Kitch Hitch: Vietnam Meets Nigeria

Hi Y'all! Happy Fall! I just got back from an incredible wedding weekend adventure in Yosemite National Park! Mitch and I, along with Kasey and Niky got to witness the epic marriage of our two friends, Mandi and Eric, in an insanely gorgeous setting. I have a whole week's worth of blog posts from our shenanigans but THIS WEEK is dedicated to a different marriage- my own!

Last November, Mitch and I made the mutual decision to get married. Two weeks later on December 4th, 2015, we did. BTW I totally had to look that date up (no shame :P). We scheduled an appointment with the first judge that was available, invited a handful of very close friends and celebrated after our courthouse ceremony at the Old Spaghetti Factory with a DQ ice cream cake. I know that sounds so insanely practical, maybe almost too straightforward but our family and friends would tell you that is the most Kim & Mitch (aka Kitch) way to get married EVER. We are pragmatic people when it comes to these type of things.

I was never the type of little girl that day dreamed about her wedding day. To be clear, no shade to the girls that do but it just wasn't something that little Kim thought about it. As adult Kim, I didn't put a ton of emphasis on marriage as a milestone for our relationship. I mentioned it once, early on when we were trying to define the seriousness of our relationship.

Side Bar: Our relationship was one of our favorite discussion topics as a young couple. How we felt about our relationship, how we felt the other behaved in our relationship, conversations about conversations we had in our relationship- it was a bit overkill sometimes. It felt like we constantly talked about the state of our relationship back in those early days but it was a huge factor in developing our communication styles between each other and learning how to give feedback to one another. Those talks were often challenging, but I developed so much as a person, especially in my empathy skills, while participating in those discussions with Mitch.

I had been vocal early on about wanting marriage to be in our future. I think I phrased it like, "Please only continue to be in a relationship with me if you think marriage is a possibility". I didn't have a timeline for it but I wanted to be clear that I wanted a relationship that was going somewhere long term. And now that I really think about it, my request to Mitch was more about me wanting him to stay only if he felt building a life together was something he would eventually want. It was my way of asking him to actively choose our relationship. We didn't speak of this often, but it was a good way to check in with each other whenever we had our bumps in the road. HEY- do we still see a future here? Are we still in it to win it? Marriage was never an end goal in these conversations, but for us at the very least, it was one of our checkpoints. At just 4.5 years in, we found ourselves confidently and consistently answering YES to those questions. We eventually arrived to a point in our relationship where no matter what challenges came up, we knew we were committed to working through them.

So here we are :) Does it feel different to be married? No lie, it is fun AF to call Mitch my husband. Mitch is unbelievably gorgeous, undeniably intelligent, relentlessly driven, lovingly kind, and above all else, extremely thoughtful. And I am lucky enough to call this human my person! FOREVER! Being married has made us more comfortable in talking about those long term, financial commitments together but as most couples would agree, it hasn't changed how our relationship fundamentally works. I told you earlier, we are extremely pragmatic :P We still talk quite a bit about our individualistic wants and needs in the context of our relationship. And we're still growing and working through our differences. But yea, I have to admit it feels pretty fucking awesome to have reached this milestone.

I feel beyond grateful to have found and more importantly, earned this partnership with Mitch. I consider it one of my life's greatest works to have built this foundation for our life together. The possibilities for where we could go next feel limitless

I am so happy to have these photos to commemorate this time in our life. As much as this post is about diving into marriage without the fanfare, the one thing I knew I wanted was an epic photo session (hello, have you met me?!). it is wonderful to have an excuse to gather our families together and take photos that I will literally cherish for the rest of my life. We took these on a warm day in August, the day before threw ourselves a giant party (more on that in my next post). These photos represent a beautiful, crazy fusion of our cultures.

My parents are from Vietnam and Mitch is from Nigeria so we thought it would be cool to wear traditional outfits that showed off our cultures. In Nigeria, it is typical for each side of the family to wear matching, contrasting prints for the wedding ceremony so you know who is from the groom's side and who is from bride's side. Although we didn't have a ceremony, we loved this concept for photos. We picked purple for Mitch's family and yellow for mine. Mitch's family wore traditional Igbo outfits and mine wore traditional Vietnamese ao dais (literally translation is long shirt/blouse). My brother and sister-wifey had our ao dais, along with their ao dais and my parent's ao dais handmade in Little Saigon in California. For Kasey and Niky, we ordered these chinese qipao dresses last minute (Amazon prime, holla!) since we couldn't find ready-made ao dais that we liked. Technically, my grandfather is from China, so I think we can let is slide :) Mitch's mother had all of our Nigerian outfits made in Nigeria before she came to visit us.

Mitch and I had two sets of clothing. The red and blue outfits are a typical wedding outfit for Vietnamese brides and grooms. Doesn't Mitch look out-of-this-world uhhhhmazing in his blue brocade? I can't get over it. The gold designs on my ao dai are hand drawn. Up close, it's essentially gold puffy paint :D For my Nigerian outfit, my maxi skirt+blouse combo is less traditional (although to be quite honest, I'm not sure exactly what is traditional), but I am so stoked to wear this maxi skirt out in the real world. Hands down the best part of our outfits were our crowns! Each of our outfits was topped off with beautiful headwear.

In addition to celebrating our cultures, these photos celebrate the most important people in our lives, the ones who shaped us into who we are today. My favorite part of this day was witnessing our two families come together for the first time. It was perfect. As you can probably tell, we had a ton of fun taking these photos.

I can't say enough good things about my favorite photographer in the world, Dara Oke. These photos speak for themselves but she is incredible to work with. Spending your hard earned dollars on an exceptional photographer is rarely something you regret. The hard part is getting time on their busy books :) I am so grateful she shared her talent and artistry with us.

