“Who you are right now in this moment is a gift. It is an offering that is meant to be shared, and you really don’t know how it sparks another person from the other side,” says May Nazareno. “What I’m trying to always ask is: can I create space, within myself and anyone I engage with, can I create the space for us to be truthful and real?”
Nazareno speaks to activating leadership in girls and young women, catalyzing change through storytelling, and how the world needs all of who you are.
Fundraising For The Future Pipeline Of Female Leaders
In her role, Nazareno creates a community of stakeholders across the Northeast who helps IGNITE “build a movement of young women who are ready and eager to become the next generation of political leaders.”
Founded in 2010 to address the lack of political parity in the US, the national organization seeks to increase the number of women as elected officials, appointed to public boards and commissions, and in supporting leadership positions that make it possible for women to occupy those political spaces. By creating multiple entry points for young women to advance in political leadership, IGNITE pushes for a large-scale solution that has the capacity to flood the political pipeline.
Currently, with a team of 17 women who operate under a budget of less than $3 million, IGNITE is the only non-partisan organization in the US that provides sustained community-based training and support to nearly 13,000 + women and girls across 36 states. Currently, a top ten finalist for the $10 million dollar Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, IGNITE’s goal to train 100,000 women each year starting in 2025 could be in reach.
Her Own Bittersweet Experience In Leadership
For Nazareno, advocating for IGNITE is personal. “I had never seen myself as a political person, nor did I think that being part of the student government was an option for me when I was in high school or college.” She admits she fell into student government while in college, “because someone asked me to,” and that the opportunity to run for her university’s vice president position: “was entirely because the secretary of the Student Union just said to me: ‘what do you have to lose?’” Nazareno was met with a lot of resistance from her male peers – and even from other women. “It was the late 90’s and everyone’s questioning if you’re qualified enough.”
Despite Nazareno winning her election by a landslide, and during her tenure, raising significant funds and forging interconnectedness between different cultural and identity-based groups – she faced a hostile environment with no collective support behind her. “What makes IGNITE personal is that the typical IGNITE woman comes to our programs with a desire to solve problems in her community – rarely with a desire to run. And yet, when she goes through our trainings, she learns how to push past her fears of being isolated and pitted against the boys club – because we help her create a ‘girl gang’ of support. I often think what if IGNITE was around when I was in college? What would have happened to my life if I met other women like me, and got the mentorship and the networking needed to navigate a political life? Undoubtedly, I would have considered public service as a calling.”
Though highly encouraged on the path, Nazareno admits she was burned out. Her experience as an elected student leader at her university was surrounded by so much divisiveness – that while she considered pursuing law school – she turned to study playwriting.
“What I cared about the most was figuring out how to foster a shared interconnectedness between students who were passionate about their own identity politics. What were the things that we could understand and respect about each other rather than focusing on what drives us apart? And I knew that law wasn’t going to answer those questions. I didn’t want to tell people what to think. I didn’t want to get caught up in ‘I’m right’ or ‘you’re wrong’. I wanted to come from a place of encouraging deep self-reflection,” she recalls. “At the theatre, you watch conflict and see both sides of the story. You sit in the audience and decide for yourself.”
Catalyzing Dialogue Through a One Woman Show
To the disbelief of her parents, Nazareno rescinded her law school applications and set off to Seattle to become an actor, despite warnings that she’d be cut off from her family.
“I had a bag of clothes and a few books, my laptop, and my yoga mat – and there I was in this hostel in downtown Seattle when 9/11 hit. My Dad used to work at the World Trade Center…,” she laments. “And yet, everyone around me saw this moment as an isolated NYC problem.” She perceived it as both a national and international affair and watched as knee-jerk political reactivity took hold.
“I was impacted by the need to find a way to break through the bubble, not even having words for that. It’s 2001, we have no idea what’s happening, but you hold onto your bubble – to whatever you can to salvage any sense of normalcy,” she said. “The bubble cracked for me in 2003 when I had a family member who was the personal aide to Sérgio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian United Nations Special Representative for Iraq, go missing.”
De Mello’s death in a hotel bombing in Baghdad and the presumed death of her family member, who then reappeared, catalyzed her to write a one-woman show entitled Dead Woman Home that she took to Seattle, San Francisco, Off-Off-Broadway in New York, and the Philippines. Nazareno’s intention was to challenge the depersonalized perceptions and opinions about war and the Iraqi people that could justify an almost instant reaction to go to war.
“This was my very first play and I wrote it almost twenty years ago. At the time, I wanted to ask audiences: do we realize the implications and the unnecessary incalculable loss of innocent life? Can we sit with that? If I was sharing this play now, what I really want to ask is this: today we live with growing hatred towards others – and often because there’s nothing left to feel anymore. Who among us still have the courage to love?”
Nazareno wanted to hear what people thought about our occupation in Iraq and connected with teens in juvenile detention centers, vets, and high school and college students from low-resourced communities. She intended to reach new audiences who didn’t have access to theatre and create space for civic dialogue that would inspire social action. Indeed, her play galvanized a group of grad students in the Philippines to submit policy strategies to the UN.
“When I met those grad students, I could have never predicted that kind of response to my play. It finally hit me: stories have the power to change people’s perception of themselves and the world around them.”
Flipping The Story to Empower Perspectives
After two years of touring, Nazareno returned to the U.S. and decided to try event management and fundraising. “I was proud that my show broke even during its run. I didn’t have any formal training in the logistics of producing my show. Everything about me was just scrappy and I wanted to formally learn how to raise funds.”
Nazareno landed a job at Stanford, where she was taken under the wing of Lorraine Alexander, who mentored her. “I was lucky. Lorraine was my first teacher and along the way, I met Theda Jackson-Mau and Kim Gerstman who also showed me the ropes. Learning from them ultimately changed my life. I realized that everything up to this point was preparing me to tell stories that inspire people to question their position in the world and what they can do with that position,” says Nazareno, who took a step away from the politics of theater. “In many ways, that’s been the throughline of my work. We all have stories, and our stories give us the capacity to influence and lead, but what does it mean to be a leader and how can we lead in a new way?”
“We are all part of the solution for a more just world,” says Nazareno. “That’s what I’m trying to get across in my work. When I was a teenager, I heard Mother Teresa speak at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and I was moved when she told us that God doesn’t have hands, but our hands.” Nazareno is adamant about IGNITE because the organization trains young women who come from historically marginalized communities to develop their leadership potential and recognize how their lived experiences are essential to creating a democracy that represents our country’s diversity.
“The narrative is often ‘I come from a low-income neighborhood, I was raised by a single parent, my father is in jail, my brother was killed, I didn’t go to an Ivy League school. I’ve got no credentials to lead and zero cash. Who am I to run?” says Nazareno. “And we flip the script and say: who are you not to? We’re here to convince each young woman that her whole life is what makes her qualified to lead. Right now, out of the 520,000 elected offices across the country, women hold 30.5% of municipal offices, 30.9% of seats in state legislatures, and 26.5% of seats in the US Congress. If we dramatically broaden our audience, and just 0.1% of young women run in the next decade we will dramatically increase the pool of female candidates in America.”
“Women are the backbone of our democracy,” Nazareno adds. “We have to shift our understanding and challenge this notion of ‘leadership material.’ We need to show young women that their leadership is needed and there’s a path to realize their ambitions. If we can do that, we can change the way we think about women leaders in America.”
“Right now, there are many people – mostly men – who sit in local government who have little or no visceral sense of what it means to live day-to-day in the communities where our young women live. This is why we train young women to realize that they are the best representation of what their community needs and what needs to change.”
“We’re at this tipping point where it’s abundantly clear that if we want our country to continue to thrive we have to invest in child care, mandate equitable pay for women, keep children and women safe from domestic violence and gun violence as national priorities, and make access to healthcare a fundamental human right – among a whole host of other things. Who knows these issues better than women? That’s why we must elect more women to get a seat at the political table, and that’s why IGNITE gives girls and young women the tools, networks, and resources to succeed in this environment. Not only will they run, they’ll win. And not only will they win, but they stay in the game…” says Nazareno. “In the midst of COVID, 13 IGNITE women ran for office across the country last year. This year, 21 IGNITE women have declared their candidacies. – That’s why I wake up every morning truly inspired.”
