Guest Marlinda Galapon has worked for some of the biggest companies in the world, including Yahoo, Salesforce, and Zendesk. However, the path to getting there wasn’t easy.

She originally started in nursing and then realized that’s not what she wanted to do. So she dropped out and worked a mix of contract and odd jobs until she found a full-time job in tech as a conversation designer. It took her about 5 years to get where she wanted to go, but once she knew what she wanted to do, she never gave up.

In the episode, Marlinda goes deep and talks about the impact of having an associate’s degree, navigating imposter syndrome, how she handles networking and putting herself out there as an introvert, what odd jobs she’s worked, the importance of mentorship and community, and much more.

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Highlights from the episode include:

0:00 - Episode intro

2:06 - Marlinda’s career journey

5:29 - Self-consciousness about having an associate’s degree

7:15 - Paths into conversation design

8:57 - Motivation to keep pursuing conversation design

10:10 - Odd jobs in between contract jobs

14:47 - Navigating imposter syndrome

19:18 - Putting yourself out there as an introvert

22:08 - Navigating networking as an introvert

24:51 - Mentorship

27:25 - The feeling of not belonging in certain spaces and how to overcome that

29:53 - Finding community

31:25 - Keeping the joy alive in your career

32:12 - Advice for people considering a career change

34:27 - Closing out the episode

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🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career paths, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari.

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