Thought Industries Celebrates Differences

“My goal – in life and in work – is ‘be better, do better,’ which means being able to recognize and understand that other folks are going through their own things. Our culture here at Thought Industries is so open and welcoming, so we’re able to develop these meaningful relationships with other people even though we’re remote. Being there for each other – and not judging – allows this sense of community to be even stronger.

I had always been ashamed of my dyslexia and ADHD, and I would rarely tell people about it. My first manager here, instead of looking at it as a negative thing, showed me an online tool to make things easier and simpler. I was amazed – here was this executive I had just met, offering me a tool to allow me to bring my work to the team in a better way. Allowing people with different abilities to use these different entry points opens a company up to so many skill sets, and a new kind of success.”

“To me, diversity is ‘a lot of a lot.’ It’s having multiple modes of thinking, and learning, relearning, and unlearning from those modes. It’s a lot to define, but I think ultimately, it’s about wanting to see the barriers classifying populations become smaller and smaller.

I try to remember that I don’t know everything, so I keep my mouth shut a lot of the time. I’m learning to not always go with my gut reaction when I’m confused or when I want to brush something off – because if someone’s bringing it up, it matters to them. I need to figure out why it matters, and ask myself, ‘should this matter more to me?’ It’s important to me to put the people who have historically been last, first. I want to continue to work with and for them, for that’s what is to be done.”