I cannot help but smile every time I see my laptop.
Weird, right?
No, it’s not because I’m a closeted workaholic who gets a secret thrill every time I turn on my computer to get some work done. Although that could be true, too? 🤔
I don’t even use my personal laptop all that often these days—except to write or work on the occasional side gig.
It’s the stickers, silly
I have adorned my laptop with stickers—lots and lots of stickers.
I have stickers from trips my wife and I have taken over the past few years—to New York and Japan, Provincetown and Whidbey Island, Snoqualmie Falls and Solvang.
There are stickers that reflect my matcha habit, Seattle Storm fandom, PNW location, and affinity for sea otters. Because who doesn’t love sea otters?
And there are stickers full of pride and rainbows and love.
So yeah … it makes me smile to see it. My laptop tells a story of who I am, where I’ve been, and what’s important to me.
A relative newcomer
I’m fairly new to the sticker game. I never even thought about adding stickers to my laptop until I got to Amazon in 2021.
Before that, I worked in education and used my institutionally provided work laptop for everything, personal and professional.
Despite using it personally, I also viewed it as the property of my institution—something I was expected to care for but ultimately return in the same condition I received it. Unharmed. Unmarred. Sticker-less.
On the rare occasion I saw someone with a sticker-adorned laptop, I was envious of their carefree application. Their ability to express themselves with abandon.
It never occurred to me that I could do it myself.
And then I arrived at Amazon, where nearly everyone had a laptop full of stickers. How many stickers you had—and which ones—were a point of pride.
Stickers were currency. Every team, every initiative, every affinity group had stickers. We wanted to find the best stickers. We wanted our team to have the best stickers.
I’m still ridiculously proud of our SBAI sticker (we pronounced SBAI like “spy”—thus the cute spy-guy). Everyone wanted that one.
Make it yours
I love seeing stickers on other people’s laptops. There’s something wonderful and humanizing about it.
We can get lost as people in the world of work. We’re numbers, cogs in the corporate machine, easily replaceable (or so we’re told).
Stickers are a form of self-expression … and control. What you choose to put on your computer is entirely up to you. There are no rules. No one telling you what belongs where—except you.
So tell me: What’s your take on laptop stickers? What do your stickers (or lack thereof) say about you? Post a pic in the chat—I’d love to see your sticker game!
Bonus read: Two years ago, almost to the day, I wrote this piece about authenticity and professionalism. Whether you’re expressing yourself through stickers or a dashiki, please keep on being you.
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I love laptop stickers. I tried to post a pic of my current laptop (settings prevented). I feel like it describes me pretty well. There are a few easter eggs that help me connect with my people and its so fun when, say at a random coffee shop or walking down an airplane aisle…someone stops and says…”hey is that….”. Instant connection. I miss my Amazon laptop. I was also non-stickered until I started there, but embraced it fully. Instant connection.
I’m very pro sticker! My work laptop is covered with removable stickers 😉 On the personal machine, I don’t care as much if they are removable. Mine are places I’ve visited, pop culture I love, pro-feminist, and generally reflective of me. I never get my laptop mixed up with anyone else ☺️