I considered myself a Barbie girl for much longer than when I joined Mattel in 2013.

I grew up playing with all sorts of Barbies, mixed with Beanie Babies and American Girl Dolls (shout out to my fellow Samantha fans!). So it’s no surprise that I’ve seen the Barbie movie not once, but twice so far in theaters. I am hoping to convince my husband to go again, and I have been wishing my mom lived nearby so I could see it with her.

And I’m clearly not alone, with Barbie racing toward 1 billion in box office sales globally.

Having been at Mattel when this movie idea first got concocted (Rashida Jones was originally on board, if I recall correctly), it was magical to see it finally come together on screen. And to see the way they crafted the narrative around equality for Barbie and Ken, not just women ruling the world, was a huge win in my book.

To me, it showed that Mattel has come a long way since I worked there.

As I’ve been repeatedly discussing the movie with friends, family, and colleagues (seriously — if you want to chat more, leave me a comment), I realized that I have a unique view of how the film captures the essence of Mattel, Barbie, and what she stands for as a former insider. Since I’ve been getting a lot of questions, I thought I’d share my perspective on how the movie resonates with my experience working at Mattel.

Mattel’s work environment

I think I laughed louder than anyone in the theater at the scenes in and about Mattel itself. Twice. The jokes never got old for me.

There’s definitely some truth to the view of Mattel in the movie, and some embellishments, to say the least. I also felt…