This was my goodbye email to Lyft I sent on August 20, 2018, to around 1,000 people.
Dear Lyft Family,
After over two years of stubbornly refusing to sign the Code of Conduct for suggesting that I can't wear athleisure to work, I have decided to resign to a life of wearing only athleisure. Today is my last day at Lyft.
To reiterate how I closed out last year: my greatest privilege has been to serve you all, and my greatest pain has been not to have been able to do more.
I have been awed by the people at Lyft. People like you. Never have I seen a company with such strong culture, everywhere, especially at the grassroots in the local teams. I've been inspired by your passion, dedication and talent. Seeing you sometimes cry as you say why you love working at Lyft, and knowing that you work as hard as you do often primarily out of loyalty to your peers and friends is the best evidence of one of my favourite quotes: "Culture isn't just one aspect of the game; culture IS the game."
Even more valuable than all the snacks that I've taken from Lyft over the years (a lot; protein and fancy water ain't cheap) is the incredible posse of best friends that I am taking. That there are over fifty of you doesn't dilute your individual value. On this, my last day, I can finally admit that at times I've had so much fun I've thought "I can't believe they pay me for this!". The crown jewel that I have stolen from Lyft, though, is Jo Hyun, the trailblazing former NorCal Express Drive Ops Lead who grew the fleet (from the relative hot mess in which I left it) to the largest one in Lyft at the time, and with whom I'm setting off on our next journey. Jo, you are an infinite resource of inner strength, for yourself and for me. Thank you, XD and NorCal teams, for the double win of increasing Lyft's value, as well as that of my own life!
Finally, despite having been humbled by winning an award several months ago for being exactly this, I am honestly not the greatest employee. Managing me (and Turzo, my brother-in-arms), is, to our boss' credit, like herding wild cats. Cats who only begrudgingly make slides and give executive updates. Thank you - I appreciate your patience and for helping us "keep our eye on the pie". I try, often fail, and sometimes learn.
It's in this spirit of learning that Jo and I launch our next adventure, "Discover Discomfort": extreme learning through challenges in foreign environments, in compressed time frames and on limited budgets. We're going to start by moving to Egypt and try to get fluent in Arabic in 30 days, followed by Swahili and other difficult things like martial arts, dance, volunteer work in remote areas and... whatever else sounds challenging and fun. Our mission is to get way out of our comfort zones and to show you that you can too, and do anything. To see the full journey and get emails/videos that blend life-hacking guides, throw-away one-liners and occasionally dated pop culture references, join us!
I have a theory that if a friend and I make an effort to meet in three different countries, that we'll continue to see each other for life. I hope that we will be friends for life!
Today is my last day at Lyft. Tomorrow is my first day with all of you in the world beyond.
With love and gratitude to know you all
Dana
PS Many of you have done incredible things. I keep hearing snippets. Stay in touch; tell me more. We especially need guidance/leads on volunteering ops.