My love letter to Mozilla

Dear Mozilla,

Today, you and I are celebrating our tenth anniversary.?Ten years ago, at 8:25 AM, I pressed the elevator button to head up to the 3rd floor of 650 Castro, on my way to my first day as a Mozillian.??

Though March 1st, 2011 was my first day with you, you and I had actually been in each other’s proximity for many years prior.?One of my favourite serendipity moments in life.?You see, the same 650 Castro, the very same 3rd floor, in fact, was where I had worked many years before at my very first corporate job in the US.?Back then, you were not quite fully Mozilla yet, you were within a company called Netscape, and you were in the same building, a couple of floors above.?You and I most likely rode the same elevator, went through the same garage gates, bought a sandwich at the same Le Boulanger, at the same time for years, without ever meeting.?

It felt strange to come back to the same space ten years later, on March 1st 2011, walk by the desk I sat at for many years before, walk through common spaces that were once the conference rooms I sat in for meetings and socials. It was like coming home but not recognizing the furniture and discovering that a new family had moved in.

And what an odd family, I thought.?Some people went by names like “Thunder” and “Blizzard” (though it turned out that Blizzard was really his last name), and titles like “Chief Lizard Wrangler” (though that’s not what we use for official docs, of course).???

When I first met with the Chief Lizard Wrangler for our interview, she said to me, “I really don’t know what you’d do for the Office of the Chair.” (...whuuuh???...lol).?By the end of the conversation, we had identified a list of “to-dos” and we had some “ahas” that clearly meant that I could and should work there. Looking back, that was a preview of what our working style will look like - honest, creative, intentional, intense, trustful, autonomous.

So how has it been...these last ten years.?I’ve had super highs, super lows with you.?I’ve worked with people I thank my lucky stars for bringing into my life, people I have the utmost respect and admiration for.?I've worked alongside people who stood with conviction and grace, especially when things were not easy.?I’ve worked with people who knocked me down and tore my heart into pieces and people who, without even knowing, helped me pick up those pieces and scotch-taped them back together.

We’ve worked hard and tirelessly, learning and unlearning.?Successes and triumphs, misses and trials. I’ve travelled far and wide with you. I’ve danced, sang, dined and wined with you. We’ve welcomed babies, we’ve watched them grow, mine included. We’ve said goodbye to many co-Mozillians through the years, some with tears and some with a sigh of relief.

I have been with you, my Mozilla, the longest of all my places of learnings.?Ten years and you?still keep me on my toes, never letting me go on auto-pilot. At every turn, there’s still a surprise and a new skill to tap and a new relationship to nurture.

Ten years is a long time to be in one place, many say.?But I am not in “one” place, you see. When I walked through those glass?doors of yours at 650 Castro Street ten years ago, I walked?into spaces where I was given the gift of work and craft beyond comfortable and familiar, outside of boxes someone else folded up and put a lid on. I walked in, a bit unsteady, and a whirlwind of wonder picked me up, and you said, “don’t look down.”

Up we go, happy 10th!

-Rowe