 All right, so thanks for your patience while we're getting set up, so welcome to the women's work press panel My name is Miriam. I will be moderating and I will also be participating, so I'm serving a dual role this time A little bit of an introduction myself. I am from small clients and we have ground corporations And if you ever want to come to Ottawa, come talk to me We're looking at getting our venue set up for or we are hoping for the end of November But we don't have anything set in stone, so keep an eye on central or when work camp Ottawa is going to happen We're hoping and now I'm going to get my panelists to introduce themselves. Hello, my name is Amber Hewitt I'm a graphic designer and a front-end web developer and a WordPress consultant I've been in business for the last 15 years helping out first-time business owners get their website open running Hi, I'm Michelle Thomas. I'm the WordPress content manager for the host and have been in the WordPress space for not very long Probably didn't work a bunch, but definitely excited to be here to talk to you Hi, my name is Alicia Snake Rose and I am the principal at the Trevor Realist Design And I do customer WordPress development and also open programs online I've been writing to the Jumpstart. I go to Burning Man for a culture present I've been dealing with WordPress for over 10 years and I find it the most passionate I'm so passionate about it and it's the most fascinating community And what I love about it is I'm looking out at people and I see this is about the representation of everyone I'm just going to stand down here instead of jumping up and down Just a little bit of background about the WordPress I decided that I wanted to speak again, but I hate giving slides and I'm horrible at giving slides So I thought that, you know what? Let's get women's voices out there more And so we did it in Ottawa and Bridget who was here was there and she can attest that it was fantastic And so I decided to start bringing it to other camps And I'm very happy to be here and I can explain why afterwards it won't take up too much time As to the weather situation back Anyways, enough about that My first question is kind of a two-fold question It would be, what would you say is your greatest achievement from what your role is in WordPress in general? And what would you say has been your biggest struggle? For me, it's been becoming a lead developer, a pastic company I work for I've supported boss and colleagues who encouraged me to come out here And learn more about the interests of my struggle If you see and you're just trying to figure out stuff and you don't have that support It's a huge struggle And the success is that I am where I am today I may just be at least Oh, I'm doing this because I did a lead developer And the success I feel is being a part of this community Aww I'm not Because many years ago, my first word camp was in Orange County I didn't know anybody Except, you know, maybe a few people from the passing of WordPress data And I was just an introvert too And I'd rather just, you know, be by the wallpaper and not engage But it was fascinating to see all these people come together and talk about WordPress And it just felt comfortable Not like I'm out of my element I felt I was in my element And I slowly got, over the years, got to know people And then I was brave enough to submit a talk And now I've been talking about eight times at different word camps And when I showed people that sort of thing And I was one of the organizers last year So it was wonderful to be a part of it And I feel that is a success That I got over my, you know, being shy I'm still shy At least I feel I'm comfortable here and I have a home And as for my weakness I think I over-analyze things And I don't get off my duff to do something that I'm passionate about I over-think it And a lot of projects that I could have started years ago I'm trying to start now So that's my story So I hate to piggyback off of Amber But one of, I would say, my introvert ways And speak in public So this is actually my third time speaking at a word camp And it's definitely not something that's easy to do But I feel like it's important because, you know You're able to share knowledge with someone Who maybe doesn't know that you've done And so I think it humanizes the training And I'll have a starting place So I definitely feel like my biggest struggle Is do I actually have something to offer And learning that even though I'm not a developer In these ways, you know, one of my things I'm probably going to write a couple of cases And make it into two But one of my biggest achievements was This was word camp Orange County Two days before I submitted a talk I had never even heard of word camp And I discovered it by accident And I submitted a talk And I was just really so getting excited That there was something that all a bunch of people Did word tracking together And we're going to talk about it That it must have come through my email Because I got accepted for my talk And apparently that wasn't something That happened the first time So I was really happy about that And so I did my talk And the other one I have to say Is that I'm self-taught And I decided to take it upon myself At 40 That I quickly found a word question And it was much more fun to deal with that Than it was to Like, wait a second websites Or whatever it was out at the time My challenges are personal ones With perfection So I find it as perfect as possible And time does not look kindly on that So that is my challenge Awesome, so we're all pretty much Along the same lines Hearing that our success has been Word camps And this question would be Is more Now those of us who have been In the word camp You recommend or What advice would you give them To just reiterate that Not just for women And not just for like We're just coming out of college And everything But for everybody Because we want to Forget that whole love I think I'll just know in my story How I started I've been working with WordPress For a few years And I don't know why I've never heard of a WordPress Meetup until a few years later And it was just down the street In it And it was a small group But it was low-key Alex Vasquez If you know him He still runs the group to this day He was a wonderful organizer Very inclusive And very considerate And this is What got me started in the community And how I felt like foraged