2022 Noonies Nominee Annica Lin on Building Resilience And Doing Hard Things

Hey Hackers!

I’m Annica Lin, and I’m the VP of Growth at Sable. I am glad to announce that I have been nominated for the 2022 Noonies Award.

A huge thanks to the gzht888.community and staff for considering me worthy of this opportunity. I’ve been nominated in the following categories and if you like my writing, please do check out these award pages and vote for me:

1. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year- LEADERSHIP:
2. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year- DAO:
3. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year- ADVERTISING:
4. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year- WOMEN-IN-TECH:

As a tech writer, I believe that the most exciting technology of the present is Blockchain because it is the key to decentralization. Learn more about my thoughts and opinions on blockchain and my journey in the tech industry via the interview below.

1. Tell us about your journey. What do you do and what do you love about it?

I am a nerd and love technology. I lead growth at a fintech startup - Sable. By utilizing technology, I can perform my job more efficiently. When I start a new job, I am particularly interested in understanding the tech stack and then enhancing the tech stack to perform my job. Technology unlocks so much human potential because we can rely on machines to perform manual and repetitive tasks so humans can spend more time creating.

2. Tell us more about your work. What do you make/write/manage/build?

As the VP of Growth, my job is to grow customers and revenue for the company from all areas of business, for example, marketing, product, partnership, and retention. I am interested in writing about female leadership and entrepreneurship as I want to encourage more females to lead and build.

3. How did you start writing? What made you choose HackerNoon for publishing your work?

A good leader needs to be good at communication. In order to be good at communication, one must start at writing well. Writing has been challenging for me as a non-native English speaker; however, my new year resolution for 2022 is to start writing. HackerNoon has been a really helpful and encouraging platform that motivates me to write better and write more.

4. What excites you in tech? Tell us about your favorite technology and why you are passionate about it.

For work, I am excited about machine learning. The power of machine learning frees human capital from doing all the manual optimizations without abundant data points, while machine learning can perform the task more intelligently and efficiently. Personally, I am excited about blockchain and believe the technology will fundamentally change the human experience.

5. What were some of the challenges you faced being a tech writer and how did you overcome them?

I am not a technical person, but I enjoy learning about technology and how it can help me enhance my work, and I love researching and writing about it. I often do not understand some terms or how it works. I use Youtube + friends IRL to help me learn to overcome challenges.

6. What are you learning/reading currently? Any recommendations for our readers?

I am learning about the useful implication of Blockchain. I’ve been listening to podcasts and reading many articles on the internet. I recommend the Bankless podcast and Web3 Breakdowns podcast.

7. What is your biggest achievement so far?

My biggest achievement is completing a mile swim race in the ocean in July 2022. In this article, I wrote about my childhood trauma in deep water - cultivating self-compassion and resilience by doing hard things. The trauma never leaves me, even as an adult. I am so proud that I was able to cope with my fear and self-doubt and finished that race.

8. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?

I truly believe movement is medicine, and I always encourage people to be more active. If I were given 10 million dollars, I would invest in technology that can motivate humans to engage in physical activities so that we can be more content, healthy, and mentally strong to cope with challenges in life.

9. What advice would you give to someone just starting in this field?

Be a sponge. Spend as much time as possible with people who truly know their craft and be great listeners. That is how one learns.

10. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

When it comes to working in technology, we often neglect soft skills like how to interact with people. However, soft skills play such an important role in excelling in professional and personal life. “People will always remember how you made them feel.” is the best advice I've ever received. I have been very mindful of how my words or actions make people feel.

Voting opens on 15th August 2022.

Below is your sign to vote for our amazing nominees 😉!