0:00

Hi, everyone.

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Welcome to the next episode of

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the Bay Street capital holdings

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podcast titled, Bay Street

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Capital Holdings podcast titled

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How'd You Do It & Why Should I

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Care? This series aims to

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highlight women doing amazing

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work in various industries. So

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today, we are so lucky to be

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joined by Stephanie Thompson

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Simmons, who is a Strategy and

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Operations Program Manager at

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ServiceNow. Hi, Stephanie,

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lovely to have you on the show.

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Hi, nice,

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happy Well, thanks for having

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me.

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So I guess we can start off with a quick introduction about who you are,

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and perhaps in answer to the

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question of the show, which is,

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how'd you do it? And why should

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I care?

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So my name

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is definitely Thompson Simons.

0:34

As we mentioned, I am a strategy

0:34

Operations Program Manager with

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ServiceNow only been there for

0:39

about seven months prior to

0:43

ServiceNow, I was a manager with

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Lake consulting, have been doing

0:48

that for the past seven years,

0:48

leading implementations of cloud

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applications, SaaS applications,

0:52

doing organizational and change

0:57

management, just a little bit of

0:57

everything for the federal

1:01

government practice, based out

1:01

of the Washington DC area, I

1:05

think, why you should care. And

1:05

you know, how do you do and why

1:09

should you care? I feel like I

1:09

am one of the unicorns of the

1:14

tech industry, because I

1:14

actually went to school for

1:17

information systems and have

1:17

done tech, straight out of

1:21

college and kind of went through

1:21

the ranks. So I started out as a

1:26

systems engineer, and then, you

1:26

know, I, that was more like a

1:30

tier three development level of

1:30

the help desk where I was, and I

1:35

started to be a part of project

1:35

teams, and then vetting which

1:39

enhancements they should have.

1:39

And that made me ask questions

1:43

like, Well, why are we building

1:43

stuff that is broken? You know,

1:48

like, why they're having these

1:48

issues? Why are we even

1:52

revisiting it now. And that made

1:52

me go get my master's degree in

1:56

project management. And I

1:56

switched to the functional side,

2:00

became a business analyst did

2:00

that then, which is some people

2:05

kind of call product managers

2:05

now. And then naturally, became

2:09

a project manager with a smaller

2:09

company, and then became senior

2:14

project manager, program

2:14

manager. And I said, Well, Am I

2:18

really that, let me go back to a

2:18

big company. And that's where I

2:22

got in digitally. And that

2:22

lasted seven years, you know,

2:26

and but as a black woman, and

2:26

tech, I have experienced so many

2:30

adversities as well as wins,

2:30

because my I believe my resume

2:35

and my expertise is very quality

2:35

and unique, it has a lot of

2:39

heavy hitters on it. But still,

2:39

it's always a struggle, even

2:43

once you get into those

2:43

organizations that you realize

2:47

how hard it is to climb. So I'm

2:47

proud of my success. And you

2:51

know, I wear my wounds proudly.

2:51

And I like to make sure that I'm

2:56

opening up the same

2:56

opportunities for everybody

2:59

else, especially women and women

2:59

of color.

3:03

That's really awesome that you're sort of a pioneer for women in tech. And I

3:04

really like that. And so my

3:08

follow up to that is sort of

3:08

what inspired you to join the

3:11

tech industry. Because, as you

3:11

know, there aren't that many

3:13

women in STEM. And it must have

3:13

been hard not seeing somebody

3:16

who looked like you up in that field.

3:19

And that's

3:19

exactly why I did it, right.

3:22

Being in those rooms, knowing

3:22

what it felt like to be the only

3:26

woman then when I started to

3:26

become a leader, knowing what

3:30

it's like to still be the only

3:30

woman now I'm a black woman that

3:34

I was younger than some of the

3:34

people. So you know, I just

3:37

really had to navigate a lot of

3:37

different industries, different

3:42

teams, different cultures. So

3:42

when I became a manager, and I

3:47

was able to lead people, I knew

3:47

that I had to use my voice, like

3:51

I knew that I have an

3:51

opportunity now to help build a

3:55

culture of culture for them to

3:55

help cultivate new experiences,

3:59

or good experience for that

3:59

experience for them, and also

4:01

provide resources and help, you

4:01

know, as I can see fit, as well

4:05

as coaching and mentoring, you

4:05

know, because I didn't really

4:08

get that. I had to just, you

4:08

know, kind of figure it out on

4:11

my own. But I would love to be,

4:11

you know, somebody that people

4:15

can look up to to say, Oh, wow,

4:15

she's in this organization.

