Jun 08, 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: Daniela Hernandez Guerrero is a Strategic Partner Manager (SPM) at YouTube for our Climate Change & Sustainability creators and NGO partners. She works with creators like Our Changing Climate and NGO’s like the UN Environment Programme to activate and enable our partner ecosystem in this fight for climate action. She also leads Marketing & Communications for YouTube’s LatinX Employee Resource Group, Familia.
A quick travel #OOTD (outfit of the day) - name of the game is comfort.
6 a.m. You’ve caught me on a particularly exciting week! First we’re heading to the inaugural Aspen Ideas Festival on Climate Conference in Miami, which brings together institutions, government and activists together to find solutions to climate change. Corporations and governments have a responsibility to affect and enable real action. YouTube needs to leverage its reach to be part of the solution.
In any case, I’m up for an early flight, but with the help of some coffee, we’re pushing through!
10:30 a.m. More coffee ☕ 😵💫 more travel, arrive in Miami South Beach.
12 p.m. Meet up with my manager, Jaya, who has also traveled in for the conference. This is the first time we’re seeing each other in person in over two years!
3 p.m. I’m gearing up for a session presentation tomorrow. I rehearse and source examples on how Climate and Sustainability content can thrive on YouTube.
5 p.m. Jaya and I catch the keynote session for the summit, which featured appearances by Nancy Pelosi and John Doerr. The resounding message was that we must make Climate a top issue for the public and voters alike. Left feeling inspired!
8 p.m. Late dinner and straight to bed in anticipation of our presentation tomorrow!
Today’s highlight: Man, does it feel exciting to travel for work again! I do recognize, however, the impact airplane travel can have on the environment. This is a good moment to mention how individuals can reduce their own impact by consuming consciously. This New York Times article does a great job at explaining what individuals can do, like paying to offset their carbon emissions when flying for work or personal travel — something I try to do whenever possible. Luckily, Google already offsets any emissions from business travel, but still good to keep in mind!
8:30 a.m. Breakfast and last minute presentation prep.
10 a.m. Deliver a presentation on Influence through Media to the Future Leaders Summit! Alongside Dr. Joe Hanson from YouTube and Dr. Peter Neff from TikTok, we spoke on how to build a platform for good. It was exciting to bring together creators from multiple platforms under the common mission of helping others communicate Climate Science and Sustainability effectively.
Some tips if you’re curious:
11 a.m. - Coffee + More Sessions!
2 p.m. - Meet with Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Kate Brandt, to pick her brain on some YouTube projects. And then many more in person meetings with cross functional teams. How refreshing to see colleagues in the flesh!
5 p.m. - Finally some downtime and I’m bee-lining it to the beach! A trip to Miami would not be complete without some sand and ocean. 😍
Today’s highlight: Dinner with other summit attendees - delicious food and great company, discussing ideas on how we can make a collective impact.
7:30 a.m. Back at the airport, on my way to New York for our first team offsite in two-and-a-half years! More than anything, I’m looking forward to getting to know the people I work with as full human beings, outside of our typical Google Meet settings.
11 a.m. Arrive at the office. While overwhelming, it was so incredibly exciting to see and meet everyone. The energy was palpable!
1 p.m. A number of strategy sessions and talks from our senior leadership on 2022 vision and beyond. Not all of the sessions were business only though! My favorite session of the day was called Getting to know your Directors where our leads were asked to answer “What are your worst habits as a YouTube employee?” to “If you were on The Real Housewives, what would your tagline be?”
3 p.m. Peloton instructor and multi-hyphenate Ally Love pays a visit! She spoke on resilience and wellbeing and it was inspiring listening to her journey. Thanks for coming to speak to us!
6 p.m. Dinner with teammates at Jack’s Wife Freda! Afterwards, we rejoined the larger team for a happy hour to close out the offsite! The harder goodbyes were with the teammates who joined us from Europe and Latin America — we don’t get to see each other in person often, but I hope we’ll connect again soon!
Today’s highlight: I get a picture from our San Bruno chapter lead that the new swag for Familia arrives at the office and it looks beautiful! Familia is YouTube’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) for LatinX employees. We’re currently celebrating Return to Hybrid Work with some fun items to help community members get excited!
10 a.m. Grateful for a good night’s sleep! I meet up with members of our Health and Human Rights team for brunch. The pancake flights at Bubby’s NYC are can’t-miss!
12:30 p.m. We begin our last offsite day - Today’s focus is on Responsibilities. For a few years, YouTube has invested heavily in a framework we call the 4Rs of Responsibility (Raise, Reward, Reduce, Remove) to provide a safe experience to our viewers. Today’s session brings together all SPMs who focus on Responsibilities — News, Civics, Health, Family, Learning, Climate and more. Our team takes this commitment seriously and that energy was felt throughout the programming all day.
3:30 p.m. Sprinkled throughout our sessions are RED Talks (YouTube’s internal version of TED Talks), which are quick 5-minute speed talks on life lessons and personal stories — a way for us to get a breather from business talk but still get to know each other in meaningful ways. The stories are touching and beautiful — I cry during each one.
5 p.m. We close out the day with a Fireside chat from Neal Mohan, our Chief Product Officer, who shares thoughts on how we as a platform can do more to continue delivering on our company values in a responsible way.
Today’s Highlight: I stay in to recharge for the night and I take the time to reflect on how grateful I am that I work with such incredibly talented and passionate people! I go to bed feeling more inspired by my work than I have in a while 😊
7 a.m. Final travel day of the week! This time, we’re off to San Francisco for my friends’ wedding. I’m close to both the bride and groom, so this was a particularly exciting trip for me! I grab that all-too-needed cup of coffee and take off.
“Productivity can take shape in many forms — this week was all about in person connection and learning”
Daniela Hernandez Guerrero
11 a.m. Catching up on the week’s inbox from the plane. I’m feeling guilty about my mountain of emails, but remind myself that productivity can take shape in many forms — this week was all about in person connection and learning. I give myself some grace and continue.
2 p.m. It’s been a long week. I log off early so I can come back Monday refreshed and re-energized.
Today’s highlight: Returning to the Bay Area! I lived in San Francisco from 2017 to 2020 and it was such a trip to be back! Picked up some Souvla 😋 and headed to Sonoma to begin the wedding festivities!
Today’s highlight: The wedding day is finally here - work can wait until Monday! Congratulations Erica and Emerson!
