- What year did you join Eastridge and what is your current role?
I joined in January of 2018 and currently a Technical Recruiter in Orange County.
- How has your career positively impacted other areas of your life?
I love recruiting because I love being able to help people find better opportunities. The ability to help others is so important to me professionally and personally that it drives everything I do. Being a recruiter I have definitely become resilient and self-aware, I feel like those traits help me outside of recruiting by helping me push through life’s obstacles.
- What is a unique challenge you have experienced this year and how have you overcome it?
I am extremely hard on myself and when business lulled for my team last year I took some of the failures personally. So for me, it was about changing my mindset and reminding myself that I do the best that I can with the things that I can control and try not to think so much about the things I cannot. So the biggest challenge I am overcoming is not to be too hard on myself. I cannot control the market, candidates, or our clients at the end of the day no matter how hard I try.
- Why do we need more women in positions of leadership?
It's important to see strong women in leadership roles because we need them as mentors to encourage and inspire other women. They will in turn hopefully help build a new generation of strong women leaders.
- What was the biggest female empowerment moment for you this past year?
I know this is going to sound small but learning to say no to others. I am a people pleaser and want to help and support everyone around me and the only one that ends up suffering is me. In the past few years, I have found that by supporting everyone else and not myself, my emotional and mental well-being was suffering. Unfortunately, I believe as a society, we women have been conditioned to take care of others and for me at least I have a lot of guilt when I try to put myself first, so that has taken a lot of work and boundary setting. I am learning to prioritize my well-being so that I can continue to support others in the long term instead of burning out. I’m learning to not feel guilty about putting myself first and treating myself with the same compassion, respect, and grace I give the people around me. Shout out to our Women of Wonder, for continuously reminding me of this.
- Name a woman you admire and why?
This is difficult because I’ve been surrounded by and looked up to many wonderful women in my life, but to pick one, my mom as she raised 5 strong, independent kids. Though one that I will always support are women in sports, specifically the US National Soccer Team. From the Mia Hamm era to the team now with Megan Rapinoe. Growing up playing soccer it was always amazing to see the Women’s team winning World Cups and Olympics and proving everyone wrong. The team is always a bunch of BADASSES no matter the year. I went to a soccer camp where I met some of the women from the 2000 team and it was very inspiring. They showed so many girls true grit, teamwork, and dedication to not only soccer but each other. Fast forward to now seeing Mia Hamm teaming up with other women to bring a women’s professional team to LA. It just makes my heart happy and I know that female athletes appreciate it too. That's just my childhood, but there are so many women out there breaking the barriers and paving the way for future generations, I can have a different answer every day.
- What advice would you give women navigating today’s workforce?
Work hard, ask questions, and learn from everyone around you. Find a mentor in your craft and use them to help you navigate the challenges and the wins. That is a huge point to remember to celebrate all the wins in your career, especially the little ones. Learn from the mistakes and the challenges and try not to be hard on yourself.