Data + Women North Carolina 20 Aug 2026

0:01 Emilie Smith: Uh, now I'm gonna introduce our speaker, Esra.

0:05 Uh, so Esra, um, Mason is a learning and development leader with more than 12 years of experience designing and scaling leadership, career, and employee development strategies across diverse sectors.

0:18 She currently leads employee and care- career development initiatives at a US national laboratory, helping employees take greater ownership of their growth and design meaningful career path.

0:30 Esra is also the founder of Papriqqa, a community-centered platform supporting people navigating layoffs, career transitions, and periods of renov- renovation.

0:39 Um, so through cohort-based programs and interactive workshops, Papriqqa helps individuals reconnect with their strength, build meaningful relationships, and explore new possibilities with curiosity and intention.

0:52 Um, so with that, I'm gonna, you know, uh, pass it over to Esra, and she can tell you more too at the end about the Papriqqa, uh, Community Kitchen. Take-

1:04 Esra Uzun Mason: Thank you so much, Emilie. Hi, everybody. Thank you for the introductions. I'm really excited to see some familiar faces, but also new ones. Hopefully end of this session you'll have a little bit more clear, but also get to know each other and get to know, um, what you're interested in growing.

1:25 So we're gonna get started with a quick vibe check, and see… If you don't know me, uh, Kermit is my co-facilitator. He comes to a lot of my sessions.

1:35 I wanna kinda see in the chat which Kermit you are today.

1:40 Without overthinking, just see. Let me look at the chat. There's some ones.

1:45 I feel you.

1:47 There's a four. Excited, yes.

1:51 There's an eight. Yes, ready to learn. The workshops are ready.

1:55 There's a seven. I feel you all. I feel you. We're gonna feel cozy in a little bit together. I see some fours, fives.

2:05 That is awesome.

2:08 I'm right now a number two, because I'm just so excited to be here today with you, learn from you, learn with you, share our experiences, and see what comes up for all of us. So thank you for indulging.

2:22 Emilie, thank you for the beautiful introduction. Um, just a quick, um, addition here. I'm currently leading employee and career development initiatives at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It's a mouthful. They are located in Livermore, California. I'm working from Raleigh, North Carolina.

2:38 Um, I'm also, um, working on Papriqqa right now. The first cohort is out currently. I'm blending design thinking and mindfulness as we are navigating life and career transitions. Happy to tell you more about that later. And also, as you do, I have different identities, right? Um, I like to call myself a writer. I'm working on a novel right now. Send me good vibes.

3:03 It helps me say it out loud so that I keep myself accountable.

3:06 I'm a daughter, sister, friend, cat mom, wife. So think about all these different identities you also bring to this space, because we're not just one title. We're not just one path.

3:19 Okay.

3:21 A big thing in employee and career development that I always talk about is starting where you are. No matter where you are in your journey, that's the point that we're gonna start with. So if you have your workbook with you, I encourage you to go to page three.

3:36 And if not, you can also use a paper and pen. I want you to kinda think and reflect a little bit, where are you in your career right now? What's important to you? What have you tried so far, and what do you need? And if you don't have answers to all of these questions, that's also totally fine. And I want you to also think about what you're carrying along with these questions.

4:00 Are you thinking about getting promoted?

4:02 Are you thinking about management?

4:05 Do you need a completely different career path, or something just doesn't feel right but you're not quite sure what it is?

4:15 So we'll take a couple of minutes here.

4:18 Also, I'm pretty flexible. If you ever wanna come off mute or type in the chat, um, encourage you to do so. I always appreciate a good dialogue.

4:30 So I'll pause here and let you reflect on your journey.

4:36 Let's take one more minute here.

4:41 All right.

4:43 If you haven't finished, that's totally fine.

4:47 If some of your answers is, "I'm not sure. I don't know," that's also a great place to start. So hopefully this gets some ideas for you that's, that's bringing up some questions maybe or curiosity. We're gonna dive into that in a minute.

5:03 But the key frame of this conversation today is really the fact that growth is not one way. It's not one ladder.

