Our New Commitment to Meaning Over Materialism

We’re Brian, Ian, Jerome, Jordan, Michael, Nicole, & Sameer from Rora.

We’ve collectively spent 20.5 years as Career Agents — helping researchers and engineers advocate for themselves.

While it’s been incredible to help 2,159 (and counting!) professionals find more than $55,046,380 in additional pay - we have quietly been wanting more meaning in our work and a deeper purpose.

Below we’ll share more about what this process has been like for us as a company, for each of us individually – and introduce our brand new mission.

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[From Rora’s Founder, Brian]

I’ll never forget at the end of Y-Combinator, Justin Kan, a YC partner who had sold his company Twitch to Amazon for $1B+, said to us: “I am more successful than all of you but I am no happier than any of you”. 

After having spent a grueling 4 months working 100+ hours a week, I remember wondering “then why am I working so hard to get to where you are?” I was not someone that saw themselves as caring about money, status, or power but I sure was working like I did. Even after YC, I spent 5 years sprinting as a VC backed founder, joking my laptop was my girlfriend, until thankfully my co-founder forced me to shut us down.

With starting my second company, I vowed to be more aware. I knew I did not want to be another elite professional chasing prestige and wealth while they were internally lost. I knew I wanted to pursue eulogy virtues rather than resume virtues.

But 5 years in, I found I had failed despite my intention. Rora was financially sustainable, doing millions in revenue and profitable, but it was too short term driven. In fact - the whole business centered around helping people make more money. I knew I was again on the wrong path.

So I took a leap of faith. I made a commitment to not scale until we were building towards the original intention of Rora, a purpose greater than profit. How could we find a purpose? How would a business do this? Would we survive? Would competition overtake us?

I know I am not the only one for whom the path towards meaning instead of just materialism feels foreign and scary. Millions of professionals are craving deeper purpose in their work – but are stuck in the rat race.

After re-committing to prioritizing meaning over materialism, I'm proud to share what we realized and what we’re now building towards.

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[From Jordan, Ops @ Rora]

From the very beginning we’ve been drawn to the idea of advocating for the underdog. 

In a world of the most billionaire CEOs in history - we’ve wanted to help employees stand up for themselves. Far too many professionals stay quiet, falling prey to what we call “destructive modesty.” 

The spirit of Rora is to empower those who don’t see the power in themselves. And - even more so - those whose power is not recognized by the world.

We are excited and honored to announce Rora’s new mission – using our profits to empower formerly incarcerated individuals. 

Over the past year, we’ve spent time volunteering in prisons through amazing organizations like Defy Ventures and Freedom to Choose – and getting to know the Returning Citizen community of formerly incarcerated individuals (whom we call Returning Citizens) here in Los Angeles.

And, we’ve been consistently impressed by the resilience, care, and wisdom of the individuals we’ve connected with. 

We realized that we could train and employ Returning Citizens to be incredible advocates for our clients because they have done the work most of us are too afraid to do: look at themselves and their mistakes in the mirror, take responsibility for their actions, and forgive others and themselves.

We believe Returning Citizens who have transformed from their sentences can do this work to a depth that the rest of society has never had to – and that our clients and our team will be much better for it.

Yet - the unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated individuals is 5x higher than the unemployment rate of the rest of the US population – and most jobs available are manual labor.

What’s even more elusive to Returning Citizens than a job is a career - especially meaningful, stable ones with upward potential.

And so - our work at Rora is now a cycle:

1. We train and employ Returning Citizens as assistants to our Career Agents
2. Together we provide the highest quality service to our clients – moving our work beyond compensation negotiation to help them build long-term, meaningful careers
3. Our profit funds further hiring of Returning Citizens and Career Agents

We envision Returning Citizens becoming the foundational operating system of Rora, operating not just as assistants, but in all parts of our organization. 

We’re excited to introduce you to our first Returning Citizen teammate, Michael– and share some other perspectives from our team on the significance of our mission.

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[From Michael T Gebre, Rora’s first Returning Citizen employee]

One of my strongest beliefs is that people can only see themselves when they are still. I fell in love with that belief after reading the quote "In running water, a person cannot see their reflection. Only when the water is still can a person see their reflection."

In the world we live in, with the constant movement of our daily lives, it is easy to lose sight of who we are. It's easy to lose sight of our beliefs, morals, and values. Once we lose sight of who we truly are, it is much easier to be led astray and consumed by the world around us.

I was once lost. In 2008, as a 16-year-old lost on the streets of San Francisco, CA, I was desperate for survival. At 18, a day after being released from juvenile hall, I was desperate for survival. At 19, incarcerated for robberies, I was desperate for survival. Even though I knew what I was doing was wrong, I downplayed the severity of my actions.

I didn't take life seriously, and it showed. I was running a mile a minute and couldn't see who I was becoming or how far I was led astray. On my 21st birthday, after being in jail for a year and a half, I would have had to plead guilty to the charges in both counties, accept 2 strikes, and be sent off to prison.

Being in that position on my 21st birthday was the light that woke me up from my darkness. From that day forward, I held myself accountable for my actions. As humans, we have agency over our lives, but when we lose that agency over ourselves, we become lost.