This day will forever be remembered as one of my favorite days in the history of ever. Many reasons to be beyond grateful.

Until we meet again!
Kim

Whoa. Hi. Hello. Long Time No See!

Damn, y'all. HEY! It has been a hot second, amiright?! Sorry #notsorry for the hiatus #okaykindofsorry, but priorities in life shifted and when I need to drop something, the blog is the first thing to go. Life hasn't slowed down, but after getting through a crazy summer, I've decided it's time for me to bring the blog back :) Fingers crossed this revival sustains the test of my fall travel schedule!

So, what have I been up to? I know it's lame and self indulgent to complain about how busy you are, but here's what has been #forreals occupying my life these last 4 months:

Kitch Hitch

After going back and forth, Mitch and I decided to throw ourselves a reception to celebrate our marriage last December. THIS has been priority #1 for the last 4 months. TBH, we didn't really feel like a reception was necessary, but complete fomo on commemorating a momentous occasion in our relationship with our beloved friends and family motivated us to get our shit together. At the end of April, we secured a venue for August 21st (our 262nd day of marriage) and proceeded full steam ahead to throwing the biggest party of our lives. With the help of our amazing friends, we DIY'd the shit out this soiree. We grew our own succulents for the party favors and centerpieces, made our own flower wall (more on that to come!), had an EPIC Nigerian/Vietnamese fusion family photo session (definitely more on that to come!) and convinced our favorite restaurant, Araya's Vegetarian Place, to cater delicious thai food for our celebration. Was it stressful AF? YAS. Was it worth it? FUCK YAS!

Summer at Microsoft

Once the interns got here, this blog didn't stand a chance. Between hosting a 500+ person Intern Hunger Games event, spoiling my intern class with boba+ice cream on a weekly basis, bonding with my students by taking ALL the cooking classes (pizza, gnocchi, risotto!), hanging out with Elle Goulding and wrangling the 1700+ intern class with my 100+ Microsoft BFFs, I barely had time to water the succulents for Kitch Hitch. It has been a COMPLETE BLAST and I wouldn't trade these wild and crazy summers for anything. But for reals I love you, it's time to go home. I'll see all y'all out on campus (we're going to Disneyland!!!) or when you eventually return to me+Microsoft (where you know you belong!).

Living the shit out of life

Mitch and I somehow got adopted by a slew of power couples that want to take us on exceptional excursions. In the past 4 months we've been on two super romantic surprise PNW getaways with our extremely photogenic group of friends (it's a long story #obb), to Oklahoma City for an insanely lit Nigerian wedding, to Anchorage Alaska for ultimate nature bonding, to Portland (twice), and last but not least, had a rad weekend at Lake Chelan, a classic Washington weekend destination. We've been enjoying all of the delightful things a Seattle summer has to offer. I'm not sure how we got so lucky but I will happily and gratefully count my #blessings!

When I am so squeezed for time I find myself rationing out my minutes, it's important to pause and appreciate where my time has gone and remember why (and really figure out if) it was worth it. Looking back, I want to remember the positives but it's healthy to acknowledge the negatives as well. My main strategy for stress management has been to keep myself as even keeled as possible, not letting myself get overly excited about the festivities or get too down when my endless to-do list seemed insurmountable. Keeping a leash on my emotions was completely necessary for surviving this crazy summer, but it was also important for me to emotionally process all of my feelings once I had the head space and the time to do it. Pro tip, don't go too long without processing or you're going to freak the fuck out :P

Anyways, with the leaves already beginning to fall to the ground (thanks, Seattle), I am ready to welcome a new pace to my life. An endless summer sounds wonderful in concept, but I'll gladly take the change in seasons this time around.

I hope y'all had a super relaxing+productive labor day weekend! Until the next!

Rainbow Sheath via clearance at H&M
Sandals Ninewest via clearance at DSW

His & Hers: All that Glitters + 2016 Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR, PEOPLE! 11 days late but better late than never, yas? My blogger boyfriend, Hector and I are back with a touch of sophistication to kick off my first post of the new year. But seriously- how beautiful is this man?! I'm looking forward to continuing the "His & Hers" series in 2016!

Not to be over enthusiastic of the annual NEW YEAR NEW ME movement, but the two weeks of downtime had my wheelhouse spinning on a couple different topics. I won't go super deep into any of these (yet), but this blog has always been helpful for organizing my thoughts so here's a brief rundown of the goals I have top of mind for myself right now.

Understand my Professional and Personal Priorities
So, I'm coming up on my second year of recruiting and I want to make sure I get a head start on the inevitable "What's Next" anxiety that seems to plague career focused millennials. Real talk, what's next for me could very well be recruiting forever. However, if that is the case, I want it to be a very deliberate decision. There are a couple different career paths that seem interesting to me but are completely unrelated to one another. For the various careers I have in mind, there isn't a smooth transition from one to the next and most of the options would most likely require me to put what I'm currently doing on complete pause so I can devote time to building a specific skillset for said career. Before I get into a deep dark rabbit hole, the point of this particular goal is to articulate a set of professional priorities and life priorities to form a basis so I can go out and tackle the "What's Next" question with some sort of personal compass.

Become an Educated Ally
So, being married to a beautiful, kind person has been an actual dream come true. Being married doesn't change everything, but it does give you some new perspective on some things. It's pretty well known among my circle of friends that ever since I started dating Mitch, I would lust over the prospect of our inevitably beautiful blasian babies. Well, now it is actually seriously a real possibility! I mean, it's in my 5+ year plan so not anytime soon but a big part of me is definitely doing a happy dance when I think about our future children. Anyways, here's where I drop the hammer. So, I realized that I am going to have children in a society where pockets of the population will treat my children differently because of how they look. I mean sure, they'll technically be half Vietnamese Amazon Glam Barbies but actually, they're going to be black. They're going to be black in a society where some will make assumptions about them that could in turn lead them to be harmed just because of the color of their skin. This is some scary shit, y'all. They're going to have a lot of experiences that I will never have. And although I can be empathetic and kind, I'll never truly understand what it feels like to walk in their shoes. So, I'm making a commitment to become a more educated ally. Not just for the sake of my future children but seriously because I feel like it's the right thing to do. A big thank you to my very good friend Janet for being my diversity & inclusion spirit guide and fueling some much needed conversation around this topic. My plan for now is to read and reflect as much as I possibly can over the next year (and beyond).