Showing Up As Who You Are
Nazareno feels the pandemic has been another huge catalyst to breaking our bubbles, realizing our interconnectedness, how deeply woven our lives are and how dependent we are on one another. Amidst so much divisiveness, she sees that we’re all presented with this question: how are you going to show up to this moment?
When it comes to reflecting on her journey and what motivates her day-to-day, it’s exactly that question. Nazareno’s own father came from humble means and wanted to become a cinematographer. But with his mother’s disapproval, he became the engineer he was expected to be. Nazareno dared the opposite.
“What I carry from his story is that while we make sacrifices and concessions along the way, we can’t forget the spark that lives inside us – especially now. As I see it, that spark is the essence of who you are. And it’s a choice to share it with others or hide it. How am I showing up? What am I bringing to the table?” she questions. “Am I really bringing me, or am I consciously dimming my spark, and if so, for whom – and why? And is it worth it? Or can I trust that bringing all of me – whatever that is in this moment – is enough?”
By: Aimee Hansen
Noelle Ramirez: Project Manager, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, PGIM
Movers and Shakers, PeopleShe speaks to showing up visibly to create belonging, how to expand the diversity of recruitment, and the prerequisite importance of culture.
Being The Representation You Want To See
Given her love for people and their stories, Ramirez chose to study immigration throughout her undergrad at Dartmouth. During recruiting season in college, she never saw herself, as a Puerto Rican woman, in asset management. Literally. The recruiters and classmates on that track did not look like her.
“I didn’t see myself, and the lack of representation was something that I shied away from,” she recalls. “But a lot of my perceptions were really misperceptions. I just did a talent research project at PGIM, where we found there’s a huge perception issue for the wealth and asset management industry felt by not only women, but also Latinx individuals, Hispanic individuals, black individuals: I don’t see myself, so how could I go that route?”
So when Ramirez moved to a focused diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) role in asset management, she did so with intention.
“I can be the representation that I want to see and make an impact in an industry that needs more people like me,” she says. “Highlighting different voices is something I want to do—you don’t have to be a math major or male or straight in this industry. You can show up, do a good job and succeed. I found there’s some amazing, diverse people in this industry. They’re just not the voices we have traditionally highlighted first.”
Casting A Wider Net for Recruiting
“The most rewarding piece of my work is to create an opportunity and open a door, where traditionally that door may not have existed,” says Ramirez, “to be able to put that spotlight on someone who might not have been seen and say, ‘I see you and there’s space for you here.’”
In the Latinx talent space, Ramirez experienced one of her biggest moments of impact when she and a colleague dared to cast a wider net. They traveled to Hispanic-serving institutions in Florida, well outside of the typical target schools, and met Luisa Maria Machado Artimez, a first generation American who came to the US at the age of 12 from Cuba and served in the US Army for a year before starting college. Ramirez found Luisa to be “one of the most inspiring young women that I’ve ever worked with and probably will ever know.”
Ramirez and her colleague agreed they wanted to find a way to invite Luisa into the industry via an internship at PGIM. She joined the summer program, was a star performer and is returning next year.
“That’s why I do this work. It’s easy to make the case for casting a wider net when you know someone like Luisa has been brought into the organization and succeeded,” she says. That’s when the higher-level support comes and then you can create an entire strategy around that.”
Making the Business Case
“You’re not going to move mountains when it comes to DEI in a month, or even a year. We’re fighting things like systemic racism that have been in place for generations,” she says, “so it’s important to celebrate small wins.”
Ramirez emphasizes being strategic and data-driven in the DEI sphere.
“For some people, it really is showing them exactly what they are missing by not caring about this,” she notes, “creating that story and walking them to that finish line, so they can take the step to make the change in the organization.”
For example, one of her DEI focuses has been on identifying where core Latinx talent is concentrated in the organization, to establish allyship to support that talent in moving towards more leadership positions.
“The Latinx population is becoming the majority minority—this is, the fastest-growing population, a more educated and entrepreneurial population, set to become the majority homeowners in the next 20 years,” she observes. “If the industry doesn’t have a strategy that’s going to capitalize on this talent, we’re completely missing the boat from a business perspective.”
She notes the “three P” factors that are barriers to Latinx recruitment in the industry:
“If we don’t know the barriers to address,” says Ramirez, “then how are we going to work towards them as an industry?”
“Job hunters today are looking for a career that aligns with their values and that they can feel good about – and rightly so, we should feel passionate about purposeful in the work we do every day.”
Ramirez feels there needs to be more emphasis on getting different voices out there to attract a diverse talent pool as well as sharing stories about how companies are doing good and can align with your values, like PGIM’s huge investment in the community of Newark, New Jersey.
Put Culture First and Create an Inclusive Environment
When it comes to advice on making career-related decisions, she tells others: “Culture first. Seek out advice from people that are already there. What has their experience been? Do they feel comfortable? Do they feel like they can bring who they are to the table? If the answer is yes, that’s a good place to start. It takes away a lot of productivity and energy to not be who you are.”
“Go somewhere where you can be yourself. I’m very passionate in my delivery and it’s part of my culture. Making sure I’m in an environment where that doesn’t have to be shut off is important,” she says. “Look for environments that are ready to receive you, because that’s where you’ll be your most productive, innovative, creative and strategic.”
Another core component of Noelle’s team’s work is to create a safe space so that people can comfortably share as little or as much about their own experience as they wish.
“I’m a lesbian. I can talk about my partner every Monday morning. I would say as an industry, we are behind in creating safer spaces where people can be 100% themselves,” she notes. “We have an LGBTQ+ Think Tank at PGIM, which is comprised of Out leaders across the organization, which is thinking of ways to highlight LGBTQ+ voices and to give them a platform to share and educate.”
For me, I made the conscious decision to be out at work, especially when I joined the DEI space, because I felt like there weren’t many out people that I could go to and seek advice from, and I wanted to be that for someone else.”
Of her own intersectional identity, Ramirez notes, “I’m a white passing person and there’s privilege in that. Early on in my career, it was much easier to just blend. But moving into the DEI space, all of the things that made it uncomfortable now instead legitimize me and give me a platform to stand on.”
“How am I going to show up today from my voice?” Ramirez notes it’s a daily struggle. “From your voice to your hair to your clothes to your delivery, these are not necessarily things that are on everyone else’s mind.”
Ramirez is a huge athlete and since her father introduced her two years ago, she’s been obsessed with one the world’s fastest growing sports: pickleball—which combines elements of badminton, table tennis and tennis.
Played by people of all ages, not only has it allowed her to get outdoors daily during the pandemic, but she’s also made close friends with people she would have never otherwise met. Though her partner is more inclined to music than sports, she also often joins Ramirez on the court.
By: Aimee Hansen
OP-ed: Using Technology and Remote Work as the Great Equalizer
Guest Contribution, NewsI didn’t major in computer science or engineering. My background is in communications and marketing. But, I discovered the power of technology early in my career and I realized that in it lies the opportunity to innovate, disrupt and solve problems.
I had the opportunity to work for tech giants like Compaq and was fortunate to be part of the 1990’s dot-com explosion, leading communications for one of the most successful Latin American startups of that era. Patagon was acquired by Banco Santander, a Spanish bank. The dot-com bubble eventually burst. Shortly after, I was recruited by Visa International as Vice President of Communications for Latin America, leading their FinTech division-the moment when I discovered that my life’s calling was to become an entrepreneur.