5:12 Um, and I would love to ask you, if you wanna come off mute or type in the chat, what does growth mean to you when you think about career growth?

5:21 What are some words or definitions that come up for you? How do you define that?

5:28 Emilie Smith: You start being a part of the solutions rather than just, you know, follow an SOP.

5:35 Esra Uzun Mason: I love that, Jasmine. Thank you for kicking us off. Yes. Maybe you become a problem solver. You, um, you change your role. You help res- resolve solutions at work.

5:48 Salary, yes, Mary, absolutely. Show me those dollar bills.

5:54 Samantha, learning new skills, absolutely.

5:59 Helen, increasing influence, reputation, challenge, pay. Yes, the whole package. I hear you.

6:05 Increased gratification, absolutely. Challenge, yeah Daria. Hi, Daria. Yes, purpose, progress, collaboration, inclusivity, mentoring, appreciated and feel seen and heard, to tap into strengths. I love it.

6:22 Learning new skills and, yes, Kate, there is an and there, getting to actually apply them.

6:30 Day-to-day work meeting personal career goals. Yes, absolutely. These are all great answers. Thank you, all.

6:38 Taking action and not just doing what have been assigned. Yes, absolutely. One of the great advices that I've been giving throughout my career is that you are your own advocate. Sometimes, not sometimes, actually often you have to take it in your own hands because you're the one that can best advocate for what you want and what you want to become.

6:59 So, in your field, you come, you can become a deeper technical expert. So Jasmine, kind of referring to what you said about problem-solving, leading projects and strategy, maybe without managing people per se.

7:12 You could also step into people management if that's something that you're passionate about.

7:18 You can move laterally into a new discipline. This is something that we talk about at the laboratory quite a bit.

7:24 Growth can also mean moving into a different department and maybe being in the same or a similar title, but doing different responsibilities and learning and growing. Sometimes the answer is finding a different organization because it might be the culture, it might be just whatever is happening in the organization just not serving you anymore.

7:46 Sometimes thinking about redesigning the role you already have. What does that look like? So if you're already in a role where maybe your tasks are repetitive, because I've heard some of you mention, like, learning new skills is really important and being able to apply them. What are some ways you can integrate some of these tasks into your role or some of these curiosities?

8:05 How can you bring it up to your supervisor, to your manager?

8:10 And this data is actually really interesting. Uh, 6 in 10 senior level women report frequent burnout, and this is like a five-year high.

8:20 And this doesn't necessarily mean that women are not capable of leadership roles, but sometimes we think there is only one path to growth, and we take on roles maybe that is not aligned with who we are, our values, what we wanna do.

8:36 So that's why it's important to think about growth as more like a lattice. There are different directions and different ways that we can go about that. So up is not the only way.

8:50 So think about, what kind of work responsibility and impact do I want more of?

8:56 Think about that question for a minute, and we're going to reflect that a little bit more, um, in a second.

9:04 But think about the scope of the work that you're really interested in.

9:11 So what do you want? And here's where I want you to start. We're gonna do a little vibe check.

9:18 Think about the current role or a previous role that you were in. If you are actively looking, um, what is something that excites you? So we're gonna take a few moments here. It's on page four of the workbook if you wanna take notes there or somewhere else.

9:34 What energizes you in the work that you do? And you can think about volunteer experiences as well, or you can think about things that you do outside of your professional world too, because what energizes you, what excites you will tell you a lot about what you're interested in in the work that you wanna do as well. And then also there are some things that drains us, right?

9:55 It's when you check the clock every five minutes, "Oh my gosh, it's been only two minutes." What are things that drain you?

10:05 So I'm gonna pause here for a couple of minutes to let you, um, reflect, but if you wanna come off mute and share or type in the chat too, I invite you to, to do so.

10:19 Is it Fallon? Am I saying your name correctly?

10:23 Yes.

10:26 Esra Uzun Mason: I love your responses in the chat.

10:30 Mm.

10:32 These are some great examples there.