4:18

She's in this position. Let me

4:18

you know, get whatever I can get

4:22

from her. So I can, you know,

4:22

learn smart, not hard.

4:27

And then that's pretty awesome. And yeah, once again, you're so you're like

4:29

brave, and I really admire your

4:31

courage for doing that. And what

4:31

would you say were the best

4:35

resources and they helped you along in your journey? You obviously mentioned that you

4:37

went through the traditional tech route by studying at a

4:38

university and then coming

4:41

working your way up through the pipeline.

4:44

I would say

4:44

now, what has helped me the best

4:48

resources that I've had, one has

4:48

been networking, right. And

4:54

consulting is a networking

4:54

business. You will not be able

4:59

to succeed work, get new

4:59

programs, you know, projects and

5:03

things like that opportunities

5:03

without putting yourself out

5:05

there. And I think that's really

5:05

was one of the best

5:09

opportunities for me was to know

5:09

how to actually navigate my

5:12

career through picking myself

5:12

often. And I will say, the

5:18

resources that I use where you

5:18

know, the people that I admired,

5:21

if I want, if I saw someone

5:21

speak, I love the way their

5:24

energy was, or, you know, I

5:24

would reach out to them or I

5:27

will find out how to reach out

5:27

to them, you know, I would if I

5:29

saw a new appear, or, you know,

5:29

I was sending email, Hey, is

5:33

anybody have a connection? Can

5:33

you introduce me to this person,

5:36

because I just went five or 10

5:36

minutes with them. So I could

5:38

just, you know, be in, be in, I

5:38

guess, their pipeline or in

5:43

their graces to understand how

5:43

they were able to be who they

5:47

were. I also think, outside of

5:47

traditional school, a lot of

5:51

things like LinkedIn is has been

5:51

very helpful. For me, over the

5:55

pandemic clubhouse has been a

5:55

huge navigation and networking

6:02

tool for me. And that's actually

6:02

pivoted, and allowed me to pivot

6:06

and get more opportunities with

6:06

other interviews of companies

6:09

that I would have never dreamed

6:09

of hearing from, as well as apps

6:14

like blind and fishbowl, you

6:14

know, those types of things

6:19

where I can, you know, get the

6:19

fish through what's real and

6:22

what's fake, but it's actually

6:22

helping you understand, oh,

6:26

there's other people who are like me who are going through the same things, and let's talk,

6:28

let's talk about it, you know,

6:31

and to just get outside of that,

6:31

you know, just your coworker

6:35

talk, like, let's see what

6:35

people in other companies are

6:37

doing to help solve problems, or

6:37

help him get acclimated into

6:41

their culture.

6:42

That's pretty awesome. And it's great, you found, you know, these apps, you

6:44

know, typically like clubhouse,

6:47

which I didn't think could be used for business related activities, to really you've

6:49

leveraged that to your own. And

6:52

I really admire that. That's

6:52

really awesome. And following on

6:57

from that, you obviously said,

6:57

Your network is one of the most

6:59

important things to you, and in

6:59

consulting, especially you, like

7:02

emphasize that. But I'm curious,

7:02

were there any lessons that you

7:06

wish you would have known before joining your industry was there anything for the people you

7:08

spoke to didn't tell you about

7:10

the wish she would have never?