The leap to entrepreneurship
After leaving the corporate world, I took a leap of faith and founded a consulting company whose mission was to provide digital transformation for large corporations. As a self-employed entrepreneur, I had the opportunity to live anywhere I wanted, so I moved to Verona—my favorite place in Italy. I had a thriving business and was working with a team of professionals based in all corners of the world. But, I was facing a challenge: I needed more visibility and collaboration with my remote team, because as their leader, I lacked the tools to gauge progress in an effective and transparent way.
Necessity is the greatest driver of innovation, and it was clear to me that technology was the answer to my problem. So, I made it my mission to design and develop a solution that would provide transparency and visibility to help me keep my team accountable while allowing me to make decisions in real-time, and pivot as needed.
In 2012, TransparentBusiness software as a service was born and I began to pioneer the future of work, dedicating myself to transforming the way people work. What started as a solution for my company became an award-winning remote work and enablement tool that is now used by thousands of clients across the world.
From solution to ecosystem
During the initial years, I spent most of my days explaining the benefits of remote work, which often fell on deaf ears. Many business leaders were skeptical about this work model that relied on accountability and transparency instead of in-person, in-office oversight. However, I also began to see a shift, as millennials started to become an integral part of the workforce. The on-demand economy and companies such as Uber, Netflix and Airbnb who were disrupting their industries emphasized the importance of continuous innovation. And, each day the companies we spoke to become more receptive to remote work models.
But, I also knew that the future of work needed more than great software. It needed to connect the dots with the talent that was in search of remote work opportunities. And this is how our Talent as a Service offering was born, starting with Yandiki, a talent marketplace where companies could source creative talent on-demand to scale their teams globally, using TransparentBusiness technology.
The female quotient
After about three years, we made a game-changing discovery. All our data demonstrated that women were outperforming men in all the performance metrics that we were measuring through our platform. We dove deep into the data and conducted more thorough research of the women who were in the marketplace as freelancers, full-time consultants, and full-time professionals. We realized that we were attracting women with excellent professional qualifications who had been in search of remote and flexible job opportunities. They were thriving on our platform because it offered them the flexibility that they needed to balance work and life and rejoin the workforce without having to leave their loved ones.
SheWorks! was created to empower women to find better career options, and to hack the employment gender gap, because 51 percent of women with children abandon their jobs due to lack of flexibility. We officially launched the company at the Global Women Principles’ Summit at the United Nations Headquarters in 2017, reinforcing our commitment to not just be a part of the narrative, but effect change by helping them find employment and opportunities.
The pandemic effect
The global pandemic threw the world into a crisis that was unprecedented. The loss of life and the economic windfall was felt in every corner of the planet. Technology once again emerged as a lifeline, helping people stay connected to their friends and family, enabling children and young adults to continue their education, and empowering companies to continue to operate. Overnight, the world shifted from physical to virtual environments, and working from home became the norm for millions of people.
Entrepreneurs know that out of crises come opportunity, and many sectors thrived in this new normal. At TransparentBusiness, remote work was our way of doing business for almost a decade, so we were prepared and fortunate to have the skills and the tools to help clients of all sizes and from all industries navigate through this time of uncertainty.
As we look beyond the pandemic, we can say that the great work-from-home experiment of 2020 made one thing clear: Remote work is here to stay. Business leaders and employers alike realized that productivity and profitability did not decrease when employees worked remotely—in fact, sometimes it increased. And, this levels the playing field and opens many new opportunities for women.
Technology as the great equalizer
Women were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. They faced the burden of childcare, lower-paying jobs in sectors that experienced closures, and overall lost 5.4 million jobs since the pandemic hit, nearly 1 million more job losses than men. Fortunately, as we look beyond the pandemic, I am optimistic and see a silver lining.
Remote work was normalized during the pandemic, and this in the long term will benefit women. As children return to school and we transition away from crisis mode, women will be in a better position to pursue remote career opportunities that allow them to have flexibility at home. More importantly, they will be able to compete for jobs globally instead of within a four-mile radius of their home, opening a world of opportunities.
And, all of this is made possible by technology and the digital transformation that we have experienced in the last decade. Technology is the great equalizer because it enables us to learn, work and create. As we look to the future, it’s important to leverage not only remote work but remote learning. The digital acceleration brought about by the pandemic created many new job opportunities. However, for women to thrive in the digital economy they will need to develop new and highly demanded skills to compete globally.
Leaving the world better than how I found it
I grew up in a very competitive household. My brother is a professional polo player and my sister excelled at equestrian sports. As a young girl, I strived to find my place in my family. Although I wasn’t into sports, I had a competitive spirit. My dad always fueled that fire, encouraging me to be independent and to pursue my dreams. And, he taught me one of the most important lessons in life: True independence starts with financial freedom, and the ability to make your own money. This lesson instilled in me a sense of self-reliance that became a positive obsession that drove my career and entrepreneurial journey.
As a Latin American woman and a technology entrepreneur, I have faced many challenges. But, I have never given up and work daily to build the castle that I’ve always dreamed of. And, more importantly, I have made it my mission to help women do the same through SheWorks! and more recently through Unicorn Hunters, an initiative that I co-created to help women entrepreneurs access capital because women-led startups received just 2.3% of VC funding in 2020, and what’s alarming is that this wasn’t due to the pandemic. The figure peaked at 2.8% in 2019.
Helping women access economic empowerment has been my life’s work, and I plan to continue to give back in any way that I can. My journey has been challenging, but also rewarding and I want to leave the world better than how I found it.
Silvina Moschini is the Founder and CEO of SheWorks!, a cloud-based digital talent marketplace that was created as a way for professional women to find flexible global employment opportunities. Ms. Moschini has made a point to provide women who want to grow their business with the same options as men through digital transformation.
Anna Salek: Partner, Private Client Team Leader, Shearman & Sterling LLC
People, Voices of ExperienceSalek talks about her genuine appreciation for cutting-edge legal work, the growth in a lateral move, the two-way street of value and daring to do what scares you.
The Gratification of Top-Tier Work
“I get immense satisfaction from solving complex problems,” says Salek, who enjoys tackling legal issues that perhaps no other firm has been able to solve sufficiently or that have never before even been considered.
As the private client team leader at Shearman & Sterling with over 20 years of direct experience, Salek works with high-net-worth individuals and families to meet their wide range of legal needs and specializes the areas of trust and estates, tax planning and not-for-profit law.
“I am lucky to work at a top-tier firm like Shearman where the clients are interesting and the legal work is challenging,” she says. “I love the cutting-edge work where often there’s no precedent and the client is relying on my judgment and experience.”
Salek joined Shearman in early 2019 to lead their private client team and was drawn there by the firm’s rich history, impressive client base and dynamic women.
Be Willing to Move To Expand
“I think women, more than men, are more prone to say, ‘they’ve been so good to me here’ and view moving on to another firm as being disloyal or ungrateful. Well, that’s fine that they’ve been good to you – they should be good to you,” says Salek. “But you should also be good to yourself and not be shy about exploring other opportunities.”
While the practice of trusts and estates is generally gender diverse, it is more often men who head up the practice, so replacing C. Jones Perry at Shearman when he retired as team leader was a strong leap ahead for women in leadership in law.
“I was very dedicated and happy at another top-tier-firm where I grew up as a lawyer, and I stayed there for a long time. But moving to another firm made me a better lawyer as it allowed me to grow in different directions than I otherwise would have,” says Salek. “Making a lateral move can help you grow professionally, but equally as important, you are bringing value to your new firm by contributing your own unique skills, experience and perspective.”
“I’m not suggesting women should job hop or even leave their job, but I do think everyone should consider it from time to time – even if only to confirm how good you have it. Men change firms more frequently than women, and it’s not a bad thing. With each move you’re not only likely to increase your compensation, but it’s also a huge personal and professional growth opportunity.”
Know Your Self-Worth
On a similar thread, the guidance that Salek consistently emphasizes to junior level women lawyers is to value themselves as professionals.
“You are valuable to your firm. It’s not just a one-way street. I find that women sometimes almost can’t hear that,” iterates Salek. “They’re reluctant to ask for anything—equity, more compensation. a flexible work schedule, for example – or give themselves credit. Reminding women of their professional contributions to their firm is what I end up doing in almost every single one of those conversations.”
