LORINA: Why I was hired for this job, it was my passion for it.
And it's not a secret.
So everybody on the team knows that in some way
I talked my way into this job because I was really,
really so obsessed with the product.
And I'm still-- every time I see Waymo,
I scream with excitement.
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JENNY: I will say that I feel like Waymo
is kind of like the most supportive place I've ever
been at.
Before I was at Waymo, I was doing my PhD
at Carnegie Mellon.
And just, like, most of my classes,
I was the girl in the room, or there
was some cases, three of us in, like, a 20-person classroom.
I know there's still a lot of issues.
But I just feel like there's much more support here.
DAPHNE: But you feel like you can improve because you feel
supported in order to make those change
and propose those changes, right?
So that's amazing position to be in actually.
Yeah, yeah.
ANDI: Yes, we're making huge strides,
but people's mentality doesn't even--
or some people don't think that we actually have a problem.
DAPHNE: There's two sides of it.
There's the in-the-room side where you're maybe outnumbered.
But then there is the other side where the actual system that
decides whomever moves up when, how you're judged, how you're
performing, kind of the system that judges people,
is made by the same kind of people still.
And I think until those "rules" are changed,
it might feel the same, even if theoretically you
would have 50-50%.
ANDI: The good news is we're changing it.
And because our leadership recognizes wow,
that's a problem.
And so we have this whole big push
for equity, inclusion, and diversity that's company-wide.
And it's not just on recruiters and sourcers
to have the onus to make our company more diverse.
It's going to be for everyone.
BECCA: We're slowly progressing where
it's like, yeah, a woman can lead a company,
a woman can do this.
Or I'm the first woman, I'm the first African-American woman
to do this.
It's still a progression.
So you're going to still see a lot of firsts.
And it's going to be a lot of mindset shifts to say, oh, wow,
they can do that.
DAPHNE: The more women are surrounding each other
with the positive mindset, I think it will really help us.
And as I mentioned, if the system will change over time,
yes, I think that will help a lot.
And also I think we learned how to deal with the system
very well over time.
So it's a combination.
I do think we'll get there.
JENNY: For the first year I was here I'm like,
why am I a software engineer?
I can't code.
This isn't what I do.
DAPHNE: But you play such an important role on your team,
right?
No, seriously.
You're like, a pretty prominent software engineer,
I would say, at Waymo.
That takes quite a lot of courage to say,
I'm afraid I don't have the right skills.
And I think we've all thought that.
But then speaking up about it and saying
that in front of your managers feels vulnerable.
ANDI: We're all on the same side.
We all have the same goal.
But sometimes it is hard to be--
you have to be that one person who
doesn't look like everyone else or doesn't
think like everyone else and still get them
to believe what I'm saying.
DAPHNE: But then I feel like some days you
really need unlimited limited level of confidence.
And I don't have it at some point.
You know what I mean?
Like, you really need some unlimited source of confidence.
LORINA: My team helps me a lot in this.
They tell me every day that we hired you for a reason.
And I think having a supportive environment
helps a lot with it.
BECCA: Like, with new women that join Waymo, or just people
that I meet in general, both men and women,
I always just want to provide a space
where people can feel like they can be themselves
and that they can come to me specifically, and tell me
what they need to tell me and not be judged, and just
feel like they can be their true selves.
JENNY: I try to mentor and support other women
on the team.
Daphne, you keep saying I'm senior.
I don't feel like I'm that senior,
but I do try and similarly set an example
and to support others.
I actively try and be as involved as I can
with recruiting and interviewing.
LORINA: It takes a lot of people and education
to actually tell girls that there are sources,
there are ways that they can achieve anything they want.
BECCA: I just really believe it's
about changing people's mindsets,
and then educating people so that they have awareness
of the issues themselves so that they can actually
contribute in a positive way.
DAPHNE: I come from an aerospace background.
And I think having worked in a very kind
of old procedural industry, where you just
follow a process--
and I've started challenging the status quo.
And in certain industries I have not
felt like I could be doing that, because things are there
for a reason.
But no one could explain me the reason, right?
And here, I feel like I can question.
Why are we doing the things we are doing this way?
So what I like is when people step up and take part
of the burden instead of saying, this
is what I would like to see, and then put their hands up.
I would love for everyone to be part of the solution, actually.
ANDI: I'm excited, because I feel
like we're on the cusp of a transformation that's
going to blow people's minds.
Because I just think self-driving cars
are going to be a game changer for so many people.
We're literally trying to find people to do things
no one has ever done before.
So it's having to do something brand new.
And then this is really cool and exciting.
But it takes the right type of person
with the right type of mentality to want
to come in and face challenges that they haven't seen before.
JENNY: Waymo has an opportunity to help here.
Like, you will have like a 2-ton vehicle surrounding you,
safely transporting you to your destination.
And I think we can do a lot to help.
DAPHNE: I think that's our role.
We can empower people to go places and do
the things they want to do.
LORINA: Positive experience for me.
It's important for me to work harder.
Like, I thought, well, I work at Waymo,
and I actually have some ability to solve this problem.
DAPHNE: And I think one of the things
I'm so passionate about when it comes to Waymo is you--
we're focused on the general public, on everybody.
And it's not a special product for a niche of the population
that has the money to afford it or lives in the right area,
right?
Like, preferably you want to be able to provide the safest
transport to absolutely everyone.
And that really motivates me for sure.
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