And I urge people Who are organizers To continue with that And a lot of you are I haven't been a single organizer yet Who's been Not But just something that came up On Twitter that I read That a lot of young women Who are starting out They're coming to these meetings And I don't know if this has ever happened In the WordPress Meetup But it has happened in different tech Meetups where they'll come And they meet up with other people And they're greeted with Oh, hey, how you doing? Maybe you have a drink later All of a sudden it turns into a pickup And they're not there for that They're there to share information And this is just something To keep in the back of your mind If you see somebody new Welcome them, include them Talk to them and engage But don't think, you know That something will happen later Maybe you never know I'm not going to rule that out But don't make that the very first thing When you see somebody So that's That's fine Do you start your place in the meeting? How do you get involved? Is there any time that you wish you could give When you first got involved? So again as a content creator Outro for me again was Not being a developer And Amber said it's very welcoming It's done a great job of including more people But I feel like Groups like WomenWP And Black Girls Code And all these other groups That really cater to women And people of different communities Even accessible groups Have really done a good job And predominantly run by men So I think that it's important Again to open up Your arms, if you will Not literally, but Figuratively open your arms to new people And figure out a way to Connect with them on a personal level I think human connection Excuse me, that's wonders Make a connection with someone other than Small talk, ask them what their dreams are What they're inspired with them And I think in helping them You're also helping yourself because you're able to Find something that you're passionate about That you didn't know about So I would say for me The hardest part or something I had known That these existed before I did a lot of meetups before I've done SEO meetups Entrepreneur meetups And freelance meetups And even though I should seek out When I started at Bluehost I had never been a part of the community I had never been focused On WordPress as my source Not just the place where I actually Published content, but the place where I talk about The thing that I actually talk about in the content So I think I wish That I had been told That it's okay to teach myself as much as I could And talk to people That you just have to go with it And really just find your place And move forward So the question I'm getting excited I've been into my projects So it was, I'm pretty sure it was about How to make someone new welcoming Or how a new person Can actually integrate themselves I just feel welcoming as well Yeah, okay, so first of all As far as the WordPress community goes I have never met a more Homogeneously kind group of people And they're so easily accessible And they're so eager to share What they know And I'm also people here who are eager to learn things Because then when you're sharing with them Then you get the feedback that They're really interested in what you have to share And it felt like a summer camp Or something like when I came back home The first word camp I was so excited that there were so many people That got all giddy When they were talking about Test and post times or something And talk to you later And so that's, and everyone I've never felt In any way from the moment I showed up at the speaker dinner I was like, I didn't know what I was easily able to just be colliding And as far as As a newcomer Welcoming Welcoming people Like I said In the WordPress community I think sometimes people show up And they're a little intimidated Because they might have heard Or gone to another tech conference And there's kind of a quickish nature In some of those And I'm just going on here things I've only been to word camps So I'm accurate, let me know And you see someone here Their name was when you were Pimp into plug-in site He's here in some of these Go talk to him, he'll talk to you And Chris Lema and all these people You get an opportunity to talk To what are called Superstars Or AppStars in the WordPress community And they're so open with sharing So I don't have Any complaints about this community at all Yeah, I'll second that About talking to the Superstars When I was in Seattle last year I got to talk to Morton And almost Everyone who's in there knows Morton And he's such a nice guy And we ended up not even talking Just about WordPress So definitely just talk to people Now I just have one more question For now before I open it up To the audience Is just for fun What would you say could have to say Is two of them My first one was much real Who is I believe your speaker That year Afterwards And so we went out to this place And the second person to go to bed at 10 p.m. I was out till 1.30 a.m. And it was one of the best Times in my life with them And the second one would be Where I can't see out last year Is the section was amazing In that we went to Kind of like a green room afterwards To continue the conversation And we had to miss the last few sessions of the day Just because we needed full conversation And I'll take that any day Just trying to get in all your sessions As for My experience The one that pops into my Into my mind Was last year Here at The LA WordCamp And it was the worst day And the best day And you're thinking, what do you need worse Nothing here Sounds bad Unfortunately we had a speaker Who couldn't make it And at the last minute I filled in I had my slides that I threw together And it was A wonderful talk I talked before this But it was wonderful And the fact that the reception I got, the questions I got The engagement We probably could have gone for another hour By the way And it was like, wow I haven't put any time on these slides And I'm getting a lot of feedback Positive feedback on this And it felt good Because that was the day my dog Was being punned down I was really bad I'm sorry I don't need to throw in a cleaner So I had to Back in my mind Nobody knew it I didn't tell anybody But It meant a lot to me If I had told somebody They would have reacted as you were But It felt really better That I was doing the right thing For my dog Doing the right thing Being on stage And talking