From Sleeping in his Car to Distinguished Googler - Kelsey Hightower
Transcript
T Specialists but they come and help with engineering problems on the military's biggest projects so you have you say at that level you have this ability to look at things differently and you described how you're able to look at things differently from a personal side though there becomes a time where you're comfortable you know what that that thousand dollars I I gambled back in the day I don't have to do that anymore I make six figures my com my my family's comfortable I'm comfortable I personally got into a point at my life where I told my wife I want a coast it's like I I'm good we got a we got a 1500 square feet house I got a new car the kids are in a great school I'm on the coast I just want to go to work every day and come home she said no you have a responsibility you have to keep going that's my keep going what is your keep going like I met you right before the camera seven or eight years I met you seven eight years ago 78 years ago you were successful what what made you follow this path so there's like the grind and then there's being yourself and when things are in place like maybe it's Financial Independence maybe it's you tried to be yourself and it was accepted either way you get in a scenario where all you got to do is be yourself then that becomes to me much easier to keep going it's it's hard to keep going when you don't really like the job it's hard to keep going we don't really like the roll that's that's hard but then that's a grind then we use like someone says we like yo when you give your perspective on something then keep going is just simply living for me I don't have to be right I don't have to be the expert all I got to do is be helpful that's it in in my own way so when a team comes to me and distinguished engineer to me my way was partnering with the other teams and somehow influence them in the way that they were willing to share credit because the thing is you ain't nobody boss you're not no one's manager you ain't no one's team lead and if you go in an added value that's one thing it's another thing to have that value show up and then the people circle around and say I'ma also give you credit sharing credit is something that requires a lot of trust Beyond above and beyond being helpful and so when I see that L9 it's like you've done that you've lived that where people are comfortable seeing you get to the next level that's what it mean for me inside of an organization on the outside you've seen this before you take the time to give people a little bit of advice about where you're at maybe they're trying to do the things you're doing and you say look this is how we do it we use these kind of cameras we go to these kind of events this is how I do my research this is how I figure out this is just how I do it right it may or may not work for you it's like man if you said something that was three years away from even thinking about you just shortcut in my life three years and honestly that information turns into something where they actually generated income from and if they're like me we appreciate that on a whole different level you wake up in the mornings like man I'm so glad Keith gave me that advice so when they see you they'll be like yo Keith I ain't I ain't tell you at the time that conversation we had I turned it into this and so throughout the seven years as we've met the number of times I'm just walking down a street anywhere in the world and the last time this happened was when I was in San Francisco the last interview we did do comes out of the restaurant it was like yo you ain't gonna remember me but you picked up that phone and you told me step one step two step three but you told me those steps after listening to who I wanted to be and not just telling me how to photocopy you I'm just letting you know that all worked out you know it's it's it's super rewarding when you can just be you in the industry rewards you for being you have you ever had a job role or opportunity where you know like it's just like me oh yeah I mean I won't mention the company name but I had a job I was there two weeks and I walked in and I saw all the cubicles and I just had this allergic reaction to just being another employee behind the cubicle Farm I was like that's not me I know I'm supposed to be this thing that HR has put out I'm more than that though I'm not saying I'm better than nobody but I'm not a nobody and so just conforming to that that wasn't going to work so I said you know what I gotta do something that requires all of my talents my ability to code and my ability to inspire and if you ain't got a job for that then what do I need to just be another engineer at your company for so that that that was kind of the game changer for me so I have this other thing that you can't teach somebody how to be home like I can't if you've never been hungry I can't say you know that feeling in your stomach where you haven't had enough to eat and you it it's not like pain but it's a uncomfortable like no I don't I don't know what that is and careers so we've both been in positions where we've given people advice and you've given step one step two step three and then you see that empty look in their eye like they're not hungry like we're gonna have this next we're gonna have this conversation again let's talk about people like you and me from a given advice perspective at what point do you say you know what I gave them the advice it didn't work do I follow it up with more