Strong Feelings

Welcome to the periodcast! Yep, today’s show is all about menstruation—the good, the bad, and the get me a frickin’ heating pad already. So grab your period product of choice, and join us as we get comfortable talking about the politics of periods, what it’s like to talk about your cycle at work, and why we refuse to keep quiet about this super normal bodily function. Our guest is Nadya Okamoto, executive director of PERIOD, a nonprofit she founded in high school that’s dedicated to turning menstrual care from a taboo topic into a basic right. She’s also the author of the new book Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement, which comes out October 16. > Eighty percent of our congressional positions are held by men. And if people in power continue to be afraid to talk about periods and do not acknowledge it as an actual need, then where it counts, periods will continue to go unaddressed. So that’s why we need people who don’t menstruate and people who identify as men to be involved. > > — Na

We’ve all heard companies talk big about how they value diversity. But many still aren’t willing to quantify how they’re doing: who works there? Who’s getting hired and promoted? Are people being paid equitably? On today’s show, we talk about diversity, data, and how one engineer’s call for hard numbers shook things up. That engineer was Tracy Chou—a leading voice in tech industry diversity and inclusion conversations. She’s a wildly talented software engineer who believes in the importance of increasing transparency among tech companies, the need for tech to value a humanities education, and the pleasures of spending way too much time on Twitter. > As an engineer, I’m so used to having to have data for everything. But the lack of data on the workforce side just felt so hypocritical to me. It seemed like it wasn’t really a problem that we wanted to solve if we weren’t even looking at the data. > —**Tracy Chou,  Project Include founding advisor ** We talked with Tracy about: What the real picture of div

Do you ever feel like you’re facing impossible choices—tradeoffs between family and work, between money and passion, between pushing for a promotion and just wanting to take a damn nap? Well, our guests today have been there. And not only that, they’ve written about it. Those guests are Hana Schank and Elizabeth Wallace. A few years ago, they were both in their early forties and feeling stuck. So they set out to learn whether other women they knew were feeling the same—and what they could do about it. Hana and Elizabeth interviewed forty-three women they had first met more than two decades ago, when they were members of the same sorority at Northwestern University. The results of those interviews is the new book The Ambition Decisions: What Women Know About Work, Family, and the Path to Building a Life, which came out in June. > Ambition is not this entity that is contained in a box labeled “career.” …We wanted to kind of liberate the word ambition from this kind of office-boss-lady idea and let it live o

Today’s episode is all about showing up as your most authentic self at work—and about finding a space where you’re supported and respected to do that. It’s also about the challenges of taking risks, the joys of personal growth… and skydiving. Our guest today is one of the coolest, most totally herself people we know, Ada Powers—a writer, user researcher, community builder, and badass trans woman based in San Diego and currently working at a software company called Tealium. You’ll love her. > Being able to come to work as myself means that I get to come to work as myself. I get to think about, “What would make me happy in this context? What would make me happy and feel fulfilled doing this work?” Ok well maybe it means suggesting this initiative, maybe it means taking on this project, maybe it means changing my responsibilities a bit. It means I get to show up and be engaged with how I actually feel and how that looks. > > —Ada Powers, writer, researcher, and community builder She tells us about: How

Welcome to Season 3, friends! We’re so hyped to get back into the game with Jolie Kerr, a podcaster, writer, and New York Times bestselling author who’s here to help us all be a little less gross. Jolie is best known as the expert at “Ask A Clean Person,” where she dishes up advice on cleaning basically anything—and we mean anything. She’s also the dirtiest clean person we’ve ever met—like, who else is going to get tell you about the best way to wash your sex toys and clean cum stains off the couch? We ask Jolie about becoming a cleaning expert, turning her part-time column into a media empire, and navigating the politics and gendered expectations around who cleans what. Plus, she gives us great advice on how we can all be just a little bit less gross. > In my experience, men have found it very empowering to read my columns — to know that they’re geared towards them. They are written for a male audience and they’re not condescending. They’re funny. They’re oftentimes raunchy. I always say, you know, “Clean

