Rose is a member of Sparrow’s Engineering team. Let’s get to know Rose!
How did you get to where you are?
It was not a very direct path. It feels like I’ve lived a few lifetimes already, but I really started my career in engineering in 2012 as an app developer. A lot has changed in tech over the years, but it’s been important to me to advocate for women and minorities however I can throughout that time. I’ve worked alongside a lot of super smart people around the world, and love working on complicated problems to make people’s lives better. There is no shortage of those kinds of problems here!
What is a fun fact about you?
My brief brushes with the media include being on a Chinese television show about nontraditional pathways into the software engineering industry, and being featured in a newspaper article about how engineers were starting to break the stereotypes in the 2010s by sometimes being stylish people. That concept seems hilariously silly to me now, but apparently it was a thing.
Why did you join Sparrow?
I get asked this a lot during interviews with candidates, and it’s delightfully easy to answer. There are three main things that are important to me about where I want to work: 1) The business strategy is sound, thoughtful, and ethical. 2) The people are nice and the culture is genuine and inclusive. 3) The thing we are working on is actually a positive addition to people’s lives! Sparrow easily meets all of those requirements.
What did your team do to support you in your first month?
Onboarding in engineering is crucial, and what really helped me was being given the time to get to know the product and the codebase from a high level before being expected to just dive in. Pairing with engineers early on was so nice since people were surprisingly patient and helpful. I try to make sure this is strongly emphasized for any incoming new hires, and I think it’s a great foundation for contributing intentionally as you grow with the company.
What are some of your hobbies?
Outside of work, I produce music and sometimes play dance music in clubs in San Francisco. Music has been a lifelong passion for me. I love everything about electronic production and could nerd about it a lot and sometimes teach it to other people. I also do yoga and draw, and love to get out and see the world. Some of my favorite moments are in nature, gazing at the ocean or hiking through the forest. Lastly, just give me any excuse to bust out some karaoke.
What are you most proud of in the last year?
After the lockdowns I was feeling a little, shall we say, socially rusty. There was a lot of exposure therapy to going out and socializing in public, but I wanted to really get out of my head. I decided to join an improv class, and have already signed up for the next level. I’m proud of it because it was definitely a challenge to “get out of my comfort zone,” but I just went for it. It’s been a really fun and rewarding way to practice saying yes in life.
Want to join our team? Check out our careers page and apply!