Meet Tia Lee | Program Manager & Fashion Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tia Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tia Lee, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Authenticity. I was able to build a personal brand in big tech and the fashion industry through organic communication with my peers in both fields. Computer science is one of the most challenging fields to pursue, and receiving a degree in it was the toughest, yet most fulfilling, thing I’ve done in my life. In undergrad, I participated in many extracurricular activities that allowed me to share my experience of being a young black woman studying computer science. I wasn’t afraid to show my failure and I wasn’t afraid to tell others how to stand out successfully either. Same concept with fashion. I have been sewing since 13 years old and began showcasing my growth within my garments (even when I wasn’t confident in the pieces).

I enjoy sharing my journey, the good and the bad, to my community whether it catered toward black STEM students or people who like fashion. I’m not afraid to share my setbacks that I’ve had–how I failed 3 classes my junior year, was denied to countless job opportunities, and stopped sewing for 5 years to focus on my studies–or the goals that I reached–securing a full time offer at Google, being a mentor in WIE (Women in Engineering), and showing my first ready-to-wear collection in an Atlanta fashion show.

When the world shutdown, I wondered how I was able to still talk to my communities. I then started to post TikToks about computer science tips and sewing tutorials. I started to share my truth and my followers resonated with my content, further leading to my personal brand ‘tialeeapproved’.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I work at Google full time as a Nest dogfood program manger.

“Eating your own dog food or “dogfooding” is the practice of using one’s own products or services.[1] This can be a way for an organization to test its products in real-world usage using product management techniques. Hence dogfooding can act as quality control, and eventually a kind of testimonial advertising. Once in the market, dogfooding can demonstrate developers’ confidence in their own products” [sourced from Wikipedia]

Essentially, I manage the dogfood programs for upcoming hardware and software products in the Google Nest device portfolio. It’s a really fun job because I get to talk to dogfooders (Googlers) and collect their feedback from a marketing perspective and use my technical background to communicate it to my stakeholders (software engineers, technical program managers, and product managers). I also have all the inside scoop on what new products Google Nest is going to release for the next 5 years. My biggest work achievement is that I helped to launch the next generation Chromecast for 1080p devices; it’s now sold in big retailers–Target, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. I am incredibly proud that the product I contributed to has such a widespread impact on so many people’s homes.

What sets me apart from others? I know how to effectively communicate. I’ve strengthened my communication skills through group projects, public speaking sessions, and networking events. A lot of STEM grads rely solely on their technical skills to carry them to the finish line, when I believe (and have seen) that your interpersonal skills will give you the home run.

I am thrilled to know that my social media platforms enable me to reach and help so many people on a larger scale than I ever thought possible. I am so happy that my black peers can see that getting a job in tech is tangible; it wasn’t that common on social media a few years ago and I wish I had that exposure.

The biggest piece of advice I received at a young age was to look at people who are doing what you want to do and use their experience as guidance. Even though I respected my colleagues and professors in my computer science classes, I knew that they could only help me so much. This is where I utilized my time at NSBE conferences to connect with employees at Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. They had the jobs I wanted so I was *consistently* connecting with them on LinkedIn, setting up coffee chats, and keeping them updated on favorable job positions. This is the key step to setting yourself up for success: leveraging your network.

I graduated with a GPA lower than a 3.0. What does that imply? That computer science is hard. Yet, I was still able to secure a full time role in big tech. That’s a big indication that you’re not selected solely on your academic successes. While getting the degree was a tough process, it was also the key to unlocking new doors and opportunities. When I failed 3 classes in 1 year, it delayed my graduation date, but gave me the time I needed to gain more confidence. I quickly realized that I was not surrounded by people who were prioritizing their life after college. I changed that immediately. Because I believe that the people you spend time with can influence who you are, I made the decision to start living in the engineering building. This allowed me to surround myself with like-minded individuals who were focused on their studies and driven to succeed. As a result, I didn’t fail any more classes after that.

Lessons I’ve learned along the way:

1. Always ask questions, no matter how irrelevant it may appear.
2. Who cares what people think? Often times, people are thinking about themselves and not you, so always do you.
3. Discipline will carry you much farther than motivation. Habits embedded in routine will create discipline. (e.g. going to the engineering building everyday, journaling in the morning, watching tech interview on YouTube on the weekend)
4. Don’t beat yourself up if you hit a setback; often times, that setback is teaching you a lesson.
5. Dreams are non-existent, a fantasy. Goals are tangible and visible.

It’s okay to have passions outside of your major. Never give up on your goals, there is no shortcut to success, and always be yourself.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Oakland, California and I absolutely love the weather and the fun things the Bay Area has to offer.

After moving to California, I’ve discovered my obsession with oysters. Since I’m also pescatarian, most of the places I would recommend have a seafood cuisine. Here’s a list of places that I would let my bestie choose from if they were to visit me:

Eat
Moseley’s Cafe in Alameda – it’s a mom & pop breakfast place and has the best view of Oakland along the bay
Scott’s Seafood in Oakland – they have the best oysters hands down
Crab House at Pier 39 in San Francisco – the best crab legs and you get to see the touristy parts of SF

Drink
Red Room in San Francisco – sophisticated drinking with a DJ and a strict dress code
Waterbar – great wine and a large menu of oysters to choose from

Fun
Mount Garin – hiking with a great view, there are no trees and you can see all of the bay
Napa Valley – exquisite wine tasting
Ferry from Oakland to San Francisco – it’s chilly, but you get to see a city view from the water
Google headquarters – free food, dogs, and you get to see my workplace 🙂

My absolute favorite spot in the bay in Moseley’s Cafe. I go there every Sunday morning because the restaurant is located on the water and it allows me to clear my thoughts and set my intentions for the week

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

This organization taught me about the power of community and how to become successful in corporate America as a black woman. The friends that I made in NSBE are my lifelong friends. We all struggled in those computer science classes until 2am in the engineering building and it was nice to not cry alone. We always pushed each other to grow, inside and outside the classroom. Throughout college, I held executive board positions in NSBE on a campus-wide level all the way up to the Midwest region allowing me to enhance my leadership skills, preparing me for summer internships. NSBE gave me an opportunity to give back to my community by hosting a workshop at our Regional conference, “Building a Personal Brand”, which significantly helped me overcome my fear of public speaking. At these conferences, black employees at big tech companies gave me a handful of advice and it was beautiful to see so many black people in tech, especially since I didn’t see it in the classroom and before it was trending on social media.

My dad.

As a college dropout to the creator of Techno music, he will always be my biggest inspiration. No matter what my goal is, he always reminds me, “Tia, make sure you complete your mission”. Those 7 words are engrained in my brain.

In college, he would call me every week to make sure I stayed on track to get my degree. My father taught me that there is always more to life than the expectations society has set for the average person and to aim for bigger things. I even remember when I told him I was applying for internships my sophomore year to companies like DTE, GM, StockX and he asked me, “Why not aim higher?”. He was right; the following summer I applied to MANGA [Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Google, Amazon] only.

In the creative lens, I grew up with music blasting in the house, watching my dad go to countless interviews, and attending his performances. I always knew that I had a creative bone that was more exciting than coding (let’s be real). After graduating, my dad pushes me to continue exploring my passions in fashion design and content creation

Website: www.tialeeapproved.com

Instagram: instagram.com/tialeeapproved

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/tiafowlkes

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UC1yIod0k85fPQABnN2QQzXA