The Relationship Side of Private Client Work
On top of being challenged by the academic intricacies of her practice area, Salek loves the client interaction and deep relationships involved in her area of law. She enjoys working with individuals and families, many of whom have been long-term generational clients of the firm.
“The clients I work with tend to be extremely interesting people,” says Salek, for whom “field trips” to clients’ homes and offices are as much a part of her job as being behind her desk.
“When people invite you into the world of their personal finances, they inevitably invite you into their family and personal lives,” says Salek who feels that women especially thrive in cultivating relationships and trust.
“Not only do you have to be a proficient lawyer, you need to be personable and trustworthy. There’s just an element of being trusted that’s not something you can learn and that quality has helped me a lot, second certainly to really knowing what I’m doing,” she says. “I have clients who are women who have said they picked me because they prefer to work with a woman, and I have had male clients who say the same thing.”
Do What Scares You
“My advice to junior lawyers would be: don’t shy away from things that intimidate you. In fact, seek them out. Do something that scares you every day,” Salek says. “I’m not talking about skydiving. I’m talking about challenging yourself. Don’t like public speaking? Do a webinar, go sit on a panel. Don’t think you know enough about something? Help a client with that particular issue or publish an article about it. Shy? Invite someone you would like to get to know or learn from for lunch or coffee.”
Salek credits her own integration of this advice for having made her into a more confident lawyer today.
”I feel women especially don’t like to be outside of their comfort zone, but that’s the only place where you can grow,” she says. “It’s really important to push your own boundaries.”
Practicing Work-Life Integration
A rewarding aspect of her work has been the pro bono cases where Salek has been able to champion people and organizations in critical financial wins, where she sometimes gets as involved in interpersonal dynamics as with her private clients.
Salek finds that for her, work enters home life and home life enters work, so she embraces the work-life integration approach of keeping both in even keel, rather than “the two-iPhone approach” of work-life balance, which she feels is a false separation of parts of life that live inside of the same universe.
She is married with two teenagers, a daughter of 16 and a son of 14, and notes one silver lining of the pandemic is that people who were technology-resistant have been forced to embrace technology, opening up more remote working possibilities.
Salek is an avid, hands-in-the-dirt gardener. Her favorite season is spring, and she finds that “observing the earth awakening is so good for the soul.”
By Aimee Hansen
Diversify the Image of Corporate Leadership to Include Asian American Women
Asian American Heritage Month, Career AdviceNearly 40% of Asian American women identify as entrepreneurs. According to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Business Report, Asian American women-owned businesses represent 9% of all women-owned businesses.
Between 2014 to 2019, the average revenue for women-of-color-owned businesses shrank, according to the report, with the exception of Asian women-owned businesses. The average earned revenue for these firms indexes 33% above all women-owned businesses and represent the highest number for any racial/ethnic group, though Asian American businesses have been been disproportionately devastated by the virus of racism since the pandemic began.
Asian American women know how to lead and the results of their businesses prove they lead well. Last week, theglasshammer talked about the insidious harm of stereotypes, mythology and microaggressions when it comes to obstacles to reaching corporate leadership for Asian American women.
Now let’s question a definition of leadership that closes the gates to women that are compelled to lead – especially East Asian women.
The Over-Valuation of Assertiveness
Asian American women leaders are far from a monolith and are not represented equally in leadership either. Another factor at play in inhibiting East Asian women, in particular, in attaining executive leadership roles is a status quo of narrow leadership norms that close the gates to a diversity of leadership qualities and approaches.
A report on diversity among Fortune 500 CEOs from 2000 to 2020 indicates that 35 Asian-Americans were CEOs Of Fortune 500 companies during this period: 13 were East Asians and 22 were South Asians. Only six were women.
Among Standard & Poor’s 500 companies between 2010 and 2017, there were 1.92 white CEOs per million in the U.S population, 2.82 South Asian CEOS per million in the population, and only .59 East Asian CEOS per million in the population.
Recently released research from MIT Sloan associate professor Jackson Lu explored why East Asians, but not South Asians, are uniquely underrepresented in leadership in U.S. business, concluding that this inequality is “an issue of cultural fit — a mismatch between East Asian norms of communication and American norms of leadership.”
While non-Asian Americans exhibited greater “prejudice” against South Asians than East Asians, this did not correspond with the leadership gap. “Motivation” was also equal between the groups. What the researchers posit is that the over-evaluation of “assertiveness” in U.S. leadership, which East Asians consistently scored lower on, is why East Asians are less likely to attain leadership positions.
Whereas South Asian cultures often encourage assertiveness and debate, East Asian cultures often emphasize humility and conformity, but this is not indicative of the lack of confidence nor motivation that it can be perceived as through a Western lens.
“Importantly, assertive leaders are not necessarily the most effective ones. American organizations need to diversify the prototype of what a leader should look like,” states Wu. An overly assertion-based leadership ideal not only has a cultural and gender bias but an inclination towards more toxic shadow traits of leadership.
Diversifying The Leadership Norm
Part of valuing and respecting Asian American women leaders involves changing the cultural norm and implicit prototype of what we value in leadership.
A September 2020 paper from Russell Reynolds Associates suggests that companies “reconsider internal definitions of who is qualified to lead”—pointing out that a too narrow definition of good leaders is what inhibits the wider objectivity needed to promote the best leaders in their own authentic leadership style.
“Past efforts to fill this leadership gap have mainly focused on how Asian Americans should individually moderate their leadership styles to adapt to the dominant culture. Yet this approach opens the possibility that they will be criticized for another reason: failing to match American expectations of stereotypical Asian American behavior,” writes the authors. “We consider this a ‘double-edged sword,’ with neither path allowing them to be recognized and rewarded for their authentic leadership styles, wherever they fall on the spectrum of cultural expectations.”
“In our experience, the leadership gap is not a reflection of how well Asian Americans can lead,” the authors continue, “but rather how narrowly companies define what a successful leader looks like and how he or she should behave.”
“While many organizations value assertiveness and self-confidence in their leaders,” says Deborah Ancona, professor of leadership at MIT Sloan and founder of the MIT Leadership Center, “it is important to note that there are many different leadership capabilities that organizations also need to foster and reward.”
A qualitative LEAP Asian American Executive Leadership report revealed that among successful C-Suite Asian American executives, the non-visible values of continuous learning, collectivism and humility were at the root of their successful leadership.
Along with recommendations for individuals that would frankly apply to any aspiring leader (self-reflect, observe others, push (your own) boundaries and be open), the LEAP authors recommend, in their words, that organizations take three actions:
The cultural and personal influences that characterize the leadership of any given individual will be unique—the point is for more varied expressions to be invited in, to reveal their own strengths and benefits.
Our definition of leadership is dated and limiting the range of talent that gets in and leadership approaches. In order to create more diversity in leadership, we need to diversify the way we think about leadership, to begin with.
By Aimee Hansen
May Nazareno: Northeast Director of Major Gifts at IGNITE
Intrepid Women Series, PeopleNazareno speaks to activating leadership in girls and young women, catalyzing change through storytelling, and how the world needs all of who you are.
Fundraising For The Future Pipeline Of Female Leaders
In her role, Nazareno creates a community of stakeholders across the Northeast who helps IGNITE “build a movement of young women who are ready and eager to become the next generation of political leaders.”
Founded in 2010 to address the lack of political parity in the US, the national organization seeks to increase the number of women as elected officials, appointed to public boards and commissions, and in supporting leadership positions that make it possible for women to occupy those political spaces. By creating multiple entry points for young women to advance in political leadership, IGNITE pushes for a large-scale solution that has the capacity to flood the political pipeline.
Currently, with a team of 17 women who operate under a budget of less than $3 million, IGNITE is the only non-partisan organization in the US that provides sustained community-based training and support to nearly 13,000 + women and girls across 36 states. Currently, a top ten finalist for the $10 million dollar Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, IGNITE’s goal to train 100,000 women each year starting in 2025 could be in reach.