10:35 You get your energy maybe from collaborating on impactful projects, things you can see the outcomes of, creating communication assets that have real impact.

10:52 And yes, draining, lots of repetitive solo work. Yes.

10:57 For some folks, that might work, but for some, that might be something that gets in the way of being creative.

11:04 Little to no supportive understanding of what I do on the part of my supervisor. Yes. And Jennifer agrees, "Repetitive work with no opportunity for process improvement can be draining." And sometimes we get into this loop because we are good at what we do, so that creates this understanding like, "Oh, well, you're good at what you do. Why do you wanna move?" So it's important to be aware of that as well.

11:32 Nishanti, I see recognition and impact of your work feels. Yes. Recognition is so important because you wanna know that you're doing a good job, the work that you do has impact that makes difference.

11:47 Emily, learning and applying new skills, helping others, solving problems. Yes. I can see how that's energizing. Again, it's being the solution to problems that other people can't solve.

12:03 Autonomy and trust from your team. Maddie, I love that. Yes.

12:07 Being able to feel like you're being trusted with the work that you do- From your team, but from your managers, and having that autonomy can be exciting and creative.

12:24 I see that, Jennifer, "Process improvement projects fuel me." Yes, I love that.

12:31 Daria, "Fuel, learning, helping others and nurturing, communicating with authenticity." Yes, and you are so good at that. "Living in emotional intelligence, making effective decisions based on openness and no past experiences, working on relationships, spirituality." Ah, love it.

12:49 "Being acknowledged, uh, for my impact, including verbal acknowledgement and raises." Yes.

12:58 Doing a good job, hearing that out loud is really, really nice, but also can I see the impact of that? Can I see the results in my bank account too? That's always better.

13:09 Emily, you're also not dra- you, you feel drained from repetitions, mundane tasks, unnecessary meetings. Some things can be just an email or a document that we all collaborate on. We don't have to talk about it. Constant messages, yes.

13:25 Not being understood, not having autonomy about my time.

13:29 When people blame others, yes. Lack of communication. When people don't lead, lead with empathy. I love that, Daria.

13:38 Exactly, and sometimes the blaming happens when there's no clarity or there might be toxic culture.

13:48 That way people don't know how to communicate what works and what doesn't, so that creates that tension. I love that, Mary, "Understanding of my, how my technical work has real world impact and what it means in context." Absolutely. "Fuel, being paid for what shows I am of value." Absolutely. Absolutely.

14:09 These are great. Keep them coming. I love it.

14:13 Because when we share, also we're inspiring one another, right?

14:18 And when we say it out loud or when you write things, we become a little bit more aware and cognizant of what's actually happening.

14:27 One of the things that, uh, is in design thinking especially that's really helpful is to empathize with yourself and empathize with the user.

14:35 And instead of approaching from a blaming or judgemental point of view, understanding where you are and how you feel. It's so important to pay attention to when you postpone things. Are you a procrastinator, or is this task not aligned with what you actually enjoy doing?

14:54 So having this reflection can help us understand what's really happening.

15:00 Why are you procrastinating? What are you procrastinating? Who is involved? 'Cause sometimes it's about the people, not necessarily about the task. So being aware of those is really important for us as we're thinking about what's next.

15:15 So think about it when you're reflecting on what you're hearing from other folks and what's coming up from your own reflections, which way does your energy tip, tip right now?

15:26 Are you more in an energized space, or are you more in a drained space?

15:32 And what does that tell you?

15:37 So here's the other thing. Um, we're gonna look at a couple of things, and we'll compare what these signs might mean. When we're looking at the left side, what I need, is what you reach for.

15:49 And then the right side is the need that might be underneath, uh, what's underneath of that need. And again, these are not necessarily pure definitions. This may look differently from individual to individual. But in general, this is a helpful framework to understand what else might be possible for you.

16:10 So for instance, a management title might actually mean that maybe you need a role that has more influence.

16:19 Um, maybe you want to have direct reports. You want to mentor others because you're really good at what you do.

