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Today = my 5th anniversary at what is now @InsiderInc. Started out at @techinsider (shout out to the TI OGs) 
, then moved over to @businessinsider 
, then to @thisisinsider 
, and then back again to @businessinsider. Some precious thoughts, memories, and fun clips follow.
, then moved over to @businessinsider , then to @thisisinsider , and then back again to @businessinsider. Some precious thoughts, memories, and fun clips follow.
Honesty time. My attitude about joining @techninsider as a deputy editor back then was basically: Why not? 
I'd always wanted to help start a news site, and TI was a cool ticket. The job was endlessly frustrating, but also equally fun and fruitful. And we did some great s---.
I'd always wanted to help start a news site, and TI was a cool ticket. The job was endlessly frustrating, but also equally fun and fruitful. And we did some great s---.
Fun fact: April 25, 2015. Not 10 days after I arrived (and tbh with minimal work by me), @kevloria, with editing by @fedira, dropped this bad boy: https://www.businessinsider.com/science-of-elizabeth-holmes-theranos-2015-4 Yep, that Elizabeth Holmes 
And nope, WSJ would not publish its first investigation until 6 months later.
And nope, WSJ would not publish its first investigation until 6 months later.
The first travel I approved? Sending @Kickerson13 to Hawaii. Yes, she did surf (+ wrote a physics story about it), but she was on the ground when Hawaiians were blocking access to Mauna Kea in protest of Thirty Meter Telescope. Her stories kicked ass. https://www.businessinsider.com/thirty-meter-telescope-hawaii-protests-2015-10
Another fun fact: While experimenting with Facebook's then-new live video feature for TI, I licked 99.99% pure gallium (element no. 31) and destroyed a phone with some, to the horror/delight of viewers. (No, I'm not linking to these videos. If you wanna watch you gotta search.)
We had @gmdelprado interview dozens of top artificial intelligence researchers for a series of stories. In hindsight, it was an insane project. But her work turned pretty esoteric concepts into accessible stuff. I still often think about these posts. https://www.businessinsider.com/myths-misconceptions-about-artificial-intelligence-2015-9
We got to cover some truly nutty science news.
Visit to Pluto?
https://www.businessinsider.com/new-horizons-scientists-find-surprises-in-pluto-flyby-2015-7
First gravitational wave detection announced? https://www.businessinsider.com/gravitational-waves-detected-first-time-ligo-2016-2
That crazy Breakthrough Starshot project? https://www.businessinsider.com/starshot-alpha-centauri-robots-stephen-hawking-yuri-milner-2016-4
Visit to Pluto?
https://www.businessinsider.com/new-horizons-scientists-find-surprises-in-pluto-flyby-2015-7First gravitational wave detection announced?
https://www.businessinsider.com/gravitational-waves-detected-first-time-ligo-2016-2That crazy Breakthrough Starshot project?
https://www.businessinsider.com/starshot-alpha-centauri-robots-stephen-hawking-yuri-milner-2016-4
One more fun fact: Starting around this time, I had trouble finding space in a restroom to do my most insidery business because we'd basically run out of room at the office. Thankfully plans were in motion to move to a much bigger office space in the Financial District.
Also had my first baby while at TI, but shortly after I returned, the website (but not the social properties) was no more. No one was fired — we all moved over to @businessinsider or the then-nascent @thisisinsider. I went back to writing in 2016 and almost as soon as I did...
...SpaceX's Amos-6 mission exploded on the launch pad. I'd reported the rocket company for many years, but this really propelled me (pun alert) into covering it almost non-stop ever since. https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-rocket-explosion-launch-pad-2016-9
In 2017, I fell into a rabbit hole of research and reporting and wrote way (way, way) too long about thorium reactors. (I think I still owe @erbrod ~92 beers for editing that?) https://www.businessinsider.com/thorium-molten-salt-reactors-sorensen-lftr-2017-2
I also wrote an ungodly amount of stories about the 2017 total solar eclipse, one of which almost broke (or did break?) the website. Hilariously enough, I wrote this eclipse-angled story before that happened. https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-eclipse-most-shared-data-history-prediction-2017-8
In 2018, I visited an abandoned island in New York City, which was creepy as all and totally amazing. https://www.businessinsider.com/north-brother-island-typhoid-mary-science-channel-2018-1
The year I did that trip was the same year a lil' steel rocket ship — a prototype for SpaceX's Mars launch system — started raising out of Boca Chica, Texas, making me even more obsessed with the overall project. https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-big-falcon-rocket-spaceship-hopper-vehicle-launches-2018-12
I'd been reality-checking Starship in its various iterations from afar via experts, but in the course of reporting on that for @thisisinsider in 2019, I decided to call up + visit residents who lived in/around the embiggening Mars spaceport there. https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-texas-starship-launch-site-development-challenges-2019-6
Fun fact: Took these pics right before Cameron County sheriffs almost arrested @megteckman, Jen Lee, and I whilst reporting in Boca Chica. Our (oops, not-4WD) car got stuck in the mud before a road closure. They were grumpy. We distracted them + scurried onto a source's property.
Anyway, those contacts in Boca Chica led me down a path to a truly nutty feature series in 2020 we titled "Last Town Before Mars." https://www.businessinsider.com/category/last-town-before-mars
As of late, however, I've tabled spaceflight to help cover the novel coronavirus. I still have to slap myself every now and then to realize we're living through a global disaster/nightmare. Never did I ever think I'd ever do a piece like this in my career. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-covid-19-body-removal-new-york-city-morgues-2020-3
One thing I must expound on is how much I have learned from literally hundreds colleagues over these past 5 years. I can verify that some astoundingly talented, fearless, productive, and dogged folks work within these now-virtual walls. I feel so honored to be among them all.
Another reflection: This company has matured so much since I started. It's almost unrecognizable. In a good way. Far better-organized and more employee-first than any outfit I've ever worked for. Yes, there's loads of hard work — ok, totally bonkers at times — but it's worth it.
I don't know what the next 5 years will bring for me, my career, @insiderinc, or (more broadly) humanity, but at present I am stupidly grateful for the journey I've had so far here. I also really couldn't have asked for a better place to work during a global s---show.
Miraculously to many, but somehow not surprising to me, we're still hiring some positions through this pandemic. If and when you see a position pop up here that looks neat, drop me a line. https://www.insider-inc.com/careers#careers-open-roles
