We want to give a "peek behind the curtains of working from home or anywhere" and share how we individually support women. And, we want to share some light hearted stories. Humor can be 'medicine for the soul' to pop a gentle smile on all our faces in these times of great uncertainty and challenge.

Role: Hi, my name is Sabina. I’m the Director of Content and Campaign Marketing at Thera. 

Outside of work: I enjoy my morning coffee, dancing, spending time with my family and friends, and going out on adventures to try new things. I love exploring new cuisine, learning about nutrition and ayurvedic remedies and traveling the world.  

Work puns: This is not a glorious moment but I hope it will make you smile. Once my partner was on a call working from home, and I was working in the living room. I tried to crawl behind him to not disturb, but I didn’t realize you could see the floor behind him and all of his colleagues watched me drag myself along the carpet to grab a snack from the kitchen. This is what I’m willing to do for a good snack! 😂

How I support/celebrate women:I have always been a strong believer that representation matters and that actions speak louder than just words. I support women by celebrating their achievements, acknowledging their impact and resilience during difficult times, and by giving them opportunities to shine whenever possible. It’s important to speak up and address any bias to raise awareness and move forward to a more inclusive and brighter future. 

Role: Hi, my name is Tina. I’m the Director of Digital Marketing at Thera. 

Outside of work: I love Pilates, Climbing, Traveling, Food & NFTs.

Work puns: For me, not 100% work related but I joined a zoom call for a course , thinking my camera would be switched off by default. I had just washed my hair and was in PJs. However it logged on immediately with my camera on in my wet hair and PJs 😅 to 20 other audience members who were also there for the course. 🙈

How I support and celebrate women: I start from the simplest things. By supporting the women in my life. Most of the women in my life are amazing, but they are humble and never shout about it. I also find that women tend to experience more imposter syndrome. I ensure I show up for the women in my life whenever I can, I share their achievements on their behalf, I encourage them to believe in themselves and I ensure that when something good happens in their lives, we celebrate together. I believe we all can win together, and that life is not a zero-sum game 🙂

Role: Hi, my name is Maria. I’m the People Ops & Culture Lead at Thera. 

Outside of work: I enjoy hiking and trekking, traveling solo, making pottery, learning history, reading books until my eyes turn red, being the cool aunt to my niece, cooking for friends, and trying international foods.

Work puns: this one time I was in a meeting while I was babysitting for my niece. There was no video, but my mic wasn't muted as I was listening to the other person talk before I made my reply. My niece came into my office space, with this portable, Frozen-themed Karaoke machine I had bought her, blasting (but I mean, BLASTING) techno music, with this cute, happy smile. I almost fell running to her, picking her up and moving her to another room. I had forgotten to mute the mic before getting to her, so I was hoping the other person wasn't hearing a thing (he kept talking, so I think it was cool). That was stressful but so, so funny! 😂

How I support/celebrate women: Women supporting Women is one of the most beautiful things to witness. So I try to do that for other Women by celebrating the smallest things that they accomplish and by encouraging them to value their successes. From my experience, I think it's very easy for Women to not only undervalue their own achievements or regard them as something trivial and not worthy of a shout-out, but we often self-sabotage when it comes to our ambitions and capabilities. Even I am guilty of that.

So I try to elevate other women by making sure their accomplishments are heard and seen, as are their ambitions and goals, and that it's ok to share them with the world and to be proud of them, however small they seem.

I make sure to listen to other women actively and encourage the things they're excited about. But I also look to open ways for men to be a part of this celebration and support system too, whenever that makes sense.

Lastly, I try to be very active in supporting initiatives that specifically target education for girls and women in general, and the creation of safe spaces for them—whether that's in the form of mentoring, sharing personal experiences with each other, or donating.

Role:  Hi, my name is Vass. I’m an Administrative Assistant at Thera. 

Outside of work I enjoy swimming, traveling with friends and family, food hub, cooking western and korean food, reading inspirational books, and watching movies on Netflix. 

Work puns: Not work-related, but I always check if I set up my camera to be off whenever I join a zoom call for grad school meetings. This one time that I forgot to check it, I was waiting for my teacher to accept me on zoom. While waiting my eight-year-old sister just came into my room, and she was showing me the dance she knew two days ago. I interrupted her for a while because I have to get something in the other room. Back in my room, I saw her giggling, wearing my headset, and doing the chicken dance. My reaction was: OMG! She was doing some entertainment for the entire class. 

How I support/celebrate women: "The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up” Serena Williams I believe that the success of a woman is an inspiration to anyone. Their success needs to be heard and shared with the other Women. Every day, I try to prophesy positive words to myself. When I felt that I had already boosted my confidence for that day. This kind of vibe will radiate with others. So, with that, I can easily say good things to other Women and appreciate what they already accomplished in life.  Then last month, I joined a group that has planned an event every year for International Women’s Day. In this group, they interview women who want to share their life experiences, knowledge, and expert advice that will give motivation to everyone.  Lastly, I usually treat my mother and even my sisters to a coffee talk and give some pieces of advice if needed. 

Photo: taken last November, 2020. Doing my work while looking at this very inviting view.       

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Role: Hi, my name is Nicole. I'm the Chief of Staff to the CEO at Thera.

Outside of work I enjoy watching sci-fi shows and movies, reading books, watching documentaries, overall anything that allows me to learn something new, playing uncommon board games, finding new parks, dancing, spending time with friends and family, traveling to random places around the country coaching my debate students, investing, finding and trying new food.

Work puns: I have two I can think of, let me know which you’d like. 

1. Last summer, I had to give a presentation where I was the main speaker and as soon as I entered the zoom meeting, seconds prior to sharing video, I spilled my entire coffee on my lap. It was too late to go anywhere and do anything so I had to sit there and give this presentation with a large cup worth of coffee on my pants for about an hour. To be honest, I was thankful it was not in person because my shirt was unharmed by the coffee and everything despite not being fine at all — looked fine. #theperksofremotework

2. The first time I met Dreya (our Head of Marketing), I had all of my cats and their cat friend from outside in the background, chasing each other jumping and running on top of the couches. 

How I support and celebrate women: I celebrate women by being a constant advocate and, when I can, mentor for the women I have in my life. Celebrating all of their wins, being the shoulder to cry on, bringing the jokes when a laugh is needed, mixing the margaritas at gal gatherings and speaking up when an injustice occurs. Some examples are — I encourage my debate students to use their talents and voices to tell the stories of women who are often silenced or marginalized. I share literature with my family and friends and anyone interested about women who have changed the world and are doing rather interesting things. I’ve built a cadence of celebrating everything — the little things as much as the bigger things in life with the women around me. And, when I can, I dedicate my time to volunteering at places that support women, donating and raising awareness to women’s causes.