I'm Sarah, an engineering manager at Brave Care. This document is intended to give you an idea of what it's like to work with me. But take it with a grain of salt, because I wrote it, and I've never actually worked with me. If you think it's full of lies, let me know!
- I want you to own your work, and get it done. Ask questions if you need to, find ways to unblock yourself, make a decision. We operate as a team, but owning our work allows us to raise the bar for each other.
- Be willing to make mistakes, and learn from them. That second part is key — I'm not about placing blame, but I do expect you to take something useful from the experience.
- Produce quality work. As engineers, we often have constraints that prevent us from building the ideal thing, but we will still build the best thing we can. Make smart compromises; do not take shortcuts.
- Speak up when something is wrong. Especially since we are remote, I won't always know when things seem off, you're not feeling 100%, a deadline is in jeopardy, whatever it is. If I don't know, I can't help.
- Please tell me when I have messed up, or at least tell someone up the management chain so I can course-correct. Say the thing.
- I will assume you are adept at your job unless you give me good reason to believe otherwise. I will have thoughts and input, but you are the expert. If I do have concerns, we'll talk about them.
- I'll be as transparent as I can. I'm not very good at deception, and it's not a skill I'm particularly interested in honing, so I won't bother trying to lie. Note, however, that I won't always be able to tell you everything.
- I have a life outside of work and I guard that time whenever possible. I love Brave Care enough to know that I need to step away from it every day, and I will encourage you to do the same.
I am an internal processor, to the point that I'm pretty sure I could sit in absolute silence for days and not even notice. Sometimes it takes me awhile to form thoughts that are sensical enough to verbalize. I'm working to get better at this, but if it seems like I'm zoned out, please know that's highly unlikely, and maybe prod me to return to the planet Earth.
It's pretty difficult to ruffle my feathers. If you come to me with a problem, I will listen calmly, and then we can talk about solutions (bonus points if you've already thought of some). I might seem unfazed, but that does not mean I'm indifferent.
According to the Internet™, I am an Enneagram 5, which makes me feel simultaneously very seen and very attacked.
My sense of humor tends to be on the snarky side, and I enjoy a good-natured joke, especially if it's at my expense. Did you know I'm a JavaScript expert?
I live with my husband and daughter (code name Tiny Tyrant) in the Bay Area, but we escape to the mountains whenever we can.
I have many app ideas and corresponding hoarded domains. There is a 0% chance I will execute on any of them because I actually sorta hate computers.
I always have a creative side project going, ranging from a side business selling custom origami wedding bouquets to calligraphy to block printing to bag design to quilt making. You can usually see the evidence of whatever I'm up to these days in the background on Zoom (behind the wall of plants).