advice or do I just say you know what I got more people to influence and who can use this time I'm mostly just sharing my experience and if it comes off as advice then cool if they can use it then cool because I think everybody is on the same trajectory you live in the world and if you're paying attention then anything looks like a vice that stop sign looks like advice you should stop if you don't stop you might get hit in traffic so to me it's really about what you pay attention to so for me I'm knowing that if people reach out then I'm going to take the time to share what I can and if that turns out to be a good guidepost for them then so be it but I'm I'm not as much concerned about them taking the advice and doing something with it that's not a requirement of what I'm giving it's like yo I'mma give what I have I'm gonna be as honest and transparent as I can possibly be if you know what to do with that great only you know how to really apply to your situation at this time I don't have an expectation that you need to give me an immediate return like hey I spent all this time with you where's the results that's not part of the deal for me so honestly it takes the pressure off of me it takes the pressure off of them and I just say hey food for thought if you hungry so last question I can we could talk about this for hours but we have a practical time limit you accomplished this over the past three years there's been partially over the past three years I know it's over your entire career at Google but the past three years for people who look like us and for people who don't look like us it's been a tough past three years like there's people I'm sure they're they're CEOs of startups CEOs of companies that were in your inbox doing the George Flora theme talking about Kelsey how do I how do I handle my my uh employees of color okay that's one interestingly you're contacting me but okay that's one thing and then two there's the constant pool of people needing stuff from you how do you how did how do you refill the tank you have a family you know you you talk about your your beautiful little girl I don't know get more children but I feel like man Kelsey Kelsey thought a rock star like but she gonna be another Fireball like how do you refill the tank and make sure that you have enough energy for not just your passion on the work side but also you're you're just being I'll be honest with you years ago I said if I'm done now I'm good and so then the tank stage of state is permanently filled because I'm done it's enough if nothing else comes not another keynote not another line of code not another invitation not another thank you not another dollar I'm good and so operating from that then we all bonus everything bonus when I wake up in the morning sometimes I ask this question why do I exist you know it's in the morning you ain't checked the email yet you don't exist to check email you don't exist to make kubernetes better that's not why you exist so I just asked that question I never have a great answer but I know what's not the answer and so for me it's enough and so when you operate from enough then you don't need much more so when you see somebody in need you can help because you got enough when you got more than you can use it's okay like you you fool and you got a whole plane they say you can't take it with you it's like oh would you want some of these I got enough so for me now the permanent fix for me now is I got enough everything else is extra so seeing somebody smile I'm like yo I got a bonus I don't need another award and if I get it I'm gonna put it to the side I'm gonna look at it I'll be like but I was already good and you got to be careful not to stop appreciating all the good things that happen to you I'm careful not to do that but I'm also knowing like I was good before this too and I'm gonna make sure I'm gonna be good after this and so that really helps me kind of stay grounded in reality too I'm not better than nobody that person that's going to outshine me I'm gonna give them the flashlight that's my end game and I'm able to do that now because I am truly in belief that I got enough yeah there's a uh line from a movie or TV show I love says I will be fine being the match that likes to fire we're out here there's enough like we're in the world I think I've looked at a stack there's several trillion dollars of investment money sitting on the sidelines that can't be invested I I don't even want one percent of that money is not even the thing of it the point is there's plenty of opportunity out there for all of us and if I can help anyone with this content and having Kelsey on get to that level and you come and you stop me on the street and you say keep that thing help me blow up I'm I'll be your biggest cheerleader and I'll share it with Kelsey and he'll be your biggest cheerleader we could go on literally for hours on this conversation I don't know if the Twitter spaces is still available they usually go out there a week or two but if you don't already follow Kelsey on a platform 160 000 uh Twitter followers last time I checked chances are you are you do if not follow him when he says that his DMS are open they are literally open I don't need you to DM me to introduce you to Kelsey if he has the time he'll give it to you I really appreciate you stopping by Kelsey that's a wrap for us for coverage from VMware Explorer 2022.
we really appreciate the time your time taking out your time to watch my content it means the world to me talk to you next event