7:12

Yeah, it

7:12

would have, you know, speak,

7:15

speak what you need, I think,

7:15

prior to going to Deloitte, I

7:21

just came in did my job, you

7:21

know, I didn't advocate for

7:24

myself, if I saw a role or

7:24

position, I kind of just waited

7:28

for somebody to tap me on the

7:28

shoulder to say, hey, come do

7:31

this. And I tell people all the

7:31

time, if I could have started as

7:36

an analyst out of college in

7:36

consulting, I probably wouldn't

7:40

be 100% further in my career,

7:40

because by the time I got to

7:44

consulting, I had at least been

7:44

working for about 10 years. So

7:47

while I came with a lot of

7:47

experience and knowledge, I

7:50

literally had to start all over.

7:50

Again, it was like freshman year

7:54

on campus, and having to figure

7:54

out which auxiliary groups

7:57

you're gonna get in it did I

7:57

pick the right, major, you know,

8:00

like, that's really what it felt

8:00

like. And so and that's actually

8:04

the example that one of my

8:04

friends used to me and she said,

8:07

You know, I'm in a sorority, so

8:07

she used that as an example, she

8:10

said, You have to work this

8:10

place, like you want this avoid,

8:13

notice that you're on campus.

8:13

And that was one of the best,

8:16

you know, pieces of advice for

8:16

me, okay, I have to put myself

8:19

out there, I'm going to put time

8:19

on your calendar for coffee, if

8:22

you cancel, I'm going to keep

8:22

putting it off until you

8:24

actually, you know, want to meet

8:24

with me. And that I think that's

8:29

just really the lesson that I

8:29

learned is how to be resilient

8:33

in that aspect. And, you know,

8:33

knowing that people actually

8:38

want to help you be successful.

8:38

And they don't mind the time, if

8:43

you come prepared, you know,

8:43

what you need from them, or what

8:46

type of opportunities you're

8:46

looking for, and they provide

8:49

them and you excel, and you show

8:49

that, then the sky's the limit.

8:53

I think that's really what I had

8:53

to learn, understand that. If I

8:57

keep quiet, I'm not going to get

8:57

these opportunities, because

9:00

yes, my work speaks for myself.

9:00

But if nobody knows I want to do

9:03

something else, then they're not

9:03

going to offer it to me.

9:06

Yes. And that's a really important message to sort of speak out, and especially for

9:08

those who are just starting out

9:10

in their industries. I think

9:10

that's great advice. Like, don't

9:12

be afraid to speak out, even if

9:12

you've even though you may be in

9:16

turn or, you know, a junior

9:16

level, you know, your opinion

9:19

matters in the company. Yeah,

9:19

that's pretty awesome. And as

9:24

you mentioned, you learn a lot

9:24

from your career. I'm just

9:28

curious as to what was your

9:28

biggest failure in your career

9:30

and what did you learn from it?

9:32

I would say

9:32

my biggest failure would be and

9:40

like I said before settling, you

9:40

know, I think initially, when I

9:46

started out at Deloitte, I

9:46

didn't take the Go get them

9:53

approach. Initially, I sat back,

9:53

I waited for someone to tell me

9:58

what they wanted me to do. You

9:58

know, I didn't necessarily hit

10:02

the ground running. And I think

10:02

with that, you know, it also I

10:06

wasn't doing the networking

10:06

piece well. And one of the

10:09

biggest things that I got is,

10:09

you know, I had a manager, at

10:14

one point, basically, you know,

10:14

blame me for all the things that

10:18

were failing. And I couldn't

10:18

defend myself, because I didn't

10:23

know what nobody else knew me,

10:23

and nobody else knew what I was

10:25

doing. So that's why I was an

10:25

easy blame an easy target,

10:29

because I hadn't done what I was

10:29

supposed to do, to share the

10:32

type of work that I was doing

10:32

for the organization to reach

10:36

out to, you know, the partners

10:36

or the senior managers above me,

10:40

and just, you know, get to know

10:40

them, and things like that. So

10:43

nobody else knew my work ethic.

10:43

And that was like, the first

10:46

time in my whole career that I

10:46

ever received, like, what they

10:50

call like a performance plan.

10:50

And, you know, I thought my role

10:54

was over. But then I had to come

10:54

back and look at it like, Well,

10:56

this was your fault, you trusted

10:56

this one person, and you thought

11:00

this one person had your best

11:00

interest. And, you know, they

11:04

did. And that's what I always

11:04

share with everybody, it's okay,

11:06

if you are right out of college,

11:06

and you have a manager, but if

11:10

they have a manager, get to know

11:10

them, like people in the

11:13

organization with that they lead

11:13

one of those people who are on

11:16

the ground, and, and they want

11:16

to know what people are doing.

