Since moving to Lehi, I have become very familiar with Silicon Slopes and their movement. While I…read moream not necessarily in a tech or startup company, I find Silicon Slopes to be a fascinating organization.
While learning more about Silicon Slopes, it has blown me away to see just how many companies sponsor them. Huge names local to Utah like Harmon's, Young Living, the Utah Jazz, University of Utah Health and Zions Bank sponsor them. While there are also massive corporations sponsoring them as well such as Amazon Web Services, Google, American Express, Adobe, Nasdaq, Overstock, iHeartMedia, and AAA. It is truly incredible to see the community that Silicon Slopes is building for entrepreneurs and I love the mission behind what they are doing. Silicon Slopes believes opportunity may only exist to all if we are willing to extend it to all; the work they are doing is a perfect reflectance of such.
Recently, I attended my first "Silicon Slopes Conversation". At first, I was really intimidated to walk in. As I sat in my car, I noticed the crowd walking in was all men twice my age that could be CEOs or huge names in businesses too. Upon walking in, I was greeted by the girl at the front desk and she checked me into the event. She was super kind and was concise about how the event was going to go. I walked in and went to grab myself some lunch that was provided. They had chicken, broccoli, potatoes, and salad catered in. They also had cold bottled waters available. From there, I went to take a seat at the desks that they had arranged in front of the stage. I LOVED the desks so much--I can't think of any other public, adult setting that has implemented desks like this but I really enjoyed it. Part of that stems from the fact that I value my personal space and I also just love how unique it is. We were able to view a live interview with a CEO, just a few feet away from us. There was so much valuable information and I always find other people's stories to success to be fascinating. After the official interview, they opened a Q&A up to the crowd for any additional questions they may have for the interviewee. Once all proposed questions were answered, people broke off to chat more. The fact that Silicon Slopes puts this on for free-lunch included, is absolutely incredible to me! It is such an awesome experience as it is, but not having to pay admission or for the food provided is a great added perk to the already awesome event.
The lasting impression for me personally with Silicon Slopes was nothing short of amazing. I was pleasantly surprised by my experience. I have been to other experiences similar and I have been dismissed and belittled because of being a clear minority in the room, because my journey may not be the same as others, or because I may not as "high up" as others at the moment. However, my experience with Silicon Slopes was not like this at all. My interactions with others felt very open-minded and inspirational. I felt empowered and like I belong. I was so thankful that I was given a chance and that it was such an incredible, welcoming experience.
If there is anything you take from this review, I hope it is to be as open-minded to Silicon Slopes as they are to all of us. There are so many opportunities to be involved and get to experience the cool things they put together. Find a way to make it to the Summit or one of the career conversations someday soon. There is so many takeaways, so many things you can learn, and so many cool connections you can make because of it.