#77 “The director was a few drinks in when he approached me and offered to introduce me to the CEO.”

“I had recently joined a company that was just opening an office in Seattle, and I was the only woman engineer in the office (of about 25 at that point). The CEO and my director travelled up to Seattle for a big recruiting event, since the company was trying to hire for the new office. The director was a few drinks in when he approached me and offered to introduce me to the CEO. I was excited by the opportunity and walked over. When there was a free moment, my director introduced me by saying ‘Hey [CEO's name], I want to introduce you to [my name]. She is the woman of Seattle’. I didn't know how to respond, but feeling pigeon holed into a conversation about diversity (or... the lack of diversity) in tech, I responded by telling him about my volunteer work with Girls Who Code, to which the CEO had nothing to say. It was a super uncomfortable interaction, and I felt like that moment was completely stolen from me by that comment, and my plug for diversity in tech could've been more tactful if I hadn't been blind-sighted. My director came up to me the following day and apologized.”