Kaitlyn King’s Post

A couple weeks ago I posted something on Instagram thanking all of the people who told me “I couldn’t” or “wouldn’t” because it got me to where I am today – it got me jobs I never thought I could have and a family better than I dreamed. My husband, of course, sent me a direct message within 20 minutes of posting and said “but what about all the people who took a chance on you?” At 21-years-old, fresh out of college, scott, Viktoria, Paull and Mohini decided I’d be a half decent intern that eventually turned into a full-time job for a lot of years. The first time I ever got on a plane and flew across the country was because Scott thought I should share charity: water's story with hundreds of people at Zendesk's annual conference. I was 22. I later would go on to learn from some of the best marketers, development, fundraisers and business leaders around. People like Christine, Christoph, Cubby, Deepa, Jaclyn, Jamie, Lauren, Rael, Sabrina, Tyler, Yukari and so many more. When I decided to leave charity: water it was the longest and saddest break-up of my life so far. I was deeply in love with the organization and the people inside it. I ended up interviewing with Carly, Danielle, Ryan, Dheerja, Jason and Satya at theSkimm who saw something in me and decided to hire me. Why? I have no idea. But I am forever grateful. theSkimm was on a rocketship: the fastest growing newsletter on the market, a subscription app that rivaled the NYT and a community that was unmatched. We then took on elections, launched podcasts, did events, bought billboards, wrote a book and so much more. I look back on my time there and still can’t believe I got to be a part of it. It was the biggest challenge of my professional career and unlocked things in me I didn’t even know I had. Alex, Andrew, Avery, Belynda, Brian, Eugenia, Jessica, Kate, Kate, Kara, Lindsey, Niven, Sam, Steve and so many more knocked my socks off and taught me so much.  A bunch of years later, Paull convinced me to apply for a role at Facebook. I was the kid who was told I wouldn't get into college (spoiler: I did). But all I was thinking was, “You emailed the wrong, Kaitlyn, right?” I interviewed with John, Kendra and Rachel and was 100% certain I did not get the job. But somehow, I was hired. I learned an unbelievable amount about operations, business development, executive leadership, policy, partnerships, product…basically everything (tagging my incredible Meta team in the comments since I exceeded the limit here). Here’s the punchline: I'm not smarter, or better. I’m lucky. I'm lucky that these people were willing to give me a shot. I’m lucky that they were willing to give me time and energy. I'm lucky these people like to gamble, even just a little bit. So, my husband is right, it’s not about the people who said “no!” it’s much more about the people who said “yes!” Think of this as a long, overdue thank you/love letter to everyone here and many more not mentioned who have gotten me here.