Have a plan for Fitness
This next one is more light hearted. A New Year Resolution list wouldn't be complete without something health/fitness oriented, AMIRIGHT?! On the real, reading through my January and February goal posts from 2015 got me excited for all of the possibilities of the New Year! I'll shake out my specific goals as I become more inspired to set them but for now my goal is to give my best effort to make time for fitness. Like literally on Sundays I'm going to open up my work/personal calendars for the week and block out times for sweat fest sessions. I'm travelling on and off for the next 4 months without a rhyme or reason to my schedule so a traditional routine is not going to work for me. Really what I'm saying is, I have a goal to make goals for my fitness on a weekly basis.

Blog More in 2016
Since reviving my blog in 2014, I've been able to maintain decent consistency. I published 91 posts in 2014 and 109 posts in 2015. My goal this year is to make at least 110 posts. To give myself a jump start, I just signed up for a blogging challenge for the month of January. 16 posts for the first month of 2016. And as you can see, I'm starting 11 days late. Lol, so I'll be pushing myself to be accountable to the blog over these next three weeks! Leggggooooo :)

This goes without saying but I plan to use this blog to reflect on my progress as I make headway on the different goals I've laid out for myself here. How are your resolutions going? How do you plan to keep yourself accountable? As always, thank you for taking the time out of your day for me. I appreciate you heaps and mounds!

So now, here are some pretty pretty pictures for your bemusement! Cheers!

On Hector
Suit Blazer Express, exact
Suit Pant Express, exact
White Dress Shirt Zara, exact
Gold Tie H&M, similar
Striped Hat H&M, similar
Polka Dot Pocket Square J. Crew, exact
Socks J. Crew, exact
Shoes Aldo, exact


On Kim
Double Ankle Strip Pump Forever 21, similar
Gold Sequin Dress Forever 21, exact, similar
Flared Midi Skirt Banana Republic

So, You're Thinking About Becoming a Recruiter?

Hi friends! I know I've been a little MIA on the blog. Ever since coming home from fall travels, I've gone full on hermit mode to get shit done. I get a surprising number of inquiries about my job, so I thought I should lay it all out in a blog post for those that want to be in the know. This an interesting time for me to write a post like this because  this is when my job is its hardest. It's for the best though- you're going to get the real real from me on this one.

This post is super specific to recruiting software engineers currently enrolled in universities for opportunities at Microsoft. You should be aware that recruiting experiences are really going to vary depending on which company you're recruiting for, the roles you're recruiting for, the type of candidates you're recruiting (industry vs. college). One of my favorite things about recruiting is that each recruiter has their own distinct style and you can really bring your individuality to the job. This post isn't going to be able to tell you exactly what recruiting will look like for you, but it will hopefully give you a few examples of what you may be in for if you choose to pursue a similar career.

TLDR summary of my job: I am assigned a set of schools to recruit at (this year it's 5, last year it was 4). At each school, I am given a goal for full time hires and a goal for intern hires (currently, exclusively for software engineering roles). I'm assigned a budget for each of my schools, which is pretty generous. I do whatever the eff I need to do to find my hires and stay within budget.

University recruiting has a very specific cadence: Let's start with fall (right now), when we're operating at 1000% (AHHHHHH). My job requires a healthy amount of travel, typically 6 - 8 weeks per year, averaging 2 weeks per school. In the fall (September and October), my schedule revolves around career fairs. In between the career fairs, I fill my schedule with various events like office hours, presentations, sell dinners, coffee chats and coding competitions. I try my best to make it easy for students to meet Microsoft while we're on campus. My goal is to make as many face to face connections as possible and forge meaningful relationships with top candidates. I take every opportunity to share what Microsoft is all about and educate students about our recruiting process. I have 4 - 7 engineers (aka soldiers #teamkim #loveyouforever) out on the road with me to help evaluate candidates, share their experiences, keep me sane and when they're feeling incredibly generous, stay up with me until 2 AM to complete ridiculous "bitch work" endeavors like sorting through hundreds of resumes and hand typing information into our database. You can't do this job alone, y'all and I am unbelievably lucky to have the best people willing to take time out of their lives help me recruit the best and the brightest. Actually, the best part of being on the road for me is spending time with my coworkers friends and working together to get shit done. Teamwork makes the dream work, y'all! During fall travel, I'm going pretty hard, spending every waking moment working in order to be responsive to the flood of emails and keep up with deadlines (ie. Submitting 50-100 candidates for interview scheduling several times throughout the season) .

When I return home, I'm still going hard but I get to do it from the comfort of my own home and office. During this time, volume management is what is up. For each school, I go through hundreds of resumes to give about 100 students a shot at first round interviews with us. From there, typically 30-50 kill it and we bring them home for final round interviews. Through October, November and December, I'm overseeing 150ish or so candidates as they come to Redmond. I have a TON of help along the way from teammates who are helping with scheduling and travel arrangements. A lot of 1-off situations come up on the daily so I bunker down and set myself up for rapid response firefighting. There's a beautiful period between Thanksgiving and New Year's where things pleasantly slow down a bit. In January and February, I'm back out on the road but by this time, I will have (hopefully) finished all of my intern hiring and will be close to meeting my fulltime goals. By the time I get to winter recruiting, I'm thinking about recruiting for the next year and working on those long term relationships #thelonggame and hanging out with the kids that we've hired so far #DISNEYLAND and getting them hyped for dat techie good life.

