☕ A little about me, Jean
Hi, I’m Jean. I live in Berkeley with my partner Naveed and three kids (ages 12, 9, and a very charming baby). I write, coach, think about how our work fits into our lives, play ultimate frisbee, cook and eat with friends, and generally try to make sense of the many lives I seem to be living at once.
I’m a writer, a leadership coach, an engineering leader at early-stage startups, a mom, a wife — and this newsletter is a place where all those identities get to intermingle and share with others.
What Tech and Tea is all about
This is a space for reflection—for the messiness of life and work, the quiet questions under the surface, and the ways we try to move through it all with intention.
Here’s what you can expect:
Personal essays
Stories from my life, parenting, partnership, therapy, work. I don’t separate the personal from the professional because they are all part of me. These essays are usually reflective, sometimes tender, sometimes funny, and always grounded in lived experience.
The Coaching Toolkit (for paid subscribers)
A growing library of evergreen tools — exercises, journaling prompts, and downloadable resources — to help you navigate hard things at work, recalibrate your career, or just get a little clarity. These are bite-sized versions of the kinds of conversations I used to have 1:1 with coaching clients — now shared more widely, accessibly, and on your own time.
Things I’ve been into lately
Books, essays, links, ideas. Whatever I’m into these days (often a lot of recipes).
What you get as a paid subscriber
If you choose to support this space with a paid subscription, here’s what you unlock:
Access to the full Coaching Toolkit archive
Subscriber-only posts and discussion threads
Discounts on courses and workshops (like my journaling course with Buster Benson or the DRI program with Cate Huston)
The warm satisfaction of knowing you're helping keep this space going 💛
What Founding Members get
For those who want to support more deeply, Founding Members ($200/year) also get:
Everything above
A surprise snack box in the fall (U.S. only; alternate perk for international supporters)
Limited ad hoc coaching access (first-come, first-served sign-ups during specific windows)
Occasional surprise drops and behind-the-scenes experiments
This tier supports not just the writing, but the coaching tools, creative experiments, and building behind the scenes.
Why I’m here
For a long time, I struggled with where to share my writing. Some people knew me for engineering leadership content. Others followed me for coaching, or reflections on parenting and identity. It felt like I had to split myself — and that made it hard to write at all.
Tech and Tea is my answer to that tension. It’s a space where I get to bring all of me to the table—and I hope it helps you feel a little more able to bring all of you, too.
If you’d like to support my writing and get valuable coaching resources, consider a paid subscription (like buying me a pot of tea each month). I’m glad you’re here.
Say hi. Leave a comment. Reply to an email. I’d love to know what brought you here.
