From Rose Valley to Silicon Valley: Five Early Lessons on Which I Built a Career in Tech
In 2007, armed with a BA in anthropology and an open slate for a career path, I walked into Google Inc.—and stayed for five years. It was my introduction to the exciting world of tech, an industry that thrives on the creativity and ambition of its people to accomplish incredible feats. Working at Google felt like living with one foot in the future—a future where anyone can see the world from space, online publishers are compensated, traffic accidents are eradicated, and ignorance is a relic of the past.
Today, I’m the Vice President of Product at TicketLeap, a tech startup based here in Philadelphia. It’s thrilling to witness the culture of innovation and ambition that blossomed in Silicon Valley spreading across the U.S. and the world.
You might assume my path to Google and beyond was paved with computer science courses, but that’s not the case. I’ve never taken a computer science class. Instead, my comfort in the tech world stems from my values and approach to problem-solving—both of which were shaped at Rose Valley. If you overlook the material differences, the similarities between SRV and the tech startup environment are remarkable. Here are five key lessons I took with me:
Is there anything better?
First off, as you can guess from my name, I’m a long time member of the SRV family, my father is Jerry Nowell, my grandmother was Peg Nowell (who taught there in the early 60’s?)…sisters Connie and Nancy, and my...
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