In the early spring, I hit a conference or two (NSBE National two years running! See you in Boston?!) and spend time with my team (#SXSW2016). I mastermind summer plans for my kiddies and devote time internet stalking all the other kiddies that decided go to Facebook, Google and Amazon for the upcoming summer. When the interns arrive, it's just 100% shenanigans for the next 3 months. My team and I, nay, all of Microsoft devotes the days of summer to our interns. I spend a lot of my days doing 1:1s with the kiddies, getting to know them better and helping them make the most of summer. My office is home to many a therapy session during this season. Throughout the summer I'm organizing, attending or supporting 2-3 evening events per week. In addition, I help run the Intern Social Club (ISC). The ISC is a coalition of 100ish kickass recent college grads (aka the raddest baddest people at Microsoft) who pair up and host a random group of interns for the summer.  You can think of us as camp counselors or spirit guides. The ISC Program is totes one of my favorite things about my job. Always back to the people- it's so legit connecting with some of the most energetic, motivated whipper snappers at the company. I feel like the summer is just one giant bonding experience. Bonding with my interns, bonding with my teammates, bonding with the ISCs. It feels fucking magical. The summer reaches its peak in mid-July when UR throws a stupidly epic event for ALL the interns #sigevent. It's one of the moments where everyone comes together and I just have hit pause on my life to revel in awe of what my team is capable of and pinch myself to make sure my life is real.

And then the interns go home, we say our goodbyes, and a few weeks later I'm back on campus chasing them down with my best friends in the fall. And that's it! That's all there is to it! #NBD

It's worth mentioning that at Microsoft, we split our recruiting into two different functions. Everything I've just laid out is typical of a finder. Finders go out and find the candidates. The second half of recruiting (honestly the most important half) is handled by the fillers. Fillers advocate for our candidates once they receive their offer, helping them to negotiate their offers with the hiring team and guide our candidates through the offer process. I'm eternally grateful to everything fillers do for my candidates.

So, in case you need more food for thought…

Things I seriously love about my job:

• Microsoft: I am legitimately proud to recruit for Microsoft. Personally, this company means a lot to me. There's a reason why I chose to start my career here and I really believe in our mission, our culture, and most important to me, our people. I can't really see myself recruiting for any other company.
• Dream Maker: Some people literally describe Microsoft as their dream company and a lot of people work extremely hard to get to where they are. It is an emotionally rewarding experience to play a small role in helping someone achieve their dream. It's some inspirational shit, y'all.
• Coaching Opportunities: I can't help it, I love the mentorship aspect of my job. I'm an older sibling through and through and I really like being able to bring that to my relationships with my candidates.
• Job Autonomy: How many other jobs out there virtually give you free reign? I have full control over how I recruit at my schools and I get to set my own schedule.
• SO MUCH FUN: Like sometimes I can't believe I #getpaid to do some of the shit I do. Attending rad conferences, throwing super cool parties, hanging with amazing people, like wtffffff.
• I was born to do this: but actually. My job is basically to be myself. Ain't no better way to live your life.

Things I am not into:

• Unpleasant people: I wanted to use an expletive, but Larbear insists that I try to be more creative with my language. Okay but for reals you know what's not awesome? Being subjected to entitled assholes. I hate to admit this, but having a negative interaction with someone can seriously ruin my whole day. I'm learning to not take things personally, but the struggle is real y'all. It's especially hard when you're working so hard and someone decides to shat all over you. At the end of the day, part of my job is being a gatekeeper against people who suck so better for them to reveal themselves to me sooner rather than later. #ughbutstilllllllll
• Being away from home (for too long) - Okay, so work travel makes me feel hella VIP and kind of feeds my ego in an unhealthy/awesome way (that corporate credit card tho!). A big part of me really enjoys being on the road and doing my thing with my recruiting team. However, it's rough times being away from bae, my friends and my own bed for weeks at a time. It gets taxing.

Along the lines of things that aren't my favorite, I wanted to share some other things you may want to take into consideration if you're contemplating this job. I'm not trying to deter you away from recruiting but I think it's only fair to lay everything out on the table. Actually, when I was interviewing for this job, I felt like ALL of the managers spent a good portion of their time playing the no-but-really-are-you-sure-you-want-to-do-this game and making sure I was aware of all of the difficult parts of the job.

• Work/life balance is nonexistent during certain periods of the year. For the last several weeks I've been putting in 12+ hour days and working weekends. It's a necessary evil and honestly, for the most part I'm happy to do it because I'd rather be on top of my shit at work but you should really evaluate if this kind of schedule is a good fit for your lifestyle. MAD RESPECT for the parents on my team, so legit.
• Repetitive - I was able to lay out my entire year as a recruiter in a glorified 1 page essay. There are many opportunities to shake it up and tweak your processes and although some new challenges may present themselves, you're essentially going through the same motions every year for your core job. This is probably a pro and con. On the one hand you know exactly what to expect and can refine your technique year over year, but on the other than you might get really bored.
• Unclear Career Trajectory: There isn't a clear career path beyond recruiting. In engineering, there was a clear leveling scheme to go from engineering I to II to senior to manager, etc. If you want to climb the corporate ladder, you're going to have to forge your own path from recruiting. It's meaningful to make intentional decisions about taking on new roles in your career, but you may feel like you're missing out on a career roadmap that most people get to have.
• Projected Short Lifespan: Most recruiters last 3-4 seasons before they need to move on to something else. The lifestyle is really suited to someone who has flexibility in sacrificing personal obligations (or has a phenomenal support system). I would maybe go as far as to say that this job isn't sustainable for the long haul. Although, there are a few shining examples of recruiters that have been going strong for 10+ years (shout out to you, Andy Gottlieb!). I think I might be one of those #recruiters4lyfe, but only time will tell.