Her Own Bittersweet Experience In Leadership
For Nazareno, advocating for IGNITE is personal. “I had never seen myself as a political person, nor did I think that being part of the student government was an option for me when I was in high school or college.” She admits she fell into student government while in college, “because someone asked me to,” and that the opportunity to run for her university’s vice president position: “was entirely because the secretary of the Student Union just said to me: ‘what do you have to lose?’” Nazareno was met with a lot of resistance from her male peers – and even from other women. “It was the late 90’s and everyone’s questioning if you’re qualified enough.”
Despite Nazareno winning her election by a landslide, and during her tenure, raising significant funds and forging interconnectedness between different cultural and identity-based groups – she faced a hostile environment with no collective support behind her. “What makes IGNITE personal is that the typical IGNITE woman comes to our programs with a desire to solve problems in her community – rarely with a desire to run. And yet, when she goes through our trainings, she learns how to push past her fears of being isolated and pitted against the boys club – because we help her create a ‘girl gang’ of support. I often think what if IGNITE was around when I was in college? What would have happened to my life if I met other women like me, and got the mentorship and the networking needed to navigate a political life? Undoubtedly, I would have considered public service as a calling.”
Though highly encouraged on the path, Nazareno admits she was burned out. Her experience as an elected student leader at her university was surrounded by so much divisiveness – that while she considered pursuing law school – she turned to study playwriting.
“What I cared about the most was figuring out how to foster a shared interconnectedness between students who were passionate about their own identity politics. What were the things that we could understand and respect about each other rather than focusing on what drives us apart? And I knew that law wasn’t going to answer those questions. I didn’t want to tell people what to think. I didn’t want to get caught up in ‘I’m right’ or ‘you’re wrong’. I wanted to come from a place of encouraging deep self-reflection,” she recalls. “At the theatre, you watch conflict and see both sides of the story. You sit in the audience and decide for yourself.”
Catalyzing Dialogue Through a One Woman Show
To the disbelief of her parents, Nazareno rescinded her law school applications and set off to Seattle to become an actor, despite warnings that she’d be cut off from her family.
“I had a bag of clothes and a few books, my laptop, and my yoga mat – and there I was in this hostel in downtown Seattle when 9/11 hit. My Dad used to work at the World Trade Center…,” she laments. “And yet, everyone around me saw this moment as an isolated NYC problem.” She perceived it as both a national and international affair and watched as knee-jerk political reactivity took hold.
“I was impacted by the need to find a way to break through the bubble, not even having words for that. It’s 2001, we have no idea what’s happening, but you hold onto your bubble – to whatever you can to salvage any sense of normalcy,” she said. “The bubble cracked for me in 2003 when I had a family member who was the personal aide to Sérgio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian United Nations Special Representative for Iraq, go missing.”
De Mello’s death in a hotel bombing in Baghdad and the presumed death of her family member, who then reappeared, catalyzed her to write a one-woman show entitled Dead Woman Home that she took to Seattle, San Francisco, Off-Off-Broadway in New York, and the Philippines. Nazareno’s intention was to challenge the depersonalized perceptions and opinions about war and the Iraqi people that could justify an almost instant reaction to go to war.
“This was my very first play and I wrote it almost twenty years ago. At the time, I wanted to ask audiences: do we realize the implications and the unnecessary incalculable loss of innocent life? Can we sit with that? If I was sharing this play now, what I really want to ask is this: today we live with growing hatred towards others – and often because there’s nothing left to feel anymore. Who among us still have the courage to love?”
Nazareno wanted to hear what people thought about our occupation in Iraq and connected with teens in juvenile detention centers, vets, and high school and college students from low-resourced communities. She intended to reach new audiences who didn’t have access to theatre and create space for civic dialogue that would inspire social action. Indeed, her play galvanized a group of grad students in the Philippines to submit policy strategies to the UN.
“When I met those grad students, I could have never predicted that kind of response to my play. It finally hit me: stories have the power to change people’s perception of themselves and the world around them.”
Flipping The Story to Empower Perspectives
After two years of touring, Nazareno returned to the U.S. and decided to try event management and fundraising. “I was proud that my show broke even during its run. I didn’t have any formal training in the logistics of producing my show. Everything about me was just scrappy and I wanted to formally learn how to raise funds.”
Nazareno landed a job at Stanford, where she was taken under the wing of Lorraine Alexander, who mentored her. “I was lucky. Lorraine was my first teacher and along the way, I met Theda Jackson-Mau and Kim Gerstman who also showed me the ropes. Learning from them ultimately changed my life. I realized that everything up to this point was preparing me to tell stories that inspire people to question their position in the world and what they can do with that position,” says Nazareno, who took a step away from the politics of theater. “In many ways, that’s been the throughline of my work. We all have stories, and our stories give us the capacity to influence and lead, but what does it mean to be a leader and how can we lead in a new way?”
“We are all part of the solution for a more just world,” says Nazareno. “That’s what I’m trying to get across in my work. When I was a teenager, I heard Mother Teresa speak at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and I was moved when she told us that God doesn’t have hands, but our hands.” Nazareno is adamant about IGNITE because the organization trains young women who come from historically marginalized communities to develop their leadership potential and recognize how their lived experiences are essential to creating a democracy that represents our country’s diversity.
“The narrative is often ‘I come from a low-income neighborhood, I was raised by a single parent, my father is in jail, my brother was killed, I didn’t go to an Ivy League school. I’ve got no credentials to lead and zero cash. Who am I to run?” says Nazareno. “And we flip the script and say: who are you not to? We’re here to convince each young woman that her whole life is what makes her qualified to lead. Right now, out of the 520,000 elected offices across the country, women hold 30.5% of municipal offices, 30.9% of seats in state legislatures, and 26.5% of seats in the US Congress. If we dramatically broaden our audience, and just 0.1% of young women run in the next decade we will dramatically increase the pool of female candidates in America.”
“Women are the backbone of our democracy,” Nazareno adds. “We have to shift our understanding and challenge this notion of ‘leadership material.’ We need to show young women that their leadership is needed and there’s a path to realize their ambitions. If we can do that, we can change the way we think about women leaders in America.”
“Right now, there are many people – mostly men – who sit in local government who have little or no visceral sense of what it means to live day-to-day in the communities where our young women live. This is why we train young women to realize that they are the best representation of what their community needs and what needs to change.”
“We’re at this tipping point where it’s abundantly clear that if we want our country to continue to thrive we have to invest in child care, mandate equitable pay for women, keep children and women safe from domestic violence and gun violence as national priorities, and make access to healthcare a fundamental human right – among a whole host of other things. Who knows these issues better than women? That’s why we must elect more women to get a seat at the political table, and that’s why IGNITE gives girls and young women the tools, networks, and resources to succeed in this environment. Not only will they run, they’ll win. And not only will they win, but they stay in the game…” says Nazareno. “In the midst of COVID, 13 IGNITE women ran for office across the country last year. This year, 21 IGNITE women have declared their candidacies. – That’s why I wake up every morning truly inspired.”
Showing Up As Who You Are
Nazareno feels the pandemic has been another huge catalyst to breaking our bubbles, realizing our interconnectedness, how deeply woven our lives are and how dependent we are on one another. Amidst so much divisiveness, she sees that we’re all presented with this question: how are you going to show up to this moment?
When it comes to reflecting on her journey and what motivates her day-to-day, it’s exactly that question. Nazareno’s own father came from humble means and wanted to become a cinematographer. But with his mother’s disapproval, he became the engineer he was expected to be. Nazareno dared the opposite.
“What I carry from his story is that while we make sacrifices and concessions along the way, we can’t forget the spark that lives inside us – especially now. As I see it, that spark is the essence of who you are. And it’s a choice to share it with others or hide it. How am I showing up? What am I bringing to the table?” she questions. “Am I really bringing me, or am I consciously dimming my spark, and if so, for whom – and why? And is it worth it? Or can I trust that bringing all of me – whatever that is in this moment – is enough?”
