The country was still in mourning following the horrific Pulse night club shooting in Orlando, Florida, a city I had lived in for eight years prior to moving to New York, and I wanted to do anything I could to help with LGBTQ representation. The Rainbow flag emoji was only added in 2016. I decided, with the support and encouragement of the editors, to write a piece for Pride month about the then-lack of inclusion of LGBTQ emojis on the iPhone. I was immediately taken by the actions of my peers and wanted to get involved. It was my first job in media, and I was immediately impressed by the level of political and social involvement displayed by my new colleagues - even then, Bustle’s writers and editors were using Bustle’s huge audience and platform to publish messages of diversity and inclusion.
I started as a senior designer at Bustle four years ago, in the summer of 2016.