Page 27 - Shaw Wall of Honor

The reality is that we are all individuals, and there is no such thing as equality when it comes to people. We are unique individuals, and in many cases our unique abilities set us apart from one another.
pursue a degree in finance. Less than 10% of my graduating class were females, but being different or solo wasn’t a new thing for me. I honestly felt like it was an advantage and it certainly made it easier to find a study group. I then had an incredible opportunity to work for a technology startup. I loved the environment, excitement, and challenges that came with the startup life, but make no mistake, there were no females in leadership—anywhere! Every person who had any decision-making power was male. I worked hard, took on any opportunity or challenge that came my way, smiled a lot, and ultimately was elevated quickly.
That environment was not all rainbows and unicorns, as I was exposed to my fair share of inappropriate comments like when I asked the CEO if I could talk to him for a minute, and his response was—“sure, come on in and take your clothes off,” or when he would be leaving and I had several more hours of work left and chose to say, "if you would work a little harder you could be leaving too!” I am very confident that there were no males on the team that received responses like these, but I also knew he was from a different era and I was not going to change him. Instead, I chose to enjoy the work I was doing. I was determined to be the best at my job and invest in building relationships, and it earned me a seat at the table. In spite of the leader’s inappropriate comments, we built a team that felt like family, the company went public, and we all felt a part of something really special. This experience taught me a really valuable lesson early in my career—my mindset and attitude are the most powerful things that I’ve got, and if I get that right it will
be my differentiator. Bitterness doesn’t work, but trust and relationships do. We can’t control what others do, but we can control how we respond to it.
I chose to take a pause in my career and focus 100% of my attention on raising our two daughters until they entered middle school. It was a tough decision in some ways because I loved my work and the sense of success that it provided me. Parenting is rewarding and challenging but the job is never done, as all parents know. The same sense of success that you can achieve from a task that has a beginning, middle, and end cannot be achieved as a stay-at-home mom. When I decided to rejoin the workforce, I doubted my value and struggled to know what role to choose that would allow me to continue to be the parent I wanted to be as well as build a new career. I actually chose not to share details
Bitterness doesn’t work, but trust and relationships do. We can’t control what others do, but we can control how we respond to it.
Equal Isn't the Answer
27