Are The Higher-Ups Happy?

It’s 2009. I am nervously opening an envelope addressed to me from Northwestern University’s school of journalism, Medill–the top journalism program in the country.

As I pull the letter out of the envelope, I see the word Congratulations. Tears immediately stream down my face.

My whole life I wanted to be a TV journalist, bringing together my passion for storytelling and performing, and there was no better place to launch that career than at Medill.

I entered my first semester bright-eyed and bushy tailed as all 19 year-olds do, only to sit through classes led by teachers who were unhappy, stressed and ultimately unethical, advocating questionable tactics to get newsworthy stories. I was shocked because my teachers were award-winning journalists, but it turns out awards can’t make up for being overworked and underpaid in a cut-throat industry.

I appreciated my teachers’ candor, but I couldn’t reckon with how unhappy they were and how much money I was spending to be at Northwestern for a career path seemingly destined for disappointment. While I didn’t know exactly what I wanted for my future, I knew I wanted to be happy, financially self-sufficient, and true to my values. I didn’t want to leave my beliefs about right and wrong at the door to get a story.

After that semester, I met with my career counselor to enroll in a brand new Integrated Marketing Communications Program Medill launched and a Business Minor. I didn’t know much about business, but I figured I had to give something else a try.

I also codified my personal litmus test for making major career decisions – how happy are the higher-ups?

The idea of “how happy are the higher-ups” is you can typically see where you’ll end up by observing where others on your career path have ended up.

Life is short, I thought. Why climb a ladder that’s no good at the top?

After college, I started working as a consultant at IBM. While I wasn’t passionate about consulting, a job filled with travel, perks and wide industry exposure sounded appealing to me. The reality was that I started flying to the middle of nowhere 2x a week, working until 1am in my hotel room after leaving the client site and spending my Saturdays helping my partner close deals.

At 23, I was willing to really put myself through the grinder, but I couldn’t believe that the partners who were in their 40s-50s had lived this lifestyle for 20+ years. They were not secretive about their shambolic personal lives–the work was absolutely grueling. After 2 years, I once again asked “how happy are the higher-ups?” and once again knew the answer was “not very.”

I left consulting behind for a role in product strategy for IBM Watson in Financial Services, something I had zero experience, but simultaneously a role that led me to blockchain.

Sometime in 2016, I sat in on a corporate strategy meeting. One of the attendees just wouldn’t stop talking about blockchain. While others in the room called for him to be muted (he was that obsessed), I was just excited to hear that someone else was excited about something! After work that day, I went to Barnes & Noble in Union Square, picked up The Blockchain Revolution, read it in two days and knew I had to be part of the movement.

When I notified IBM I was leaving for a startup ConsenSys, they offered me a leadership role in the blockchain unit. While it was a nice offer, I knew deep down that climbing the ladder at IBM didn’t pass my litmus test.

It’s difficult in the moment to turn down what you know – even if you know the future doesn’t bring happiness – because there’s a false sense of comfort in staying put. Each time a role failed my happiness test, it forced me to take a risk on something new, and it’s only through taking risks on those new opportunities that I arrived at SheFi.

I had no clue I could be a founder, but here I am. So you might be wondering: are the higher-ups happy at SheFi?

Yes I am.

SheFi Summit Brussels Tickets Are Live!

Join us on July 7, 2024 for SheFi Summit Brussels, brought to you by a lineup of projects at the forefront of Web3 innovation. Expect:

• ⭐ Hear from female pioneers building Web3

• ⭐ Connect with companies hiring

• ⭐ Participate in onchain quests

• ⭐ Get exclusive onchain merch

No fluff. No shills. Just femme experts sharing powerful insights.

Secure your spot: https://tokenproof.xyz/event/shefi-summit-brussels

Thank you to our Sponsors: Linea, Lens, Family, Aave, Stellar, Codebase by Avalanche, Harpie, Uniswap, NEAR, Akash, POAP, tokenproof and ensō.

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure 101

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) is where blockchain technology meets the real world in a transformative way. Imagine owning a piece of a solar farm, a network of EV charging stations, or even local telecom infrastructure, all through the power of decentralization.

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks leverage blockchain to coordinate deployment of real-world assets and infrastructure. Here’s how it works and why it matters:

• Deploy and Earn: Participants are incentivized to deploy and maintain physical infrastructure. By setting up equipment like solar panels, EV chargers, or telecom towers, they earn tokens as rewards.

• Fractional Ownership: DePIN enables fractional ownership of essential infrastructure, allowing more people to invest in assets like energy grids, transportation networks, and telecom towers.

• Enhanced Efficiency: Blockchain technology ensures that operations of physical infrastructure are streamlined and transparent, reducing costs and increasing reliability.

• Transparency and Security: Every transaction and change in ownership is recorded on the blockchain, providing verifiable records.

DePIN is reshaping how we think about and manage physical assets:

• Sustainable Development: Promotes investment in renewable energy and sustainable projects by making them more accessible.

• Economic Empowerment: Individuals can invest in and benefit from infrastructure projects that were previously out of reach.

• The Future is Connected: By linking physical assets to the blockchain, DePIN creates a more integrated and efficient world.

Want to learn more about Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks? Join SheFi to learn from our new DePIN Club.

Thank You For Referrals

A massive thank you to all 182 people referred new members to SheFi last season! Referrals are our biggest growth driver, and we are incredibly grateful to each and every person who lets a friend, colleague or family member know about SheFi.

To say thank you, for season 11 we are offering $50 USD to those who refer paying members. Anyone can refer a new member and get rewarded.

Know a female or non-binary person in your life who wants to shape our technological future? Tell them to join SheFi for 8 weeks of crypto education plus lifetime access to a global community shaping the frontier.

SheFi Community Wins

• Celia is among 20 featured in NYSE's "Artistic Minds Shine" for neurodivergent artists!

• Yarissa has set up her first wallet and claimed class NFTs—a big step for a newcomer!

• Anastasia's project drew 109 unique contributors in Gitcoin Grants 20!

• Allison's community is nominated for Giveth's Galactic Giving Quadratic Fund Round; and also announces Women Biz's first hackathon with $12k prizes for Spanish speakers! Share the news.

• Victoria will be speaking at EthCC in Brussels on July 8th!

  Share you successes so we can celebrate them

SheFi Events

• 5/23 Berlin: SheFi x Starknet Brunch: RSVP

• 5/23 Paris: SheFi Paris VivaTech Meet-Up: RSVP

• 5/24 Berlin: SheFi x Lukso x Google Cloud Blockhaus Disco: RSVP

• 5/25 Portugal: Portuguese Women in Tech. Discount Link for SheFi

• 5/28 Dublin: SheFi Soiree Dublin: RSVP

• 5/29 Austin: SheFi x Alchemy: Find your Consensus Buddy: RSVP

• 6/4 NYC: She HODLs the Future: A Women-Led Conversation on Leadership, Growth and Fundraising in Web3 and Digital Assets: RSVP

• 7/6 SheFi Summit Brussels: Get Tickets

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