New Crew Member: Becky Lipsitz

Meet our new Project Facilitator, Becky Lipsitz!

Becky is joining the Ten Forward crew after 10+ years at a large tech company. 

Becky's first few weeks as our PF have been busy jumping into existing projects, as well as assisting with new ones. 

We are excited to have them share new ideas and their incredible testing knowledge with the team.

Welcome to the team! Why did you decide to join Ten Forward?

"I answer this more clearly a couple questions down, but basically, I was feeling stressed and burnt out at my former job, but I didn’t necessarily see a reason that had to be the case. I enjoyed the work I was doing, but wanted more control over the velocity and flow and groupings of it. I was struggling with a feeling of never being good enough, when I knew that I was plenty good enough, and just needed to find someone who saw that. Ten Forward saw that."

What are you looking forward to learning or doing in your new role?

"In the project management element, I’m looking forward to helping define “done” for projects in a way that keeps everyone’s focuses (focii?) on the same elements, and giving our end users ultimate faith and transparency along the way, while keeping everyone feeling great about themselves and their work.

As a tester, I’m excited to expand my horizons and knowledge after 12 years in the field, and de-black-boxify some of what I’ve been doing and seeing, hopefully becoming more technical in the process.

As a human who writes words, I'm looking forward to reducing how many run-on sentences I write, and also, um, actually, I guess I could have stopped that sentence earlier."

Previously, you were working at a large company. What are some of the differences you’ve seen and anticipate working at a smaller company?

"At the larger company, I found myself learning about my differences as an individual, specifically those related to neurodiversity, and trying to them so that I could fit better into the role assigned to me, which changed based on the needs of the company and no longer truly suited my strengths. I began perceiving my differences as weaknesses.

Here at Ten Forward, I am currently the only software tester and project facilitator, so I can use the skill sets I gained at my previous job and customize the job based on a combo of the needs of the company and my personal differences, which I now see as an extension of my strengths.

Ten Forward values diversity, which includes a diversity of thinking, working, and communication styles. I have more control over decision-making at a high level, and I feel as if I can push back and change direction and it is perceived as the honesty and thoughtfulness that it is and always has been.

The result has been that at my previous job, I seemed like a troll, but here, if anything, I feel like an equal among trolls, because people seem more comfortable being themselves in a smaller work setting."

You have worked in tech for a while now, what is your favorite thing about it?

"This might sound trite or cheesy, but it feels like legit magic to me. Nothing is insurmountable unless it involves time or resources. I feel like we are cooking up crazy spells and that I’m learning another language every day in order to cast them. I love ending every day with a sense of having learned something I didn’t even know was possible the day before."

You are in a band! How long have you been playing music and what do you love most about it?

"I am 37 and have been playing trumpet since i was 10, but singing since i was like 2? I don’t have that exact age documented. I’m not good at singing, but your question only asked about music in general.

I’m in the band Meskales, which is a Spanish-language ska band. My favorite thing about playing music in general is the sense of absolute catharsis it brings me, and also some of the people I get to meet through doing it.

My favorite thing about trumpet specifically is being rewarded with praise and dopamine for essentially screaming over everyone else in public."

Would you mind sharing a picture of your super cute animals? What are their names?

L-R: Space Ghost and Mr. Bug (Mr. Bug is my roommate; Space Ghost is my son)

 

Bowser, whose full name is Bowser Marlowe Truffle Pig Foot Butterfly Boy Wels Bowering Lipsitz.

Space Ghost and Clargg. Clargg is Mr. Bug’s older brother and is also my roommate.

 

Fill in the blanks: "If I could only __ one __ for the rest of my life, it would be __."

"If I could only drink one beverage for the rest of my life, it would be water.

This makes me sound boring, but joke’s on anyone who answers differently and dies prematurely."

Favorite board game or video game, TV show or movie, band or musician, emoji.

Video game: "Binding of Isaac"
TV show: Bojack Horseman
Musician: Jeff Rosenstock
Emoji: The one that is just a hole, maybe. I don’t like emojis. They only make things more confusing. Maybe one of the ones that is just a number. Or the yin yang. Reminds me of "Wheel of Time" a little.