BEYOND BARRIERS

Even at the highest levels in companies large and small, many otherwise strong and bold women struggle in meetings. Many say their voices are drowned out; others say they are ignored or overlooked, and others can’t find a way into the conversation at all. And, in this new era of virtual meetings, the problem has become harder to manage.  In this episode, Monica shares women’s stories and experiences in meetings, what the research by Harvard Business Review shows, and how to assert your power in meetings. Highlights: [00:34] Women’s experience in meetings [02:25] What the research shows [04:25] How to assert your power in meetings [08:00] Using muscular language [12:38] Practice and prepare in advance Quotes: “It’s less about what we say and more of how we say it.” – Monica Marquez  “You can learn to take your power back. You must practice, test, and learn.” – Monica Marquez About Nikki Barua: Nikki Barua is a digital innovator, serial entrepreneur, author & speaker. Learn more at nikkibarua.com. Follow Nikki on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter About Monica Marquez: Monica Marquez is a senior corporate leader, ex-Googler, and diversity expert. Learn more at themonicamarquez.com. Follow Monica on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter

Many barriers stand in the way of a Latina pursuing a career in STEM... from societal and familial norms to high school counselors telling Latinas, and other women for that matter, "maybe you'd be better suited majoring in something else." This experience has been the case for decades. Even if one pushes past discrimination, there are still challenges with a lack of resources, support, and the isolation of being "the only" in the room.  The numbers say it all: Only 2 percent of Latinas held science and engineering positions, as reported by the National Science Foundation. And that number hasn't changed much in the last seven years. But for Latinas in academia, STEM, and beyond – embracing technology and the power of community are key to accelerating success.  In this episode, Isaura Gaeta, Vice President of Security Research, Intel Product Assurance & Security Engineering at Intel Corporation, leads by example in her respective field and shares her story to encourage and empower the next generation of Latinas in STEM. Highlights: [03:51] Isaura’s journey [07:53] Overcoming limiting beliefs [09:51] Building relationships [15:28] First experience in corporate [18:50] Gaining access to influential leaders [22:47] Raising your hand for opportunities [24:33] Building your personal brand [27:09] Tips for achieving your goals [29:39] Staying ahead of the curve [32:24] Opportunities for the Latino community [36:41] Accelerating success in the digital age Quotes: “Engineering is about helping people. It's about making our lives better.” – Isaura S. Gaeta  “Always give more than you get back.” - Isaura S. Gaeta “Remind yourself that you have information that is valuable to share and if you don’t share it, then you may not make the progress that is needed.” –  Isaura S. Gaeta “Quell that little voice that is telling you that you're not good enough or you're not supposed to be here. Stand up and say - Yes, I am supposed to be here.” - Isaura S. Gaeta  “Be confident about sharing and asking for what you want.” - Isaura S. Gaeta About Isaura S. Gaeta: Isaura leads an engineering team focused on hardware security research including penetration testing, physical attack mechanisms, and outreach to academia. Previously she was GM of systems engineering in the Platform Engineering Group and was responsible for optimizing engineering execution capacity, quality management systems, and operational excellence for a global engineering organization of 18k people. A 30-year veteran of Intel, Gaeta spent the first two decades of her Intel career developing various semiconductor processing technologies. Her work during that period led to two patents and five Intel Achievement Awards, the company’s highest recognition.  Gaeta holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. She founded Intel’s Network of Executive Women for the Latin America region and was the chair of Intel’s Hispanic Leadership Council. Outside of Intel, she serves on the board of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley where she chairs the Nominating and Governance committee. The Hispanic IT Executive Council has recognized her six times in the top 100 Hispanic professionals in the IT industry.  Links: LinkedIn: isaura-s-gaeta-1a50262 Twitter: IsauraGaeta

