Why I left NPR

Hi everybody, I wanted to come on. It's Noelle. For those of you who might be seeing this who don't know who I am, my name is Noelle Silver. You can check out my LinkedIn profile, it's pretty easy to find me. I kind of look the same, but I wanted to come on because I wanted to share with you what I am working on and how I got to the decision to do it. It is an extremely complicated and complex time right now, um, in the world, in— for so many reasons, and the me— the reasons just keep on mounting. Um, and I'm just gonna hop on LinkedIn in case there's any comments or anything. Uh, if you want to have a live chat with me, you're welcome to hop on LinkedIn as well. However, I am also live, I think, on YouTube and Facebook and who knows where else, at least 3 or 4 different places. So I just wanted to come on because I did— number one, I don't know how the LinkedIn algorithm works, so I did just update my profile to indicate a change in my career, and I wanted to talk to you guys about it because It's, well, there's just a lot of judgment, and I want to clear the air and talk about why I did it. So number 1, I've, as many of you know, I have 4 children, and it is a struggle and challenging. Hey Brian! Hey Anita! Hi Anita! Rodrigo! What's up, my favorite educator? Oh my gosh, this might be cool news. We should talk. But so great to see you all. Thank you for joining me live. Um, yeah, anyway, so the past— I joined NPR last year, uh, for a very specific reason, and it's because I got to a point in my career where I was, I was kind of done with the corporate— I mean, I could have gone to Apple or Google, like Facebook, and I was kind of done with that. I kind of felt that— did that, been there. Um, and I have my entire career felt like I was never, you know, I was always kind of fighting uphill, um, fighting a battle that my colleagues that didn't look like me didn't have to fight. And it is exhausting. I didn't realize how exhausting until I like tried to look it in the face and really label it. Um, hey there, Jennifer, what's up? Oh man, Daisy, all my friends, it's so good to see you all. Anyway, um, I didn't realize how hard I was fighting until this virus hit and I had all the kids at home and my tolerance level for inequity just started decreasing. I mean, honestly, I would hear things that were just not right and I would have less and less tolerance for it. And what ultimately ended up happening is it led to me having to make a decision like, What am I gonna do, like, with my life when I, you know, 10 years from now when my kids are like, "Oh my gosh, the virus," you know, "George Floyd," like, when they say that to me 10 years from now and ask me what I did or how I reacted, I want them, my children, as well as anyone in my life, I wanna be proud of what I said and how I responded. Hey Janice, thanks for joining. Janice, I owe you a call, so I will call you. Um, anyway, I want, I want to be proud of the choices that I'm making in my life. And a lot of people choose loyalty to a company, and that is completely okay. Um, a lot of people choose loyalty to a certain type of work. I personally am loyal to my values, and my values evolve over time, and I want them to. I want to learn more and understand more and then elevate my understanding standing and elevate my relationship with the world. And so as my tolerance decreased of just the nonsense that comes with dealing in an environment where I am always the minority and fighting, fighting, fighting constantly, I decided, you know what, I want to make a change. So here is the challenge we all have, right? Like, we're in this moment where we are looking racism in the face. We're— but Anyway, we're looking racism in the face and it is now showing up in a bunch of different ways. We are hearing it from people who didn't speak up before, um, and it's great and I'm glad for it. But the reality is, is I look back— unfortunately I've been alive long enough to like look back and see patterns of behavior where we get mad and we have enough and we fight, and then in 10 years I don't want to cry, but we're right back where we were. Like, nothing has changed for me in the 20-some-odd years I've been in tech. And we've gone through these motions. We've said enough is enough. We've said we're not going to take this anymore. And we— and I still take it. We all, you know, if you don't— if you look like me, um, or if you have brown skin, we take it. And so, um, Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you, Angela, for joining. Um, anyway, it's just been really hard because I just don't want to take it. I don't want to suck it up. I don't want to be that generation that just says, you know what, that's just how people treat you. And I've been saying that for 20 years, like, it's just how it is. Yeah, you have to fight twice as hard to be heard in a room. That's just the way it is. You won't get paid what your peers are getting paid. That's just how it is. And it was okay with me for a long time. Actually, no, it