With an almost 20-year career in social services—including working in institutions such as The University of Chicago, the United States Peace Corps, Chicago public schools, Child Protective Services, the Catholic Church, and for the U.S. federal government in probation and parole programs—my leap into Silicon Valley was as much a culture shock as the 2.5 years I lived in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador.

If you’ve ever been on call, you know that the incidents don’t stop because you have the flu. Or when you’re attending your child’s high school graduation. Or, as I found out firsthand, even when you’re at your own wedding. Confucius once said, “If you have never had a major occasion happen while you are on call, then you may not have ever lived.” (Okay, I totally made that one up.)