They Deserve to Know

Gen Z’s Guide to City Living and Career Networking in Corporate: From San Francisco to Los Angeles

• They Deserve to Know

Share episode

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL IF U LOVE GEN Z <3: https://www.youtube.com/@UCPOKPCQY7bd9yCcNgfbmB7A

Follow Us on Instagram & Tik Tok:
https://linktr.ee/theydeservetoknowpodcast

Britney:

But I will say I had a couple of spiral moments where I was way mowing every day to and from work. Girl. Girl. My work that's cuckoo. It was kind of cuckoo you guys,

Juan:

Hi everyone. Welcome back to our episode Two of They, they Deserve, they deserve to Know, know, duh

Britney:

If you guys recall last week, we were matching with our different overalls. Today we decided to do Sundae school. And this is by Juans collection.

Juan:

Yo, these are both of my manic episodes.

Britney:

Manic episodes Indeed. But that I get to benefit from. So Slay. I am wearing a Los Angeles Sunday school outfit or a jacket here. Mm-hmm.

Juan:

And yours is

Britney:

Venice Beach,

Juan:

Venice Beach in San Francisco. And they have a New York collection too. Woo.

Britney:

In case you're interested, you guys,

Juan:

these are an Korean smoke wear slash street wear brand.

Britney:

Huge in San Francisco, I would say. So. Yeah. And we wanted rest with the theme because we wanna talk to you guys about cities and deciding where you all gonna go. Postgrad.

Juan:

big decision.

Britney:

SF was a new city for us both.

Juan:

And we

Britney:

both had not lived in SF prior to getting a job.

Juan:

So Yeah. I lived in Berkeley, which is like across the bridge, but it was still like. Far away it was just like its own city, East Bay versus San Francisco. It's completely different culture. So even coming to San Francisco for me was like completely new,

Britney:

I went to school in Westwood, number one public university, UCLA. And so M was a completely, it was a completely new city for me. I had never really been to the Bay before. I think I had maybe visited for school I went to Berkeley for a campus visit, My first time living in San Francisco and i'm excited. We're excited to talk to you all today about that transition post-grad era, kinda deciding how cities work. The good thing is we've both been in corporate for more than three years now, so we've also had friends that have fled the city, have gone to different areas now, including New York

Juan:

yeah. I think like where we both wanted to talk about this topic is the pipeline.

Britney:

there's a pipeline,

Juan:

New York pipeline. How do you explain The New York pipeline?

Britney:

just use personal experience here, you guys. at my job you start with a cohort of all, like people that are also 22, fresh out of undergrad. I think there were 10 or 11 of us. And I believe half of them have now gone to New York. So it's very much a, I feel like SF often feels like a transit city.

Juan:

stationary

Britney:

And everyone then leaves after a year or two here, it's like a stint for people and then they go and settle off in different cities. And will see, like Juan and I have had an inclination to also move to Los Angeles. That's also been somewhere that we've been wanting to maybe think about, but I think now we've definitely settled into San Francisco where I think SF is a really cool place to be. Also postgrad. I do think it was hard for me coming 20, like the 22 coming from Los Angeles, where there's a big party scene. I went to a school that was like 30% Mexican, like not even Latino, like Mexican. Whereas like here I do feel like I was struggling to find like my peoples and I was as I go to sleep, like at midnight, it's like a stereotype that exists here and it's very much true. So valid. I feel like I really struggled when I first moved here, but now I think I'm 25 and I feel like I found my people, I do feel a lot happier here.

Juan:

I interned at Warner Brothers in like movie marketing, had a time of my life. Hollywood vibes. I love la and I love the sun. Yeah. and so I, coming to sf I was like, I really want to move to LA eventually. But now that I've been here for four years, instead of the original plan, like two real, It happens. It's just wow. Like it's such, such a good life here. Um, what are some cons though? Okay. Cons. When I first moved here, it was like, the car robberies is insane. Like literally you could not leave a cable. My, so like my parents had family fly in from Columbia and they stayed at the Hilton. And in the Hilton, they just left the luggages overnight at the hotel parking lot of the Hilton, they got lot like broken down. They got all the bags stolen for my family. Thankfully we got, reimbursed for that, but it was still just like crazy to think even in the most secure places, like car robberies are very much real. Thankfully, I don't think anything bad has ever happened to me, but like I have seen like sketchy things or like sketchy people, on the streets like at night that you just wanna avoid.

