Kelsey Bishop

Ambitious, hard working, competent, kind, self aware, and growth oriented

I love making impact with what we're building, which is why moving fast is important to me. I also want to work with people who still have a chip on their shoulder - they're still eager to work hard and have something to prove. None of those things matter if the person isn't kind, self aware, and has a growth mindset. I want to be on the journey with other people who are ready to grow and help me grow too.

I love winning and creating opportunities for people I love. That's why I think being a founder is my dream job - I feel like I'm in control of my own destiny AND I can make an impact for my team and the world.

Candor, duh :)

No seriously, this is my life's work. I used to joke that this would be my version of charity and if I never got paid for it, that'd be okay with me. My hope for Candor is to help people be their authentic selves, be seen at work, and have life-giving relationships with their teammates. It's something that's been so important to me personally that I really want to share it with the world.

I think that success and winning is important to me, but over the years I realize that it needs to be in the right environment - where I feel supported by the team and have the space, trust, and respect to do my best work.

type 3, 2 wing, sp/so, 378 fix I loooove the enneagram!!

My new work set up in Lisbon!

I'm trying to get better at written communication

I spend most of my days on the phone, so verbal comms feel easy to me. Written comms feel just as (maybe more!) important in a remote world and I really want to be able to communicate my points without having to hop on the phone with everyone.

Be quieter than usual. I'm generally really talkative and bubbly.

Check in with me! It actually helps me a lot to talk about what's going on, but sometimes I don't think to share and want to just keep working / moving forward.

I really enjoy solving new problems and working across different areas of the business. I like to go deep on things and rarely shy away from areas I haven't had experience with in the past. I also work pretty fast and am pretty good at context switching.

Love the idea of the universe conspiring to help you fulfill your dreams. I read this once per year and find new gems every time.

A mix of exercise, good food and drinks, and people I love make the best days!

Lisbon is my happy place! I love the energy here and feel like I'm my best self. Put me in front of the river with my laptop and I'm a happy camper.

I'm more of a doer than a strategizer. That means I might need a nudge to spend time "strategizing" and making our high level plan super clear. I prefer to be in the weeds, but recognize sometimes it's good to take a step back to see the full picture.

any time the site goes down for a minute hahaha. the slack message in our eng channel gets me every time 😅

People who interrupt!

I looooove feedback! I'm a huge fan of continuous feedback and prefer when I have relationships with teammates where feedback is expected and appreciated. I'm definitely more sensitive than I let on though, so examples and kindness are big for me to be able to receive the feedback.

I'm a bit of a life-optimizer and track a lot of things about my own health

You'll see this at our colocations, but I have a pretty strict morning routine that I don't like messing with. Exercise daily is a non-negotiable, and I track my workouts and my sleep pretty closely. If you schedule something in the morning my time, I might ask to move it if it means I'll miss my morning rituals. I find my day is much more productive (and i'm in a better headspace!) when I make time for them.

There are a few areas I'm working on being better in: - Patience. I have a high bar for performance - both for myself and for others. When work isn't performed with speed and quality, I can be disappointed and have minimal patience to coach vs. do it myself. - Balance. I can easily (especially when stressed) over work myself. I try very hard to include exercise, meditation, and healthy eating into my day and perform better at work when I do. - Communication. I am blunt and forthright, which can come off as aggressive or not considerate to others’ feelings at times.

My favorite teammates are autonomous and deliver incredibly high quality work. I love jamming on ideas for a bit, but I really value when teammates can go out and execute quickly after we align on high level. If there’s a problem, let’s deal with it. I don’t like it when things fester and prefer to call them out before there’s a real issue. I’m an Enneagram Type 3 and pretty closely align with the framework, which means I’m easily motivated and derive value from my work. I am results-oriented, efficient, and love checking things off a to-do list.

I learn the best by jumping in and trying it myself... followed by feedback of course! When I was learning Bubble, I loved being able to just click around a working prototype to understand how it was all hooked up. Then I felt comfortable trying to build myself.

I love it when people move the needle towards a shared goal because I feel supported. I also love the feeling of progress - if I feel like we're moving, I get very excited.

I love to say that the future of work is remote, but honestly I love some good in person time. It's my favorite time of the quarter when our colocation week comes around! We mostly work async when we can, which I think is my preferred day to day way to work. The weekly jam sesh on product is SO fun for me too.

I love starting out my day with 1-2 hours of uninterrupted time where I can be creative on product, growth, etc. I spend a ton of time on the phone, which can be energizing for me, but I definitely don't feel creative after. Doing my deep work before is a good way to make sure I get it in before I'm exhausted from talking calls all day.

Overbearing, intense, or cold

I can be all of these things! I'm definitely competitive, which I think comes through when I really want to win. At work, I really want to win. This can feel like A LOT (which it can be). I also can get cold or very direct when I'm stressed - it's usually because I just want to move faster and my default is efficiency. It's something I try to catch now, but if you see it and I don't, please let me know.

A difficult conversation to let someone go.

This was one of the hardest conversations / decisions I had to make throughout my career. It's awful and uncomfortable. I know it's part of building a company, but it's a tough situation that I do my best to avoid.

Joining a team that wasn't a good culture fit

Culture is the MOST important thing on a team. Even with the right role, at a crazy fast growing company, I was miserable when I didn't click with my teammates. Never again.

what's a relax?!

just kidding :) kind of, haha. I do have some trouble relaxing, as I find work very grounding. Outside of work, I spend time exercising, meditating, and traveling. I love love love planning trips, trying new restaurants / cafes, and catching the sunset.

Patience

If I could change one thing about myself, it'd probably be this. I'm so damn impatient with everything. I think it comes from being competitive. I love winning, so sometimes I just want to push to get there faster. If you see me pushing too hard (someone else or myself) please, please, pleaseeee let me know. Reminding me of the big picture helps a lot.

I have four younger brothers and our names all start with K's!

Keith, Kevin, Kyle, and Kent. The chaos in my house growing up was so real.