I'm Shea Belsky! I am an autistic self advocate and a Tech Lead II at HubSpot, where I lead a team of software engineers within the Help Desk product group. I go to the Cambridge office 2-3 times a week - You'll know you've found my desk when you see a bag full of fidget devices on it (you can borrow one!)

Me being autistic means I communicate with people differently than what you might expect. I prefer to be direct and honest when discussing information - I'm not really a "flowery" person who beats around the bush. But I do care about you as a teammate...I just might want to get to the point sometimes if time is short. Please don't be alarmed or upset if I can come off as abrupt, although I try not to be!

At a sensory level, my brain is also weird when it comes to sound and feel. I wear headphones almost all the time when I'm working to control background noise. Even if people are a few rows away, I can hear their conversation and it's super distracting to me! Even the clunking of keyboards can really throw off my groove. Me wearing headphones doesn't mean you can't talk to me - Just send me a Slack or tap on my desk. Please don't tap on my shoulder or chair though.

I also like to move around a lot, body, mind, and eyes. If I'm not making contact with you on a meeting, that doesn't mean I'm not listening. My brain struggles with maintaining eye contact, and my eyes like to wander. Do not take this to mean I'm not paying attention - I am! Same goes with me standing at my desk. I like to bounce around on my heels or walk in place. Helps me get out energy when I'm stationary at my desk for a few hours at a time.

When there's a long day ahead, I'm a breakfast guy. Breakfast burritos all the way.

Once I sit down at my desk, I put together a list of to-dos based on deadlines, carry-overs from the previous day, and meetings occurring over the next few days. I strongly rely on calendar events, reminders, notifications, and other "in my face" systems to provide guardrails. It's the only way I stop myself from forgetting things! I also love to "snooze" things for a few hours when they come up. So if you Slack me and I don't respond for a while, there's probably a good reason for it.

I block off time on my calendar so that I can focus uninterrupted for a few hours at a time. You may see "Focus Time" when booking time on my calendar; please avoid booking over it unless you absolutely need to meet with me on a time-sensitive subject. I might reach out to ask if the meeting has to happen then, or if we can meet at another time.

I also like to flex my working hours depending on if I have activities in the morning/evening. Sometimes I sign on early so I can leave early, and vice versa. I communicate this with the team through Slack and standup so there's no surprises, but it's something I absolutely take advantage of.

I also try to be attentive to other peoples' focus states, and sometimes prefix messages with "low priority", so they have free reign to defer responding until a more convenient time. This helps me get something out there and not have to worry about when they will respond. I also liberally send scheduled Slack messages and emails for the same reason.

Time, the lack of a cloning machines, and sometimes my cats walking all over my keyboard.

Having meetings at awkward, spread-out times disrupts my focus state and makes it challenging for me to be productive. I prefer to clump meetings together and then block off non-focus time on my calendar so that I can dedicate a few hours to work. I don't mind having a few hours of back-to-back meetings if I means I have a few hours of uninterrupted time on either side.

I also get flummoxed when people make my neurodiversity more of a problem than it really is. At previous jobs, peers of mine have unnecessarily fixated on my autism and treated me differently because of it. They misalign their attempts to be supportive with what I actually need, and are ironically stubborn when I try to say what I actually need.

Send me a Slack message! Sometimes I'll have a "Do Not Disturb" status which indicates that I would prefer not to be messaged or mentioned unless necessary. I also use other Slack statuses to indicate if I am temporarily away from my computer (for example, if I'm going for a walk or run.)

I love doing Slack huddles and quick syncs to check in when necessary. I am also a big fan of asynchronous communication like with Loom or video recordings to communicate visual content without a structured meeting.

At times, I may also ask for specific support in managing something at an executive functioning level. Do not be surprised if these requests come up, but they are absolutely the most effective ways of helping me when they come up.

Play with one of several different fidget toys, go for a run, play with my cats, take a walk/run, or remove myself from the situation when it makes sense to do so. I can't deny or ignore the issue, but I also recognize when I am becoming heated on a situation and need to "recalibrate" before being able to actually doing something about it.

Directly and respectfully. You don't have to go someone else to give me feedback about me. Let's sit down and talk about something I'm doing wrong, and how I can be doing better at it. Providing examples of things I've done well at, or where I need improvement, will also help me reflect on the specifics so that I can analyze behavior to either continue or stop.

8 AM - 5:30/6 PM on weekdays, and weekends on occasion. You can reach me on Slack at basically any time, but on weekends I turn Slack notifications off (unless I am oncall.) During the weekday, I may also set a Slack status indicating that I am focusing - Please be respectful about mentioning or DMing me unless you absolutely must do so.

* Signed up for the Beantown Marathon in September! I hope to run the Boston Marathon with the Doug Flutie Foundation in April 2026
* Cooked a paella dish, something I've always wanted to make at home myself
* Pulled off a complicated refactor across multiple teams, apps, and months that required delicate orchestration and alignment between lots of stakeholders

My cats Sugar Plum and Bailey are around :)

More seriously, I work best with people who are determined to solve problems and get to the bottom of complex situations. I love collaborating with people who don't let knowledge gaps stop them, and will go to the beyond the first page of search results in the relentless pursuit of information.

On a more emotional level, I thrive in scenarios where I have the ability to really focus in and get stuff done. This may mean I put up a Slack status or block off time on my calendar to drill down into some work, and I may be slow to respond to emails/Slacks/messages. It's not personal! This is just how my brain likes to crunch.

I can focus in on problems, clear away the cobwebs and problems, and dive in with the purpose of coming to a meaningful resolution and takeaway. Once I know what's going on, I can cut through the fog and "wave my magic wand" as someone has quoted me as saying. Sometimes I'm even surprised by what comes out of my hat!