Britney:

I will share like one time, I have had a moment in San Francisco. I think that's also why I didn't like my first year living here. But I was shopping, at the mall, which used to be like a full, my god whole like bustling mall. But it's changed so much in the past few years. and I was shopping at the Sephora, I think I was looking for like a new mascara or something, and I bumped into someone and that man ended up kicking me, like he kicked my ankle, which was insane. And I think that had to happened in like June or July and I moved here in like May. So within two months, I had a violent thing happen to me and I was just like, oh my gosh, I moved to Gotham City. That's literally how I felt. I felt like I was like Batman. Like I was like, what is happening right now? That's crazy. And it was really harsh because I was trying so hard to like the city, but then that happening to me burst my bubble of oh my god. New City 22. And yeah, it was definitely my girl. You had a

Juan:

bruise. I remember I did have a bruise. Crazy. And like I had to

Britney:

fill an incident report. It became a whole thing, which was kind of cuckoo. That's why it was so crazy.

Juan:

yeah, that happened to me too. So we're connected twin players. You've been there literally like after Britney's story, a month later. it's crazy.

Britney:

It's

Juan:

coco. The same freaking Sephora. like on the financial district walking in. This man, was stealing from the store. And he comes out and he throws a punch at my face. Thankfully, someone was there with me and pulled me back and then I dodged it. Barely missing it. I felt it like barely touching the side of my head. But he threw a full punch on the same Sephora That was cuckoo. Yes. No, you're so right. I think it's closed

Britney:

down now. I do feel so much safer, which is why I hate it's gotten

Juan:

better. Yes, I do. It's gotten better.

Britney:

like sharing that story because I do feel like it makes people feel scared and like in the media, like SF is portrayed really bad. Like, not to say that that doesn't exist. Because obviously it does exist. I just feel like SF is also just a tiny little bubble where like everything just happens and it becomes like this really big deal. Yeah. And yeah, I think It's not a fair like way to assess the city, really. Because I feel like it's so much more than all of that bad stuff.

Juan:

Oh, one last top point on sf, going out on sf. Brittany, what is our favorite thing to do?

Britney:

The dangers. The

Juan:

dangers, dangers are in. Okay, so lemme put you in. Dangers are in nights are out. Let me give you the reasons for this. Okay. So our favorite activity to do with our friends is we'll meet up at 2:00 PM on a nice sunny day like today. Yeah. And we'll start pre-gaming, having some drinkies. and then we go out to the club and there's this club that's outdoorsy that we love to go to. it has an outdoor dj. it's really nice'cause you're outdoors the whole time. It's like sunny, so fun. with friends. we get for like four hours, then we'll go at six. We do long

Britney:

pregames. Okay. Yeah. We love

Juan:

our long pregame. And then we end the night at 10, get some Mexican food, get some late night tacos, and then in the mission we're home by 12 and then you have no hangover the next day like, it was so great.

Britney:

You have your whole Sunday. It is true.

Juan:

Sunday, you wake up fine.

Britney:

You can sober up by the time you get home. It is true.

Juan:

So that is our take on sf.

Britney:

wow. You guys are ever in the city and you see us, like Carl said, let let us go. Let's do it. We do let us San Francisco. She really has grown on me and I think it's a big part.

Juan:

So let's take a quick pause from all the city talk. I feel like we've been talking a lot about these SF vibes.

Britney:

get the vibes.

Juan:

But now let's talk about like corporate, like how do we have these conversations? How do we find opportunities? In the cities that we want to go into.

Britney:

Oh, that's a really good topic.

