Oct 14, 2022 [[read-time]] minute read
We’re peeling back the curtains with our series, Work Diaries, where you can experience the inner workings of YouTube. How do decisions get made? What goes into a product, feature or policy? We’re asking YouTube employees to give us the low-down during a five-day period.
Featured today: Maria Karim is a YouTube Program Manager and Global Co-Lead for YouTube’s Latinx Employee Resource Group (ERG), Familia. Maria leads feature launches and technical projects for YouTube.com and the Mobile Apps. She helps product teams across YouTube innovate and execute effectively to launch changes across YouTube apps. This week she juggles some big launches, planning and attending the Familia@ YT Summit, Co-leading the Familia Leads Offsite and kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month.
On my way to the Familia@YT Summit
6:45 a.m. - My alarm goes off and I put on 15 minutes of guided meditation on YouTube. While I drift in and out of sleep.
7:00 a.m. - Happy Monday! I go downstairs to get our 23-month-old Maltipoo, Codie, up. I watch him stretch and do his downward dog yoga position. I go upstairs to get myself ready.
7:45 a.m. - I make my oat bran with oat and coconut milk to fuel me until lunch. Then I take Codie on a 10 minute walk around the block since he refuses to potty in our yard :). During the walk I check personal and business emails to scan for urgent matters.
9:00 a.m. - Meeting with AJ confirming the logistics to our Bad Bunny Concert with Familia Leads on Thursday. Exciting!
9:30 a.m. - I work on the YouTube MainApp Web Team, which is the team that develops www.YouTube.com on both the Web and Mobile Web. I am leading an upcoming new initiative that is close to launching soon and hope it will delight YouTube viewers and creators around the world.
11:00 a.m. - Lead a Downloads Engineering weekly sync where we discuss the week's launches to improve Smart Downloads (a YouTube Premium feature that lets members download YouTube videos to watch offline), design document reviews, approvals and set agenda for our Downloads larger Team meeting which occurs right after. Find out more here.
12:00 p.m. - Lunch and time for another walk with Codie!
3:00 p.m. - Lead the Main App Team finalization of main goals (OKRs) for Q4 and cross organization support requests. Setting these are critical to ensure we have clear alignment and priorities are set to meet our annual goals.
Today’s highlights - Got my household ready for my departure to the Familia@YouTube Summit “Cultivate” in San Francisco. Due to covid we have not had our YouTube Latinx community physically together. Our yearly summit is a time for us to come together in community, empower, learn and cultivate. Finalize last minute logistics and set my out of office until Friday. Lyft over to the hotel for our welcome reception!
The Advocacy Breakout Session
6:00 a.m. - Happy Tuesday and Familia day 1 of our summit! I had to come back home since Codie was crying and arranged a Rover sitter. I dropped him off and then headed back to San Francisco.
9:00 a.m. - Watching my Co-Lead Phil interview the actress Dascha Polanco on stage while I prepare for the Networking Activity I will be hosting. We have amazing back to back breakout sessions from Career Progression and Advocacy to Engineering at YouTube.
4:00 p.m. - Dinner on a boat cruise off San Francisco Bay. We witnessed dolphins swimming along the boat and experienced a 4.6 earthquake on the boat which we did not know until the next day.
9:00 p.m. - 3 mile run at the hotel gym then a nice hot sauna. Shower and off to bed.
Today’s highlight - Wishing I could have attended all the breakout sessions but looking forward to watching the recordings. I attended Advocacy: The Art of Furthering Yourself and Others by three amazing panelists. Got a professional headshot and enjoyed some delicious Ghirardelli chocolate.
Playing Familia Feud
8:30 a.m. -First thing on the familia Summit agenda is welcoming everyone back to day 2 of our summit and firechat with Oscar Alejandro.. I make my way downstairs to the green room to meet him and start “charliando” (conversating) with him. Such an amazing energy and human being! Follow him on YouTube!
10:00 a.m. - State of Community Address where my Familia Co-lead Phil and Leads Daniel and Andrea meet me on stage to provide a highlight of our 2022 objectives and mission. We kick off Hispanic Heritage Month / Latin Heritage Month and unveil our new Familia logo! The colors are interchangeable depending on the communication.
12:00 p.m. - Lunch with YouTube Leadership session. It was such a hit and so grateful for everyone who came out. I ate with our YouTube Main App Senior Engineering Director Emmauel. I then spoke to our Vice President of YouTube CoreX Cristos, thanking him for coming out to support the Familia community.
2:00 p.m- Community Reflection was a moment where members shared their experiences from the summit. Networking, Leadership Panel, Breakout sessions, Keynote Speaker and Creator interviews were some of the highlights of events. The impact of those events were the feeling of empowered, re-energize, inspiration, safe space, connected, and supported.
8:00 p.m. - Bad Bunny Concert in Oakland with the Familia Leads to pre-kick off our Familia Leads offsite tomorrow. We had floor seats by the stage! Thank you so much AJ and the Bad Bunny Team for making this possible!
Today’s highlights - My fireside chat with Oscar Alejandro - It was such an honor to interview him. His authenticity and passion are evident. His sincere curiosity and his openness to share it with the world is what has led to so many of his videos going viral.
Familia Leads after a successful Offsite
7:30 a.m. - Alarm goes off and I put on 15 minutes of guided meditation on YouTube and then go to the gym for a 3 mile run while I jam to the new YouTube Music playlist celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Then shower and get ready for the day.
10:00 a.m. - We kick off our Familia Leads Off Site at our San Francisco Market Street office with a Values Activity where each lead selected their top 5 values across 80+ options. The activity allows for deeper connections and understanding what values are at the core of their identity. Then we do a 2022 debrief / retrospective and 2 pager strategy review of our 2023 plans per pillar / chapter.
12:00 p.m. - Head to lunch at the Market Street Cafe where we had amazing Latinx food choices, as we celebrate the kick off of Hispanic / Latin Heritage Month. I enjoyed ceviche and Peruvian shrimp chowder. Yum!
Today’s highlight - Deeper connections with our Familia Leads. It's the first time in over 2 years we are in the same room physically together.
Family dinner with my loves <3
7:30 a.m. - I do my morning meditation and get ready for the day. I start my day by reading emails and catching up from the week.
9:00 a.m. - Check out of the hotel and go to our Spear Street office to work from there for the day. I go straight to the 6th floor for some nice hot tea and get a seat overlooking the Bay Bridge. It is Focus Friday, so meetings are at a minimum.
2:00 p.m. - Web Team Iteration Planning where we review what was completed and the focus for each engineer for the next two weeks.
6:00 p.m. - Meet my son and husband for dinner at Mourad Restaurant in San Francisco. Food was delicious and highly recommended. We enjoyed family style short ribs, oysters, couscous, tomato and milk bread. Magical combination!
9:00 p.m. - Pick up Codie from the Rover sitter and head home for some much needed cuddles <3.
Today’s highlight - It's Friday! Amazing view and food to stay focused and productive. Reflecting on the amazing week and sending thank you emails for such a great outcome. Dinner at Mourad with my husband and son was the perfect way to end the week in San Francisco. And of course picking up Codie!
Enjoying the breathtaking California Pacific Coast
Today’s highlight - Quality time with family. Groomed Codie and unpacked from my week in San Francisco. Then back to San Francisco for some Hawaiian Poke and farmer’s market shopping. Then a quick hike in Rodeo Beach in Sausalito. On our way home we stopped at Whole Foods for some groceries for dinner and enjoyed some news on TV while we relaxed in the living room. We cooked chicken curry with roti and rice for dinner. Ran 3 miles, showered and off to bed.