16:28 Or maybe it's a new job. Maybe the role became really repetitive for you, and you're not getting that excitement, that satisfaction from what you're doing, and maybe you don't have the support that you need to get better at what you do, to grow in your career, to see what's next.

16:46 So maybe that's a new job, either in the same company or in a different company.

16:53 It could be a promotion. Um, again, some of the things you all mentioned in the chat, recognition and compensation.

17:01 Are you getting enough recognition for the work that you're doing?

17:05 Is it making the impact that you envisioned or you worked really hard for?

17:11 And are you getting compensated for that? Because sometimes what happens, especially now with the job market being challenging, but also organizations not growing maybe as much as they were at some point, you know, there is this period that we're going through. Sometimes you are getting promoted, but you stay in the same salary.

17:31 So how does that feel? Is that a temporary thing that you can manage, or is that draining you?

17:40 Direct reports, opportunities to mentor, maybe that's something that you really love doing and you're good at it.

17:46 And you can see this and test this in the role that you're in right now. When a new employee comes in, even if you're not maybe in a management role, how are you engaging with new employees? How are you supporting them or when someone new joins your team? This is something that I talk about a lot at the lab because we're a very metric system, so teams get to work with a lot of different, you know, cross-functional departments.

18:11 How you show up in those teams can really also show your capability and your interest in management.

18:20 And seniority. Maybe you wanna have more ownership of the work that you wanna do. You want more autonomy. You need more acknowledgement and more leadership, not necessarily people leadership or people management, but maybe you wanna lead your own projects.

18:37 So what I wanna encourage you here is that start with the experience, the type of experience that engages you, that excites you, that's good for you, and not necessarily the title. 'Cause I've been in that situation where I got into a role because I thought that was the next step for me in my career, but nobody really told me what that role actually entailed.

19:00 And considering the culture of the organization, it was not really conducive to my personality, to my values, and what I've been asked to do.

19:08 So what I learned from that experience was it was not necessarily the title that I was after. I was after a certain experience that the title didn't necessarily provide for me.

19:22 And a different company. Sometimes when you know that you are tired, maybe you talk about work a lot, maybe there's a lot of conflict, you don't get along with your manager, something is just not clicking anymore.

19:38 That might mean that maybe you are in need of a healthier team or a manager.

19:45 So again, begin with the experience and not the title.

19:50 And I'm gonna pause here real quick and see, before we move on, what's coming up for folks? Anything resonating or maybe there's something on that's not mentioned here that should've been mentioned?

20:05 Madeline Cook: Yes, sir, I feel like on the left side, you know, what I think I need, it feels very black and white, and this is often how I think. I- a new job, a promotion. I love that when you shift to what I may actually want, it creates a lot more, like, opportunity. It just feels like there could be so much more in the periphery of what it is you think you need, and I, I just like that shift to consider, like, okay, well, well, mentorship, that, i- if that's maybe the answer to me thinking I want direct reports, well, now I'm, like, go from feeling maybe frustrated that I, you know, have been wanting a team, don't have it, to, like, mentorship.

20:46 Esra Uzun Mason: Mm-hmm.

20:46 Madeline Cook: Well, the ball is back in my court now. Like, who could I mentor? And I loved your suggestion about, like, who's new to the company, you know? It doesn't necessarily have to be somebody who's earlier, earlier in their career than you, though that's one great option. But, like, who's new to the company? And then I think about being on the receiving end of that mentorship if I were-

21:06 Esra Uzun Mason: Mm

21:06 Madeline Cook: … new to an organization, and I'd be so excited that somebody was like, "Hey, let me help get you up to speed." So just wanted to, uh, call that out. I love this way of thinking.

21:17 Esra Uzun Mason: Thank you, Maddie. I really appreciate your sharing. Absolutely. There are so many ways we can engage in different ways in our roles, sometimes within our own teams, sometimes outside.

21:28 And one thing that I try to be always intentional, whenever somebody new an- is announced at the company, I always write to them directly, "Hey, welcome.

