Check out other episodes of the Speak Your Mind Unapologetically Podcast HERE.
Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter on Assertive Communication for tips and inspiration to speak your mind with confidence and get taken seriously.
We take your email seriously and will never sell or share it.
Leading as a woman in Engineering is not easy. I’ve interviewed 9 female leaders in Engineering to find out their most memorable courageous conversations that led to breakthroughs in their careers. These real-life career stories involve risk-taking, networking, asking for the job, responding to criticism, getting mentors, and getting a promotion.
1. Is It Good To Take Career Risks?
Preeti Karnik, Director of Software Engineering at Datto
Taking uncomfortable risks in your career can help you discover new talents that you didn’t know you had, find enjoyable work that you didn’t know you would like, and land opportunities that you wouldn’t otherwise get. That’s exactly what Preeti discovered early on in her career. In this episode, Preeti shares:
- Career risks that paid off.
- How to take more calculated risks and be more decisive.
- Networking strategies to stay employable even when taking some years off for family.
2. Why Holding Yourself To Lower Standards Helps You Take More Risks
Liya Aizenberg, Director of Data Engineering at Away
How do you take more risks to speak up and to try something new that could lead to failure? In this episode, Liya Aizenberg shares:
- How holding yourself to lower standards can help you take risks.
- Why asking for help can actually make other people happy and can lead to great relationships.
- How to use a mitigation plan to find the courage to take more risks.
CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.
3. How To Gain Support In Meetings By Building Strategic Relationships
Diana Dreyer Director of Engineering at FabFitFun
The hardest part about Diana’s job is to manage peers and manage up. And she learned some successful strategies to deal with that. If you work in a male-dominated workplace and feel like you need to keep proving yourself constantly, Director Diana Dreyer shares what works best for her. In this episode, you’ll discover:
- How to respond to a coworker who says “You don’t know what you are doing. You’re wrong.”
- How to gain support for your ideas at the table and grow influence by building strategic workplace relationships.
- The importance of regulating your emotions to successfully deal with difficult people.
- Using empathy + disciplining combo to manage your team.
CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.
4. How To Get The Job When You Don’t Meet The Requirements
Jess Sahagian, Director of Engineering at connectRN
Should you apply for a job if you don’t meet the qualifications? When there are candidates that meet the job requirements a lot better? What do you say when you don’t have experience for a job? The answer is absolutely yes, apply, but you need to be strategic about it. That’s what Jess did. And now her teams and company can benefit from all the unique qualities that she has to offer. In this episode, you’ll discover:
- How she convinced leadership to hire her for promotion instead of external recruit.
- How she got a job two level up at a different company without the JD qualifications.
- The secret Socratic question that disarms people who disrespect you.
- The quality all senior women in her company have.
- How she mentally shifts from aggressive to assertive in an instant.
- A winning tactic to resolve mutual resentment between coworker who feel like the other isn’t doing enough.
- What you may be doing to be overworked, unrecognized, and create unnecessary conflict.
CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.
5. How You Can Assemble a Powerful Advisory Team To Support Your Career
Sabeen Syed, VP of Engineering at Ockam
Sabeen demonstrates the power of having mentors and advisors to support you and catapult your career through several examples. In this episode, you’ll discover:
- A framework to help you decide your next best career move.
- The smartest way to get new mentors at work.
- Why using mentors can spark your ambition and elevate your career.
- The mindset hack to get you to finally share your half-baked ideas in meetings.
- A strategic power move that gets even the most uncollaborative coworker to collaborate without any conflict.
CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.
6. Discover How To Make People Listen To You When They Try To Ignore You
Vishwaa Vaidya, Senior Director of Engineering at Visa
Discover how to think like an assertive woman who refuses to be put down and owns who she is with Vishwaa. In this episode, you’ll discover how she:
- Asked to work remotely for some time despite leading a new international project.
- Persuaded a senior man that was ignoring her at a conference to apologize and invite her to meet his team.
- Landed big promotions and opportunities in her career.
- Responded to people telling her and her team are too combative or aggressive.
CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.
7. Speaking Up As A Female Leader In A Male-Dominated Workplace
Shelly Jairath, Director of Business Technology at Salesforce
How do you lead and succeed in a male dominated workplace? Start by communicating authentically, speaking up with courage, and defending your right to be heard. In this episode, Shelly Jairath shares her stories on:
- The importance of assuming own strengths as a woman instead of trying to act like a man.
- How to assertively respond to disrespectful insulting public comments by coworker.
- 3 ways to find the courage to speak up.
CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.
8. She 3x Her Salary In 5 Years and Conquered Job Given to Other
Maria Kauffman, Former Automation Engineer Manager
In this fun episode Maria Kauffman reveals her powerful stories as a woman in male-dominated workplaces:
- How she tripled her salary in 5 years.
- How she got the promotion that had already been given to someone else and became their boss with a single move!
- How she successfully said “no” to her boss regarding working on weekend, even though her boss was looking for an excuse to fire her.
CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.
9. How To Get Promoted To Manager From Individual Contributor
Joy Makumbe, Former Engineer And Project Manager
Joy shares her thoughtful and funny stories on:
- How she got her first job managing a team.
- Her philosophy on why she always negotiates her salary without any guilt.
- How she dealt with non-supportive coworkers even though she was scared of their reaction.
- How she commands respects as the female joyful boss in a male-dominated industry.
CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.
Sign up for our Free Newsletter for tips and inspiration to boost your career with assertive communication!
We take your email seriously and will never sell or share it.
“Don’t trade your authenticity for approval.” ~Unknown