Juan:

Within tech or I guess like for our company, we can just tell you guys the t on a little bit of the structure. So in our company there's levels, so there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, right? And at every level the roles have a different title. but once you're in your role and you get promoted to the next level, it's very similar responsibilities. Like the change is very little, very minimal. Like you're basically doing the same job, but you're just getting paid more. And then you have a new title and a new level. And so intercompany you have to find. Teams that are hiring for that new level. And so like some teams, they'll say, oh, we only accept level fours or level threes. But if you're a level two, you can't apply for those roles. And so the only way to find opportunities is to climb a little bit. And so when we first joined, in our lowest level, there just weren't a lot of opportunities. So we had to grind to have like literally work so hard literally get promoted. We got it done in a year, which is actually pretty quick in our company for us to be able to have OP access to these other teams. And then like it doesn't stop there. You still have to know. Someone in the team, right now it's just getting more competitive.'cause it's an employer's market, there's fewer roles and a lot of employees applying for these roles. And so it is really important for you to know someone in the team or have some sort of direct experience with that team. True. In order to even like land the interview, get interviewed, get considered.

Britney:

definitely on the eternal mobility part for sure. I definitely feel like locations, and we were talking about this earlier today actually, where like location and experience, definitely matter, but I think a bigger emphasis because we are like Gen Z, we're a little bit younger and like we're fresh in our careers. I do feel like we can go after the experience, like Absolutely. I feel like the job is itself, and I think that comes again with whatever company you're in right now. Again, employers market. So it comes down to we have to be competitive. that being said though, I do feel like being able to network and I think it's just as easy as also just asking your friends. We were literally happy hour like two weeks ago and Juan happened to recognize a recruiter that was at the table next to us and our other friend who was currently just also got converted, promoted.

Juan:

Yeah.

Britney:

he's also looking for new roles and Juan was just able to introduce them and that was just like, I was just like,

Juan:

Hey girl, hey, meet him.

Britney:

And then

Juan:

they hit it

Britney:

off and then literally comes down to just knowing like your friends probably know people and just have a simple conversation or just a simple hello. It was enough for, I think them to just get each other's information and just, start that pipeline or like the introduction so that if there is a pipeline for a future job, he now knows someone because we happen to be at happy hour. Exactly. So I definitely do feel like it comes down to like also, yes, knowing people, but also being open, like open to meeting people. So whether you're at the coffee bar mm-hmm. Or you're getting water, like definitely introduce yourself to people. You never know who's in the office. And so it's always fun to just like also be open and saying hi, I think is a really good place to start there.

Juan:

Yeah, a hundred percent. Talk to as many people as possible in person. Yeah. That networking piece will never go away. Never. Like it's still a world where it's, it is still who, you know, for a lot of parts. Yes. Like you have to be capable of doing the role and like being good, but like having a network is like

Britney:

so important.

Juan:

So yeah. Wait, okay, so like leadership, right? Like you mentioned like how do we prepare leadership if let's say, okay, we both wanna move to New York. like how do we go about those conversations?

Britney:

I definitely think, for me it's something that we had the first C manager, which is actually quite funny also, but I feel like that manager helped me a lot in just being able to build that executive presence and one of those pieces was actually like always having a very prepped agenda for a one-on-one. I do think like after you've built trust with your manager and I definitely it's obviously harder if you haven't built trust or you don't trust your manager. But in this case I did trust my manager and it's something that even when I was looking for new roles, I was very open about it and he actually also helped me interview for that role. I also just think having a really thorough one-on-one doc I think is always helpful and like being honest about like your intention I think is also just gonna be useful because at that point I feel like it only unlocked me being able to have coffee chats with like people that he happened to know from that team. Mm-hmm. and to be more specific to within that one-on-one doc, like I always like to start off with a check in just to see how they're doing, share how I'm doing, go into like an agenda moment. So again, we both work in sales, working into what your biggest projects are, maybe like some client work that you're doing, what you need help from them on. And then from there leading on to any admin stuff, which I think is where you can then have that conversation about like wanting to move, wanting to go after a new job. I think one way to talk about, it's definitely you're looking for the next opportunity. You're looking for ways to grow and you can only EnCap that if you are looking for jobs in that certain sector. And that might be based off a new location. it's definitely always help, I think, to talk about it in the sense of opportunity, wanna expand my skills, et cetera, et cetera.

