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<p class="intro">Throughout June, we're exploring identity, diversity
and inclusion in tech and the workplace, and what it means to
celebrate Pride Month. To conclude the series, we spoke with Niesha
Sweet, a People Experience Wrangler on Automattic’s HR team,
about her Pride traditions and the things she finds most rewarding
about her work with Automatticians.</p>
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<h3>How do you identify? </h3>
<p>Personally, this has always been a hard question to answer. I think
there are a lot of misconceptions about bisexual people, but if I had
to pick a label, it would be that one.</p>
<h3>What does celebrating Pride Month mean to you? </h3>
<p>Celebrating Pride looks and feels like so many different things to
me. This may be a long way of answering the question, but celebrating
Pride is like setting your clothes out the night before the first day
of school, trying to stay awake long enough on Christmas Eve so you're
the first one up for Christmas morning, and winning an all-state
championship. Seriously, it's that deep! </p>
<p>There's so much planning that goes into preparing for Pride that my
friends and I plan a year in advance. Growing up in the Bay Area, San
Francisco is the mecca of Pride celebrations. Events, marches, and
parties are happening all month, and the last weekend is nonstop
continuous celebrating until 4 a.m. Monday morning. </p>
<p>Celebrating Pride for me is feeling happiness and admiration to be
among a group of such beautiful and loving people. </p>
<h3><strong>What advice can you give to people who want to speak or
write about identity and sexuality — whether during or beyond
Pride — in a respectful, inclusive way?</strong></h3>
<p>Here are a couple of tips that come to mind: </p>
<ul><li>Use inclusive language (e.g. with correct genders and
pronouns). This is a tip for <em>all</em> published content, not just
for celebrating Pride Month!</li><li>It's okay to not know
<em>everything</em> about the LGBTQ+ community. Don't be afraid to ask
your readers questions about the things you want to
learn. </li></ul>
<h3><strong>How did you find your way to doing HR work at Automattic,
and what part in your current role are you most passionate
about?</strong></h3>
<p>The funny thing is, I feel like I've always been destined to work
at Automattic. After working remotely on time-sensitive projects for
the MTA in New York City, I began searching for remote HR jobs. I came
across Automattic's posting on <em>Indeed</em>, and after reading
reviews and articles about working here, I just knew this was where I
needed and wanted to be. </p>
<p>As for the what I’m most passionate about… Whew, there
really isn't anything that I'm <em>not</em> passionate about in my
role. But, if I had to pick one, it would be the work I've contributed
to our <a href="https://automattic.com/diversity-and-inclusion/">diversity
and inclusion efforts</a>. I have so many experiences as a Black
bisexual woman, that working on our D&I initiatives challenges me
and pushes me to find comfort in fully showing up at work. </p>
<h3><strong>Automattic is made up of a very diverse workforce —
culturally, geographically, as well as in terms of sexual orientation,
gender expression, and other identity markers. What kinds of
challenges and rewards does this richness bring to your
work?</strong></h3>
<p>For the challenges, I would say that we all have to apply an
additional level of empathy, understanding, and openness when working
together. Just with communication alone — English is not the
first language for some Automatticians, and some cultures’
communication style is direct. Assuming positive intent and having an
additional level of empathy for one another allows us to effectively
communicate with each other, while also appreciating our
differences. </p>
<p>The reward that comes with our diverse workforce is that every
person and voice has the opportunity to be heard. Impostor syndrome is
real, so some Automatticians may not <em>feel </em>as though they can
share their ideas with anyone at the company, but we truly can. Our
level of diversity is truly outside of what the typical company is
aiming to achieve. That's not to say we're not looking to <a
href="https://automattic.com/work-with-us/">hire more diverse
Automatticians</a>, or increase our workforce with non-US hires, but
we're not limited by age, sexual orientation, race, and gender
identity. Diversity has a different meaning in a lot of the countries
where we have Automatticians, and that alone is rewarding. </p>
<h3><strong>What was the most recent moment when you thought to
yourself, “Yes, my work makes a real difference in other
people’s lives”?</strong></h3>
<p>Believe it or not, I've thought this to myself at the end of every
final hiring chat that I've completed. Our team took over "final
chats" — the last step in our <a
href="https://automattic.com/global-hiring-guidelines/">distributed
hiring process</a> — almost three years ago, and every time I've
offered someone to join us full time and they've accepted the offer,
I'm overwhelmed with feeling like my work made a difference in their
life. I genuinely feel like I have the dream job, and who wouldn't
want other people to experience this feeling?</p>
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<p><strong>Interested in the work Niesha does? <a
href="https://automattic.com/work-with-us/human-resources-wrangler/">Learn
more about our open HR Wrangler position</a>. You can also explore
previous installments in our Pride series, which included interviews
with <a href="https://wordpress.com/discover-wordpress/2020/06/01/pride-month-gina-gowins/">Human
Resources Wrangler Gina Gowins</a>, <a
href="https://wordpress.com/discover-wordpress/2020/06/08/echo-gregor-pride-month/">Jetpack
Developer Echo Gregor</a>, and <a
href="https://wordpress.com/discover-wordpress/2020/06/15/pride-month-mel-choyce-dwan">Designer
Mel Choyce-Dwan</a>.</strong></p>
<a href="https://wordpress.com/discover-wordpress/2020/06/22/pride-month-niesha-sweet/"
target="_blank" rel="follow">Meer over Ben Huberman</a>
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