Grace Hopper Speech.

My dad, an entrepreneur at heart, taught me how to be creative and to pave my own path. My mom, taught me that it’s never too late to figure out what you love and to just go for it.  So, as nervous as I am right now, I’m just going to go for it.

Hi, my name is Julie.  Last year I was fortunate enough to have  an amazing roommate, Jessie, who was the president of Women Involved in Software and Hardware at Cal Poly, and she brought me along to a FroYo social that Blake was hosting in October. I was so inspired by what he said about forwarding and advancing women in STEM that I decided then and there that this was a company I wanted to be a part of. I was blown away that he wasn’t just “talking the talk”, he had information on how advertising was changing and he had a personal connection to the cause through his sister. I knew that this was a company I had to work for even if I was just mopping the floors. In June of this year, I graduated from Cal Poly SLO and in July I started work at GoDaddy as a User Experience Designer.

It still doesn’t feel real that I am standing here today. But, I’m also a little bit excited because the fact that I am standing here means that the conference is over and I get to go back to work on Monday. Please don’t misunderstand me, I LOVED this week, Grace Hopper was one of the most amazing and inspiring things I have ever been a part of. But, there’s a feeling that I call the bubble of excitement, it’s when you get an overwhelming and sudden gasp of happiness that creeps up in your chest and slowly starts to sink in to the rest of your body (demonstrate the bubble of excitement).  Every morning I get a bubble of excitement about going to work, it’s so big that it takes every ounce of willpower I have not to sprint through the parking lot and into the building.

I love going to work more than anything else I have ever done. I love the fact that my boss Emily and I spend most of the day laughing, designing, and challenging each other. Blake wasn’t joking around when he talked about his support of women in tech that day at Cal Poly, and that’s one of the things I was pleasantly surprised about when I started work. Emily is an amazing mentor, and we work with a ton of brilliant women all with a wealth of knowledge to offer.  I love that every day I go home having learned something new and feeling fulfilled. I love that the first line of our mission statement says “we exist to help our customers kick ass” and every single person's work ethic embodies that. I love that I work for a company that is driven by passion, exuberance, and genius. A company with a culture that rewards and encourages fun. I love that I never want to leave my office. An office filled with inspiration, goals, scooter races (although we have to keep these on the down low), dodgeball leagues, friendship, laughter, and passion.

I recently recruited a ton of people to play in a dodgeball league and when I called in to order the t-shirts the woman on the phone at custom ink said “Oh my gosh, you work for GoDaddy?! I LOVE YOU GUYS. Do you know why I love your website? Because, it is the only place where you can go and dream about everything you ever wanted to be. You guys make it possible for me to follow my dreams.” This is what I love most, I love that every day I get to go to work and champion for people like my dad and Vicki from CustomInk who start their own businesses and succeed against all odds.  I’m proud of the company that GoDaddy has become, and I’m so excited that I get to be a part of it.  I’m proud of the fact that I can tell my girlfriends that at my company, we are equal.