Okay, now knowing what you know, are ready to pursue this career path? HECK YEA LET'S DO THIS.

Some thoughts on next steps:

• Meet other Recruiters: As many as you can! A natural place to start is the recruiting team at your current company (or school). People are really flattered when you want to know about them. LinkedIn is crawling with recruiters and the thing about us is- recruiters are always recruiting and would be happy to talk to you about what we do and get you plugged into the community.
• Determine where you want to recruit and what you want to recruit for: Each company has their own style and philosophy on recruiting. As you meet other recruiters, take notes and start forming your own opinions. Do you want to recruit for tech companies? For business firms? For a big company? For a small company? For college students? For industry candidates or executives? What are the processes at each company and which styles resonate most with you?
• Build your personal brand: Okay, you've done the research and have figured out what you want to recruit for and have a top 5 list of where you'd want to do it. YAY! Now it's time to do some self-reflection. Articulate  your superpower in a way that makes it clear why you'd be amazing for this job.

Examples of attributes I've seen in my most successful teammates:

• Genuine Passion for the Company: Your job is to convince super smart, super awesome candidates that your company is where they should start their career. This is not a conversation you want to hold without true conviction for your company.
• Persuasive Public Speaking: Presentations to 100+ people are more than a weekly occurrence during the fall. The ability to craft and deliver a compelling story that makes your company relatable and desirable is an invaluable skill.
• Organizational Skills: Okay but for reals. Tracking 1000+ candidates each year is insane.
• Abundance of Energy: Do people describe you as the energizer bunny? The ability to turn it on when you're running on empty or the ability to recharge efficiently will be necessary at critical points in the season.
• Confidence:  As with most things in life, confidence is key. It can be intimidating to deal with super savvy, cream of the crop candidates. Having confidence helps you hold your own among coveted talent (that know they're coveted). My gal pal/personal hero, Mindy Kaling, has an incredible perspective on confidence. 

If you're interested in my personal journey to recruiting, this post probably lays it out best. 

Anything I didn't cover? Sound off in the comments or shoot me an email: hellokimwin@gmail.com

BRB, Reset, Refresh

Hello blog family :) It's been a while! I didn't intend to take such a long break from the blog, it sort of just happened. Unexpectedly, my grandmother passed last week and I have been spending a lot of time with my family. We're holding up okay! She lived a very full life of 93 years, with 10 children and thirty-something grandchildren to always love and remember her. It's been wonderful to honor my grandmother by surrounding myself with my family. Special thanks to Mitch, my family and my friends for all of their love and support. I'm lucky to have y'all in my life.

In addition, work has been requiring more focus than usual. Countdown to interns, T-2 Weeks! They're almost here! I love summers at Microsoft. So many festivities and activities, the campus is bursting with extra creativity and energy. I'm excited to share that I've been given my school set for the 2015-2016 school year! UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, Harvey Mudd and Penn State, we're going to have one hell of a time! Although I am excited about new possibilities and new adventures, I am sad to let Duke, Texas A&M and Rice go. The alumni and students of these schools have been nothing short of wonderful and I am so grateful that you welcomed me into your communities with open arms.

That's my update for you. I'm currently on a plane to Disneyland with Mitch for some much needed us time. I'm a bit swamped with travel and funtivities through next week, but I plan to pick up blogging again at the end of the month. I've missed you guys. Looking forward to getting back on it soon! For now, enjoy these photos from my blogger BFF day with Katrina last week!

Where is my voice as a woman in tech?

Hey hey hey friends. I've been balls deep in all the goodness of SXSW! The learnings, the panels, the people, the food, the atmosphere. This festival has been everything I ever wanted AND MORE. I promise to write a recap of this trip but for right now, I need to get something off my 34DD chest. I hate to admit this, but I've spent a fair amount of time here being seriously fired up about some things that have been said on a couple panels that I have attended. Specifically, at panels addressing the issue of the lack of women in tech. This topic has been gaining some serious momentum over the last few years. As a lady computer scientist that has developed software in the tech industry and now as a recruiter for software developers, I can't avoid being in the middle of this ongoing conversation. There are A LOT of topics that I could address on this issue, but the one I want to focus on in this post, the one that has me absolutely BALLS TO THE WALLS PISSED- is the feeling that I am grossly misrepresented as a woman in tech by other women in tech sitting on these panels.

So let's just get right into it. On my first day at SXSW, I attended my first "women in tech" panel. There were 3 panelists, 2 of which were fine. On their own, I would have felt moderately moved by the things they had to say. However, this last panelist basically embodied everything I didn't know I hated about boisterous figure heads aggressively "advocating" for women in tech. She used most of her speaking time (which she sniped from the other panelists) to demand egalitarianism in business. Her demeanor was aggressive, cocky, and snarky. As someone who considers herself hella bossy (or rather, full of moxxie), I promise you I am not abusing the word, aggressive, to describe this woman. She was batshit crazy, y'all.

Example:

During Q&A, a male audience member asked her what he could do to promote equality in the workplace. (Woo! You go, dude!)

Answer: I SHIT YOU NOT SHE SAID, "If your manager offers you a promotion or a raise in salary, you should REFUSE the raise and state that you will not accept the increase in salary until your female peers are making the same amount of money."

DAFUQ? NO. To be fair, I get that she's trying to make a statement about equal pay for men and women, but what seriously irks me is that her answer is based off sensational, sweeping generalizations and lacks a sincere, reasonable and most importantly responsible approach to addressing the issue of equal pay. Her suggestion, or demand rather, was just unbelievably shallow, I can't even dissect all the ways that it was ridiculous. For an article that eloquently NAILS IT harder than I ever could, please read this.