21:38 What can I help you with?" You know, maybe we're doing something completely different, but I'm sure I can give insight to something else because I've been here longer. So even that is part of a mentorship or, um, relationship building experience there, and see what that opens up for you. And I think that's something that's also visible, and, um, it's just a good way to collaborate.

22:02 Mm.

22:03 I'm also looking at the chat as well. Some of the reflections I think apply here. Mary, I, I really agree with you, not having access to work resources that are needed, be- left floundering, not receiving clarity from the people that matter. That makes a huge difference. And sometimes that makes the growth a little bit harder, too, when you don't know what the next step is, and what are the options, and who do I talk to, who do I go to about that?

22:34 What else is coming up for folks?

22:38 Anything else anyone wants to share? Anything else coming up for folks?

22:43 I can share something. I'm just curious, like, how many people see a lot of their other coworkers more stressed than usual?

22:51 Esra Uzun Mason: Colin, I love your… I'm looking for more than half of the things on the right. Yes.

22:58 I hear you.

23:00 And Kate, yes, a different company, better hybrid policies, work/life balance. Absolutely.

23:09 Yes, Daria, who could use support.

23:12 Finding different avenues to practice some of the things that we want more of, but also being realistic about what you actually really want. Sometimes the answer is pretty clear. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes the opportunity is not there. Let's say, um, you know, in some of my coaching conversations, what comes up is that, "Well, I've been in this role for five years.

23:34 It's a natural next step for me to become a manager, but the role is not open," or, "My department doesn't have the funds to open this role. What can I do?" Yeah, what can you do? So what are some other opportunities that you can do in the meantime, being also mindful of your values, of course, being mindful of your time, life and balance, the compensation, the recognition piece, but what are some other areas that you can grow still in your career, even though that may not be the immediate opening or opportunity for you that you are actually looking for?

24:08 And then when the opportunity arises, whether in this company or in the next one, that's something that you can lead with.

24:16 Okay.

24:17 So the other piece is, do I actually want to manage people?

24:23 One thing that comes up at, at the lab especially, uh, some of the folks that I work with in leadership, uh, roles, is that, "Oh, nobody told me that I- my, my role now is to grow other people and take calls and tell them, you know, how to, you know, help them out and give them guidance." Or they were promoted because they're really good at what they do.

24:47 They're good at their job, so hence they can manage people. But those are not the same things. You can be really good at your technical knowledge, what you do, but you may not necessarily be, A, ready to lead people.

25:03 B, maybe that's not what you want. Maybe you wanna grow in your own role from, um, maybe junior to senior level. So those are some of the things that we need to t- think about, and here's what we're going to do.

25:15 We'll look at the differences here of the two kinds of work, and I'm sure some of this is not, uh, new to you, but I would also invite you to tell me what might be missing here. We're gonna look at what an individual contributor does and what a manager does. Right? And again, this might shift from role to role based on the scope of the work that you're asked to do, but in general, and especially in this world, individual contributor work is about technical depth, right?

25:47 Knowing what you're doing really well.

25:50 Analysis and problem-solving, understanding how the business works, and being able to translate those needs into actionable problem-solving.

26:01 Building models, systems, products, owning the deliverable, and leading the deadline, and maybe specialized expertise.

26:12 But when you come into the managing people side of things, now you're responsible for other people.

26:20 Now you need to actually set priorities for other people, help them grow in their career, and sometimes that comes with giving feedback.

26:30 And the thing is, giving feedback is not always easy, especially if it's constructive and if it's supposed to help someone. But I always try to remind folks, feedback is a gift, and I always tell, um, my team as well, "Give it to me just as is. Like, tell me what I'm doing well. Tell me where I'm not doing well," because if I know what I'm doing better or not as good as you want me to, then how do I know, um, where I need the support?

26:59 Also, navigating conflict, hiring and developing people, advocating for resources because sometimes your people will come to you and say, "Hey, I really want this certification program," but there's no budget. So you have to be the middleman between the decision-makers and your direct report, and you wanna keep them, right? You wanna grow them.

