Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / Why Representation in Tech Actually Matters
Transcript
- Malcolm: But I think for me, like the biggest thing is just like being able to kind of like bridge that gap. 'cause I think like going through like and back to our original point where I said like like a lot of times, like I said, I've been able to intern at at incredible corporations. Like I said, I've been at Stellantis in Detroit, I've been at Apple. in in in Cupertino, California, but in Microsoft and Redmond, Washington. And each of those times it's like, like, wow, like I'm I'm I'm so excited I'm here. I get to make a name for myself. I get this incredible interest of experience. But then when I look around, I'm seeing like it's no one else that looks like me. It's very few people that look like me and even fewer that come from an HBCU background. So it's like you to my left and my right, I have kids from Princeton, Georgia Tech, Stanford, MIT, like Purdue, like all these like PW and it's like obviously it's it's cool 'cause like I'm getting to learn from all these incredibly smart peers of mine, but it's like Something me is just like, all right, bro, like it's a problem and I'm not seeing nobody else that looks like me. So it's for it's like it's bridging that gap, bro, because it's like when I come back, it's cool. I like that like just even if like even if one person hears this and and takes it as like an inspiration or like a piece of advice or listens to something that, you know, Thomas Ryer or someone, I guess that we have one here shares and they use that to better their lives or to make a you know a decision that's gonna, you know, impact them positively going forward. Like that's that's a win on our part. Like so it's bridging that gap. It's like for me it's about bringing like accessibility. in the most like easiest to digest like way possible because there's so much information online. and a lot of times people just don't know where to start. So I think like hearing it from people who have kind of like been in the same shoes, have lived through it, and are bringing it like right to your your headphones, it's like it's easy to do that. And so like I said I've I've it's it's unfortunate that it's not more rep like more of us represented. but that's kinda like like I feel like you can only kind of accelerate that with platforms like this. Like whether it's like May like I said, it may not be as big as like a as earn your leisure or Breakfast Club, but it's like that's the whole point of grinding and and building it up so that, you know, it eventually gets that that type of reach and that type of impact on people that listen. But like I said, like for me it's just about bridging that gap, or it's about like like making sure that someone else that comes after me understands like what steps I took to get into the doors I'm in now. Because there are so many people that reach out to me on on LinkedIn or, you know, on whatever social media or way to contact me, ask me about like one. like my pivot from mechanical engineering to tech and how do they get into it, like what's I changed for my resume, like and that. And it's just like this platform is going like all of that in one. It's just like I especially want to make sure that, you know, HSU students that may not know the first thing about this, they know like it's possible. 'Cause like they see, you know, me and my guy here and then, you know, someone else like Jason where it's like, it's very possible to do it. You just have to, you know, apply yourself and then get yourself in the right, right shoes. But a lot of times a lot of people just don't have the the guidance and the wherewithal to kind of like know how to how to get themselves into those doors. So yeah, no, I mean, like I said, I think it's just like like I said once again, like to reiterate, I think it's incredible to have you know, someone else on here who's also kinda like building and and still doing, you know, on the on the outside of their their kind of like main responsibility. So nah, yeah, this is this is good stuff, bro, for sure.