At this year’s L'Attitude 2022 conference, Latino Donor Collaborative revealed their latest report showing that U.S. Latinos are a key driving force in our nation's economic recovery. Despite being the largest minority in the U.S. and making significant contributions to the growth of our economy, Latinos are still among the most underrepresented in leadership positions. Esther Aguilera, CEO of Latino Corporate Directors Association, recently told AL DÍA News Media, "Business leaders—both non-Latino and Latino—play a critical role in driving an accurate story of the Latino community and its huge impact on the American economy. We need business leaders everywhere to lean in, learn more, and speak up about the dynamism and success of the Latino community. Otherwise, these misconceptions and contradictory views of our community will continue to slow progress for everyone." In this episode, Monica Marquez shares insights from LDC's 2022 U.S. Latinos GDP Report™, recent community successes, and how the next-generation Latino cohort can help drive our country's economic growth.   Highlights:  [02:23] Insights from LDC's 2022 U.S. Latinos GDP Report™ [04:48] Future of Latinos in the workforce [07:37] Adding value through cultural perspective inside your organization  [08:13] U.S. Latino GDP impact on the economy [08:41] Elevating and recruiting next-generation talent  [09:09] Latino educational achievements  [10:20] Statistics on Latino real consumption [11:16] Breaking misconceptions in the Latino community [12:29] Google’s rise in market share through product inclusion and innovation [16:15] Future vision for Latinos and embracing diversity   Quotes: “Latino Donor Collaborative’s latest report on the economic growth of the U.S. Latino cohort confirms the sheer dominance that U.S. Latinos will have on the country's economy as a whole.”  - Monica Marquez "From a business perspective and whatever your industry, if you aren't paying attention to the US Latino cohort, you will get left behind."  - Monica Marquez “Latinos are gaining more and more wealth and consuming more at a faster pace than any other cohort in the U.S. It just makes business sense to pay attention now.”  - Monica Marquez “We are excited to see a world where Latino voices and perspectives matter in defining products in defining services and policies – a world where Latinos no longer are hoping for equal pay, career opportunity, or a seat at the table.”  - Monica Marquez About Nikki Barua: Nikki Barua is a digital innovator, serial entrepreneur, author & speaker.    Website: https://www.nikkibarua.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenikkibarua/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenikkibarua/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenikkibarua/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikkiBarua   About Monica Marquez: Monica Marquez is a senior corporate leader, ex-Googler, and diversity expert. Website: https://themonicamarquez.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMonicaMarquez/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themonicamarquez/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themonicamarquez/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/themmarquez

Having immigrated to the United States at a young age, Ileana Musa learned a lot about a strong work ethic and positive outlook. She grew up a dancer and loved the arts – and thought this is what she’d pursue as a career until her father stepped in and told her she should focus on finance and minor in dance. Fast forward to today, Ileana is the Co-Head of International Wealth Management and the Head of International Banking & Lending for one of the largest financial institutions in the world. She’s created a path for herself and shares with us the steps to forming win-win relationships that help us succeed too. Ileana is resourceful and always made do with what she’s had. She’s found the opportunities in life and believes you can change your own path at any time. She tells stories of how she’s connected with people and why sharing your own personal story and vision is vital for this connection. Ileana gives us insights on how to meet setbacks head-on and identify quick wins in order to keep forward momentum. Listen to this podcast if you’re struggling and want to find a new way of thinking or build relationships with the right people who can help you reach your goals.  Highlights:  [03:30] Ileana’s story [05:16] Decision to pursue a career in financial services  [07:40] Ileana’s daily success habits [10:10] Building your personal brand [17:42] Gaining access to influential leaders [23:30] Overcoming fears and limiting beliefs [29:43] Executing on your new opportunity [37:14] Advice on staying ahead of the curve   Quotes: “What’s the quality of your work when no one is watching?” – Ileana Musa “The more you share what drives you, the more connectivity you have with people around you.” – Ileana Musa “I will never throw in the towel because of a setback.” – Ileana Musa   About Ileana Musa: Ileana Musa is the Co-Head of International Wealth Management and the Head of International Banking & Lending. In this role she leads the segment and strategy that focuses on Morgan Stanley’s International Client Advisors and international clients to ensure they have access to strategic investment, cash management and lending solutions, services and thought leadership to address both sides of a client’s balance sheet. Ileana is a member of Morgan Stanley's Wealth Management Management Committee, Wealth Management Operating Committee, Latin America Management Committee, US Banks Management Committee, and the Bank Leadership Committee. Ileana co-chairs the enterprise Latino Employee Network.  Prior to joining Morgan Stanley she was the Global Client Segment and Strategy executive for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. In this capacity, Ileana focused on international financial advisors to ensure the delivery of a consistent, goals-based wealth management experience for international high-net-worth and ultra-high-net worth clients. Prior to this role, Ileana was head of International Credit & Banking within Bank of America’s Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM) Banking group. In this role, she led the teams that supported and delivered integrated liquidity, cash management and lending solutions and services to financial advisors and high-net-worth clients in Latin America, Asia and Europe.  Ileana held several leadership roles in the domestic, international and affluent banking platforms at Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, where she lent her talent in growing the cross-border wealth management business.  Ileana received her BBA degree, with a concentration in finance, from the University of Miami and an M.B.A. degree in finance from Florida International University. Ileana is fluent in Spanish, is FINRA registered and is Six-Sigma Greenbelt certified.  Ileana was recently named to the Girl Scouts National Board (GSUSA) and sits on the Corporate Advisory Boards of the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), Florida International University Honors College and the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami.  Ileana was named to the ‘Top 100 Most Influential Latinas’ List in 2020 by Latino Leaders. Last year she was recognized to the 2019 MAKERS class of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as well as being recognized by Latino Justice with the 2019 Latina Trailblazer Award honoring her professional and personal achievements in opening doors and new opportunities for other professionals. Additionally, Ileana was named to ALPFA’s 2019 Most Powerful Latinas in corporate America list for a third year in a row as previously featured in Fortune magazine. In 2016 Ileana was awarded the 2015 Top 10 Corporate Executives of the Year by Latina Style magazine.  Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ileanamusa3 

