As I wait in a packed Starbucks at Penn station, I rushed to sit down for my feet were killing me. I could have been listening to music to block everyone out but this day was different; I had my hands full and to pull out my phone would be ridiculous.
I politely sat down and there was a woman waiting for her drink. She kept taking her purse with her to see if her drink was ready, and I told her I wouldn't mind watching it while she searched for her drink.
Bam, what started initially as a "thank you", a small conversation about New York and the trouble of finding a seat in Starbucks--a fight to the death--turned into something really amazing. We spoke about starting a company, woman bosses, and technology. We spoke about her 2 businesses and the necessity of soft skills--something that is extremely underrated.
We talked about how doubt and fear cripples us from pursuing what we really want--especially a business. We have the skills and the talent, but we get crippled. Over and over again we choose doubt instead of having faith in ourselves. She mentioned that women specifically underestimate the power of soft skills, and these skills make a great business. Lesson number 1 learned!
We then touched on technology. People--we--like technology because it keeps us connected. I barely liked technology because so many people are addicted to it--yes surprising coming from a "millennial", but Mrs. Ramos changed my view on technology. She told me, "we crave human connection and technology is a tool used for that purpose."
We also discussed that there is nothing like having a human connection because technology is a tool. A smart phone or computer does not provide the empathy and understanding we need from a human and it is for that reason "we are not comfortable with technology." We essentially like social media and Facebook because we gain human interaction through likes and reactions from--you guessed it--humans!
Essentially, we ended off with making sure we stay in contact with each other, and laughed that our means of contact would be through technology. You really can learn something new when you put your phone down. Huh, who knew?