Okay, but to make matters even more unbearable, she went on to say "If you do this, two things will happen. #1. We'll think you're super sexy (insert incredibly awkward attempt at sexy smoulder face and uncomfortable eye contact with male audience member here) and #2. Your business will be successful because businesses that have equal representation of men and women are proven to be successful"

First of all, EW WHAT? Telling ANYone that a motivator for doing something will be sexual approval is fucking disgusting. Don't you DARE include me in your "We." It's not that I don't agree with the core points she was trying to make, it is that I deeply disagree with the way she was presenting it and even more so, the way she was trying to force it on the audience. The way she was addressing the males in particular, she was basically shaming them for being men in tech. Rather than an open, inviting dialogue to welcome men into this discussion, it was basically a scolding. WHOA LADY. These dudes took time out of their kickass sxsw day to choose this session among HUNDREDS of hella cool options. These people are our ALLIES. Why are you disrespecting them?! We need to work TOGETHER and this "you're either with us or against us" bull shit needs to GTFO.

What disturbs me the most is the potential of this woman having significant influence on others in the industry that are invested in this issue. I had a male coworker in attendance with me at this session and he expressed an overall feeling of not having the right to have an opinion on the subject matter presented at the panel. After a little back and forth with him, I can understand why he finds it difficult to decipher the direction of action he should take after attending panels like this because he's making such a sincere effort to listen to the "experts" on the panel.

Holy fuck balls. Honestly, there are so many more tidbits that I could rant about but I don't want this post to turn into a 100% bash fest. Here's what I really need to say. I am tired of attending panel after panel and seeing women in tech pinned into just two categories. Apparently, as a women in tech, you're either a timid, quiet, modest genius that suffers from imposter syndrome, or you're a LOUD, SEXAY, UNAPOLOGETIC-FOR-ALL-THE-CRASS self-proclaimed-BITCH who is TOO-BAD-ASS-FOR-YOU maven.

FUCK THAT. I refuse and reject your representation and advocacy on my behalf as a woman in tech.

Confident, compassionate, collaborative, self-aware sistas in tech, where you at? I KNOW you are out there. I've frequently hung out with y'all in my classrooms, at my workplace, attending conferences, living life. When I think about who I want to represent me I think about all of the incredible women and men who have influenced my success and career in the tech industry. Please, those of you that have well-formed, well-educated perspectives on women in tech, take every advantage that you can to represent our voice at forums like this. Audience members at panels like these are eager and poised to help. You don't have to convince them that there is a problem (the data is clear). They are looking for guidance and inspiration on meaningful ways to contribute and it is so important that these suggestions come from a voice of reason.

Before I leave, I absolutely must compliment two women that I observed on another panel about empowering girls in STEM. Mae Jemison, the first African American women IN SPACE and Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls Code. These women were so on point and I fan-girled SO HARD when I greeted them after the talk. We took this giant group photo and I got to stand next to Mae!! IT'S NOT EVERY DAY YOU GET TO MEET AN ASTRONAUT, YOU GUYZ! I'm still in search of the photo and will update this post when I find it! One more special shout out to Professor Ron Libeskind-Hadas, a member on the same panel and chair of computer science at Harvey Mudd College, where their department is 40% female. I loved hearing about how they made intentional changes to the curriculum that resulted in their increase in female students. More speakers like these PLEASE!

Thank you for making it through my rant. Once again, this blog comes through as an incredibly satisfying personal platform and I sincerely appreciate your support.

Marching Forward: Maintaining Balance

February completely flew by. Four trips in one month will do that to you, I suppose. Time to fess up, I completely missed the mark on my February fitness goals. Seriously, I didn't come close. Like, the complete opposite- I think I did 2 or 3 workouts THE ENTIRE MONTH. I was talkin' too big a game! Or really, I just underestimated how taxing the constant travel would be. I'm not beating myself up too much over it. Usually when I have 0% motivation to work out, it's just my brain and my body telling me they need a break and it's important to give my body what it wants if I'm interested in maintaining any form of my sanity. Travel is exciting, but it's emotionally and physically draining if you don't get a proper amount of recovery time. Working out definitely took a backseat last month.

Instead of recommiting to new fitness goals, I'm shifting my focus to something entirely different. Although, funny enough, I've already managed to get in 3 workouts this month (woo!). This month is about maintaining work/life balance to the point where my body doesn't need 7 days straight of doing nothing. No joke this happened during my one week at home in February. All I could do was come back from work each day and take naps before bedtime, lol. I want to make sure I'm giving myself the proper amount of time to recharge.

What do you guys do when you find yourself overwhelmed with your day to day activities? My signs of overexertion tend to sneak up on me! It's usually too late when I become aware and really, all I can is just let my body shut down and ride the wave of lazy. I'm hoping to pay more attention to my needs and be able to bounce back more quickly when I'm overextended.

Thank you for all of your love and support, y'all!

TAPIA x Boston Shenanigans x Tech Company Recruiting Tips

Good evening, pretty people! I'm relaxing at my brother's beautiful home for the evening after an excellent weekend of theme park shenanigans with my bro and my sister wifey in sunny Orlando. Thank goodness for the Wright brothers. A couple hours on a plane swept me away from snow stormed Boston to beautiful, balmy Florida. Last week, I attended the ACM Richard TAPIA Celebration of Diversity in Computing in Boston. It's an opportunity for students to network with industry professionals, academic institutions, and each other. I manned Microsoft's career table for a couple hours each day. I love meeting excited computer science students and speaking with them about Microsoft. Not gonna lie though, I found myself repeating the same information over and over again. So, at the end of this post I've included some tips to help you get recruited in a big tech company like Microsoft. I hope aspiring software engineers find them useful!

