It’s been over seven months since I joined Shopify and I am overdue on a blog post about my experiences so far. I want to give a little update on my time here: a Shopify Update or, “Shopifupdate”, if you will. The tl;dr is that things are going very well! If you’re interested in more detail, read on.
Things at Shopify have been going well for me. I said in my original post that I wanted to work with good people, on interesting technologies, in a high-trust work environment. And Shopify has definitely checked all those boxes.
Beyond those criteria, the team I’m working on in particular (the Shop team) has a really great culture that I’ve found myself feeling at home in. I was surprised by how quickly I felt at ease, actually. As one small example, I know that the word “Shopifupdate” in the opening paragraph of this post is going to get a few laughs in Shop because these are my kind of people. Everyone in Shop (and Shopify, broadly) have been generous with their time which has helped me quickly gain the context I need to “do software leadership” within Shopify.
It’s hard to overstate the anxiety I felt leaving Artsy because I was also leaving seven years of context. I knew where to find the answers to all my questions – technical and otherwise. Joining a new team meant losing that context.
But I’ve built up enough context that I’m able to do my job effectively. I don’t know where to find all the answers, but I know where to start looking. It turns out that having context is only part of “doing software leadership” – I’ve benefited from my experience and intuition, too. I’m leading a team again, we’re building a cool project, it’s great!
I wrote back in February that:
I want to use my difficult experience to help other engineers avoid some of my pitfalls and find the joy in React Native. My new job won’t just be helping Shopify make the most out of a technology; I will be helping to create an environment where engineers feel supported and empowered to do their best work.
My efforts here have been going well. I’ve already published one blog post for Shopify, with more on the way. I’ve helped someone build – and then open source – an idea they had (blog post forthcoming). All the blog posts I’m working on are co-authored with others; just like at Artsy, I’m helping developers share their experiences with the wider world. It is incredibly satisfying.
By my own metrics, I am succeeding at Shopify. By Shopify’s metrics… I am also succeeding 😊 And I’m succeeding at Shopify with the same attitude I took to my job at Artsy: being kind and compassionate, learning, sharing what I know, and amplifying the impact of those around me.
Beyond just “succeeding”, though, I’m happy. I feel myself beginning to thrive here, and there’s still a lot of room for me to grow.
If you’re interested in working together, Shopify is hiring. You can also reach out to me at ash@ashfurrow.com and we can chat.