to the audience And engaging I'll pass They're valid My best experience at WordCamp Was actually members of WordCamp Phoenix And I love that camp a lot And it's still one of my favorites Just because the community was so into the community And they were so welcoming And figuring out how they could help me Succeed and encourage me to actually Apply to speak, which I did And that was actually the first place I spoke as well So I would say that That camp stands out to me a lot Because it was my first experience And my first experience speaking And I think I don't know if many of you plan on going to the after party But I would highly suggest it Just because those are really fun They're a lot of fun And it's a really good opportunity To I'll say kind of relax from all the stuff you learned During the day Because sometimes it's overwhelming Connection and talk to people And you'll meet really good friends I've met people that I still keep in contact with Personally From camps that I would not have met At camp, but met at the after party So I would say that Those types of after parties Are great There's food, there are drinks There are good conversation, good music Games, all types of things So I would highly suggest that you Attend if you can The next one that you go to And really Have any immersive experience At work camps Okay, one of my Experiences has to mirror Karaoke, of course Orange County Okay, Orange County And Karaoke That is the last Last year was actually My favorite, this year actually I That woman sings That woman a year ago Didn't sing for the first time And then brought the house down Right here Yes Apparently she's been going over to weekend Since the time Just tech guys Looking over at this Was that one of the who's who So that is amazing So if there's karaoke involved At any of these after parties Or in the morning, is there karaoke At the end of the nation, it happens And then the other one was when I wore the unicorn headdress For my top in San Diego That It was with a functions file So they asked people If you can explain what we're talking about You can talk So I'm coding as well as design And so that's called unicorns So I had the unicorn headdress And all my slides and unicorns in it And I remember a guy coming in the room And saw me standing there and was like All right You were the flyer At lunch I was the Like the character that people took pictures with And someone here who has not been over to weekend In three years, the last one was that one Told me his son still likes the picture Of the unicorn leg That is the best Those were my two Awesome So in keeping in mind time I'm going to open it up now To questions And Like don't be shy Just make a sake of WordPress stuff The same by having a question for In particular And like I said don't be shy And if you don't have any now We're around all weekend I guess my thing is I'm very brand new to all of this And although I've Mind websites on WordPress Using templates and I manage content and I'm really good at Writing out a writing business But I think what impacted me Is you said that You try to make sure that you focus on content And not developing And I guess there's a tendency To say ooh look at all this stuff I can do So I guess I want to know how I can find the balance And where the heck I sat next to some awesome women And I was like oh yeah I'm doing this and I'm doing that So I just want to Get on the right path to make sure I don't try to do too much So the question was As somebody new And where to find the balance Of what to do with And There are amazing marketers And designers but I haven't touched A good code so Find what your passion is And if you want to Go to make multiple The community team The marketing team And there's the core team Plugins team Like it's all online So ask around And probably find somebody To help mentor you And don't try to do it all Because you'll be overwhelmed Find your passion, find your strength And run with it So I would say You can use Trello And set that line to yourself To finish one thing I find that checking something off your list Makes you feel like you've accomplished something And you don't have that feeling Of working on this for six months And have nothing to show for it You can look back at that and say Hey I've actually checked off six things And maybe it took me a week Or two weeks or three weeks But it actually got done So I would say the first piece I'd say I have to have it all figured out Just start with one piece, check that off Start another one and check that off And I think that you'll find that you feel More empowered with it and you won't feel Like how you said You're usually next to your friends who've done all these things And then you can say hey I haven't finished it all I'm still on my way to accomplish so far One thing that I know Is that you're never going to get to the end of it It's always going to be learning something And when you feel like you've got it all Then you're going to be dead Nobody's going to hire you Because I've met those people Like oh my god this I'm like But you're using cable through the layout You know I'm like Things like that People are trying to handle the CSS thing And it's been around for ten years And we're all trying to explain to them And they're like looking at horse and buggy Trying to put wheels on it So either an experience Or you're sitting between two people And I don't know them I made this wonderful She shared something for you That you were already absorbed You know what I'm saying? If you put too much on I'm not there yet Or I don't know enough Then you're not going to be open for what you're going to get So you're fine That's what we're trying to say That's just something I want to reiterate And not just for the WordPress world Is always be learning As I mentioned in my intro I reached my students at the dojo To I think I have another question Here at the front I understand the question What advice would you give to Like a freelancer Who has some experience in development Is currently looking for a full-time position To get started from here So what would you offer So the advice would be for A freelancer who has experience But is looking to I guess join in Network I would just say come out to WordPress Go out to your WordPress meetups And just network and get to know people And honestly That's how I've gotten the most of Like I've had some job-trip positions