Someone Like Me: Moose Stevens believes you should show up as exactly who you are

I’m a Senior Engineering Manager for Elastic’s Security Solution who identifies as a nerdy Gender Queer who loves managing the people! I’ve been in tech for over 25 years, starting out as a junior programmer back in the day. Now I have the privilege of leading a group of exceptional Engineering Productivity wizzes who do fantastic work. 

My experience being queer at Elastic has been super positive. Come as YOU, are is acted out. I’m quirky and can be myself, nobody cares.

‘As YOU, Are’ is a company-wide value at Elastic. It means we celebrate the person you are and we know (and love) that everyone is different. It also means that we recognize and encourage individual differences as a variety of perspectives brings life to a project and the team. 

An example of ‘As YOU, Are’ put into action was my boss discovering the name I used outside of work. When he found out at one of our 1:1s, he immediately asked if I’d like to go by ‘Moose’ at work too. Since it had been sort of awkward to run into co-workers out in the real world when I was with friends, I agreed. Within hours I had a new email address, the HR app was changed, and an announcement was sent out. I’m still laughing today about how quickly and easily it happened. Nobody blinked an eye!

I’m part of the RainbowStack ERG, mentor a handful of lovely queers within the company, and speak out immediately when I see any homophobia, racism, gender bias or the like playing out at Elastic. Thankfully poor behavior is addressed quickly here.

Here’s my advice for others joining Elastic: 

• Talk about who you are.

Show up and talk about your family (chosen and/or bio) and what being you looks like. There isn’t any shame in it, everyone is curious and supportive of each other.

• Find your community.

Reach out and find the other queers or flavors of human that you gel with. Connect with them and find yourself a supportive group of humans to chat with. There are so many groups in Slack that you can join and participate in.

• Be you.

The more you get to be who you are, the more people gravitate towards you and want to be friends. People feel the authenticity.

I show up exactly as I am. Be silly, be you, be whoever you are.

Interested in joining a company where you can Come as YOU, are? Browse open roles.