was never okay with me. I just sucked it up. I said, "You know what? I can work harder and I can be better and I can get the job I want and I can do whatever." Right? I just fought that way. Well, recently, again, with this COVID situation and being home with the kids and realizing, you know, just seeing my life go by day by day. I'm like in week 11 in this house with my kids, and I just said, you know what, no, I'm not gonna take it anymore. I'm not gonna do it. I'm gonna find a way to make a change. And the reality is, is some of us can make a change being part of a protest, and some of us can make a change being, you know, hella mad on Twitter. I want to make systemic change. I want to do something that will literally change people's lives, trajectories of their lives. And so I was given an opportunity to go to a company, HackerU, um, which partners with major universities to create programs. But the reason I'm doing it is because those programs are built in a way that they are accessible to anyone, to me basically 20 years ago. I did not graduate from you know, the— I didn't go the traditional route, you know. I hated school, but I loved to learn. And I want to create more pathways for people like me who don't go the traditional route, who don't get that wonderful letter in the, in the mail by a college that accepts them, right? I want to create a different way, a different way to get a valid education from a reputable university even if you don't follow that path. And that's why I joined this company, because we are all about democratizing this, like creating a way where some, you know, you wake up in the morning and you think, there's no way, there's no way I could get into AI, there's no way I could be a data scientist, there's no way. But there is a way, and I'm making that way. It will literally be my work. My life's work, um, I think has led to this moment. So, uh, hi Zeke! Um, and I know I don't need to explain my decision. Thank you for saying that. Um, but I do want to say, uh, that I love what I do. I love inspiring people. Dang it, hold on, Zeke. Um, I love inspiring people and mentoring people, and I was like, man, what better way can I do that than by being part of the beginning of someone's journey into tech? And I'm not saying it's someone right out of high school. Any of you listening, if you are like in sales and you're like, man, I always wanted to be in tech, or I always wanted to be an analyst or whatever. I always wanted to build visualizations in Tableau. Yes, there are some of us who actually think about this. Um, yeah, I think now is your chance, and it's never been easier. And a company like HackerUSA is doing this work, and I'm excited to join it. Um, but thank you, you're right, I don't have to explain myself. But at the same time, I want people to know why I did this. I did it for my children. I have— I am biracial, which I've found very interesting in this time because half of my community is like, you know, sees me more on the privileged side, and half of my community doesn't think I'm Black enough to be hurt or upset or offended by the world that's going on right now. And so for all those that are biracial out there, it's a very interesting time to be alive because you, you feel conflicted. You know, I recognize that sure, I guess I've had some privilege because I'm not that Black, I guess, but my life is, I mean, I've watched, I call it, I used to call it, forgive my phrase, the golden boy syndrome where I've watched men get hired after me and sail past me with promotions. And again, as part of that suck-it-up generation, I'd just be like, all right, double down, work harder. And ultimately, I would leave those companies. Ultimately, I would just say, you know what, you don't want my goodness, fine, I'm out. Um, last year, I mean, I had a really hard time because I was doing everything I could to be successful. I even got a Performance Excellence Award from my company for the year. I brought in the most impact revenue-wise, um, and within weeks of getting that award, I was literally fired. Fired for like insubordination. Um, it's just nuts. And I didn't— I didn't— at that time, I felt alone and sad, and I felt like, well, maybe I am doing something wrong. Maybe that award didn't mean what I thought it meant, right? Like, there's so many of us that get pushed out of companies that we love. Like, when I was at Amazon, I bled orange. Like, I was full-on leadership principles. I am to this day because it was who I was, not who they were. But I was like, I love that company. I got pushed out because I just didn't look or sound like the people who were in leadership roles. And, you know, went to Microsoft, same thing. You know, I went to NPR, you know, I struggled. And I want to be— I want to make a difference. And I feel like the systematic way to make a difference is to start training a new world of people, like create new opportunities. And in my mind, that is people just like those of you listening, right? It is creating a new opportunity