After years of research and interviewing more than 100 high achieving individuals, Dr. Ruth Gotian realized that all high achievers share the same four attributes: intrinsic motivation, perseverance, a strong foundation, and constantly learning through informal means. The key to their success is that they do all four of these things at the same time.  In her book The Success Factor,  Dr. Ruth Gotian shares incredible insights and examples of the 4 attributes and how they show up for people like: 

• Dr. Tony Fauci NIH/NIAID Institute Director
• Dr Mike Brown, Nobel prize winner
• Dr Peggy Whitson, Former NASA Chief Astronaut 
• Maxine Clark, founder and former CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop, and 
• Steve Kerr, eight time NBA Champion and head coach of the Golden State Warriors 

Then, she teaches us how we can learn to be a high achievers, too. Being a high achiever is not some intrinsic skill you're either born with or you're not. You can learn how to be a high achiever! 

Dr. Gotian's current job title is the Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine. She has a lot of experience in academia and is an expert in mentoring and leadership.  She is also a regular contributor to Forbes and Psychology Today.

Her incredible experience and expertise in mentorship also led to insight on how you should be looking for a team of mentors, not just one perfect mentor. She shared important factors to consider when looking for mentors, how to be an awesome mentee, and how to approach someone you would love to have as a mentor.

Resources:

• https://hbr.org/2020/08/how-do-you-find-a-decent-mentor-when-youre-stuck-at-home 

Contact Info:
Dr. Ruth Gotian  - Guest
https://www.ruthgotian.com/
Dr. Ruth Gotian's LinkedIn Profile
@ruthgotian (Instagram)

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Burcu Karaca is a park designer who helps design water parks around the world. She develops a park’s theme and programming, creates master plans, designs park facilities and slide paths, implements safety standards, and analyzes the landscape and architectural elements. She creates the guest’s journey and experience at the water park, from the moment you drive into the parking lot through to the end when you leave happy, tan, and tired!

Burcu's two degrees (Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Bachelor of Architecture )  and incredible experience have led her from her hometown of Istanbul, Turkey to France and now to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. She works with people around the world, including her colleagues at WhiteWater, which is based in Canada. Some of the projects she's worked on include Vinpearl Land Nha Trang in Vietnam, Beach Park in Brazil, and Waterworld in the UK.

One of Burcu's favorite parts of her job is getting to go to the places she's helped design and seeing adults and kids participate and enjoy all the park has to offer.

Resources:

• Water Parks MENA (Middle East North Africa)
• International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA)
• Themed Entertainment Association
• World Waterpark Assocation
• World Waterpark Magazine
• InPark Magazine

Contact Info:
Burcu Karaca  - Guest
Burcu's LinkedIn Profile

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Emily Crookston is a ghostwriter that helps busy experts write everything from books, to articles, blog posts, and LinkedIn content. She helps business thought leaders and experts transform complex ideas into easily digestible content so they can share their voices with the world.

The synergy between Emily (ghostwriter) and the originator (the author) is unique to them and the particular book they are writing together. After going through a 16-week process, the author comes away with a finished book. In addition to helping write books, her collaborative work has appeared in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Ellevate, Psychology Today, Rolling Stone, Inman, SmartBrief, and ThriveGlobal.

Before being a ghostwriter and ghostblogger, Emily was a philosophy professor at an American university. She decided it was time to leave academia and remembered liking marketing as a kid. A friend with a boutique marketing agency was looking for help, and she started helping her by ghostblogging! Six years later, she now has her own business as an entrepreneur and credits her PhD in philosophy as giving her the skills needed to ask important questions.

Contact Info:
Emily Crookston  - Guest
https://www.thepocketphd.com/ (website)
Emily's LinkedIn Profile

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Christine Michel Carter is a Director of Content Marketing and the #1 Global Voice for Working Moms. She is a candid, authentic, and powerful advocate for who and what women are and can accomplish in the workplace and at home. 

Her experiences and education have led to:

• Work in consumer marketing, particularly marketing goods and services to mothers
• Publishing articles as a ForbesWomen Senior Contributor, and writing for TIME, Entrepreneur, Parents, and more
• Working on the maternal initiatives of Vice President Kamala Harris 
• Receiving a Congressional Citation from the U.S. Senate for going “above and beyond in ensuring that Black Moms and Moms of Color have access to important health information for their children and families.” 
• Being a keynote speaker, author, angel investor, marketing strategist, and most importantly …
• Being a single mom of 2 children. 

We discuss Michelle’s job as a director of content marketing and community engagement and how this new step towards the C-Suite has shifted how she views her role. We talk about what it’s like to represent women and be an advocate for moms. We also discuss how is she is her whole, authentic self at work and at home— her work knows that she loves her kids, and her kids know that she loves her work.

Resources:

• Mom Congress

Contact Info:
Christine Michel Carter  - Guest
https://christinemichelcarter.com/ (website)
Christine's LinkedIn Profile
@cmichelcarter (Instagram)

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Amanda Kurt is the Vice President and Project Manager at Kurk Inc., a concrete and excavation contracting business in Wisconsin. She manages teams of people, schedules materials and inspections, does permitting and drafting, and also works to integrate new tech into their business practices.

Amanda is part owner of the small business, which was originally started by her father. As a child, she went with her dad while he checked out job sites on the weekends. In high school, she started working at the company with what was then cutting-edge CAD technology.
Nowadays, she's using 3D grading and modeling technology!

