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Cindy Gross

Cindy Gross

Befriending Dragons

Career Roadmap

Cindy's work combines: Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Upholding a Cause and Belief

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Day In The Life

Founder

Nurture new paths for women who experience bullys or harassers at work.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Management Information Systems, General

    University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

  • Certification

    Adaptive Community Leadership

    Saybrook + Leadership Eastside

Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Software Quality Assurance Analysts & Testers:

Bachelor's Degree: Management Information Systems, General

Certification: Adaptive Community Leadership

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

I've taken a lot of twists and turns

  • 1.

    Tried out multiple unrelated majors in college.

  • 2.

    Found a great fit with the hyper-logical computer world. But then realized without emotion, feelings, and relationships it was actively harmful to me and society.

  • 3.

    Found out nothing is really completely logical when it comes to human thinking and actions.

  • 4.

    Became a community organizer fighting for gay rights and women's rights in a hostile state.

  • 5.

    Switched to a new discipline and a new technology. Then left the corporate world to create a collaboration based entrepreneurship.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Peers:

    You're not likable enough, I don't know why people like you, you ask too many questions, you're too abrasive, you're too aggressive, you're not aggressive enough, you don't take initiative, I don't like the way you take initiative, you speak against bias

  • How I responded:

    Embrace it, that's a negative spin on what can be a positive trait. I can look at a situation and think through the things that can go wrong - in the right environment that's a very valuable skill. I also learned when and how to vocalize those thoughts, saving them for the right situations and phrasing them as actionable items with value.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • Recently I've deep dived into subtle bias and how cognitive patterns can map to demographics. This helps me understand where people are at and tailor my actions to encourage them on a journey to being more diversity-friendly.