When I try to think back over the week, the first few days are truly a blur as I've been hard at work planning our upcoming WiSTEM Showcase on February 7th. It's a fun event where we showcase the 12 amazing women-led businesses from our latest cohort.  If you're in Chicago and looking for a night of connecting and celebration, come on out!  On the blogging/biz front, I'm working with my designer on plans to change up the site a little bit, and make #jesspicks more of a focus.  Also tossing around ideas on creating branded graphics that I can use for blog posts and social media.  If there is something you would love to see on the site in the future, hit reply and let me know. In other news, I've booked two speaking engagements (!!) - one in February where I'll sit on a panel of other authors (did you know I published a book of poetry?) and one in April where I will be included in a Women in Tech panel.  I had some doubts about the first one because I don't really feel like an author.  Hellooooo impostor syndrome.  But in those times, I try to be aware so that I can remind myself that I have a story to tell. And I have a perspective that someone else may not.  We all do. And if we share our journeys and our challenges and struggles, that can be life-changing to someone looking for inspiration.The past couple of days, I was able to attend an event focused on the black tech ecosystem and it was inspiring personally because it made me realize that sometimes I get so caught up in the small stuff (which may seem like really big stuff at the time) and forget about what's important.  What I realized is that what I do affects the next person that comes into my industry or into my role or into the room and at the end of the day, I want to make it easier for them. So as I make decisions and choose my battles and create my visions, I have to keep that in mind.  Because I want to crack the glass ceiling even more, if not shatter it completely, for the next person.Each one of us has the capacity to be a changemaker whether we are leaders or not.  We can help people right in our inner circle. We could be mentors for our coworkers. We could be resources for each other. We could be champions for each other.  It's important to do the work and also look around and see who else you may be able to bring along for the ride. On to the picks for the week!P.S. In the latest #jessislatetotheparty goodness, I may have a slight crush on Ryan Gosling. I blame La La Land. I'm a sucker for a good musical. xo