27:20 And outcomes are made through others. So you are more in charge, or you are more in charge of setting the strategy, but you're not always as on the ground with your direct reports with the people that you're managing. So those are some of the differences here.

27:38 And notice your gut reaction to each side when you're thinking about your own role or your future role.

27:45 However you're feeling in your gut, in your brain, in your heart, is- it's data also. It's telling you that you are actually excited about this or maybe you are not. So what are some other ways I can think about that?

27:58 So we're gonna take a minute here. On your workbook on page six, you'll see these seven statements.

28:05 I would love for you to rate them from one to five. One is not me at all. This has nothing to do with me, and five is, yeah, this is me. Uh, absolutely me.

28:15 So I'll pause here for a minute, let you see what comes up for you.

28:24 So looking back to your energy audit from earlier,

28:32 what fuels you and what drains you,

28:38 and looking at some of the statements here, what's coming up for you?

28:46 If you would like to share, you can type in the chat.

28:51 Jasmine, yes.

28:54 Agreed, and you have so much great knowledge that you can transfer.

29:01 Agreed, Daria. Managing can be draining in some ways. It depends on how many people you have on your team, especially if you have a large team, that can be hard.

29:12 You also have to be the change manager. You have to translate, um, the decisions that are coming up from the top to your people sometimes, and sometimes those decisions are not favorable. So how do you bring it up to your folks thinking ahead how they might respond?

29:31 Um, not gonna get into the details, but one of the things, Daria, you might be familiar, the SCARF model. Like, what are the things that people might react to when you share bad news or when you share, like, budget cuts? So think about those things as part of that too that might be draining and the parts of that might be exciting. You're also… You can create so much opportunities for people.

29:56 You can share your knowledge, your skills, your competencies, your journey with them. You can inspire them.

30:03 I see some like, "Not for me." Maybe, "Yes, me too." "Definitely yes." "No management possibly ever." There's nothing wrong with that. It's all about knowing what you want and feeling this one precious life that we have according to your own passions, according to your own excitement.

30:26 Yes, Jennifer, I hear you. Sometimes that's the hard part, and that's why sometimes management struggles. Because they don't wanna let go of the work that they do, 'cause they love it so much. So what does that mean? Maybe you just get really better and better at what you do.

30:44 Yep.

30:46 Maddie, I think you are, too. Yes, Kate.

30:51 I love this.

30:54 It's all about knowing what you want.

30:59 So here are some other positions, like especially in your data, but also in other, um, roles. You can still lead without managing. You don't have to lead people.

31:11 You really can lead with your technical expertise. You can be a project leader. You can be a, um, program leader, project manager. You can be a principal analyst, data strategist.

31:25 You can be a mentor, officially or unofficially. Maybe you can start a mentorship program at your company, who knows?

31:33 You can be a subject matter expert, because maybe what really fills your cup is people coming to you for problem-solving.

31:41 So if managing sits on your draining side, you can still continue to grow in your influence and your expertise. That doesn't have to be what you have to do.

31:53 So what it takes to move up.

31:56 There are five signals. Of course, this is not set in stone, but for the most part, ability to lead without authority, right? Move things forward without relying on a title. Maybe you can still help in the decision-making process with your technical ability.

32:14 You can still develop others. Um, you can… You might have a mentorship program in your company, or again, as we talked earlier, welcoming new employees and transferring your knowledge to them, giving feedback. You don't have to be a manager to give feedback, right? You can give feedback to your peer that you're working together with, because that's gonna help them along the way.

32:39 Communicating beyond the data.

32:41 What is the meaning? What is the implication? What are the risks? What is the recommended action? It's so important to be able to tell a good story with data, right?

32:50 Um, because that's how we make decisions. That's how we get the funds that we need. That's how we move the needle on certain projects. Seeing the larger system. How do you connect the work to customers and priorities?