I was able to fit in quality time with some of my favorite people in between career fair shenanigans. One of my favorite meals this trip was shared with Hector of Geek-Q, Dara of Love, Darbie and our blogless, but equally as loved friends Bre'Ana and Stephen! I was being incredibly lazy about venturing out into the snow unless absolutely necessary so I suggested ShabuMaru, a hotpot spot inside Westin Copley Square, where we were staying (lol so lazy). Honestly can't even remember what we talked about but I remember a lot of laughing and a lot of shenanning (so many food photos!). I loved spending time with these people and I can't wait until we are all in Seattle again!

A quick note about this restaraunt in case any Boston readers are curious- The decor is lovely and the service is very attentive. However, I can't put my Asian stamp of approval on the food. It just wasn't up to par for hot pot I've had elsewhere, especially for the price. If you're looking for a good hot pot meal, check Yelp or Urbanspoon. You'll most likely find the best within your local Chinatown or International neighborhoods.

After lunch, we braved the cold for 20 minutes to snap some fabulous outfit shots for Dara and Hector in Copley Square. I was scrubbed out, so I opted to play photographer! Dara's camera setup was AMAZING. I had so much fun taking her shots. You can see details of Dara's gorgeous outfit and more beautiful photos on her latest post. For now though, here are a couple fun snaps of the three of us! Thanks, Stephen :)

Kim's Top Tips for getting recruited at Microsoft
Please note that this list is not exhaustive and is completely based on my personal experiences. I have a double degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering from the University of Washington. I had a PM internship at Microsoft, dev internship at Google and a dev internship at Amazon before returning to PM full time at Microsoft. After 1.5 years of engineering, I joined the University Recruiting team and have been recruiting the best and brightest from Duke, Texas A&M, Penn State, and Rice for the last 9 months.

1. Be nice to your recruiter. Your recruiter holds the keys to the company. At Microsoft, there are two ways to get your foot in the door. One way is to have some serious connections to a hiring manager, who is willing to recommend you for a specific position on their team. Most of us don't have that type of connection so your best bet is to get a recruiter to notice you and believe in your potential.

2. Know who your recruiter is. Use this site to find out.

3. Inquire EARLY. This year, I was finished hiring for internship positions by November. At Microsoft, we open opportunities for the new year in August. Mark your calendars now and plan to reach out as soon as recruiting season opens. We hire full time year round but the biggest variety of opportunities are available earlier in the recruiting season.

4. The more I see your face, the more likely I will give you a first round interview. I'm all about the hustle and I appreciate persistence enough to occasionally offer first round interviews based on the mere fact that I remember you. The best way to secure an interview with us is to see us in person when we visit your campus, especially at career fairs. You can use this site to find out when we'll be on your campus. Attend as many events as possible and make sure to say hi and let us know you were there. Remember that there is a fine line between being assertive and being annoying so be aware of which side of the line you are on. While I'm at it, please be aware of the level of entitlement you are excuding. Honestly, nothing a recruiter hates more than entitlement. No joke.

5. Do you go to a smaller school where Microsoft does not visit? Research upcoming regional hackathons and find out if we are sponsoring. If we are, it's almost a guarantee that we will have representatives from our recruiting team attending, use that time to shine!

6. Use your time with me wisely. You should be doing most of the talking. Remember that section in Speech 101 on Elevator Pitches? You need to have one. You have 1 - 2 minute tops with me at a career fair and I expect you to use that time to convince me that you will be an asset to my company. My points of evaluation are simple and straightforward: intellectual horsepower (how well can you code?), passion for technology (are you genuinely excited about this field?), and communication (will you make an awesome team player?).

7. Understand what I am hiring for. Hands down the most annoying question of all time is, "What type of positions do you have available?". Let me be clear, I welcome clarifying questions or inquiries to gain additional insight on specific technologies. However, I strongly dislike it when potential candidates approach me and it is clear they have not done any research on what we're looking for. This information is easily accessible on our college recruiting site.

This list could go on and on, but I think we've made a good dent! Are there any other questions I can help you answer? Sound off in the comments or shoot me an email: hellokimwin@gmail.com

I'm always happy to help out the hardworking! See you guys tomorrow :)

February Fitness

Hi Hi, Fun Time Friends! Today I'm reviewing my goals from January and putting a stake in the ground for February. This post is primarily focused on my personal fitness. To be clear, maintaining my physical fitness doesn't dominate my life, as I can only manage to devote 4 - 6 hours per week to exercise, including travel and shower time. However, I have found that setting specific goals for fitness is the most effective way for me to stay on track. Thus, this long-ish post on how I'm maintaining my lady figure!

For the most part, I hit my goals last month and I feel super good about it! Setting my intention at the beginning of the month and picking reasonable goals were key for me. Here's a quick review on last month:

Hit Body Burn 4x this month: Success!

Workout 3x/week while on work travel: Almost Success!
I managed 2x/week with the help of Bikram Yoga and the A&M Rec Center. Choosing hot yoga came with an added bonus. You HAVE to stay hydrated and you can't eat super heavy foods if you plan to practice hot yoga on a given day so I was extra motivated to keep fairly decent eating habits.

Go to sleep with a tidy bedroom every night: Success!
I think I've conditioned myself with good habits that will allow me to easily maintain my bedroom. Mitch approved!

Before I lay out my goals for this month, I'd like to explain my thoughts behind my personal health. There are three reasons why I am motivated to get my ass to the gym.