Yep, we’ve gone international! Our very first live show was a variety hour featuring Katel & Sara at Vancouver’s Design & Content Conference. So listen up if you want to hear about peeing in a jumpsuit, emailing with Christina Aguilera’s mom, editing footage of crop dusting in Saskatchewan, and rocking a sweet feminist boob necklace. (Uh, you definitely do.) Plus, this special treat has not just one but two mini-interviews: Yesenia Perez-Cruz, a design director at Vox Media and not-so-secret Xtina fan who’s long been one of our favorite speakers Tara Codrington, a new presence on stage and a content specialist at the City of Surrey (and now one of our new favorite speakers) with a storied past in “Canadian lifestyle TV” You’ll also hear live career advice, fuck yeahs from the audience, and a ton more. Huge thanks to everyone who made this live show possible! Steve Fisher and Shannon Fisher at the Republic of Quality All the awesome Design & Content Conference staff, volunteers, and attendees Cr

Welcome to Season 3 of No, You Go—a weekly show about ambition, friendship, feminism…and always finding something to say fuck yeah about. Starting August 14, we’ll be back and better than ever, talking to some of our favorite activists, authors, entrepreneurs, and more about how they got where they are, what they learned in the process, and how they keep their heads up in tough times. Here’s just a taste of what’s in store. Transcript Sara Wachter-Boettcher: If we got Slim Jim as a sponsor, I would say yes. I’m sorry, I would take that money” [Musical transition] SWB Hey everyone, we are back from sipping cool drinks by the pool, and we are so hyped to tell you about Season 3 of No, You Go—a weekly show about ambition, friendship, feminism…and always finding something to say fuck yeah about. JL We didn’t sign Slim Jim as a sponsor, but we did scheme up tons of ways to make NYG better than ever. Starting August 14, we’ll be talking to some of our favorite activists, authors, entrepreneurs, and more about how t

And that’s a wrap on Season 2! What better way to head into a summer break than with Nicole Sanchez, one of the smartest, sharpest, most trusted voices on building diverse and inclusive workplaces? We talk with the founder of Vaya Consulting and lecturer at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business about what has and hasn’t changed in tech culture, how companies try to shortcut diversity efforts, and why well-intentioned white people often screw up. > We’re taking on 500 years of colonial America when we talk about race. And nobody can be expected to do that in a training… We’ve hit this mainstream complacency with, “Great. You hit 4% black people in your company. Wonderful. Oh. You have 6% Latinx. Wow! You’re really doing well.” Like that’s kind of where the conversation is stuck. It’s a Benetton ad. > —Nicole Sanchez, founder of Vaya Consulting We’re taking a few weeks off, but don’t worry: Nicole’s going to leave you fired up all summer. And look for new episodes of NYG in August! Links on links on links:

When Lilly Chin knew she couldn’t lose during Final Jeopardy, she decided to give a joke answer: “Who is the Spiciest Memelord?” But that joke became a meme itself—turning Lilly into not just the College Jeopardy champion, but an internet sensation. Today, we chat with the MIT grad student about what it was like to be on the show, how the internet treats women in the public eye, and how her brush with fame changed the way she looks at online visibility. We also talk about Lilly’s research on soft robots, mentorship, Twitch streaming, and doing it all for the stories. > We’re so used to thinking about women in terms of their outward appearance that even when it’s on a very academic game like Jeopardy, people are still defaulting to thinking of, like, an object of attraction. > —Lilly Chin, MIT PhD student and College Jeopardy champ _Note: We’ve donated net proceeds from this episode to RAICES, the largest immigrant legal services organization in Texas, and ActBlue’s fund supporting 12 organizations worki