33:04 Uh, in my area, learning and development all these years have been seen as something that, oh, you just develop trainings and you facilitate them, right? No. I actually have to understand the business needs. I need to understand what managers are struggling with. I need to understand where the company's headed, what are the priorities, to be able to translate those needs into actionable resources.

33:28 Not just trainings, but coaching to mentoring.

33:32 And making work visible, so name your impact without minimizing it, and that's really hard, especially… Not to overgeneralize it, but there's a lot of data around that, too.

33:42 Women tend to minimize or downplay their skills and capabilities a lot more.

33:50 Whether that's cultural, whether that's how society has conditioned us to do, to be humble.

33:56 We can still be humble, but also reflect on our inventory. What is your evidence to show that you're ready to have more influence?

34:05 So I'll pause here for a few minutes. I wanna be also mindful of the time. We're coming to an end in a little bit. But I want you to think, and you may not have all the answers right now.

34:15 Think about something that you influenced. Maybe you changed a process.

34:20 That might seem simple to you, but that probably made things a lot easier for other people.

34:25 Maybe you helped someone at work or at your volunteer role. Um, maybe you impro- improved a process or procedure, made a difficult call about a tough thing, or you brought people together.

34:43 Things that c- you can use for your performance reviews, for your resume, for interviews, for showing the case for a promotion. So this is on page eight on your workbook, so I'll pause here for a minute.

34:58 While men do the opposite. Exactly.

35:00 Exactly.

35:05 It could be a specific moment. It could be a specific project, a number.

35:16 And think about the specifics, and don't worry about getting the language corporate.

35:24 Just jot down whatever comes up to you

35:30 without thinking about job description language.

35:36 These are some reflections to think about how you are communicating your value.

35:43 You know what you're good at, but how you articulate it and how you show it really changes how others also see the work that you do.

35:56 So what are some ways you're communicating your value?

36:01 What is a difference that you made?

36:03 Not necessarily your job title, but what have you changed?

36:09 Think about how you can continue to have conversations.

36:15 Sometimes networking can seem transactional, but think about how you can make it personable. How do you make it more aligned with your, with who you are? That was something that I struggled in the past. But- Find your own voice. Lead with curiosity and generosity. Ask questions to people. If you know someone who's in a role that you really, really want, why not schedule a call?

36:45 What's the worst that can happen, right? Think about who you have in your circle, who you can connect with, what kind of questions you wanna ask them.

36:56 I always draft my questions in those kind of qu- calls, just because I wanna remember exactly what I wanna learn, but I also want to do my homework about the person that I'm talking to.

37:10 Sometimes asking first and then offering is the way to connect with people, because people remember how you made them think and feel and what you did for them. This is not necessarily to expect something in, in return, um, but to be able to make that connection. It's the same with feedback too.

37:31 If you think about how to build that communication, how to build that trust with someone, ask for feedback from them first before you share your feedback with them.

37:42 Imposter feelings aren't facts.

37:44 This is a whole another session. We're not getting into that, but think about things that you tell yourself, "Oh, I'm not good at this, I'm not good at that." One of the, um, leaders I work with at the lab was leading a lot of our conversations with that, and she wasn't even aware she was saying those things. But when you tap into that, where is that coming from?

38:05 What made you think that you're bad at XYZ, and why did you inter- internalize that? And is that even true?

38:12 Imposter is not real.

38:13 We all sometimes feel like we don't belong or, "Ugh, they're gonna find out that I'm a fraud," like, "I don't belong into this space." But sometimes what helps me is putting a name or giving a name to that voice and telling her to just leave me alone.

38:30 And a no is a redirect. Sometimes a rejection is just information, just data. It's not about you. It's not about your personality. It's not about your values.

38:41 Okay, so how do we get unstuck and commit?

38:46 This is, um, something I took from design thinking and simplified the process a little bit. Clarify, test, and decide.

38:56 Clarify what you really want.

38:58 What do you wanna change? Where… W- you know, looking at your energy audit, what you want, what you're interested in. Because you're not willing to solve a problem you're not willing to admit that you might have or a question that you don't wanna answer. So make sure that you really clarify: What is the problem you're trying to solve in your current state, and what is the question that you're trying to answer?