1. Health - I will live a long, active, capable life. I never want my health to be a limit to what I can do.

2. Athleticism - 14-year-old Kim ran a sub minute 400m and 17 year-old Kim could play a full 90 on the right wing making sure to hustle back for defense. 27-year-old Kim would like to run a 24 minute 5K and outsprint all of her opponents in co-rec soccer :D

3. Hot body. Duh. - This one is obvious, right? I'm going to spend a minute here. It is important to me that I think I look good. I emphasize the I here, because no offense, but if you have an opinion on how I look, you can go fuck yourself. Trololol, I don't mean for it to sound so harsh, but you get what I'm trying to say here, yea? I am lucky enough to have been raised in an environment where I could develop high self esteem. On most days, I like the way I look and I am quite appreciative of my genes (Thanks for the 34DD boobies, Mom and my stupidly lush, hella long hair, Dad!). But I would totally be lying if I claimed that I wasn't motivated by the thought of vacation beach photos.

You might notice that my fitness goals are exclusively focused on activity. I have intentionally fashioned goals around action rather than physical benchmarks (i.e. down a certain number of lbs, waist size, etc.) I used to think about my appearance in terms of sizes and weight, but over the years, I've stopped taking those measurements into account. For as long as I can remember, I have looked past the number/size on the label when I'm out shopping and have always focused on what objectively looks good on my frame. It doesn't bother me to size up to a L/XL for a dress or shirt when I need to, so why take measurements into account when I'm evaluating whether or not I look good?

So here's what's up for the month of February.

Hit Body Burn 5x this month
1 already down! I am super grateful to have found a legit weights class that works for me. This goal doesn't allow me to miss a class while I'm home.

No missed soccer games
Confession: I can be horrible with my soccer game follow through. I don't know what it is! I fucking love soccer, but it's so hard for me to gear up and get my ass to my games sometimes. I'm currently on Tuesday and Thursday night teams. I will not allow myself to miss any games without a legit reason (i.e. work travel) and make a sincere effort to schedule social events around my games.

Run 1x in Houston, Boston and Florida
Mitch bought me a pair of AMAZING running shoes to show his support for my commitment to fitness (Thanks, bae, you da you da best). I used them for the first time last month at A&M and I am determined to use them as often as I can. This month, my travels take me Houston (Recruiting at Rice), Boston (TAPIA Conference) and Florida (Visiting Ben & Stina!). I'm determined to commit to some treadmill or track time!

Bikram 1x in Boston and Florida
I learned last month that I need to plan out when I'm working out before I even get on my plane for a work trip. I've already scoped out Bikram studios for Boston and Florida! Unfortunately there's no time for me to hit up a class in Houston, but I at least looked up class schedules and made an attempt to work it out.

Jacket North Face
Tank Forever 21
Running Tights Adidas
Running Shoes Asics Kayano

Mitch and I have a trip to Las Vegas planned for the end of the month (OMG, so much plane time!). We wanted to set aside couples time to cap the end of a busy winter travel season and we got a sweet deal with my Hilton points, so to the strip it is!!! :D We are quite deliberate with vacation mode which includes no workouts, but pool time at Caesars will serve as great motivation as I keep myself accountable throughout this month.

Thanks for reading, y'all! I'd love to hear about how others think about their fitness and health! Or, if you keep a fitness blog or fitness inspiration instagram account, I'd love to follow along!

Joggers, Chambray, and Getting Dressed

Hello, Monday Milkshake Lovers :) I've been home for a couple days and it feels wonderful. I was all over the place last week and I could tell I was scatterbrained from reviewing my writing from the last few posts, lol. The hustle and bustle of travelling has made me cherish down time at home more than ever. As always, I'm spending that time on bae, friends, and lately, deep in thought over the state of my closet and how I view my personal style. No, seriously, I've been talking Kat's ear off about this. This blog has literally been a mirror for myself and gives me a reason to reflect on my style. I've noticed a couple things since starting my blog.

1. I seriously struggle to get dressed. I have a ZILLION articles of clothing and as of late, have found it quite difficult to choose my garments for the day. As someone who is invested in their style, and who on frequent occasion needs to photograph her outfits, I've been feeling a bit of pressure. I know it's mostly because I want to feel STOKED about what I'm wearing and it's sort of difficult to maintain that quality bar on the daily.

2. I can't define my style. I cover for this setback by saying that my style is "all over the spectrum." But really what I'm saying is, I have no idea. I can objectively put together some good looking outfits but I'm not always sure that they're ME. Mitch pointed this out a couple months ago. Such a wise, fashionable man.

3. I can feel my style changing. I'm not sure into what, yet, but I'm down to explore and I plan to use this platform to figure it out. It won't happen overnight. It'll probably take me months, maybe even years, but I'm going to see this through and I'd love for you to join me and chime in with your thoughts! Is anyone else experiencing with the same thing?

The posts this month are going to be about general experimentation. I'm just going to try things out and write about how I feel. This means it might get weird here, lol. Kat gave me the idea to spend each month focusing on a particular aesthetic. I didn't have time to plan something out this month, but I'm keeping it on my "Would Love To Do" list.

So, on to today's outfit! I picked up these joggers back in December and have been trying to figure out how to style them for awhile. Finally, I just googled it and one of the images was a simple outfit with a chambray tucked in. Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Thank you, wonderfully stylish bloggers of the interwebs, for making this post possible :D This outfit is incredibly comfortable. I'm basically rocking sweatpants and chambrays are so chill to wear. From what I've seen, the key to dressing joggers is pairing them with a nice, feminine shoe. At first I thought it would feel off to wear heels with "sweatpants," but the pairing works quite well! Add some pretty, delicate jewelry, an understated watch and a classic bag to complete this look. I am seriously feeling the vibe of this outfit so hard. Stylish, comfortable and classic, win win!

Thanks for reading, lovelies. I sincerely appreciate your love and support. To the moon and back :)

Joggers H&M, a selection
Chambray Hollister, similar
Shoes Nine West, great pairing
Jewelry Forever 21