for anyone who has this mindful leadership, this mindset that says enough is enough. I love— I want to respect and honor you regardless of who you you know, where you came from, how you were raised, what school you went to, what color your skin is, what gender you are. Just, I want you. And as a matter of fact, it doesn't look the same for everybody, right? Like, it's just crazy to me how many people have told me stories of how their wings were clipped by a company, how a company said, no, shh, be quiet, sit down, don't do that. And those things would have brought value to those companies and those people ultimately left. It's just, it's a messy world. So what am I doing? I'm quitting a job where I literally— you should have saw my office. I moved in cushy pillow, like stuff on my walls, oh, all my pictures, everything. And I said, you know, I'm doing something I'm going to be proud of and that my kids will be proud of. I'm going to help people get into this world of technology, but better than that. I'm not just gonna, you know, funnel people into old technical education. I'm going to be part of a company that's creating new education, new way of learning about this, right? What if people get taught to build teams that are naturally diverse, that they see the value in building diverse teams? Not just diversity like 3 brown people and 2 white people and a couple of, you know, purple people, but like diversity of thought. What happens if you are raised as an engineer to think about Man, I wanna know about introverts, extroverts, accessibility, elder care, you know, kids with special needs. Like, as an engineer, I should be considerate and empathetic to all of those constituents. And if I'm not, fine, make sure someone on my team speaks for them. So it's a new time. I'm excited to be part of this new company. They have embraced all that is me, which is the first time in my 20-some-odd years, I don't know, 23 years, 4 years, I don't even wanna do the math, Um, but the first time really that I've been given that opportunity and that I've been told like, we actually want what you have, and I believe what they say. I've been told that before, it just hasn't actually been true, but I believe it. And I think that I can be impactful. And I want you to know, if you know somebody or you think somebody might be interested in technical education, like, have them follow me because I'm going to be talking about this a lot. You know, we have so much work to do in, in tech. So much work to do, so many roles to fill, and I want to be part of the solution that fills it with people that are empathetic, mindful, optimistic, positive, and want to change the world. And I think— I don't think that I'm too far from that. I feel like that's why I am what I am and I've had the experiences I've had. So yeah, it's sad, and I'm— I broke down a little bit. It's fine. I think it happens at least once alive. But, um, you guys have been amazing. Thank you for listening to me. I'm super excited. You guys are so awesome. Hi! Oh, uh, the name of the company is Hacker U. You can look it up. I actually just posted it on my profile, so you can go to my profile right now and take a look. Thank you for all the likes and the hearts. You guys are so amazing. Um, I am super excited. I, you know, I plan to wear this everywhere I go because I know so many people who could use a life that a new world of tech could provide them. You know, it just shouldn't be reserved to a special type of person. There is no special type of person. Tech needs everyone. We need every perspective and every capability. So spread the word. We're going to be coming— the programs I'm going to be running are full-stack dev, data science and analytics, and who else? Who knows what else? But yeah, it should be fun. So thank you so much for spending some time with me this afternoon. Happy Friday! I'm excited about the world, what the world has to offer in my new adventure, and I plan to share many, many of those moments with you. So thank you. Oh, okay, super side note: I did my century ride on my Peloton today. 100 rides! It is not— it is something that I never thought I would ever do because I— anyway, I never thought I'd ever do it. But what it proved to me was like, you literally can go from nothing to something. You just have to choose. And then, oh yes, you have to actually work at it every single day, which is what I've done. And so it was a really great testament, um, to just like— I mean, cycling, spinning, I never— I just never— I never— I would always say I don't have a body for spinning. I used to say I don't have a body for running. And the reality is, is I have anything that I want the second I choose to take it. And, uh, this job is part of that. My Century Ride is part of that. You all are part of that. So thanks for being part of my journey. I love you all. I support you all. I am here for you. I can't wait to hear your wonderful stories. Um, and yeah, it's going to be an amazing ride. So thank you so much for joining me.