By: Aimee Hansen
Why Asian American Women In Business Need You To Not Be Passive
Asian American Heritage Month, Career AdviceAs written in Forbes, Asian American women are the demographic group most likely to have graduate degrees but least likely to hold positions within three reporting levels of the CEO or to have line or supervisory responsibilities. Asian women outnumber Asian men among associates at U.S. law firms, but Asian men are nearly twice as likely as Asian women to be promoted to partner (64% vs. 36%).
Recently, in a national outcry against anti-Asian racism, micro-assaults, commercial discrimination and hate crimes that have risen across the pandemic, culminating in the March Atlanta shootings of eight people (six of which were women of Asian descent), nearly 1000 Asian-American business leaders have pledged $10 million to support Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.
The Danger of the “Model Minority” Mythology
Asian American often women encounter a convoluted web of cultural myths that create a plateau in their career path. In one study of Asian American women who experienced discrimination, 34% reported that others assumed they were passive while 14% felt others viewed them as incapable of leadership.
The discrimination and bias faced by Asian Americans is often invalidated and made “invisible” due to being labeled as the model minority (due to having the highest educational achievements, highest median income, and one of the lowest crime rates) while actually being held back from the success of leadership and promotion. Not to mention blinding us to the reality that Asian-American women have been the hardest hit by Covid-19 job loss, with 44% out of work for six months or more.
The insidious impact of the harmful “model minority” mythology upon the Asian American community is that it’s both gaslighting and obscuring of the myriad discrimination and anti-Asian racism that very different groups of Asian American women actually face. Not only that, but it squeezes out room for the voices and diverse experiences of Asian Americans to be heard.
Aspects of the bamboo ceiling Asian American women confront include cultural ignorance and lack of ethnic discernment; the presumption of the perpetual foreigner; both imposed cultural stereotypes, as well as real cultural values and communication styles, that are at odds with Western masculine stereotypes of leadership; perceptions of hard working, discipline, intelligence and self-sacrificing that perpetuate an expectation of (quietly) carrying disproportionate quantities of work at a high performance standard; and racialized sexism/sexualized racism.
Yet when Asian American women do break prescriptive stereotypes to show assertiveness, they can be perceived as threatening and penalized in likability. Meanwhile, Hollywood has been no ally in challenging the stereotypes and simplistic tropes that Asian-American women are cast into, but rather reinforces them.
Speaking Up About Microaggressions
“In a workplace culture, racist acts usually play out as microaggressions—those small verbal or nonverbal slights, snubs, or insults. For example, being asked where you’re really from or being told that your English is really good assumes if you’re Asian, you’re foreign, and not a “real” American,” states Serena Fong, Vice President, Strategic Engagement, at Catalyst.
“Experiences of being invisible and forgotten surface through assumptions that because Asians are smart, quiet, and hardworking, they don’t experience racism at all,” Fong continues. “However, research shows that Asian Americans are the least likely group to be promoted to management positions, and Asian women hold the smallest share of total management positions in the US. Think about what’s conveyed when you say to an Asian colleague, particularly an Asian woman, you should “speak up more”, or “you’re so quiet”. Is that true or based on stereotypes?”
Microaggressions lower implicit self-esteem among Asian-Americans and induce stress, and when related to the “model minority” stereotype or perceived foreignness, are correlated with higher odds of poorer self-rated health. As part of AAPI Heritage month, the Los Angeles Times is currently polling to know strategies for countering microaggressions.
Fong advises, in her words, what not to do when you witness a microaggression:
Instead, Fong recommends:
When it comes to disrupting the conscious or unconscious, not-so-small and harmful expressions of discrimination, we are all responsible. We do not need Asian American women to learn how to “speak up more.” We all need to be brave enough to speak up and out, more.
By: Aimee Hansen
Grace Lee: Treasurer & Head of Financial Planning and Analytics, S&P Global
People, Voices of ExperienceLee speaks to ramping up the opportunity for responsibility, why motivating others makes the real difference in impact and why the ability to have a constructive relationship with healthy debates means you must be willing to challenge and be challenged.
Following The Call To Responsibility and Impact
“You do things for three years and then you look for a new challenge,” laughs Lee, recalling what the Head of HR at a previous firm said to her. She is motivated by massive strategic challenges with fast growth curves—and the desire to manage more responsibility while seeing the direct impact of her work.
Having planned to become a lawyer because of her love for formulating a thesis, supporting an argument and conducting a robust debate, Lee deferred law school to follow the investment banking hype out of Columbia University, and took an analyst position in Asia.
While in Asia, she discovered that she was far more drawn to the financial analytics and investor storytelling components of investment banking versus the work she partnered on with international corporate lawyers when on deals.
“The thing that I appreciated about certain aspects of investment banking is you can see the direct impact of your work. When working on an IPO of a company, if the competitive analysis and valuation work you’ve done is compelling, you should see that play out in the markets. Similarly with M&A, if investors deem that the merger makes strategic sense and the valuation is reasonable, you see that reflected in the price performance of those companies,” says Lee. “For me, seeing direct impact is so important.”
After three years in Asia, she moved back to the U.S. headquarters of the same investment bank. Subsequently, she went for a rewarding full-time Harvard MBA, which allowed her to focus on learning and traveling. She highly recommends a full-time MBA, rather than an EMBA, if you have accrued both the experience and finances to give yourself the opportunity.
After Harvard, Lee moved to the equity research group within the same investment bank. The firm had just acquired an asset management firm and she was able to join its financial institutions research team, where she was able to build upon her experiences in investment banking but now, formulate her own theses on which companies made most sense to buy vs. sell. After another few years, she thought “instead of analyzing these companies and the strategic direction that they go, I’d love to participate in the strategy making of a company and see how that transpires.”
She took a big leap to Voya Financial, helping to lead the IPO of the U.S. business for what was formerly ING, a top global financial powerhouse before the crisis.
“In my early 30’s, that was a really transformational experience. We were basically in a start-up environment, but for a massive company with leading businesses,” says Lee. “Before IPO-ing the company, we had to create the story of how the sum of the businesses made strategic sense together, and were far greater than the individual parts.”
When that role eventually evolved to maintenance, Lee moved onto a couple Executive Chief of Staff roles at other firms, before landing at S&P Global, which she came to be familiar with as her mentor from a prior firm had recently joined the company.
Merging Strategic and Analytical Outlook
“Coming from an investment banking and equity research background, we were trained to formulate both the high-level strategic picture, as well as be comfortable with the underlying analytics that support the strategy. For example, the investment case wouldn’t hold for a certain stock if the secular trends for the industry were all deteriorating. It’s valuable to be able to both see the big strategic picture and back that up with analytical horsepower,” says Lee.
Lee feels the ability to influence people is important and something she has honed, as is staying abreast of the macro-environment.
“Our job isn’t static, so to constantly keep educated on how the economy, markets and world is evolving is important,” observes Lee.
Inspiring Greatness In Others
Through both executive coaching and mentorship, Lee has realized that while striving for personal achievement has delivered her this far, the true opportunity for incremental growth and impact now lies in inspiring greatness from others.
One of her mentors shared that a mentor once advised that if you’re operating at 100% as a high achiever, it takes a lot of work to ramp yourself up to 110%. But if a whole team is operating at 70% of their performance potential and you are able to elevate the team to 80%, the incremental impact of that shift is much, much greater.
Lee has embraced this philosophy, particularly as in recent roles, her direct reports and management responsibilities have increased. While she still rolls up her sleeves and does her own modeling or formats her own PowerPoint presentations from time to time, she realized that her impact is no longer measured solely on her performance, but on the camaraderie and achievements of her broader team. “The joy I used to get seeing the price performance of a successful IPO I worked on, I now get watching my employees grow and succeed. Some of the greatest compliments I have received recently were from my staff who have told me about the profound impact I have had on their professional development.”