If I was to change my life like I promised, I had to change everything about me. I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. The character flaws we see in ourselves can rarely be fixed quickly.  We just can't take ourselves to get a new battery installed like a car whenever we are feeling down. We have to dig deeper to find the roots of our problems and then work on them.

Understanding that led me to change how I viewed the world. I changed how I thought, and that changed who I was.  I stopped being impulsive, and I thought about every significant action I chose to undertake. Today I’m at peace.  All of my actions are that of a regular, law-abiding person. 

By changing how I viewed the world, I noticeably changed. I started to appreciate the little things in life that so many people take for granted, like writing happy birthday cards or being able to exercise regularly. I started to focus on my dreams, and I would write them down in my notebook in hopes of manifesting them into reality. Little by little, I transformed myself.

I learned so much while I was incarcerated. After prison, I became the #1 firefighting recruit in 2020 and was the 2nd cadet in the Ventura Training Center's history to get a job with Cal Fire , the State of California's Fire Department.

I spent 5 years with Cal Fire and was well respected in my unit. Unfortunately, I couldn't sustain my role due to suffering 2 major herniations in my spine. But, my mission to help people is still alive and strong. So now I'm doing a different type of work. I'm working at Rora, an organization whose mission is to open doors for Returning Citizens like myself in Corporate America.

The transition has been difficult for me since it is something so new. But I learned long ago that the toughest of times forge the strongest of characters. So, with that in mind, I will move forward, never forgetting how far I have come and still having humility for the journey ahead.

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[From Jerome, Rora’s Leadership Coach for Returning Citizens]

Imagine this for a moment, you are a 17 year old child walking into prison for 21.5 years for a crime you did not commit. 

All your dreams of going to college, graduating, and landing your dream job, now vanished. 

Upon your release, you are 38 years of age, with no connection to society, struggling to find stable employment. You face biases and skepticism from potential employers. All you want is an opportunity to reclaim what was taken away from you.

My name is Jerome Dixon and that was how my story started, but it is not how it ends. The challenges I experienced served as a spark to redefine my purpose.

The corporate world has become the platform where I have channeled my experiences into wisdom to empower others to achieve success. Through coaching various executives in corporate America and developing Returning Citizens at Rora, I have redefined my identity and have found meaningful purpose post incarceration.

I want the world to see that, while the scars of my wrongful convictions may never fully fade, the strength gained through overcoming such trials and trauma can illuminate the path toward a more purposeful and fulfilled life.

Whether you are incarcerated or imprisoned within yourself, I hope you see the resilience of your human spirit.

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[From Nicole, Career Agent @ Rora]

My journey from the depths of addiction to the triumph of recovery has instilled in me a profound belief: no one’s path needs to end in darkness. I have come to understand the power of second chances, learn the value of community, and grasp the necessity of providing people with the tools to rebuild their lives. In overcoming my own struggles, I learned that empowerment is born from reclaiming one’s voice—a voice silenced by shame, circumstance, or the weight of past mistakes. 

Now, through Rora, we extend this understanding to empower previously incarcerated citizens to reclaim their futures. We strive to break down the systemic barriers that imprison opportunity and hinder these individuals; we aim to give them access to equal opportunities and the tools for growth and reintegration.

Our mission is rooted in the belief that everyone, regardless of their past, deserves a fair chance to succeed. And that a world with compassion and second chances is better and more prosperous for everyone. 

This mission is about igniting the fire within every individual who has been told their time is over. It is a revolution of redemption, a collective rise toward equity and empowerment. We aim for the work we do together to illuminate the path forward, where every voice is honored, every past is met with compassion, and every future is full of potential.

As we help our clients find their voices, rise, and reclaim their power, they are not only transforming their own futures – their triumphs ripple outward into their families, their communities, and into the heart of society itself. This is more than individual transformation—it is the birth of a new cycle of hope, equal opportunity, and justice.

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[From Sameer, Career Agent @ Rora]

As the child of immigrant parents, I witnessed the struggles of those who relied solely on hard work, hoping it would speak for itself. This experience shaped my understanding of the crucial role that self-advocacy plays in personal and professional growth.

Throughout my journey, I've discovered that the most effective way to advocate for myself is by empowering others to recognize their worth. This realization aligns perfectly with Rora's mission, and it's why I'm deeply committed to our cause.

At Rora, we believe in the transformative power of second chances and the untapped potential in every individual, especially those society often overlooks. This mission resonates deeply with me. It's not just about changing individual lives; it's about reshaping perceptions, breaking cycles of disadvantage, and building a more inclusive society. It's about doing for others what I wish someone had done for my parents - providing the tools and platform for effective self-advocacy. 

I see the resilience and determination I observed in Returning Citizens in my parents. But unlike my parents, who lacked the tools to advocate for themselves, we're providing Returning Citizens with the skills and opportunities to reshape their futures.  

At Rora, we're proving that we all rise together when we believe in people's capacity for change and growth. My mission is to make self-advocacy accessible to all, turning underdogs into leaders and transforming careers into vehicles for positive social change.

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Rora is a movement to empower those who don't see the power in themselves. To learn more about our mission click here. To learn more about Rora click here.