problems, getting paid to meet awesome people and solve problems - makes it worth it. I feel like I am in a place in my career where I can be loud and obnoxious about the cultural issues in our industry, so it's my responsibility to do that!
You tweet/write/speak a lot about the terrible forms of harassment that you've had to face as a consequence of being outspoken and visible in the tech community. Honestly, how do you deal with this happening all the time? How do you let it not take an emotional or mental toll on you? Particularly when you have folks approach you face to face, like after a conference talk?
+1 Also THANK YOU for speaking out on it!
It's really hard but I honestly thing that my growing up in a very abusive household taught me survival in home and social settings. Like, it still bums me out but the rewards I get for being in the industry - meeting awesome people, solving problems, getting paid to meet awesome people and solve problems - makes it worth it. I feel like I am in a place in my career where I can be loud and obnoxious about the cultural issues in our industry, so it's my responsibility to do that!
Thank you for your answer, and for always speaking out! We're all really grateful to have your (loud) voice 🙂
<3 and i am really grateful to be told that
You do great work