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Twenty years. That’s just wild! WordPress (which turned 20 in 2023) came to my awareness in or around 2007. I was a stay-at-home mom, trying to figure out how to contribute to our family income, while maintaining my commitment to homeschooling them. WordPress gave me that! In a very real “this helped us pay our…
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I recently returned from a work trip to London where I tacked on a couple of extra days to explore the city entirely on my own. This is unusual for me and it got me thinking about solitude, community, and how I move through the world. I never travel alone. I fly solo plenty, but…
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It’s been fascinating (and a bit scary) to watch how large language models have transformed the Talent landscape and I’ve been thinking a lot about how standout candidates should use AI responsibly in their candidate journey. AI tools can be extremely valuable when used thoughtfully and intentionally. And it’s not going to go away. People…
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If you’re like most organizations, you may have spent a lot of time in the past year processing change: a reorganization, adapting to new priorities, or facing unexpected challenges. In my experience, the difference between thriving and struggling during change comes down to being able to distinguish between what actually happened and our interpretations of…
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As my two youngest children get ready for college in the fall and we look at their lists of required textbooks, I’ve been reflecting on self-guided learning, both in my family and at Automattic. There are quite a lot of similarities between how my husband and I encouraged our kids to learn independently during their…
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I’ve always had a challenge getting people to say my name correctly. This is especially entertaining at coffee shops, as I was reminded this past week when a barista really did try, but still ended up way off. The correct pronunciation of my name, Karen (where the first syllable is pronounced like the vehicle and…
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At Automattic, we use AI tools regularly – it comes naturally when you’re a software company. As someone who focuses more on people and operations than code, I’ve found interesting ways to use AI to do more. I’ve been using Claude as an assistant – someone who can take a messy pile of information and…
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It’s easy to get caught up in where we want to be, as opposed to where we are. For example, when I paint – I get hyper-focused on the end result and forget to notice the process itself. Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude and how it shows up…
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The last few days at Automattic have been… something else. The Alignment Offer has come and gone, and while we’ve had to say goodbye to some wonderful Automatticians, I am more committed than ever to our mission and the work we do. Over the past few days, I couldn’t help but reflect on my journey…
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I recently submitted two watercolor paintings to a juried art show for members of the New Mexico Watercolor Society, happening in Las Cruces, New Mexico this fall. The theme is agriculture and farming over the history of this region. It took me some time to figure out what to paint because it’s not my usual…
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I’ll let you in on a couple of secrets. First, I’m a massive control freak inside my head, and second, I worry. A LOT. About everything. In some areas of my life, I hide it so well that people are genuinely shocked to learn this about me. In fact, I’ve had friends say, “But you’re…
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When I decided to park my RV on Sanibel Island for a few days, I pictured a perfect blend of work and beach life. I didn’t anticipate the challenges that would come with finding workable connectivity. Finding good mobile coverage for working on the road can be a major headache, but these days, my mobile…
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Karen Alma 