Juan:

So for example, if you're really into fashion, right? when you have those discussions with your manager, just mention one of my biggest passions is fashion. I did some research on different cities in the US. And I saw that New York is the fashion capital of the world. And so in order for me to grow and I still wanna, work in this sector or whatever, like for me to grow and get to where I want to be, New York is the only city or like one of the few cities that I'm able to accomplish that faster. And so like laying out the path with your manager and then sharing how they can help you accomplish those goals and any good manager is gonna want to help you because managers are supposed to be like your mentors at the end of the day. they're supposed to help guide you as people, not just for you to get your job done yes, they hold you accountable but actually help you grow as people as well.

Britney:

I definitely agree for sure. And I feel like being candid because if you guys are watching and you're also maybe one three years in your career, like. I think we were both very lucky to have a manager that knew he was working with a new grad and was very much on the executive coaching piece. I feel like that was something that I learned so much from. Juan is a mentor of mine, but when I first met him, before I went to his conversations with Manager, I asked him, Hey, what do you think about me approaching this way? And Juan would maybe talk about it this way instead. I do think have a bubble people you can trust, whether that's your company or not. don't be afraid to feedback It is something I do with my mentee. continue to do with Juan It's helpful get the nerves out practice and know how to approach something.

Juan:

And like what Brady said, talk to your mentors. I learned everything from my mentors and, look into people who are leaders, don't be scared if maybe not necessarily in your own org. Like maybe if you find someone that's really willing to help, but like even people in different orgs from you, as long as you find some sort of connection to them, Should be willing to help. And, a lot of tech, I don't know if like every industry, but at least in tech, people are pretty open. so have those people give you advice, and always come with curiosity. Come with an agenda. Always come ready. Discussion. agenda. Even with your mentors. don't just come and expect them to tell you what you need to do.

Britney:

It's true. Always something of value. Like I feel like a lot of, You ask, you're asking'em for help. You need to also have something or you can help them. I feel like that's always made us stand out a lot. I think Kwan and I are also very proactive people and we will also not only bring problems to leaders, but we'll hopefully also bring solutions. And I feel like that always is something that'll help you, I think stand out also. And I give something as simple as something administrative or something like, hey, this client, da da da da. And I scaled this project based on this issue and now you get to have this leader hopefully support you on this project also. so it's definitely like a sense of a two way street. You also wanna bring them something of value also.

Juan:

Feel like we should share like a corporate tip of the week.

Britney:

think this is it of the week. Corporate tip of the week, You guys, what was it? Agenda for sure. Agenda. The Capricorn showing. Yeah. I honestly think that guys like having an agenda. I think it just makes everything feel organized, but also like you look just so prepared, you put in time to create an agenda for this person, like that person I think will take even more seriously.

Juan:

hundred percent

Britney:

agenda for sure.

Juan:

ready. We have our agenda. Capricorn. Capricorn. Delve into your

Britney:

Capricorn self guys.

Juan:

Yep. Okay. Talking about moments of the week.

Britney:

Girl, girl.

Juan:

Okay, let's, should we get into spiral moment of the week, of the week,

Britney:

spiral moment era?

Juan:

What is our spiral moment of the week?

Britney:

What is it? Waymo. Waymo. Waymo. Oh my God.

Juan:

Okay, so Waymo, what is a Waymo? What is

Britney:

Waymo?

Juan:

A Waymo is an autonomous vehicle without a driver. Literally in San Francisco there's these like cars that are driving by the whole city and they have no drivers,

Britney:

driver.

Juan:

And so what you do is you get the Waymo app, sort of like Uber, you literally call it. Yeah. and then you, it comes up, rolls up, there's your little initials at the very top. So you know it's you, you walk in, unlock it with a button, and then you close the door, tap the button, and it gets you to a destination. Mm-hmm. No driver. It's kind of crazy.

