See you later, Silicon Valley
It's been an amazing experience, living in Silicon Valley.
I left Los Angeles when I was 23, embarking on a journey and path to build a career in technology. I was always drawn to Silicon Valley, the energy and what it stood for. I knew this was where I needed to be in my early adulthood.
When I first moved up, I would drive along the 101 freeway, in awe of this small strip of land stretching roughly 60 miles, from San Francisco to San Jose, holding arguably some of the world’s most innovative, impressive, ground breaking companies and technologies in the world. You have behemoths like Google, Facebook, Apple, Uber, LinkedIn, Zoom, etc. all sitting within this valley on this small concentrated patch of land. Along with some of the most notable and successful venture capital firms, Sequoia, Andreesen Horowitz, KPCB, and angel investors like Ron Conway, Reid Hoffman, etc. all of a few who power up this valley and have become world staples. When I think about the true brilliance of this valley, the creativity, innovation, and pure raw talent of people that it holds, it's incredible and absolutely game changing. It makes me really proud to have spent a part of my time here, to see and feel the magic, and learn from some of the best.
In 2012 when I was living in LA, I was scouted by a firm for a recruiting position at Google. I came from a sales background and had absolutely no recruiting experience. This didn’t matter, as Google took me in and taught me how to search, source, and speak with candidates. My role entailed bringing talented engineers to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View (because who wouldn’t want to work for Google?). I was young with few commitments, so it was an easy decision to drop everything to move to the Bay Area. I was excited to be in the epicenter of it, glad to have a foot in the door, to break through and understand what living in this valley and industry was all about. Eventually my contract position ended, but this was just the beginning, opening up a door to work in a start-up environment and later at SoftBank. Through the years, not only did my understanding of HR deepen, but also did my understanding of global business and entrepreneurship. The professional experience that I gained while working in such fast paced and high growth environments has been invaluable. I certainly had a lot of pride living here during my 8 years of adulthood, as my life took giant professional and personal quantum leaps forward, such as meeting my husband, getting my MBA, and getting married.
As they say, all good things must come to an end. The past 8 years of running, pushing and driving my career forward ultimately led me not only to burning out, but also in making me realize how much I missed home, how much I longed to go back to my roots, family and community. At the end of 2019, it hit me hard that I was deeply unhappy and needed to reassess my direction. Turns out, I have been longing for change and had been suppressing the need to get out of my comfort zone for some time now.
In 2020, after being in the Bay for 8 years, my husband and I have decided we will be moving back to LA (as soon as this shelter in place order is lifted). It’s certainly bittersweet; we are both sad to leave the Bay Area, but excited to embark on our next journey, seeing where it will unfold. We plan to keep our home in Sunnyvale and rent it out, because who knows what the future will hold. In the meantime, cheers to everyone that I’ve met, worked with and interacted with in Silicon Valley. Thank you for being a part of that journey in my life, however long or short. Thank you for being a part of that chapter in my young adulthood, but most importantly, thank you for all the memories and lessons you’ve taught me, which I will carry with me wherever I go. It’s not goodbye, but see you later.
Just for shits and giggles, here are some fangirl Silicon Valley moments from back in 2012 :)
from the old Facebook offices, back in 2011!