Statement Mondays: Interviews With Women Who Wear ”Heels” to Work

When do you dial up the toughness and dial it back? Caroline Cuffe built up a (necessary) thick skin as an oil trader but realized she'd have to change how she approached her next and very different role of marketing planning director. In this interview she talks about how her identity of being tough came to be, and how building relationships and making other people's jobs easier has been key to her success. Ready for some crazy stories?

Kelly figured out how to be taken seriously without having to be serious. She brings a new, bubbly perspective to the financial services sector as one of Morgan Stanley’s rising young female leaders. In this interview, she talks about why she turned down Morgan Stanley twice before accepting their offer, giving insights on taking control over your career, plus examples of the unique ways she's built relationships at her company. Turns out being young in financial services isn't necessarily a disadvantage...

Lifting others up drives everything that Lindsey Boylan does. She is a New York politician (running for Manhattan Borough President!) and career urban planner, and also the first whistleblower against NY Governor Andrew Cuomo in February, 2021 for sexual harassment. In this interview, we discuss what makes her bold and unapologetic. She shares how her identity has changed (or not) after coming forward, and explains the connections she seeks with other women. Lindsey strives to pave the way for future generations of women -- because progress only exists because other people before you failed trying to achieve it.

The secret to becoming the better version of yourself you envision? Practice! Facebook recruiter Noopur Chhabra knew what she "brought to the table" when switching jobs, which helped her stand up for what she knew she needed from a work environment. This episode explores some thought-provoking takes on what roles your mind and your body play in shaping your identity and career.

Happy Statement Monday! In v2 of this new segment, Natalie does a short but intense interview with Paula Hernández and Jackie Neumann about their journeys and as a collaboration to help spread the word about this much-needed app they're building called YaYa. Want to be in on a global community of women who all uplift and empower each other? Visit joinyaya.com to download!

If someone told you they didn’t think you could do something, would you sit there and agree or would you do everything in your power to prove them wrong? Meet the Elle Woods of the automotive industry, our firecracker guest Emma Kalayjian:

1. She is a user interface & experience designer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (UI/UX @ NASA JPL)

In this episode, we’ll learn about stigmas around hiring practices, the importance of giving space (heh) to your feminine and masculine energies, and what it means to take responsibility for your successes. Emma is currently working to make educational content on aerospace and automotive more accessible to young girls.

Self-worth should not be based on work successes. Susie Kimmel, a leader at a large healthcare IT company (and new mother!), learned the hard way about the importance of separation between day-to-day job performance and her happiness outside of work. After discovering she had breast cancer at age 25, she quickly adopted a more balanced perspective of her many life roles while managing to maintain her identity at work. She is still outspoken, still sets a high bar in the office, she values giving and receiving feedback well, and is even called a “war helicopter” on occasion...

Professional soccer player Tyler Lussi is the definition of intense. This trait has shaped her personality and launched her career -- all the way through playing at Princeton and then for the past five years on the Portland Thorns. In this episode, Tyler emphasizes the why and how of her “always on” mindset and how it paved the way for her success today, and shares what taking the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) public means to her (aka being able to buy and sell shares of it). Ready for a sneak peak into the No Chill Club?

What happens when you decide to pursue your life mission instead of the “normal” life path? Paulina Ramos explains why she quit Uber to volunteer with the Syrian refugee crisis, and the irreversible effect it’s had on her career as well as her life in general. Intrigued? You should be because this interview is POWERFUL and you’ll come away knowing more about value-driven lifestyles, the intersect of (or separation between) work and passion, and you may even question your own existence a bit...

No one will fault you for wanting to learn more. Aquatic medicine student and “Aquadocs” podcast host Michelle Greenfield approaches her veterinary studies by jumping at every opportunity available -- even though her “heart is with the dolphins,” she would never turn down the chance to work on something different like equine (aka horse) orthopaedics. Tune in to learn one way to be a trailblazer in your industry without being an expert, and to deep dive into the world of aquatic medicine (you’ll even learn how to draw blood from a dolphin!).