For 30-plus years, Deirdre O’Brien has been giving Apple Inc. a human touch. She started working at the original Apple factory scheduling the production lines for early Mac products like Macintosh SE and the Macintosh plus. She then helped build out the company’s very first retail and ecommerce sites, and then was instrumental in the company’s expansion across the globe. Now, as Senior Vice President of Retail + People reporting directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook, O’Brien is one of the highest-ranking executives at the company.
“I just felt like the constant growth of the Apple culture is something that I tried to weave through everything that we did,” she tells InStyle. “So now, every day, I get to wake up and really think through how we make sure that we help support Apple employees to do the best work of their lives.” O’Brien cites lessons she learned from Steve Jobs in those early days as the backbone of her people-focused philosophy. “Something that I think Steve really instilled in all of us is that technology is here solely to connect people,” she says.
When asked what the most badass thing she thinks she’s ever done, says coming out in her mid 20s about 25 years ago was one of her toughest and yet proudest moments. “I was scared, but knew I had to bring my full self to Apple,” she says
MacDailyNews Take: O’Brien is an Apple lifer and that’s exactly the sort of person who should be the compnay’s Retail + People chief!
She seems nice. In the article she says about “coming out”, “I have never, ever regretted that big decision and today, I consider it my responsibility and a privilege to show up every day in support of our underrepresented team members. It is so important to me that everyone feels respected for who they are and that they have a deep sense of belonging.”
I am certain she does everything she can to support the most underrepresented team members, conservative Republicans. Oh wait, I forgot, they don’t hire Republicans. So much for the phony sentiment.
Looks like the spam bots are hard at work downvoting. Once the majority of Apple’s employees are gay will they no longer be underrepresented? Chick looks like Mike Meyers.
The only two Apple employees I know are republicans. So yeah, whatever.