11:18

They want people's opinions. And

11:18

that's like, the biggest thing

11:22

that I've learned, like, you

11:22

know, I can, like you said,

11:24

like, I even said, before you

11:24

have a voice, not necessarily,

11:27

I'm not gonna go go and

11:27

complain. But I want to talk to

11:30

you about your goals and your

11:30

aspirations, I'm going to share

11:32

with you my expertise, and what

11:32

I've done previously, you know,

11:36

because without that, you will

11:36

have no idea. It was funny,

11:40

because I had a client once. You

11:40

know, she, I guess she thought

11:45

that I don't know what she

11:45

thought my ability was. And she

11:48

couldn't come to a meeting one

11:48

day, and I had to leave the

11:51

meeting. And she joined late.

11:51

And she said, Oh, my gosh,

11:53

you're really good at leading

11:53

meetings, I should have done

11:56

this more often. I looked at her

11:56

like, you know, it was it was a,

11:59

you know, she'd never allowed me

11:59

to do that. That was also a, I

12:03

never put myself in a situation

12:03

to show her that I really could

12:06

be doing this by myself. But I

12:06

was allowing her to do it. Like

12:10

that's what she wanted to do. So

12:10

why speak up and say, hey, I can

12:12

take this off your plate. But

12:12

you know, always offer? Because

12:17

even if somebody says no, or

12:17

they say, you know, not right

12:20

now, when time gets rough and

12:20

tough, they're going to come

12:24

back to you

12:26

know, for sure. And that's really great advice. You know, if they say no, now, it

12:27

doesn't mean that in the future,

12:30

they might not or think they'd

12:30

come back. So it's always

12:32

important to really value your

12:32

work relationships. So

12:35

I would say,

12:35

I agree. Yeah.

12:38

And you've been

12:38

dropping sort of gems of advice

12:40

throughout this whole call. But

12:40

I'm curious as to what would be

12:42

one piece of advice, you would

12:42

get somebody who was wanting to

12:45

pursue a career similar to yours.

12:48

I would say

12:48

figure out now what it is that

12:51

you want to do. I think what

12:51

consulting told me was like, the

12:56

world is my oyster, you know,

12:56

like I could I could switch from

12:59

Tech, I could have went to

12:59

advisory I could have, you know,

13:02

if I wanted to go to cyber, I

13:02

could have went to human

13:04

capital, if I want to do more

13:04

like the change management

13:07

stuff, but I didn't have to

13:07

either, I could sit in the tech

13:10

space, and I can find what I

13:10

wanted. That gives me a little

13:13

bit of everything. And I think

13:13

you know, knowing what you want,

13:16

and is really the best part. And

13:16

what we would call it typically

13:21

is your brand. It's what do I

13:21

want somebody to call Stephanie

13:24

for? Are they calling Stephanie

13:24

like and at one point, I felt

13:28

like my brand was difficult

13:28

clients. And I said, I don't

13:30

want people calling me just deal

13:30

with difficult clients, I need

13:33

to figure out how to pivot. And

13:33

that's always that check is what

13:36

are people calling me for, you

13:36

know, and even asking around?

13:39

What do you think that I'm known for? What do you think that I'm good at? And understanding what