More deeply embracing empathy and the softer skills is part of her current leadership approach, qualities which she admits wer not central to her personal achievement mindset.
“Earlier in my career, I focused on quick and seamless execution,” she reflects. “I didn’t much appreciate the softer skills, but now that I oversee a range of initiatives, it is impossible to be that strong individual contributor across all of these. I am also recognizing that what I need to do is empathize and elevate those I work and partner with, as collectively we can all achieve more than any single contributor,” says Lee.
She also notes that leaders she most admires, including executive management at her current company, demonstrate these skills and she feels inspired by them to always do her best.
Setting the Tone And Encouraging Women’s Voices
As a Korean-American woman, Lee is often a unique face as finance in corporate America tends to be white male-dominated. But growing up with a younger brother, all male cousins and having two sons, she isn’t necessarily out of her element.
“At my level you don’t see that many females, but that has not been a deterrent for me. My personality is a bit more direct, and I think that resonates more with my male colleagues,” says Lee. “That being said, the people I’m closest to and develop the closest relationships with are female. The higher you go, there’s fewer women but we really support each other.”
Naturally assertive herself, Lee will often encourage or even nudge her female reports to speak up. “In the reviews I give them, I tell them ‘I know you share good emails and insights with me, but I think everyone would benefit from you sharing those ideas.’”
In the virtual meeting room, she will take the initiative to volunteer other women to speak, mentioning that she knows her female coworker (by name) has ideas to share on this topic. She also IMs with managers and peers when topics come up, either to bounce off possible points or let a colleague know her input would be valued on this topic.
Being Willing to Challenge and Be Challenged
Lee emphasizes the value of being willing to challenge, as well as being willing to be challenged as a leader. “I have strong opinions, but I am the very first person—if you tell me why I’m wrong and give me data points— to say, ‘I’m wrong. Let’s shift.’”
Equally, she is unafraid to challenge her current boss, when she has a different perspective on how to approach an issue. “He’s a very logical man and he doesn’t want ‘yes people, because they add less value than people who will think strategically and then push back. I appreciate this about him and have tried to emulate this in my own management style.”
Lee thinks one of the best and important decisions she’s made is choosing a husband who is also an advisor and coach to her. She also appreciates that he always challenges her, and keeps it real and her grounded. She enjoys spending quality time with him, her six and nine year old sons and also watching Korean dramas.
By Aimee Hansen
Why a Women’s Retreat Is Not Really About Getting Away
Career Advice, NewsWhile a week away offers a break, in my experience a woman rarely goes on retreat just to step away from her life. Instead, the underlying motivation is often the opposite—a restless desire to step into her voice, and into her own life, more fully.
What a woman often yearns for is a big, wide open space away from the status quo routine and constant noise to listen inwards and reconnect to her inner truth, to catalyze the internal momentum to clarify and heed what she hears, and perhaps to surround herself in an atmosphere of support that will validate and even magnify her voice.
Cyclical Time and Cyclical Rebirth
In the day-in, day-out focus on “doing” in life, it can be easy to move through the motions, stay close with the inertia of our current trajectory and just keep going. But from the physiology of our bodies to the seasons of nature—with the continuous cycle of birth, bloom, death and rebirth—a feminine sense of time is not linear, but cyclical time.
So that moment arrives, yet again, when what once created personal meaning or fulfillment no longer animates us. Or perhaps a key role or circumstance is stripped away, and the sense of value and safety we derived disappears with it. Or perhaps we just sense our “stuckedness” and discontent, though we can’t put a finger on what needs to change. We are asked to meet ourselves all over again.
We repeatedly come to a kind of crossroads with self, and we are supposed to. We ache to shed a skin, to break out of the limitations of a fixed identity, to evolve into our next adventure or creation—even if we cannot yet know what that looks like or how it will show up or take form.
The openness to listen to our own voice and allow ourselves the life-giving force of staying true to our inner truth — to move with it as it shifts—is part of the ever-unfolding path of personal evolution, and reflects feminine integrity, even if at times it renders us somewhat unrecognizable to our former self.
Whether we will be asked to make changes inside or outside, and often both, we come to realize the deadening feeling of ignoring our own voice is far more dangerous to our well-being than avoiding the fear of change. We are nudged towards the necessary discomfort, and often uncertainty, that comes with growth, like metaphorical labor pains in the cycle of our own rebirth.
Catalysts For A Crossroads Moment
In her best-selling book Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live, Dr. Martha Beck speaks to three kinds of catalytic events that can cause a re-evaluation of life and transform your self-definition:
Transitions require a willingness to give credence to your inner voice. Transitions can only be self-validated, which necessitates emotional courage, as others may not understand your changes or decisions, and sometimes, until you get through it, you may even struggle to explain them to yourself.
Reconnecting With Your Voice
“We’re often blind to what creates our limits and blocks,” writes Nicki Gilmour, CEO and Founder, Evolved People (theglasshammer.com). “We all have goals, but we need to surface our subconscious gremlins, who are trying to thwart are best-laid plans for change by creating hidden competing agendas.”
When we seek to reconnect with our voice, we often find that unconscious limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging patterns are holding more sway in our lives than we realized, even if we have visited them before. Unexamined, they will run us in a circle of repetitive limited experience so that even as the characters and stages change, the familiar plot wears itself out in our interactions and relationships.
Just as time is not only linear, emotional and spiritual growth also does not happen in a straight line, however. The growth of becoming conscious of limiting beliefs and patterns often feels like a spiral outwards, returning to familiar themes in new iterations with a little more distance from the red-hot center of pain. We begin to hold increased perspective, as both experiencer and witness, and a greater ability to respond rather than be highjacked by emotional reactivity.
Sometimes, as explored in Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal The Heart by Tara Bennet Goldman, entire schemas or lenses of skewed perception are at play which require the piercing light of our conscious awareness, if only to open up the 1/4 second opportunity of choice in what we do with how we feel.
We can also question and rewrite the narratives through which we tell the stories about ourselves, those around us and our lives. We come to find that we all have deep stories through which we shape our stories and through which we write our lives, but they do not need to be set in stone.
If we are open and fundamentally teachable as a student to life, we will keep unfolding ourselves to reveal more of who we are. Life opens up relative to how receptive to our own tender being, with all her feelings and all her contradictions and all her needs, we are willing to be.
Ultimately, stepping into our voice comes down to self-allowance and not trying to constantly earn our value through the endless outcome-focused “doing” of the patriarchal paradigm, but rather claiming our inherent self-worth.
We surround ourselves with others who can remind us should we forget, because unlike the mythical solo journey, a tenet of the “heroine’s journey” is to recognize support is available from soulful allies along the road.
Walking Back Towards Yourself
When you come again to a crossroads of self; when you reach a moment where you can no longer distract, ignore, or downplay your feelings, needs or intuition; when you can neither watch yourself hustle for approval nor conspire against your own deeper desires; when you will no longer believe in a culturally-defined success if it isn’t also aligned with your own truth—then, you step through a new doorway.
What you find is more of who you are waiting there, if only you are willing to receive her, if only you are ready to follow her wherever she may take you. When our value is self-possessed, we are free to be and move and create, from the inside-out.
To me, a women’s retreat is never about that one week you stepped away from your life. It’s not really about getting away, but getting in. It’s about walking back towards yourself and stepping further into the truth of who you are.
In addition to lead writer for theglasshammer, Aimee Hansen is the Creator of Storyteller Within Retreats, Lonely Planet Wellness Escapes recommended women’s self-exploration retreats focused on connecting with your embodied inner voice, through writing, yoga, movement and more, to animate your unique expression. Her next luxury retreat event on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala takes place July 31st – August 9th, 2021 with 12 spaces available.
Lindsay Rosner, CFA: Principal at PGIM Fixed Income
Movers and Shakers, PeopleAs a fixed income investor, Rosner can talk about the credit markets all day long, but when it comes to professional development she speaks to investing in yourself. For her that means taking your seat at the table and not being afraid to bring your whole self to work.