over the past five years Because of people I know And because People now know of me And like literally it says in my job description Where I work now to engage Of course, I may have taken a bit too far But going internationally, but I think I find that If you have the opportunity In conversation To talk about what you'd like to do In part at WordPress And you share An enthusiasm with that person And you have confidence in what you're doing Even don't talk about the stuff You're like just picking up right now But the confidence stuff They're going to pick up that enthusiasm I want to work with you There are a lot of people A lot of skills A lot of skills And they don't have the last enthusiasm And people Are a little bit Yeah, it's not infectious And so they may have something But they're just not They're not imparting their I guess their ability I'm trying this When you are passionate About something that an employer Can best judge That you're going to complete the job But if they're just getting the sense That you picked up a skill Because you're trying to get a job in that skill I think You have a lot more work to do To convince people But I've been talking to people At parties and they'll mention a website And what are you using for that And we'll get in a WordPress discussion You don't have money right now But you're the person I'm just really excited about it My advice is a little bit different Even though I definitely agree with both of those I would say To not wait for your opportunity I, like Alicia Also am soft-taught And to be quite honest They don't necessarily teach you The things that you need to learn in school Especially as a developer or designer Or even a content creator You don't have to have a company To back you to do that So I would say find your passion project Work on it, put it up And say this is content as well Just write everything you can As clear, concise content Put it up online and let it the same thing You don't have to have a company It doesn't have to be, oh I worked for this company When I did this If you can show your creativity By doing it yourself I feel like that's actually more impactful And I executed it So that's my advice I've actually been able to get some work At different WordPress meetups Just networking And talking And also showing my work At the beginning I was a graphic designer I went to school for this I should be showing my work and I wasn't And it wasn't until I got Finally got off my duff about it And showed my work and asked questions Is this working right, that sort of thing Then people get the idea Oh hey, that looks pretty good She would be good for this other project And that's how I was able to pick up work And also if You need to show your portfolio And be out there On social media as well With your website as well And if you don't have enough in your portfolio Create a project And just say this is what I'm passionate about And do that So we have about 10 minutes That's where we have room For one or two more questions So Jamie So workings are a really awesome way To connect with people And see what everyone wants to hear Do you have any resources Or examples of ways That you can stay connected With the community And maybe get more involved Over the rest of the year Yeah, so the question was Are there any resources Of your Work camp once a year Meetups Meetups usually are once a month Go to there A lot of the WordPress communities Have Slack channels or Facebook groups So social media is powerful So I was going to say Twitter as well If you can go to a meetup Then find someone in the group That you can connect with Going forward For example, I can't necessarily Go to meetups in the evenings a lot So you can meet someone And then say hey, let's keep in touch On our different projects And then if you can't go to meetups at all I would say maybe Think about starting a meetup See if that can take off Start a work camp if you want to And see where you can go from there For example, some people live outside Of LA to be just Meetups in the whole city So feel free to Also, I don't know where you're located But I just found it really weird That you took once a year Because I'm pretty sure most of us In this room, that's in the backyard Oh, there's a pocket Up there too Yeah, don't do this Just once a year Go to as many as possible Find a vacation around it Oh, seriously It's like nothing But go on Facebook And say hey, what's the first thing And then I brought friends to these And they had nothing to do with WordPress And they left and they were told me In African women So try more than once a year Okay, so we're starting To write a little bit short in time So we have one room for one more question here But before I take That question, I just want to say If you still have all the questions I'm sure none of us would buy it And we have to skip the next session If you want to chat with us We'd be more than happy to And if you can't find this now Find us at the after party I know, I never have questions It's a generalization But generalizations are how we start with information Do you have actual little funds Protecting your boundaries? Okay The question was How to protect yourself How to protect your boundaries As professionals Yeah We can't decree this, I guess So I'll have a panel to answer this Because if they have it So I would say first You have to identify your boundaries You have to do a project But my point is My point is I guess To create your boundaries based on How your body is telling you it feels To see what you can do Using a value in yourself Members have actually had to talk about this last night And We kind of both agreed That you have to place a value on the work that you do Not just the finished project But also the time that you put it to things And I think that when you value yourself Other people will start to value you They don't have a choice, right? Because either they're not allowed in your space Or they are allowed in your space And they have to do the thing that you require them to do By giving you respect By giving you respect For anything really They don't have to necessarily like you But they have to respect you And respect your space and your boundaries So I would say follow your gut And actually place value on your time Your projects really protect you from that We're pretty much close to time So we're going to have to wrap it up So thank you very much