For a long time, I wrestled with the fear of shining too brightly.

I’d walk into a room and wonder if I should dial back my energy, take up a little less space, soften the parts of me that stand out. I told myself it was humility. Really, it was hesitation.

Then I joined Cisco. And somewhere along the way, between the projects, the people, and the passion work I never expected to find, I came to a different realization.

Leadership isn’t about dimming your light. It’s about using it to light the way for others.

The Journey I Didn’t See Coming

I came to Cisco in 2021 as a contractor on the Cisco ThousandEyes content team. Like many contractors, I was hoping it would turn into something more. I spent those early days learning about the products, getting to know the team, and trying to make myself useful.

Five months later, I was hired full-time. And it felt like more than a milestone. I started to understand what people meant when they talked about Cisco’s culture, and it was an invitation to imagine a bigger future for myself here.

A few years after that, I moved into a messaging activation role on the broader Cisco marketing team, where the canvas got bigger and the work got more cross-functional. Today, I’m a Marketing Manager in the Event Content and Messaging Center of Excellence, part of Cisco’s Messaging & Content Marketing Team. It’s the kind of role contractor-me would have been thrilled to know was coming.

On paper, it’s a clean career arc. In real life, it’s been anything but linear.

Some of the growth I’m proudest of at Cisco, though, didn’t show up in my job description. It showed up in the hours I gave to our Inclusive Communities, Cisco’s employee-led communities that are open to all and centered on connection, belonging, and allyship, where I started as an Intersectionality Co-Chair with our PRIDE LGBTQ+ & Allies community, and eventually stepped up as RTP Chapter Co-Lead. And somewhere along the way, I found myself organizing executive roundtables, co-creating campaigns with other Inclusive Communities, and championing Cisco Foundation grants for organizations like Meals on Wheels of Wake County and our local food bank.

I didn’t sign up for any of it expecting it to shape my career. I signed up because service is my love language. It’s how I show up for the people and the world around me, whether that’s at work, on weekends serving breakfast to unhoused neighbors at Oak City Cares, or at Carolina Tiger Rescue.

What I didn’t know at the time was how deeply that work would root me here and teach me to lead.

The Lessons That Made Me Better at Everything

Briefing executives. Communicating across teams. Listening, really listening, when community members are struggling or disagree. Building partnerships that actually mean something. Influencing without authority, because in a volunteer community, nobody reports to you. They show up because they believe the mission is worth their Tuesday night.

I didn’t learn those skills in a classroom. I learned them by showing up for people.

I remember standing in front of 240 Cisco employees from around the world, walking through what my co-lead and I had learned about turning passion into impact without burning out. I was nervous. I was also completely myself, no dimming. Leading that chapter taught me you can run a whole business within a business, and that the work only lasts if it’s built to outlive any one person, including yourself.

I learned these lessons alongside the friends, partners, and co-conspirators I’ve found in our communities, people whose collaboration has been one of the greatest gifts of my time here. From leaders who made room for me, and from community members who challenged me to be better. And in harder moments too, when leadership wasn’t about having the perfect answer, but about staying steady, listening hard, and helping your people feel less alone.

Every one of those lessons shaped the work I do now. The empathy. The compassion. The ability to sit with hard conversations. That’s what makes me good at my “real job,” too.

What I’ve Learned About Culture

Culture, I’ve come to believe, is a breathing thing.

It’s the conversations you have in the elevator. It’s the late nights of pulling together a Pride showcase featuring artists from across our global community. It’s the listening that happens when someone in your community is hurting. And sometimes it’s literal: a few of us from PRIDE climbing into a dragon boat at Asia Fest here in the Triangle area of North Carolina, paddling in sync alongside our friends from the Connected Asian Affinity Network and Women of Cisco Inclusive Communities. Different communities, same boat, everyone pulling together. That’s the part that stays with me, the feeling of showing up for each other across whatever lines usually keep us in separate lanes.

You don’t notice culture until it’s gone, and you don’t get to keep it unless you keep nourishing it.

That’s what I love about Cisco. Culture here isn’t handed down from the top. It’s built, day by day, by the people who choose to show up for it. The company gives us the tools, the platforms, and the support, but we are the ones who bring it to life.

That’s a responsibility. And it’s also one of the most rewarding parts of working here.

A Final Thought

A few months ago, I stood in the middle of our RTP Holi celebration, a day I helped bring to life, in a cloud of vibrant color. It was messy, loud, and full of pure joy, and it reminded me why I love this work. None of it showed up in a job description. None of it fit a traditional mold. And all of it has shaped the leader I am.

That day reminded me of something I keep learning at Cisco: by showing up for others and for our communities, I’ve built skills I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else. I came to Cisco for a career I love, but I found the people who became the reason I stay. And I discovered that the parts of myself I was once tempted to dim are exactly the parts I’m meant to bring.

I don’t want to shrink. I don’t want to eclipse myself.

Because when I show up as my full, authentic self, I don’t take light away from anyone. I give the people around me the silent permission to do the same.

Ready to grow your career without dimming who you are? Explore opportunities at Cisco.

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