Hi! I’m Caitlin, a twenty-something Australian living in New York City. Thanks for stopping by!
I love writing about my travels, expat life in the States, food, relationships, personal development and social causes that stir my heart.
You can get in contact with me via my contact page or reach out to me in the following places:
Email // Facebook // Instagram // Linkedin // Twitter
Facebook or Instagram are usually best – I’m lucky enough to earn a living from sitting on Facebook all day! 😉
Continue reading to learn more about me…
MY JOURNEY TO SAN FRANCISCO AND ONWARDS TO NEW YORK CITY
I’ve had my sights set on cracking Silicon Valley since I was in university so when the opportunity came to move to San Francisco in October 2014, I jumped at the chance! I’ve since enjoyed sharing my many musings and observations from being an expat, foreigner and alien in this city and country. Who would’ve thought Australia and America would be so different?! Certainly not me!
After a few months in start-up land, I landed a role at my dream company: Facebook. I began with a stint as a contractor from October 2015 – May 2016, before being offered a full-time role as Product Marketing Manager for Facebook 360 in June 2016. This means spreading the love and awareness for all things 360 at Facebook including 360 videos, photos, our Gear VR app and Live 360 (follow me on Facebook to check out some of my Live 360s – cooking dinner and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge). After almost 3 wonderful years on our 360 team I decided to pursue a new product area at Facebook, and moved to New York City in August 2018 to join the Facebook News Team. You can more about my move and why I was so excited about the role.. Facebook was an absolute dream career opportunity for me and I’ll forever be grateful for the incredible foundation it gave me as a product marketer and a human,
In July I left my job at Facebook to pursue my next dream company: Spotify! I’ve joined as a Product Marketing Manager on the Spotify for Artists team (read more here!), working with artists and labels to make their Spotify experience as wonderful as possible, so you, as a listener can enjoy all the music and podcasts you love. Wanna check out what I’m spinning right now? You can listen along with me right here – I usually make a new playlist for each season!
TRAVELLING
Travelling is my number one hobby and I’ve been privileged with the opportunity to travel to cities and countries around the world for fun, business, personal development and volunteering. I truly hope to continue exploring the world as long as I’m around on this earth. You can read about my latest travel adventures here.
Since I currently live in the United States, most of my time is spent visiting as many states and cities here as possible, or hopping over to some neighbouring countries. At least one weekend every month you’ll find me exploring another state. I love how diverse this country is, and hope to tick off all 50 states eventually!
Global Checklist (in order of travel)
Australia (born and raised!), New Zealand, England, France, Belgium, Vanuatu, Singapore, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, East and West Timor, Thailand, Hong Kong, Nepal, Chile, Brazil, Cambodia, Vietnam, USA (currently living here!), Canada, Mexico, Spain, Germany, The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Austria, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Sweden, Denmark.
United States Checklist (in order of travel)
Hawaii, California, Nevada, Florida, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Delaware, Washington DC, Louisiana, Arizona, Washington, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Connecticut, Tennessee, Missouri, Michigan
Next travel destinations:
November 6-10: Miami, Florida
Heading to Miami for the first time for Spotify’s Content Marketing offsite
December 14-30: Sydney, Australia
First time home for Christmas in 3 years, I can’t wait!
April 1-8 2020: Nice, France
I’ll be standing next to one of my best friends, Kamilah, as she marries the love of her life, Nick
June 18 – July 5 2020: England, France, Italy
Special Mum & daughter trip to celebrate Mum’s 60th birthday, and then join in the celebrations of my cousin’s wedding in Italy!
MY BACKGROUND
One of the most common questions I’m asked is “How did you land where you are today?!” I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work with many organisations and companies I care deeply about and continue to passionately support their work. Here’s a look at where I’ve come from (for the straight-forward resume version, visit my Linkedin profile!):
Work
Between February 2013 – October 2014 I was the Digital Marketing & Events Coordinator at Baptist World Aid Australia before packing up my bags and moving to San Francisco. It was such a blessing to be able to combine my love for communications, the online world and see developing countries break their cycle of poverty. Baptist World Aid is a fantastic organisation that seeks to end extreme poverty, and you can read more about their values and work here. The organisation currently works in 17 countries spread across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Navin and I sponsor two children – a 8 year old girl, Gita from Nepal and a 8 year old boy, Rin from Cambodia. The best thing about this partnership is that our money isn’t just going to Gita and Rin, but their communities too! If you’re looking to make a difference in the world in 2017, I couldn’t recommend sponsorship with BWA more! Check it out here.
In December 2012 I finished up two years with the BUiLD (Beyond UTS International Leadership and Development) program at UTS. My time with BUiLD was life-changing and the lessons and values I took away from this job will stay with me for life. If you’re starting at UTS or are a current UTS student, this is a program you NEED to be a part of, it shaped me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Find out more here.
From 2010 – 2012 I volunteered with The Oaktree Foundation. This is an Australian organisation that everyone should know about. I first became passionate about social justice when I was in Year 11 when I went on Oaktree’s Make Poverty History Road Trip, so Oaktree has a very special place in my heart. I’m now equally as passionate about firing up the social justice spark in other young people too. To take a real challenge this year, why not commit to Live Below the Line – a fantastic fundraising campaign seeking brave people to live on $2 (food) a day for 5 days! Do it, I dare you!
In January 2013 I co-coordinated a trip to Cambodia that sought to raise $50,000 for Oaktree so they could continue educating young Australians and also continue their current work with young people in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Cambodia. Our team cycled and trekked our way around Cambodia and aimed to develop leadership potential in the 15 UTS students who jumped on board. Read about our trip here!
Study
I graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) with a Bachelor of Global Studies (Communications – Journalism) in November 2011. I’m a diehard UTS supporter and couldn’t recommend this university more! It combines theory with practice and I have no doubt the opportunities I had throughout my degree to get out in the world and practically apply my knowledge through internships helped me on my career journey today. It may not be the prettiest campus, but I don’t think I could’ve been taught and trained better anywhere else.
Past blogs
I love writing and throughout my study, career and travel have used various blogs to focus on different topics that are close to my heart. When I was studying at UTS I actively wrote about social justice issues at Globally Thinking. During my two trips to Nepal in November 2010 and January 2012 I blogged about my experiences over on the Nepal Vision Trip blog.
© 2017. All words and images (unless otherwise acknowledged) on this blog are copyrighted material of caitlinramrakha and its author. If you wish to use them, simply ask for my permission and include proper attribution.
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