Every morning when I badge into our glass-walled office in Palo Alto, I feel like I’ve stepped onto the set of a show where every character is one pitch away from changing the world. Being the receptionist at a fast-growing tech startup isn’t just greeting people and forwarding calls. It’s witnessing chaos, brilliance, and caffeine-powered ambition collide in real time.
My desk is basically the control tower. Investors breeze in with quiet confidence, founders rush past me rehearsing product demos under their breath, and engineers come in wearing hoodies with eyes that clearly haven’t seen sleep since the last deployment. And somehow, I’m the one keeping the energy balanced.
Last Tuesday, an investor arrived 30 minutes early for a meeting that the CEO completely forgot he scheduled. Classic. I tapped him on Slack, got a “wait WHAT?” message back, and within four minutes he sprinted in, hair a mess, clutching a laptop and whispering, “You’re a lifesaver.” Moments like that remind me why I secretly enjoy the unpredictability.
Then there’s the odd things I’ve had to handle—like signing for a delivery that turned out to be a drone prototype… still mildly buzzing in its box. Or calming down a nervous candidate who thought bringing a binder of printed code was normal. (It wasn’t, but hey, the effort was admirable.)
But there’s also something inspiring here. I get a front-row seat to people building things they genuinely believe will shape the future. Even during the late evenings, when I’m the last one at the front desk and the office lights dim, I can still hear the quiet hum of keyboards, Slack pings, ideas being born.
Working here has taught me that innovation doesn’t always look glamorous. Sometimes it looks like spilled cold brew, frantic whispers before product demos, and people who forget what day it is. And honestly? I love it.
Because in this whirlwind of ambition and absurdity, I get to be the steady voice that says, “Welcome in, how can I help you today?”