I’ve been at Gatsby for a little over a month now, and I want to talk about what I’ve seen and participated in, culturally and from an inter-personal view.
But let me give a little context: I left my last job as a leap of faith in myself, in my career, and in Gatsby. I’m forever grateful to be fortunate enough that if it didn’t work out, I could probably get back on my feet pretty easily. I’m chronically ill, autistic, and agender, all of which may and probably have worked against me in my career. But overall I’ve carved out a very decent existence for myself from a career and financial safety perspective. I’m saying this to say that I know my situation isn’t universal, nor should it be perceived without discussing the privileges I enjoy.
I did my research before applying to Gatsby– I understood and acknowledged past public events and some public perceptions before going in. If you’re any kind of different in tech, you learn early that you’re (some would say unfairly) considered just as responsible for learning about and interviewing the company you’d be joining as they are about you.
I applied to Gatsby thinking I wouldn’t get past the resume phase. It was a lead position and I had never held a lead title before– I’d been the “in-practice” leader for many projects and teams, but I hadn’t been able to make the leap to being the “on-paper” leader, too.
When I got in touch with the recruiter, she was very helpful in outlining the basic scope of the position. She also got in touch with me many times throughout the process; notified me of any delays, sent me the benefits. I thought it was a long shot, but we both decided to move forward.
I met many members of the team during the interview process; all very excited to talk to me. What ensued was a series of short interviews followed by long discussions about everything from my views on Javascript language features to how I think about working with product teams. It was enjoyable, and everyone I met had a very strong “we’re a team here” vibe without somehow straying into the uncomfortable “we’re a family here”.
I did a paid presentation about an idea I’d implement. I was put into a Slack channel with my interviewers so far and a few more folks, and highly encouraged to ask questions and collaborate with them as much as I needed to. It made the project much less intimidating– I could get context and information right from the sources. I found myself working right up until the time limit I set for myself, excited to add an idea here, tweak the wording there. It was then I knew that I wanted this job.
Luckily for me, I received an offer shortly after, and joined the team in July.
I took this job because it was going to challenge me– but my first few days made it clear that my teammates, my manager, or any team member was there to help with things I couldn’t handle myself. I was in meetings with what felt like everyone, but was probably closer to half of Gatsby, in my first two weeks. However, my meeting schedule never felt cramped or overwhelming, and I had plenty of focus time, even in my first week.
It was then I learned about the value “collaborate by default.” No one had said it out loud, but they had lived up to it already. Everyone I’ve worked with at Gatsby makes an effort to seek help and feedback, and create a culture in which that is not only accepted, but actively encouraged.
Gatsby is remote-first; I unfortunately haven’t been able to meet any of my colleagues in person, for obvious reasons. But so far I’ve noticed a lot of work goes into that aspect; in my on-boarding, I was taught how to delay the sending of messages for folks in farther time zones, how to see what time it was for who I was talking to, and how to set up muted notifications outside of my work times– and many other techniques Gatsby uses to collaborate across time zones. Everyone who’s messaged me has been actively cognizant of my local time and I haven’t had any messages outside work hours, aside from the occasional bot.
I’ve worked remotely for many years, and it is refreshing to see this kind of work put into the hard parts of remote work: the tools and methods we use to collaborate are tuned to allow anyone from Gatsby in any time zone to contribute feedback and information. It’s been a breeze working with Paul in the UK, and I can’t say that about previous places I’ve worked at that are globally remote.
There is also an embedded culture of respect for your teammates. When you’re sick, you take time off– there’s no implied asterisk saying “well you know not mental health”, or any other exceptions. Others respect your need for time off, and no one has asked me any probing questions about the time I’ve taken off for appointments, etc.
That respect extends to pronouns; I noticed at the end of my third week that I had not had the experience of someone not using “they/them”, and as I mentioned before, my first few weeks were a whirlwind of introductions and 1-on-1s. I tweeted about it shortly after my realization:
I noticed a thing today that seems small but is just bogusly big to me: every single person at work has respected and used my pronouns correctly. It's been three weeks and I've talked to so many people and EVERY TIME they had it right.
— Kassian Wren (@nodebotanist) August 4, 2022
I’m also very excited about the work I have been and will be doing; creating content via blog posts, live streams, and videos, getting to plan out campaigns for upcoming features and launches (I am so excited to show you what’s coming). I’m also knee-deep in Gatsby pull requests as I make changes to the docs and code that will hopefully add to developer success with Gatsby. I’m really glad to be working with this team to face the challenges Gatsby faces, and celebrate the wins.
But we should all remember that great work comes from people who are in a good environment, as told by the great CJ Silverio:
Code is never the challenge. Well-rested comfortable people who feel emotionally safe have solved every problem I’ve put in front of them.
— Ceej "oh no not again" Silverio (@ceejbot) August 5, 2016
Overall, the culture at Gatsby has been good to me. They respect my working hours and pronouns, they work hard at remote work, and their spirit of passion and collaboration means that I can focus on the challenges ahead without needing to worry about how I’m going to interact with my team. I recognize that it’s only been a month. But I also recognize that this team, right now, is a good place for me to be.
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