During the pandemic, she’s seen more kids, dogs, and spouses than she ever imagined could enter the workplace, but those interactions have helped bring a real human element to business, and for Rosner that’s a step in the right direction.
Insisting on Personal Happiness Factor
While every job has its grunt work – she remembers taking breakfast orders as a Wall Street intern – Rosner looks for work that enlivens her and the people around her.
“I started on Wall Street right out of college. There were some unhappy people,” she recalls. “Fortunately, I worked with quite a few clients who were happy. So, I tried to find myself a job that would prove both professionally challenging and personally satisfying.”
Rosner loves constantly learning, addressing problems, finding solutions and being part of developing and implementing new products.
Recently, she’s animated by exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the fixed income space, allowing access to diversified investments with lower dollar amounts, as well as Environmental Social Governance (ESG) factors and increasingly ESG funds. While governance has always been fundamental to the bottom-up credit analysis conducted by Rosner and her PGIM Fixed Income colleagues, she enjoys being part of the broader ESG conversation which increasingly has shifted to include not only an emphasis on governance, but also social and environmental criteria.
ESG factors are more and more part of the conversations Rosner has with her institutional and retail clients, but also part of the conversations credit analysts are having with Chief Financial Officers and Treasurers because those factors can and do impact the cost of financing.
Investing in Your Value Equation
Early in her career, Rosner was positioned in the equities division of Lehman Brothers as the firm was going under. She found herself in a precarious position that she has not since forgotten and that has informed her decisions.
“Two years out of college on the trading floor means that you are only beginning to understand the markets and risks of positions. You’re deftly quick in putting together the morning meeting packets, have mastered ordering lunch for 40 people and frequently assist senior traders; However, you aren’t in the driver seat yet.” she states. “When Lehman was facing bankruptcy, I saw all the more senior people who I’d been assisting every day interviewing to get their lives figured out, and I quickly learned I needed more marketable skills and a wider network.”
As Barclays purchased Lehman Brothers, Rosner was never out of a job, but realizing she was on her own was a harrowing experience that taught her a valuable lesson: “I will never put myself in a position again where I don’t have the skills. If something happens totally out of your control, you have to be ready.”
Despite many views on the trading floor that a CFA designation was not necessary for a trading role, Rosner attained her CFA as a personal insurance policy and to fortify her credentials. Rosner has since chosen to keep her knowledge and skillset wide, rather than niche.
“Even within your organization, you have to think about the opportunities for specific roles or jobs through the lens of what is best for you,” she says. “For me, I’ve always chosen to pursue roles that are broader.”
Claiming Your Seat at The Table
Rosner emphasizes that you have to actively claim your seat at the table and occupy it with your whole self.
“If you want to be involved in the conversation, you don’t sit in the seat in the back of the conference room,” she asserts. “If there are not more seats, you should pull your chair up to the table and get involved to the appropriate degree.”
Rosner admits she has leaned towards over-preparation in claiming that seat.
“Diversity is not where I’d like it to be in the industry. That’s not only from the gender standpoint. It’s racial diversity as well. I care tremendously to see that change,” says Rosner. “With fewer senior women, I always over-prepare. If that comes across as confidence, I’ve made it look easy. But the fact is, I have a lot to prove.”
But she has also learned to embody her own skin fully.
“You get to a point in your life where you realize you have to be yourself. The path forward isn’t going to happen unless you are,” states Rosner. “That means bringing all of you to the table, not being ashamed to talk about having children, etc. There are times where I will question if the analogy I use, or story I tell, will resonate with the room, but you have to be yourself to be successful.”
Bringing Your Whole Self
“I speak loud. I use my hands. I’m pretty emotive. I have a lot of facial expressions. I bring a little bit of my personal life into my work life, whereas some draw a hard-line,” says Rosner. “I just think, this is the whole me. You need all of it.”
When starting out, she remembers taking training classes for client lunches. “There’s so much importance placed on professionalism, and some of it is so contrived,” she observes. “At the end of the day, these are people too who you’re working with.”
Rosner has long invited back her sense of self-deprecating humor to the office, as part of what helps build connection and relationships, and part of her own professionalism.
“You don’t connect with people when it’s all buttoned up. I love being a storyteller, telling a story and making people laugh,” she says. “We all have those relatable, funny moments and experiences and people will remember those interactions.”
“You’re not always going to connect by talking about a company’s balance sheet. Instead, be vulnerable. Being yourself allows others to be themselves,” she notes. “People value that you remember their kid was going to an important doctor’s appointment and ask what occurred. That’s being real.”
Building Your Village
“I think everybody needs a village. So much is building that village of men and/or women who support you, professionally or personally,” notes Rosner. “It’s all give and take. You have to help somebody in order to get it back.”
While she’s found you can learn from any partnership, Rosner has often benefited the most from the informal mentorships where “often you don’t realize it’s a mentorship until later,” even when the benefit might be tough love.
“Everyone can offer something. There are different times in your career where you’ll need different people so it’s important to keep those contacts,” she notes. “You may not need them for three years, but in a moment you realize that person is the perfect person to give advice on this issue, and you reach out to them.”
On the flip-side, Rosner notes that seeing people who she mentored do well is as rewarding and fulfilling as if it were her own success.
Working From Home
With a three year old and a twenty month old at home, Rosner has enjoyed and needed the flexibility of the remote workplace, whereas the previous expectation was full team presence on the trading floor. The pandemic has put into consideration whether that’s as critical as once believed.
Rosner notes that the remote workspace has brought more recognition and valuing of a perspective that women have always been able to offer.
“Women really have a pulse on what’s going on in the family and the balance sheet of basic consumers in the country,” says Rosner. “You can bring that kind of knowledge to bear, and it’s actually valuable in my work setting now.”
She’s also found the remote workplace means she can be available more easily to chat with others when it comes to mentoring and networking, and even more so with those outside of her organization.
Rosner loves spending time outdoors with her little ones and is enjoying the arrival of spring.
By Aimee Hansen
“Knock Again When a Door is Shut” – and Other Lessons We Learned From 10,000 Women Graduates
Breaking the Glass Ceiling, Featured, NewsIn addition, Goldman Sachs women vice presidents and associates selected to be 10,000 Women champions – serving as mentors to the Growth Fellows – discuss why they wanted to become involved in the program.
Learn more about Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program, a global initiative that fosters economic growth by providing women entrepreneurs around the world with a business and management education, mentoring and networking, and access to capital.
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10,000 Women Growth Fellows – entrepreneurs who previously participated in the 10,000 Women program and who were selected to participate in a series of training, networking and coaching sessions with senior leaders across Goldman Sachs – shared their experiences building businesses from the ground up and challenges they’ve overcome:
Amanda Obidike, founder of STEMi Makers Africa from Nigeria: “I come from a community where women are afraid to dream, they are afraid to excel. From this background, it has been a challenge – sometimes you don’t get the same types of partnerships, or opportunities because people ask, ‘how are you, as a woman, managing this organization?’ Amidst these hurdles, I’ve learned resilience, I’ve always learned to knock again when a door is shut.”
Raquel Molina, founder of Futuriste Tecnologia from Brazil: “I have always done things that were considered ‘for boys.’ When I began in the drone field and started Futuriste Tecnologia, people were surprised to receive information about drones from a woman. In situations where we are questioned about our expertise, we need to keep calm, share our knowledge and show that we are experts. Slowly but surely, people are beginning to understand the importance of women in the workplace.”
“When we provide tools to women entrepreneurs, we’re not only helping to elevate their business, we’re also elevating their communities,” said Asahi Pompey, global head of Corporate Engagement. “Goldman Sachs is proud to have supported more than 10,000 women throughout the world – and countless communities – since the program’s inception in 2008.”
Goldman Sachs women serving as 10,000 Women champions, a role in which they serve as mentors supporting the entrepreneurs throughout their fellowship, shared why they were driven to participate in the program:
Learn more about the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program.