Starting something new can feel super overwhelming…and kind of terrifying. The good news? A lot of us feel this way—no, really, that’s the good news! That, and we’re all in this together. On this week’s show, we talk with Saron Yitbarek about how she started, grew, and nurtures CodeNewbie—the most supportive community of programmers and people learning to code. It all started with one little (but powerful) sentiment: be nice. We also talk to her about what it’s like to be new at something, making a place for yourself at the table even if you’re not sure there’s a seat for you, and living up to your own potential. > I don’t think I’ve ever taken a piece of feedback that I didn’t immediately inside respond with, like, intense anger and, you know, taking offense to it. But…we’re not optimizing for my feelings. And we’re not optimizing for me patting myself on the back. That’s not the point. We’re optimizing for creating a really strong and amazing community and to be a resource for other people. > —Saron Y

Introvert, extrovert, ambivert: how real are these labels? And how can we use them to do a better job of making space for more types of people—without pigeonholing anyone? We’re joined this week by Rachel Robertson, a designer and UX lead at Shopify. We first heard about Rachel when we stumbled on an article she wrote called “An Introvert’s Guide to Collaboration.” In it, she talks about how she used to carve out work she could do independently—but realized this was keeping her from growing, because she wasn’t exposing herself to different perspectives that could improve her work. > I love when people share their experiences and their perspectives… and I always benefit so much from that. So there was a point in time recently where I wanted to participate more in that conversation, and not just be a consumer of everyone else’s points of view. > —Rachel Robertson, UX lead at Shopify We ask Rachel more about her experience as an introverted person, how that’s changed her approach to leading a team, and wha

Savings, budgets, retirement. Oh my. No matter how on top of our lives we feel, talking about money still makes us squirm. And…well, we’re tired of it. Today on NYG, we talk about where those financial fears come from—and what we’re doing to get over them. To help us out, we chat with Shannah Compton Game, a Certified Financial Planner and the host of the Millennial Money podcast. Shannah’s all about helping people like us get more comfortable thinking and talking about money, and she’s quickly become one of our fave resources for financial info. > When you don’t talk about something, you feel really isolated, and you feel like you are alone. Like nobody could possibly have the same money issues you have. But the reality that I try to tell everybody is: you’re so wrong! We are all so much alike when it comes to money, especially the things that we’ve not done so well. > —Shannah Compton Game, host, Millennial Money Shannah tells us all about: Why money is such a taboo topic (but shouldn’t be) Which fin

Today’s topic is…therapy! If that makes you a little bit nervous, you’re not alone: lots of us feel a bit scared to talk about our mental health—much less make an appointment to get help. Plus, navigating the mental health system can be challenging: How do you find a therapist? How do you pay for it? How do you know if they’re a good fit? And what happens if you need to break up with them? We have so many questions. To help us answer them, we called up none other than Katel’s own therapist, Dr. Allison Chabot. She’s a clinical psychologist working in Philadelphia, and talking with her gave us all the best feels. > Ask your friends. Ask your family. Somebody else has gone to therapy that you know. So many people go to therapy. And you hear positive experiences from people: you hear how it unlocked something, it opened something, it helped them look at themselves in a different way. It is a leap of faith, it really does take courage, but I feel like, what do you have to lose? > > — Dr. Allison Chabot L

This week, we get down to the business of being a badass woman in tech with Sarah Drasner, an engineer, author, award-winning speaker, and renowned expert on web animation. We hear about mentorship, using your profile to help others be seen, building a body of work, and so much more. > For the first little while I was trying to pull myself up by my bootstraps and just, like, work really hard to kind of get some place where I felt more comfortable—where I was not just taking any job that was offered me. And then the second part of that is to extend whatever privilege I might have to others…to promote the work of other people that are doing great work in the community that might not be seen. > —Sarah Drasner We talk with Sarah about: What it’s like to write a technical book like SVG Animations, Sarah’s book from O’Reilly last year Using machine learning to make images on the web more accessible for blind people The benefits of diverse teams The badassery of Arlan Hamilton and her company, Backstage Capit

