A day in the life of a Lyft vice president, who wakes up at 6 a.m. and rarely spends a minute at her desk
Thomas wakes up around 6 a.m. — an hour before her 18-month-old daughter Ophelia. She checks a few emails, takes a shower, and then she spends time with Ophelia until her nanny arrives. "The mornings tend to very much revolve around her," Thomas said.
Thomas lives close to Lyft's office in downtown San Francisco, so she's able to walk or take a public Ford GoBike to work each morning for a commute of 15 to 20 minutes.
Thomas is at her desk, "coffee in hand," by 8:30 a.m. But she spends hardly any time sitting down — she's in meetings and working face-to-face with coworkers for much of the day, she said.
Thomas is Lyft's vice president of talent and inclusion. Part of her job is to oversee diversity at the company, which sometimes takes the form of educational workshops like this one on unconscious bias in the workplace.
Thomas also oversees recruiting and employee relations at Lyft. She onboards new Lyft employees once a week, and often eats lunch with new team members in the company's kitchen.
Thomas sometimes makes her way to other Lyft offices, like the driver support hub in San Francisco, where she meets with other leaders at the company. The painting of a tree on the wall contains facts about the employees at the driver hub. "It underscores our value of being yourself," Thomas said.
Thomas sat down with employees for a roundtable discussion on their experiences with inclusion and diversity at Lyft. Ideas that have come out of chats like this include gender-neutral bathrooms in Lyft offices and services for deaf Lyft drivers, like notifications that tell users how to communicate with a hearing-impaired driver.
Thomas leaves the office at 6 p.m. — she tries to squeeze in as much family time as she can before her daughter's 7:30 bedtime. She'll eat dinner and enjoy a glass of wine with her partner Josh, but then she said it's back to the computer to answer a few more emails.
As for the weekends, Thomas spends time with her family exploring her new surroundings. She especially loves discovering new parks, restaurants, and local attractions with her family.
A year into her new job, Thomas said she's grateful to help Lyft live up to its values of inclusion and diversity. "It's a pretty big job and a lot of responsibility," she said. "But I'm leaning in and loving it."
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