13:41

lane you're in? I think a lot of

13:45

us fail. We feel like a failure,

13:45

because we're not going on the

13:50

path that people also perceive

13:50

us as you know, like you can be

13:54

a great singer, but somebody can

13:54

say but you're not good enough

13:57

for mainstream like you're good

13:57

enough for this type of it but

14:01

you have to receive that and

14:01

figure out okay, what is it that

14:04

I need to do to improve and

14:04

that's when when you're

14:08

networking and you're talking to

14:08

people helped me navigate to get

14:12

where I want to be versus just

14:12

taking whatever it is, you know,

14:16

like you want to be what is it

14:16

that Jack is a jack of all

14:20

trades and master of none? Like

14:20

that's that's that's really not

14:24

what you want to do it and

14:24

professional because you want

14:26

people to come to you for

14:26

something specific and not

14:29

necessarily for for everything

14:29

because then that's when you get

14:33

burnt out and that's when you're

14:33

tired. And if it's something

14:36

that you don't want to do you

14:36

feel scared to say I don't want

14:39

to do this because somebody that

14:39

you respect ask you so I always

14:43

say you know make sure that you

14:43

check with yourself what do you

14:47

want to do? Speak that when

14:47

you're you're networking you're

14:49

saying and don't and you have

14:49

sometimes you have to stop and

14:52

don't take that just because

14:52

somebody is offering you know

14:55

saying no, this is really isn't

14:55

what I'm interested in. I will

14:59

if you have this offer to reach

14:59

out to me,

15:01

no, definitely, that's a really useful piece of advice. Because I feel like for

15:03

a lot of people who are just

15:06

starting out in their career,

15:06

they want to take on as much as

15:08

possible, you know, they really

15:08

want to impress managers and

15:10

whatnot. But at the end of the

15:10

day, you've also got to be

15:12

passionate about what you're doing as well.

15:14

And yeah,

15:14

but that's how you gain your

15:17

passion, too. Bye, bye, you

15:17

know, going to seek what it is.

15:22

And that's what I said, I wish I

15:22

could have been an analyst at

15:25

Deloitte or at a consulting

15:25

firm, because there is no

15:28

expectation yet. Come in, learn

15:28

whatever you can learn, like I

15:33

said, it's just like that first

15:33

day campus, you can change your

15:36

major, you can figure that you

15:36

can figure that part out, but me

15:39

coming in more and as a leader,

15:39

and then being a leader, I have

15:43

to be known for something, it is

15:43

too late for me to try to figure

15:46

that out. And if I'm making a

15:46

pivot, it has to be very

15:50

strategic. And I have to be able

15:50

to explain why this is my

15:53

strategic move for people to

15:53

back me on it.

15:55

Definitely. And

15:55

then finally, to conclude about

15:58

your career, what would you say

15:58

is one common myth about your

16:01

industry that you would like to

16:01

debunk and why and why

16:05

I would say

16:05

one, that there that there is a

16:09

need for you to have to have a

16:09

technology background to work in

16:13

Tech Tech. One of my previous

16:13

managers that I've had, he was

16:19

used to be a cop. One of the

16:19

last people that I brought on my

16:23

team before I left consulting,

16:23

she was in pharmacy school and

16:29

didn't like it, then went and

16:29

learned some coding and got some

16:32

certifications. And you know, so

16:32

it's, it's like, you have to

16:38

figure out what your story is,

16:38

and understand what your story

16:43

is, and then be able to sell

16:43

that, like how I got the job of

16:47

ServiceNow is I was implementing

16:47

ServiceNow and the consulting

16:51

space. Even when I left, they're

16:51

like, you're on the partner

16:54

track, why are you leaving, and

16:54

I said, Well, I'm gonna go work

16:58

for one of our large partners, I

16:58

need to build, if I'm building a

17:03

brand, or I'm building a

17:03

business, if I ever want to come

17:06

back, I now have internal

17:06

experience, I have connections

17:10

inside of this company that we

17:10

are using. So I can come back

17:14

with with more knowledge from an

17:14

internal perspective, versus

17:18

just being that external

17:18

affiliate with the company, and

17:22

I can come in and I can lead, I

17:22

can lead a part of that

17:25

pipeline, or lead that business.

17:25

And, you know, nobody could say

17:28

anything about that. It wasn't,

17:28

oh, I want more money. Or, you

17:31

know, it wasn't that it was I

17:31

saw a path I saw, this is what I

17:35

need to do to help understand

17:35

what it is to be the vendor, and

17:39

not, you know, the partner

17:39

implementing and that's, that's

17:43

really that was the decision

17:43

that I had to make? And that's

17:46

where I am. And that's, you

17:46

know, that's how I got here.