Britney:

Yeah.

Juan:

So why is there a spa moment?

Britney:

Girl. Well, okay. I can share. I'll share my side and then you can share yours. But I will say I had a couple of spiral moments where I was way mowing every day to and from work. Girl. Girl. My work that's cuckoo. It was kind of cuckoo you guys, but I do feel, okay. One of the benefits of the Waymo also is that you are the only person in that car. Like not that Uber, like Uber's fine. Uber Lyft is fine, but I do feel like if I'm having a moment or I just want privacy, like I will just go, I will order a Waymo. you also get to choose like music, which I think is really fun. You're not asking anyone for anything. It's just like you choose your own music. And so that was, you can chart

Juan:

stuff.

Britney:

You also charge stuff. I also figured out you can connect your Google assistant to the Waymo and play a radio based off YouTube, which, so now if I wanna listen to like I will literally just boop and it actually starts playing automatically now, which is kind of crazy. So, yeah. I love a Waymo. I think they're starting to come out in la, like I think Arizona. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So if you have a chance to take one, definitely take one. but definitely my spiral moment of the week because I don't live far from the muni and here I am and I'm choosing to Waymo to work. That's

Juan:

cool. Cool. Every day. Our

Britney:

household also has a core here, so like I was just being delusional. I think very dilu moment, spiral moment of a week for sure. I was quickly humbled. I thought Juan would like, kind of enable me be like, you know what babe? Like you, you, you, you could do it. La da da. He goes like, that's cuckoo, that's cool. Like you need to take, you go take public transportation. And I was like, dang, no one friend that would do it for me enabled me. And he was like, no.

Juan:

Oh my God. He

Britney:

humbled me real quick.

Juan:

Let us know if we should do a podcast episode in a Waymo.

Britney:

I know. That'd be so

Juan:

fun. That'd be so interesting.

Britney:

Yes. We love Waymo though. should we wrap up with our Los Angeles moment? Yeah, let's do it. I feel like that can be your last moment. Los

Juan:

Angeles. Dear Los Angeles,

Britney:

dear Los Angeles, here she is. Mm-hmm. okay. This is our last city. You guys, we only covered on like the top It's also like Chicago. Even Miami. Miami. Miami. Love Miami. Love Miami. We love Miami. We love, we would hella move there. We, we will have a, a Miami. We would do out Miami. We'll have a Miami military. We would thrive. Love LA too. One thing I will say is no matter what I know that I wanna retire in Los Angeles. Yep. My family's still there. like my best friends or some of them are still there as well. And so I definitely do feel like I wanna end up in Los Angeles. I think. I love la I think LA has a bit of everything. It an incredible place to be. I really enjoyed it. I lived everywhere from like the 5, 6 2, the 3, 2, 3 to nine, like 4, 1 5. Like, I lived all over these area codes now, and so I know that city I think pretty well now. And I would love to see how it's like in a postgrad era. Yeah. But yeah,

Juan:

I agree. So the Los Angeles pipeline, it's fewer in tech, I feel like it's really more niche. If you're trying to go into entertainment type Yeah, that's true. Sort of like a Netflix vibe, like a YouTube vibe, like a, I don't know, like even TikTok I think is bigger in la. But it is a growing city, but I feel like there's still just not as many opportunities there. The pros though, I mean the weather is insane. there's so much to do in LA too. And the beach.

Britney:

I love. Yes. Whenever I go to my parents, I make it a point to go. If I'm bored, I'm like, let me go be bored at the beach. The beach is 20 minutes away. Let me drive right now and go. Yeah.

Juan:

Food bomb food is bomb in la I love the food there. And it's a little bit cheaper than SF in New York too. Yes, I would say so. which is incredible. I think like it's also just such a diverse city. Like I think out of the three is the most diverse mm-hmm. In terms of just like people from all walks of life, all professions. It's such a creative heavy industry. So like entertainment, like movies and all this stuff. But like I agree, you see every type of person in la which I love.