39:23 And pick small experiments. We don't need to solve all the problems in one sitting.

39:29 That's not how our brain works. In fact, um, I heard a talk earlier today where when you have a big goal, you know, think about New Year's resolutions, part of the reason why we don't always complete them to the finish line is because you're visualizing it, that's great, but your brain is not able to fill in the gaps. Like, okay, well, you wanna be there, but we're not there yet.

39:51 So what are some small steps that you can take? And then decide: What did I learn? What did I enjoy? What's the next small step that I can do? And you have some examples in your workbook on page nine.

40:02 Think about a small experiment that you can take.

40:06 And I'm just gonna check with you, Emily, real quick. How are we doing on time?

40:11 If we have a little bit more time, or maybe-

40:14 Emilie Smith: Yeah, we're doing, we're doing well, 'cause we thought the workshop would be until 7:45 and then have the breakout rooms, so w- we're good.

40:22 Esra Uzun Mason: Perfect. Okay, great. Thank you.

40:26 So let's pick an experiment then.

40:30 I'll give you a couple of minutes here. This is on page nine.

40:36 And there should be more examples in the workbook.

40:42 And then we're gonna do a quick check-in, and we'll do one breakout if we can. If not, we can just share in general with the group too.

40:51 What is a small, low-risk es- experiment that you can try right now?

41:00 Okay.

41:03 If you need a little bit more time, we can take some more time.

41:07 If we can do breakouts in trios, that would be great. If not, we can just use this space to do it together.

41:17 Emilie Smith: Yeah, I'll, uh, make some breakout rooms. Uh, and I can s- set it up for three. So just give me… Are we all ready? Do you wanna-

41:25 Esra Uzun Mason: Yeah, I'll just-

41:26 Emilie Smith: … do this real quick

41:26 Esra Uzun Mason: … cover this real quick. You should… Yeah, you should have the instructions in the workbook on page 10 as well, but, um-

41:32 Emilie Smith: Yeah

41:32 Esra Uzun Mason: … just wanna make sure that we're clear on what we're doing together. This is an opportunity to introduce yourself to one another, see who's in the room, and also a peer coaching moment.

41:43 And if you don't have all the answers, that's totally fine too.

41:47 So in these trios, you're gonna take about three minutes or so per person. One person is gonna be in the chair. You're gonna talk about: What are you thinking about your tiny experiment? What is something that you wanna try, and what might be getting in the way?

42:01 And then the other two or four, depending on how many people are in the group, um, maybe name a strength that you see in this person. What is a theme that you're hearing in their experiment or in their introduction? And then help them make the idea concrete. And then we're gonna take turns doing that.

42:24 So I wanna see if there are any questions before we go into breakouts.

42:34 Emilie Smith: Will there be facilitators in the group so we remember what our our, our mission is?

42:41 Esra Uzun Mason: All right. If not, we'll take about 10 minutes. Use this opportunity to network, get to know each other, but also help each other out with your tiny experiment.

42:51 Emilie Smith: Yeah, so it's in page 10 if you have the, uh, workbook.

42:54 Esra Uzun Mason: Mm-hmm.

42:55 Emilie Smith: Um, so but anyway, so I'm gonna, yeah, create the breakout rooms for 12 minutes, I guess, and then we'll reconvene in the, uh, main room.

43:03 So give me a second. I have to do that. Let's see.

43:10 12 minutes. Okay.

43:13 Esra Uzun Mason: Perfect.

43:14 Emilie Smith: Let's do this. Uh,

43:18 uh…

43:18 Esra Uzun Mason: Enjoy your conversation.

43:21 And Emily, you c- I guess, uh, we can also go into a room too if you wanted to.

43:26 Emilie Smith: Yeah. Um-

43:26 Esra Uzun Mason: Okay.

43:27 Emilie Smith: Let's-

43:27 Esra Uzun Mason: Yeah.