Reshma Saujani Quotes Page 2

“In the workplace, we're taught to worry about what happens if we don't have full, complete knowledge of every detail. But if you create a culture and an environment that rewards people for taking risks, even if they don't succeed, you can start changing behavior.”

“It's important to find people who believe in you. You also have to find people that you believe in.”

“Learning to recognize when you’re being wisely cautious and when you’re talking yourself out of something just because you’re afraid.”

“Most girls are taught to avoid risk and failure. We're taught to smile pretty, play it safe, get all A's. Boys, on the other hand, are taught to play rough, swing high, crawl to the top of the monkey bars, and then just jump off headfirst.”

“Never give up. People will always discount you, and you'll always get rejected. But set your sights high. Be boldly ambitious. Be relentless and never give up.”

“One of the hallmarks of happiness is having close, meaningful connections with others. But keeping up a facade of having it all together keeps us isolated, because it keeps us from forging real, honest, deep relationships where we can fully be ourselves and feel accepted exactly as we are.”

“Part of the success of Girls Who Code is that I am a hustler. When people ask what my biggest strength is, it's that I'm shameless. I will ask people for help even when I don't know them.”

“Teach girls bravery, not perfection.”

“Teach one girl how to code, she'll teach four. The replication effect is so powerful.”

“The culture of tech companies cannot change if women aren't in the room.”

“The work here isn't to figure out why they didn't like you, or who's right and who's wrong. It's to practice being okay with the idea that there are some people who will get you and some people who won't...and that's fine.”

“Theoretically, I have no business starting an organization called Girls Who Code, because I don't code.”

“There's no better way of learning from your experiences than having an open and honest conversation with yourself about why you fell short.”

“There's no more powerful lesson than knowing that your setbacks will one day help you succeed.”

“Too many times we just think about our ideas, and we let people convince us not to do it.”

“We can't become unique by copying someone else's formula any more than we can become successful by striving for someone else's definition of success. And really, what's the point of succeeding by someone else's rules anyway?”

“We can't think of any better way of becoming our best selves, than by finding something we're great at!”

“We've become conditioned to compromise and shrink ourselves in order to be liked. The problem is, when you work so hard to get everyone to like you, you very often end up not liking yourself so much.”

“What will I weight more heavily, the sting of failing, or the pang of what might have been?”

“When I'm in the best physical shape of my life, I'm in the best professional space. I can track the connection between the two.”

“You really never know where your path will lead you, but working with technology was truly the best way I could make a difference.”

“You're never too young or too old to be a mentor.”