"I would literally never work from home if I worked there. How cool was THAT?!"

"I would go to law school just to work there." [quickly followed by] "No one would even believe you were a lawyer - it's too cool a job for lawyers to have."

"I'm glad there were engineers there. They answered all of my questions...and I had A LOT.'"

"I'm going to pin what my dream office would look like at Pinterest..."

Snippets of conversations I heard in the elevator as Être girls left Pinterest's NYC offices last week with visions - and vision boards - full of new goals and dreams.

Held just a few days after Take Our Daughters to Work Day, this boardroom visit felt special from the start. After girls hailing from New York and New Jersey toured Pinterest's current offices, replete with NYC memorabilia and a daily pop-up store, and grabbed snacks in the locker room-style cafeteria, they filed into a boardroom and were greeted with an image that made them smile:

“We’re trending, one high school junior whispered to another, and, beaming, they took their seats around a long table for the heart of Être’s visit - mentor moments in the boardroom.”

How many of you, began our host and mentor Sabrina Perelman, Global Head of IP and Trust Safety Legal at Pinterest, use Pinterest every week?

Every hand went up.

Every day? The hands stayed up.

What do you use it for most? She inquired, leaning forward with interest. And so began a lively conversation with next gen girls and Pinterest leaders about social media usage, trend-spotting, career paths, internship advice, and so much more.

Who else was on the panel? Girls met Kelsey Johnson, Senior Product Manager, Carina Iverson, Senior Lead Product Policy Manager, Lauren Mitchell, Engineering Manager, and Sofia Perez, Manager of Brand Partnerships.

What were some of the favorite tips given and takeaways received?

Girls said they see Pinterest as a way to relax, not as a mandatory "buy me" or "comment on my post" type of platform. It's like a sanctuary...it's calming, one said, and heads nodded in agreement.
Pinterest feels personal, they continued, not something that always has to involve a group. We like to say it's more personal media than social media, agreed one of the panelists, and her comment immediately resonated.
Pinterest also serves as a search engine - a powerful one. From dorm rooms to outfit inspo to playlists and more, girls are using Pinterest much like they use our next visit coming up this week, Google, and with equal delight.

Engineers and girls who love to code and build have a home at Pinterest. When students from a vocational high school in New Jersey posed technical questions about classes, clubs and college majors, a brand new convo took off and impactful advice was received.

Similarly, lawyers, accountants and business development roles set up shop at Pinterest too. Think you have to go to a giant law firm straight out of law school? Think again. Career pathways are not always linear, one lawyer said - and I saw girls at one end of the table mentally pinning that info.
Pinterest is mission-driven and it shows. We want users to go from Idea to I Did It, noted another panelist, and I watched as the room wrote it down. We want to spark inspiration for a life you love, she continued, and then the writing stopped as girls took that in.

Part of what made this boardroom exchange so special was that it was, in fact, an exchange. Girls gave unvarnished feedback about how and why they use platforms like Pinterest and what they thought could add to the fun (sorry, those tips are confidential). And women advised candidly on how to secure internships, when to start networking and what extra-curricular activities tell them when hiring.

What do girls who were in the room want you to know?

“Pinterest is one of my favorite apps, so visiting their office was a no-brainer! I’m super passionate about marketing and digital experiences, so it was really inspiring to hear how the panelists (from legal to marketing!) approach their work with such curiosity and a focus on the user.”

— Nora Anzer

My personal favorite takeaway of the day?

That opportunities to mentor and be mentored abound at Pinterest. Some of the women we met started as interns and others arrived laterally - and in all cases mentors were crucial. I am mentored by colleagues older and younger than me, noted one panelist, and I love that. When asked whether it's easy to find female role models and mentors at Pinterest, all five of our hosts laughed. Easy? You can't help it. Everyone here wants everyone else to succeed. It's one of the best things about working here.

And we couldn't agree more. As Être CCO and Executive Producer Elizabeth O'Connell and I looked around the room and watched girls nudge each other and jot down notes, we saw the mentor moments land.

Mentorship was definitely trending last week at Pinterest, and we're grateful to every leader who not only brought girls into the boardroom, but pinned their goals to a bigger board.

Looking forward,

Illana