Recapping 2015

I’ve never really been one for new year’s resolutions or even writing out any of my goals but a friend of mine suggested doing a 2015 recap and it sounded like fun so here goes nothin’. Since I didn’t have any goals written down for last year, I didn’t really have anything to compare to, so here’s a recap of my year according to my Google calendar, Instagram and Twitter.

Here’s what I did in 2015

Presented at a bunch of different events/places including:

After attending Write/Speak/Code in March I was determined to help get more women’s voices heard at conferences and tech events and made myself start doing something I had previously hated.. public speaking. It’s still a skill I’m refining but I definitely put myself out there in 2015, speaking at a bunch of events. I presented mostly about web accessibility, a topic I’m super passionate about. Speaking at these events allowed me to meet so many awesome people, expand my network and have really meaningful conversations around the topic. I hope I was able to change people’s views on the importance of designing accessible sites!

Attended some really great conferences:

All of these conferences were amazing, I learned a ton and met even more awesome folks, I even got to stay on a haunted ship. If I took time to write about each of them, this post would be 10 pages long.

Ahoy ⚓️⛴🌇

A photo posted by LeeAnn Kinney (@_leeanimal) on

Traveled to 10 different states:

  • Florida
  • Louisiana
  • New York
  • Vermont
  • Connecticut
  • New Jersey
  • Hawaii
  • Oregon
  • California
  • Texas

Part conference travel, part vacation, I got to see some pretty beautiful parts of the country. I visited Hawaii and Oregon for the first time in 2015. I hope 2016 brings me to even more new places, hopefully some outside the US!

Soaking up the last of this beautiful Hawaiian sun and crashing a wedding #jaimaui #maui #hawaii

A photo posted by LeeAnn Kinney (@_leeanimal) on

A photo posted by LeeAnn Kinney (@_leeanimal) on

Organized a bunch of events:

  • Rise & Shine
  • LadyHacks
  • Women in Tech Summit
  • ELA Conf
  • A bunch of GDI classes

Along with helping organize quite a few GDI Philly classes, I also continued helping organize events like our monthly study group and even piloted a new meetup called Rise & Shine that really took off. I helped organize LadyHacks and the Women in Tech Summit. ELA Conf was a conference I co-organized that was well-received and helped to build a lot of connections between women in the tech community. I have a post coming soon about my experience with that and everything I learned from planning my first conference.

Professional Accomplishments:

  • Moved into new role
  • Increased my salary by 45%
  • Was a mentor in the Open Source Mentorship Program (after being a mentee the previous year)
  • Became co-leader of GDI Philly

To be honest, the beginning of 2015 job-wise was not a great one. I wasn’t all that happy and was working under not so ideal conditions. But, I was able to really turn things around, move into a new position and negotiate a 45% raise before the year was done. I have a much more positive outlook on 2016 and am excited to see what it brings. Outside of work I moved into the co-leader role at GDI Philly after co-organizing for over a year. This was a huge honor and something I’m really excited for. I also had the opportunity to take part in the Open Source Mentorship Program (OSMP) after being a mentee the previous year.

Personal Accomplishments:

  • Learned to play bass at Ladies Rock Philly
  • Ran two 10Ks
  • Rode 111 miles on my bike in two days

Some of my personal accomplishments of 2015 include learning to play the bass at Ladies Rock Camp. I’m not going to be joining a band anytime soon but it was super fun and super challenging. I also got to meet a bunch of super rad ladies in the process. I ran two 10ks along with some shorter runs (hoping to run more in the upcoming year). I also rode to French Creek State park with 3 other badass ladies and put 111 miles on my bike in 2 days. Hoping to do even more trips like that in the new year. 

Road dawgs 🚲💁🏼🙌🏻

A photo posted by LeeAnn Kinney (@_leeanimal) on

2016 Goals

Professional

I need to think this one over more, update coming soon, but I know I definitely want to speak more and hopefully speak at at least one conference internationally. I’d also like to help keep moving GDI Philly forward reaching as many women as possible (pretty vague, I know, trying to get this posted before the year has ended).

Personal

I probably need to revisit this one as well but here’s a start:

  • Run the Broad St (and beat my previous time)
  • Write more (I’m going to hold myself to one a month to start)
  • Read more – I need to allow myself time to read more, whether it’s tech books or non-fiction I just need to get back into it
  • Get my cb350 running. It’s time. I’ve been putting it off for way too long and when I see other people out and riding I’m so painfully jealous
  • Camp and hike more. I can never get enough outdoors in my life

Friday night fun #cb350

A photo posted by LeeAnn Kinney (@_leeanimal) on

Fireside chats

A photo posted by LeeAnn Kinney (@_leeanimal) on

One thought on “Recapping 2015”

  1. Pingback: 2015 Year In Review – Corinne Warnshuis

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