In S2E3, we fall hard for Adda Birnir, founder and CEO of Skillcrush—the online coding school with a heart. While coding bootcamp programs tend to talk about turning students into rockstar programmer gods, Skillcrush focuses on using tech to build a fulfilling, creative, and sustainable career. And the message is working: after some early ups and downs back in 2012, Adda has taken the business from a fledging idea to a stable, profitable, and growing company of 35 employees. And she’s here to tell us all about it. > At some point I decided that I wanted the business to survive and I was going to figure out what it would take for it to survive and do that. And that really meant sort of letting go of kind of any idea I had about what the business was going to be. > > —Adda Birnir, founder and CEO, Skillcrush Listen in for a super-real convo about: Bootstrapping a business instead of raising venture capital How to bounce back when the bank account runs dry Why women are flocking to Skillcrush to learn

It’s not every day we chat with someone the New York Times has listed as part of “the new vanguard” in fiction. But today’s our day: Carmen Maria Machado is live on NYG! We sit down with the badass author, National Book Award finalist, and fellow Philly resident for a conversation about writing, working retail, believing in your own work, craving the company of other women, and so much more. > The art of non-dominant groups can be trendy, but we think of men and whiteness and straightness as, like, eternal… And of course that’s fake, right? Like, that’s not real: men, and white, and straight, and cis, and all those things… are not neutral, but we think of them as neutral. > —Carmen Maria Machado, author, Her Body and Other Parties Here’s what we cover: The “fat women with fat minds” of Carmen’s “The Trash Heap Has Spoken” essay in Guernica How a retreat at the Millay Colony for the Arts kickstarted her writing career The wild popularity of “The Husband Stitch,” Carmen’s story in Granta (which, like, ju

Welcome back! We’re pumped to have you here for Season 2. Here to kick us off is Neha Gandhi, the COO and editor-in-chief of Girlboss, a new publication “for women redefining success on their own terms.” Sounds about right to us. Neha told us all about her start in journalism, what it’s like to manage teams of mostly women, and how group texts with her friends keep her grounded (you’ll LOVE the rosebud and thorn analogy, promise). > First of all, maybe it’s ok to be selfish and put yourself first, and put your career first at times. But also, ambition is not a dirty word. That said, none of us feel ambitious all the time, and none of us have exactly the same idea of what success looks like. > —Neha Gandhi, editor-in-chief and COO, Girlboss Plus: Having good and bad managers, being good and bad managers, and what we’re doing to cut noninclusive and ableist language from the show. Y’all ready? Link love If you enjoy our convo about manager-ing, check this advice column from The Cut about being a better m

Welcome to Season 2 of No, You Go—a weekly podcast all about building satisfying careers and businesses, getting free of toxic bullshit, and figuring out how to live our best feminist lives at work. New episodes start April 17. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s in store.

Hey listeners! We’re taking a tiny break while we get Season 2 rolling—launching April 17!—but we wanted to make sure you heard about the latest addition to the NYG family: I Love That, our biweekly newsletter of all the stuff we can’t stop thinking about. Every other Friday, you’ll get: Personal notes and behind-the-scenes pics Links to all the best stuff we read this week Our favorite finds—from work pants that feel like pajamas to shows we love almost as much as Riverdale. Plus, profiles of all the activists, writers, entrepreneurs, artists, moms, candidates, and more who are inspiring us right now We’ll also answer your questions, share tips and resources, and basically get you hyped. So come on and add a little more fuck yeah to your inbox. Sign up now.

We made it to Episode 10, y’all! That’s a wrap on Season 1! Who better to close out our first season than an engineer, entrepreneur, and general superstar we’ve loved for, like, a full decade? Yep, our guest today is Leah Culver, the co-founder and CTO of Breaker, a social podcast app that we’ve all just started using (if you have an iPhone, check it out. Android is coming soon). > I can only do the things I can do. I can keep trying to get better, but I can’t beat myself up about not being like someone else. I just have to sort of be myself and work with what I have and take it to that—that next step. > —Leah Culver, CTO, Breaker But Breaker’s not the first startup Leah’s co-founded—in fact, Jenn fell hard for her very first company, Pownce, a microblogging platform that launched way back in 2007. We talk about that journey, plus: The future of podcasting—like Chompers, a podcast on Alexa kids can brush their teeth to. Women in tech, women in podcasting, and the fact that more women than ever are list