Alumni Highlight: Aleenah Ansari (she/her), Story Developer

When I was in college, I logged onto the Microsoft Careers page in search of internships. The only opening was for a User Experience (UX) writer position, a role I didn’t even know existed. The team was looking for someone who valued empathy-driven storytelling, put users at the center of their work, and intentionally chose every word they wrote. As someone who was a writer for The Daily and the Center for Neurotechnology, writing tutor, and soon-to-be Human Centered Design and Engineering and Comparative History of Ideas double major, this was music to my ears. I interviewed and landed that internship, and it opened the door to the world of writers in tech. 

I knew the team was the right place for me when I entered the co-working space and found posters that proudly proclaimed “writing is design.” I also connected with my first-ever mentor, who championed my work by sharing the articles I was writing on Medium with colleagues, leaders, and collaborators.

I enjoyed the challenge of writing product copy and help articles, but I realized that I wanted to take on more creative work. In between meetings about designing for different learning styles and inclusive language, I spent part of my summer meeting with 3 people a week in search of someone who was a storyteller in tech. That’s how I ultimately landed an internship, and later a role, as a writer and video producer for Microsoft Inside Track. In that role, I interviewed employees who built, deployed, and maintained Microsoft technology and wrote about the lessons learned along the way. I later worked as a product marketing manager for Copilot and the Microsoft Edge browser and most recently, I supported messaging for customer stories at Salesforce.

I went on to have many roles in tech that bridged creativity and strategy. Along the way, I knew that I wanted to create something for myself and tell the stories I needed when I was younger. This led me to start my freelance writing business, where I cover travel in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, entrepreneurship, and representation in media. I also coach folks and host webinars about how to use storytelling to navigate the job search, build a personal brand, and highlight their job accomplishments, not just responsibilities. 

Starting my writing and coaching business was a pivotal moment for me. At the time, I was 10 months into my first full-time job, and two-thirds of my team had been laid off. We were all working remotely, and I had a lot of survivor’s guilt that my specific role wasn’t impacted. As I proceeded with my day-to-day job responsibilities and reached out to former colleagues in support, I remember thinking, ‘If I lose my full-time job, I don’t want to feel like I’ve lost everything.’ Up until that point, I had been coaching people on navigating the job search and writing articles for free, but I made a conscious decision to take on paid work. This became the foundation for my writing, speaking, and coaching business. That was almost five years ago, and I’m so proud of everything I’ve worked on since. I’ve written a five-part guide to visiting Seattle for Insider, written about lessons learned from trekking to Everest Base Camp, highlighted BIPOC-owned businesses in various product roundups, and chronicled the power of queer love through personal essays about my relationship. These stories feel free to me, and I hope that they leave readers feeling encouraged, curious, inspired, or simply less alone in their own experience.

So many mentors have supported my career journey, and I always try to pay it forward. I regularly return to UW as a panelist for the Honors Program, often coming back to share lessons learned from my own career as a creative in and out of tech. I’ve also written many Q&As for the University of Washington Magazine, where I highlight the non-linear paths of creatives, authors, and entrepreneurs who are UW alumni.

Working in tech as a writer has also taught me the importance of not only writing stories I’m proud of, but also amplifying them so they can be seen by the right people. That’s why I often amplify my stories on LinkedIn and Instagram, share them as resources for relevant webinars, and link to other content in the hopes of driving further engagement and ensuring that people find them. 

I also learn a lot from the entrepreneurs and authors I interview, and I’m often applying their advice in my work. One of the most common pieces of advice I hear is to just try things, even if you feel scared. You’ll learn something by going through the process of trial and error, and it’ll also give you more insight into what work you want to do more of. A lot of folks also talk about the importance of trusting your own intuition, something I’m trying to get better at.

To quote author Susan Lieu, “It’s a skill to know what you feel and ask for what you want”. I’ve been successful in my career because I’ve pitched myself for opportunities and been clear about what I wanted to learn. This has created many opportunities for me as a writer, mentor, and creative, and I plan to keep doing it.