17:49

No, that's really

17:49

awesome. And I'm sure you're

17:52

already busy at the moment, but

17:52

what have you read or listened

17:54

to recently, this really inspired you?

17:57

Wow, so I

17:57

have done a lot of, I haven't

18:01

been able to like read. But

18:01

I've, I've signed up for like

18:06

every type of conference, you

18:06

know, that I can possible. So a

18:12

lot of it has been mostly like

18:12

mini sessions on just being

18:17

successful at work. The last

18:17

conference that I went to was

18:21

actually last week, it was

18:21

sponsored by power at fly, it

18:25

was their pride and work

18:25

conference. And one of the

18:30

sessions that I listened to this

18:30

young lady was talking about her

18:36

app that she built, and I don't

18:36

want to mess it up hold on one

18:40

second, it was called Black

18:40

remote she, and it was just

18:44

about she built a application

18:44

that was a safe space for for

18:49

women to you know, know what

18:49

companies accept them and make

18:53

them feel comfortable, as well

18:53

as people who might identify as

18:57

LGBTQ plus, who you know, want

18:57

to know what companies are

19:01

remote opportunities and things

19:01

like that to help them feel

19:04

safe. Because even when we were

19:04

home at the pandemic, we think

19:08

they were in our space, but

19:08

there were some people who their

19:10

home wasn't a safe space for

19:10

them to work. And so I thought

19:15

that was really powerful as that

19:15

Do you know how you took a spin

19:18

on that, too, for a for a niche

19:18

market to help build a safe

19:23

space for people that are

19:23

looking for work where being at

19:27

home might not be feasible for

19:27

you?

19:30

Wow, what an interesting idea. And that's pretty awesome that you had the

19:31

opportunity to sort of hear her

19:33

speak as well by her app. So I'm

19:33

also curious, you mentioned the

19:38

power of your network slightly

19:38

earlier, and you know, the

19:41

amazing links and connections

19:41

that you've made on LinkedIn,

19:43

but I'm wondering who are three

19:43

people in your life who have

19:46

been the most influential to you?

19:48

Three

19:48

people. Wow. Okay. Most

19:52

Influential I would say I can

19:52

kind of give them as a double,

19:58

but my parents said My dad also

19:58

was in the tech space. So

20:04

between him and my mom, outside

20:04

of me during this natural tech,

20:08

path and college, every school

20:08

that I went to, had a technology

20:14

focused. So from elementary

20:14

school, there was a technology

20:18

component, I was working on Mac

20:18

at Mac computers in first grade.

20:23

Yeah, even to my high school,

20:23

the program that I was in, was a

20:26

science and technology program.