Britney:

my family's Mexican and I do feel like the best Mexican food is in Lil la. I've not, I don't San Francisco, maybe just not been to the right spots. But I just don't know if I can vibe the Mexican food here. I love S here, I love the Paass here, both tacos. I just I don't know. It's not the same. The same. It's not the same. Yeah. Same thing in New York. I know. Oh, Mexican food. Non-existent. No, no, no, no. Like I just maybe show

Juan:

us a place if you know, but if you know, please

Britney:

let me know because I am really just trying to enjoy myself here just a little bit more. And if I had Mexican chicken food option, I know I would be like 10 times more happy. So just let me know. But the food there is incredible, I will say. Mm-hmm. And I think, and I agree the price point is because I think LA is also so big. If you don't wanna spend a lot of money, you can just drive to a different area. Exactly. And you'll spend less for same quality and really good food. Yeah.

Juan:

Love la. Okay. But the one thing about la the driving, honestly like. I, I don't mind a drive. I enjoy having my own space and singing, I love singing and I feel like it's hard to sing when you have roommates or like in any other spot you're on the bart literally on the BART singing on bart. I can't do that on bart. and so like I do love a little car moment. Okay. I will say I got into two accidents when I lived in la Oh. And I never, I'm like a really good driver. It's just like they hit me nom. Just kidding. It was an accident. But anyway, like you do have to drive everywhere you do and it is the additional cost of having a car can sometimes outweigh like the, versus moving to New York and just paying extra for rent or like living in sf. So yeah, I'll

Britney:

say there's like a f flop.'cause for example, like I stay in the 5 6 2, but my friend, one of my best friends in the East la my other one is in near K town area, which those are pretty close, but I'm pretty far out. it is hard having to find a place where like we can all meet up because we all want to drink and we don't drink and drive. So it's a matter of like also figuring out, oh man, we're gonna have to Uber, or I'll pick my car at your place and then we'll meet up there and then we can just stay at your place, So whereas us, Seth, it's I walk to Juan's or he'll walk to mine, or we'll take the bus suite or we'll Waymo to each other. So, yeah, the public transportation is. a huge miss in Angeles, George. It's

Juan:

a huge miss. And also with that Tide is like the community because my friends that moved to la, they love it. They're having a great time, but they're saying it is a little bit harder to find community too, just because you need to really plan if you wanna see your friends, if they live in different cities, you have to make a whole day trip out of it, because getting to each other's places is a whole thing. And then paying for parking and gas, like, it's, it's a lot of planning.

Britney:

Yeah. No, I mean, I agree.

Juan:

Anyway. Wow. We covered a lot today. That was very

Britney:

chatty. You guys.

Juan:

We were chatty today. This was so much fun, Brittany. I love it.

Britney:

I love it too.

Juan:

new microphones new. Hopefully guys can hear us excited for

Britney:

the next outfit too. You guys, I know you guys where it'll be. Guys, we have a special

Juan:

moment for y'all next time.

Britney:

We are really excited. we'll be at

Juan:

a

Britney:

New setting.

Juan:

Guess which one of the three seaters we'll be at?

Britney:

Yes. Oh yes. Let us know.

Juan:

Put it in the comments. But thanks for joining again and let us know what you want to hear about next. If there's something that resonated for you, if you have questions, we'll love to address your questions. Maybe one day we'll have like a q and A style podcast. That'll be cute. We can do that.

Britney:

Yes. If you guys are taking this back or you guys also maybe wanna ask us more, maybe you don't have the best manager relationship, let us know something that we are gonna, like. We are here and we, because we've learned so much, I think from each other, from our workspaces, from other coworkers, Please let us know. Like we would love to be able to just kind of give back to y'all and like also share our learnings and figure out how we can hopefully get through things together.

Juan:

Period. Bri. Period. Bri, yes. And don't forget they deserve, they deserve to know. Duh, duh, duh. We love you guys. Bye