WFH- Year 2 at MSFT

Microsoft year 2

My first year at Microsoft was a bit hectic but I was able to have a really good time and learn a lot. Last July, when I finished writing about my first year, I was a bit worried about how my 2nd year would be. We were all in lock-down, everyone was WFH, and as I looked at my first year, many of the “cool” things I did were done “in person”. As I looked back at what happened this past year, I am grateful for the growth that took place and all the things that I have learned... Here is a re-cap of the the past year....

July:

• I took on a new role in June, so this was month 2 on the Surface Team
•  I Interviewed Miri Rodriguez on her book for an HOLA event.
• Finished running an intern program I put together for the previous organization that was a huge success 😊
• Welcomed our 3rd, Mackenzie, into the family.

August:

• Took advantage of ½ of our amazing pat leave to enjoy time with family and our new member- Mackenzie (We get 12 weeks of pat leave)
• Team launch some pretty cool devices 😊
• Nico also tested the Surface Duo

September:

• Pretty quiet month. Came back to work after taking August off and continued my onboarding.
• My manager took a new role outside the team.
• I was asked to participate in Microsoft's inclusion journey and shared a bit about my allyship journey.
• Moved furniture around and made an office space to work from during the pandemic

October:

• New Manager, Ethan, came onboard.
• Got involved in some recruiting events and interviewed a few candidates for both fulltime and internships for next summer.
• Taught 2 MBA marketing classes at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
• Team launch the Surface Laptop Go- great device BTW.

November:

• One of my mentors (Shavonne) and rock on the team took a new role (it was a great move for her). Her role was now vacated, so I wrote an email expressing my desire to take on her role… more on that later…
• Killer (virtual) offsite with the team. Lots of new people joined the team in the past 6 months, so it was a good time to connect and learn about what each on the team is working on.
• I was able to create a ton of clarity for the work I am doing

December:

• Not something that people often shared, but I needed some mental support from WFH with 3 kids… I started to do some weekly counseling sessions. SO HELPFUL!
• For the first time ever- I took 2 weeks off and DID NOT look at my email. IT WAS CRAZY! But SO good! I got to catch up with Family and play. Had a great Christmas with family in town. 

January:

• Came back SUPER refreshed. Lots of work to do.
• Remember that email I sent back in Nov? My manager and I talked about the person he is bringing in, he wants me to give it some thought into how we could split Shavonne’s role, and give me an opportunity to do what I want… WHO DOES THAT? That’s right. My boss does. That excites me and I am PUMPED for what is coming.
• Kicked off a new partner program to accelerate growth in the channel

February:

• Kicked off an Hola Mentorship program.
• Hired and onboarded 4 teammates to the Surface Squad to help me run a readiness program that I oversee. 

March:

• Got to help onboard a new team member.
• Had a cool opportunity (again) to present to Microsoft CMO and his leadership team with Hola.

April:

• Completed a Brene Brown Dare to Lead role out and learn how important it is for me to feel like I belong to do my best work. The Date to Lead program that our team took a part of was awesome!
• Participated in another virtual conference for MBA Hires at Microsoft. Really cool to reconnected with some colleagues I hadn’t talked to in a long time.
• Accomplished part of the American dream by buying a house 😊

May:

• Landed some cool initiatives in the partner world and completed some major deliverables.
• Welcomed some interns that I interviewed back in the fall 😊
• Started having Taco Tuesdays- so if you are ever in Seattle, on a Tuesday, HMU. We got TACOS!

June:

• Got to participate in a panel discussion with Microsoft during the OP for the Consortium.
• Took a week off to go down to El Paso to do some work with KIND.
• Got appointed to be one of 3 Leads for Hispanic Heritage month for 2022.
• Taking the rest of my paternity leave and will be back to work in August… so I will be out exploring with the fam

This past year has been a struggle in many ways, but I am grateful I have been able to not only grow professionally but also enjoy the moments with those I really love and care about.

As always, if interested in a career conversation or my experience at MSFT, just drop a note and lets connect!

-Rodri