20:26

And it was built similar to

20:29

college where you pick the

20:29

track, like it could be, it was

20:33

like the AP classes and stuff

20:33

like that. But you could do

20:36

coding, chemistry, biology, you

20:36

know, but still at the college

20:40

level engineering, but I

20:40

appreciated that, because they

20:44

always kept me, you know, in

20:44

what was in the now you know,

20:49

and it wasn't very hard for me

20:49

to figure out where I wanted to

20:53

go. Professionally, I did want

20:53

to do psychology for a little

20:57

bit. But psychology and tech

20:57

didn't go together, they might

21:01

now right. But at the time, I

21:01

didn't know how to marry the to

21:05

me. Outside of that, I would

21:05

say, influential. Wow, this is

21:14

difficult. Because there's so

21:14

many people, I will say one of

21:19

one of my, my friends, her name

21:19

is photoshot, a butler. And we

21:25

have actually known each other

21:25

since college, we were in a

21:29

sorority together, we're in the

21:29

same sorority, and she actually

21:32

worked at Deloitte with me, and

21:32

she just was very instrumental

21:38

and helping me find my voice,

21:38

you know, like, throw things in

21:43

my lap. You know, give me

21:43

opportunities, introduce me to

21:47

new people. And you know, and

21:47

also she was like that check,

21:51

you know, like that, that person

21:51

that checked me, like, Hey,

21:54

you're dragging a little bit, or

21:54

I think you should do this, even

21:57

to the point where, you know, at

21:57

the end of the year, we have to

22:01

write up our statements of what

22:01

we did for us to get promoted

22:05

and stuff, and I will send her

22:05

my stuff. And she's like, you're

22:08

way more awesome than that. And

22:08

sometimes she would rewrite it,

22:11

you know, like, but that's,

22:11

that's the type of thing that

22:14

you need, like a try people to

22:14

help and force, you know that

22:18

because I noticed, you know, we

22:18

won't talk ourselves up, we were

22:21

trying to be modest, we don't

22:21

want to seem like we're coming

22:24

overconfident, over zealous of

22:24

what we've done. But you know,

22:29

you need people like that. And I

22:29

think the last person that I

22:32

would definitely say is my wife.

22:32

She is my true champion. And,

22:39

you know, it just partner in

22:39

life, to actually is super

22:44

excited that I'm no longer in

22:44

consulting, because she feels

22:46

like, I'm a human now. But even

22:46

still, you know, before that, it

22:51

was, you know, always always

22:51

support if I had to do

22:54

networking events, or you know,

22:54

things like that in the evening.

22:58

And just, you know, whatever it

22:58

is that I want to aspire to do

23:01

from switching industries, just

23:01

you know, she's always there and

23:05

supports whatever my decisions

23:05

are. And just, you know, if I

23:08

have an interview or something,

23:08

she's sending me attacks, like

23:11

you got it, you know, that type

23:11

of thing. And just, it's just

23:15

always really good to know that

23:15

you have a partner and somebody

23:18

that's, that's rooting for you,

23:18

and just really wants you to be

23:22

able to do whatever it is you

23:22

want to do. And even I came to

23:25

her recently and said, well,

23:25

some of these positions are in

23:28

other states. And she was like,

23:28

well, when are we moving? You

23:30

know, so, like, it's really good

23:30

to know that you have somebody

23:34

that doesn't want you to dim

23:34

your light, and it's just ready

23:38

to ride along with you no matter what.

23:40

That's so lovely.

23:40

And then finally, to round off

23:42

our conversation, what is one

23:42

piece of advice that you wish

23:45

you gave yourself at any point

23:45

in your life?

23:48

I would say,

23:48

you know, it's okay to take a

23:52

break. I think it's probably

23:52

what it is i i have two master's

24:00

degrees, a whole lot of

24:00

certifications. You know, and

24:05

always try to strive to be I

24:05

guess, the leader or the

24:11

forefront and just you know,

24:11

giving my all and a lot of times

24:15

my body tells me to stop. And

24:15

so, you know, it's, it's okay to

24:19

take a break, you know, it's

24:19

okay to say no, I don't have the

24:23

bandwidth. It's okay to say no,

24:23

if it's something that you've

24:27

been doing 500 times and you

24:27

just don't have the energy for

24:31

it right now. I mean, it's okay

24:31

to say to say no, thank you,

24:36

it's okay to take a break. It's

24:36

okay to take that PTO. And don't

24:40

take your computer with you. You

24:40

know, like, go home, turn it

24:45

off, turn the phone off. You

24:45

know, I think that's really the

24:48

key thing that I have learned

24:48

especially you know, now being

24:51

at home is you had to balance it

24:51

out before when you walk through

24:54

the door. You can say okay, I'm

24:54

done. But when you're at home,

24:58

it's like okay, I got one more

24:58

thing. You know to do but it's

25:01

like no, take a break, go work

25:01

out go, you know you have an

25:04

hour or two hours before your

25:04

next meeting, go get on a bike

25:07

or something like that, you

25:07

know, just just take a break and

25:10

keep yourself sane and healthy

25:10

because that's really what it's

25:13

gonna get us all through. Any of

25:13

this is doing that and

25:17

respecting your space in your

25:17

piece.

25:20

Definitely. And what a lovely note to finish on. So thank you so much, Stephanie,

25:22

for taking the time to speak

25:24

with me today. It was absolutely

25:24

lovely to have this conversation

25:27

with you.

25:28

Thank you so

25:28

much Laila. I appreciate it.

25:31

All right then. Thank you. Bye bye.

25:33

Bye.