working with me

Working with a new coworker is like taking a walk in an unknown city. You aren’t sure what to expect. You don’t know if you will like it. You’re not even sure if the local culture will align with yours. To make it easier and more enjoyable for my new colleagues, I thought I could write a bit more about who I am.

I’m an intense and passionate person, and I love what I do for a living. I can come up as impatient (not my greatest skill), but I’m a firm believer that nothing is truly urgent in life. I’m quite laid back, so no stress, seriously!

I’m someone assertive, transparent and an extrovert. It definitely translates in the way I’m interacting with others on Slack, in-person and definitely on Twitter. I will fight the status quo if I believe we can have a bigger impact, be more efficient and scale more. Try things, fail fast if needed and learn. Also, keep in mind that English isn’t my first language. I’m colorful and I like to tease people, but my goal is never to offend anyone, so please let me know if I do.

I learned to be good with work life balance. It means that I’m not checking my emails or Slack during the evenings or weekends when I’m not at an event. I also use the pomodoro technique, which means that I focus on tasks 25 minutes at the time. I avoid notifications as much as possible, but don’t worry, I always get back to everyone, no matter the medium. I overuse emojis and share mostly everything on Twitter.

Nowadays, everyone is ADHD (Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder). It’s a spectrum and I’m at the far right of it (read, intense). It’s more complex than that, but it means that my focus is grabbed by anything my mind fancy at the time. I learned to cope with most life issues related to it and I’m currently trying a new medication for it, so you won’t see any impact on my work, but definitely in-person. I get bored easily, so it’s why I need challenges to be happy and thrive.

You can write my name in two ways: Frédéric Harper or Fred. No mixing. I prefer when people just call me Fred, without my last name.

I could write a lot more about myself, but the goal is to give a quick intro on who I am. I felt that those points were important as they can have a positive (or negative) impact on our new work relationship. In the end, I get shit done and I hope we’ll have fun together!