While she never intended on working in this industry, she now loves helping build physical things, as well as building opportunities for her employees to grow within the company and being part of building the community she lives in. As a woman in a highly male-dominated field, and a mama of 2 young children, she is a strong believer that there is a place for all women in the concrete industry. There are possibilities for women to enter at any age in many environments, whether it involves the more physical aspects or what's required before anyone gets to the site.

Resources:

• Associated Builders and Contractors
• National Association of Women in Construction
• Women in Residential Construction

Contact Info:
Amanda Kurt  - Guest
Kurk Inc. Website
@wiscontractor (Instagram)

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Jing Jin is a Design Leader (UX Design) who creates solutions for users at an online tech startup and education platform. As the design manager at Outschool, she helps imagine the design and functionality that creates the entire user's experience, from start to finish.

Jing began as the only one on the team and has seen the company through 10x growth. She now leads a design team of 6, which includes: product designers (UX designers), visual designers (UI designers), experience designers, and tech writers (UX writers.) Together, they ask,  “What do users need?” and imagine the design and function of that solution. They collaborates with engineers to build it and make it work. Next, Jing and her team analyze the solution to see if the user’s experience actually matched the intended  outcome. Then, they take those results and refine the user experience. It's an ongoing, iterative process.

Product designers have a huge variety of backgrounds and education -- from customer service to rocket scientist!

Jing's education is in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and she has been an engineer, designer, and product manager. She has had a wide depth and breadth of career opportunities. She started at Apple, helped 12  companies build successful products, created a multi-platform system that is used by 4,000+ schools, and now is helping over 1 million learners in 183 countries worldwide.

Resources:

• AIGA (the professional association for design)
• alistapart.com
• IDEO

Boot Camps:

• General Assembly
• Design Lab

Contact Info:
Jing Jin  - Guest
LinkedIn

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Julie Berman, host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs" reflects on her 1st full year of podcasting in 2021 and what she's learned: Doing things messy allows you to get things done!

When you start something new and expect high levels of perfection or performance, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Doing it messy leaves room for creativity, joy, and iterating. If you start something new expecting from the outset to do it imperfectly or be imperfect, and you get it done—that’s a huge win. It’s a win because you DID it. You did something new that you had a desire to do. And as a bonus, the more you do something, you get better, and it gets easier and faster.

Being human means it’s ok to be imperfect and to do things imperfectly. Giving yourself grace and space to learn and grow will help you pursue something new in the future— whether that’s changes at your current job, a new job, a new hobby, or anything else.

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Heidi Cronkright is one of a few women in the entire world who is a Data Scientist working in predictive analytics. Her work helps predict the future by combining historical data with: 

• statistical modeling, 
• data mining techniques, 
• and machine learning.

Overall, this process allows her to help companies use big data to identify risks and opportunities.

She specializes in econometrics and predictive statistics. There are only a small handful of companies in the world that do this, and it’s a highly male-dominated environment. Only about 10% are female. Heidi believes women bring a completely different and NEEDED perspective to this work, because women think differently and that's a great thing.

Interesting fact: Did you know that there are roughly 22,000 data points available on every household in America?  This data is what allows Heidi to build models for clients to predict risks and opportunities.

If more women learned how to work at this level, consider what environments and applications this could lead to not only in the business sector, but also in government, nonprofits, and more.

Resources:

• Lean In
• Women in Data Science (WiDS)

Contact Info:

Heidi Cronkright
Contact Julie to get her information

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

Deborah O'Connell is a retired air traffic controller who has over 18 years of experience working for both the military and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ensuring the safety of passengers, crew, pilots and everyone involved in the airspace system. As a result of working in different environments, Deborah is highly skilled in working with various types of planes and pilots in many situations.

Air traffic controllers are an elite group of highly trained professionals who help keep everyone safe in the air and on the ground in and around airspaces. Their job requires rigorous training and is an extremely competitive field to get into and is a demanding job to stay in. Deborah has incredible expertise with quick decision-making, the ability to focus, spatial and math skills, and problem solving. This job requires accuracy, planning, and leaves no room for error, because lives are at stake.

Resources

• Listen to Live Air Traffic Control
• FAA Description of Air Traffic Control Specialist
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (Air Traffic Controllers)

Contact Info:

Deborah O'Connell

• Contact podcast host to connect with Deborah

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3

With more than 10 years of corporate experience in the toy industry at companies like Toys R Us, Madame Alexander, and Party City, Azhelle Wade is now helping newbies get into the toy industry. During the pandemic, Azhelle left her VP role at a toy company and became an entrepreneur helping toy inventors and entrepreneurs through both her podcast “Making it In the Toy Industry”, consulting, and her online course “Toy Creators Academy.” 

Azhelle explains how her degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology helped her get started in the industry. It was, however, her continuous desire to learn as much as possible about all the facets of the industry that led to her now being a thought leader in the field.

Azhelle explains the three different paths you can take to be part of the toy industry and what each involves: corporate career, entrepreneurship, and inventor. She also shares how you can join this industry at every stage, whether you are just starting your career or whether you have had a lot of work experience.

Resources

• The Toy Coach
• Fashion Institute of Technology
• Otis College of Art and Design

Contact Info:

Azhelle Wade
Meet the Toy Coach
@thetoycoach (Instagram)

Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)

Send Julie a text!!

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I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.

If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman

Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3