Credits: Marion Plisson

What’s the most pre-dominent benefits I enjoy at work since I moved to the USA? My answer will always be: positive attitude in the workplace.

Since my first job at Veodia, a past startup started in Palo Alto with friends, I discovered the pleasure of enjoying positive attitude, praise for good work, constructive discussion when failing, constant path to progress and become the best you can at what you do. Value failures as potential to learn and improve.

The first time I told my previous french manager, at SNCF (french railways, and yes I moved from SNCF to a startup in Palo Alto), she thanked me.

She thanked me for telling her that such workplace exists. She strived for her whole career trying to create that spirit in the workplace. As my manager, she taught me a lot about tolerance, listening, accepting emotions and dealing with them (yours and the feelings of your team members). Thank you Sylvie R., DSIT power ! I won’t forget Monique P., DSIT rules! My N+2 who trusted my abilities as well, let me expand my horizon, deploy my wings. And let me go when I decided to fly to the Silicon Valley, like a bird going back to wonderland, the promised land.

I dreamed about Silicon Valley since I was a kid, since I was 8 and my parents finally gave up and offered me a Thomson TO8, 4096 colors, 3.5 floppy disk, 1 MHz : a beast !

Now in all my work experiences in the USA I appreciated and cherished the positiveness, boldness and relentless appetite for innovation and business of the local worker native or from abroad like me.

I don’t feel I could bring that confidently in a french minded company, it would be too counter-cultural. My french friends in France tell me that in small companies they manage to have somewhat the same atmosphere. But I’m not ready to give that up, my kids were raised in the US, so we’re staying and for the long run !