Latina women represent only about 1.6% of C-Suite executives in Fortune 500 companies. While this inequity is rooted in factors like the lack of career mentors, it’s also about navigating cultural norms. As a first-generation corporate Latina, Monica Marquez discusses the unique opportunity for seasoned leaders - who navigated and broke through barriers - to transfer the unspoken rules of success and raise the next generation of Latinos/x. She also shares the pearls of wisdom from the most senior-level Latina women in the community, her own experiences, and the research behind what it takes to get ahead in the C-Suite. Highlights: [00:19] Statistics about Latinos in the workplace [03:34] Unequal experience in the workplace [04:32] Percentage of Latina women in the C-Suite [05:44] The number one barrier for success for Latinas [06:49] Lack of access to networks [09:08] Dead-end promotions [11:57] Having clarity on where you want to go in your career [12:42] The gender wage gap [14:46] Breaking the cultural curse of “just working hard” [17:53] Getting out of our own way [20:27] Having courageous conversations Quotes: “We have to understand and have clarity on where we want to go in our careers.”  - Monica Marquez “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”  - Monica Marquez “We have to break the cultural curse of keeping our heads down, working really hard, and being more reserved with self-promotion.”  - Monica Marquez “Acculturate to what success looks like in your organization.”  - Monica Marquez About Nikki Barua: Nikki Barua is a digital innovator, serial entrepreneur, author & speaker. Website: https://www.nikkibarua.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenikkibarua/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenikkibarua/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenikkibarua/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikkiBarua About Monica Marquez: Monica Marquez is a senior corporate leader, ex-Googler, and diversity expert. Website: https://themonicamarquez.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMonicaMarquez/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themonicamarquez/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themonicamarquez/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/themmarquez

As a Latina in the C-Suite, Ana Corrales challenges herself to think big and to always contribute. She was an early entrepreneur—selling her handmade scrunchies to her classmates. And although she grew up in a STEM home, she found herself continuing to be interested in sales, so she shadowed a few sales people and realized the field wasn’t as easy as she thought. But, that didn’t stop her. Ana loves learning. As she describes, she finds a subject that interests her and she just “clicks, clicks, and clicks” online to find more information. Management observing Ana noticed that she could do a lot of things, and so they decided to move her into a management position herself. She has continued to work her way up to her current role as Chief Operating Officer for Google Consumer Hardware. In this role, a few mindsets makes her successful. First, she believes you need to be undeterred when pursuing your goals. Second, you need to be willing to be uncomfortable and do the things other people refuse to do because of fear. Her older sister once told her to consider, “What’s the worst that can happen?” She has taken that advice to heart and sometimes just fakes it until she makes it. Finally, Ana describes for us the importance of finding “white space,” which are those quiet moments when you can just allow yourself to think. She believes these moments have made her a better leader. For Ana, gardening gives her these moments. She savors any time she can get away from her devices and has also learned to say no and draw boundaries around her personal time. Ana has learned a lot through all of her experiences, and she shares those insights with us in this podcast. Visit https://www.iambeyondbarriers.com where you will find show notes and links to all the resources in this episode, including the best way to get in touch with Ana. Highlights:  [03:33] Ana’s journey [05:54] Gaining clarity through a love of learning [09:54] Making opportunities happen [12:41] Overcoming fear and limiting beliefs [17:57] Creating your own narrative [24:08] Ana’s success habits [30:03] Asking for help from your community [32:32] Dreaming big   Quotes: “If you are passionate about what you do and you are contributing and really good, people will come to you and say, ‘Do you want to be part of my team?'’” – Ana Corrales “No one shows up looking amazing and totally relaxed all the time. There’s a lot of grit and you really need to want it.” - Ana Corrales “Get comfortable with the fact that you’re going to be uncomfortable.” - Ana Corrales “If you don’t have the narrative out there, there’s going to be a narrative about you.” – Ana Corrales About Ana Corrales: Ana Corrales is the Chief Operating Officer for Google’s Consumer Hardware business. As COO, Ana leads the development process for Made by Google hardware and Nest products --phones, laptops, Google Home, Chromecast, Nest Thermostat --and manages getting those products into the hands of customers. Ana also drives the end-to-end IT efforts and customer experience work across the Google Hardware business. Ana previously led Google Hardware’s first-party retail efforts, including driving the growth of e-commerce channel, Google Store.  Previously, Ana served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Nest. She also served as Senior Vice President of Product Operations at Cisco Systems. In 2006, Ana co-founded a startup solar company. As the acting CEO, Ana sold the company in 2010. Ana serves as a member of the Women@Google board and is an executive sponsor for HOLA, Google’s Latino Employee Resource Group. Ana serves on the board of directors for Watermark, the Bay Area’s largest women leadership organization, as an advisor to Roli, a company reinventing instruments that extend the joy of music-making to everyone. Ana has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas in Business, and as one of the most powerful Latinas by the Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA). HITEC (Hispanic Information Technology Executive Council) has recognized her as a top technology executive. She is known in the industry as a seasoned leader who can successfully grow startup businesses into multi-billion dollar companies. Ana is a native of Costa Rica and earned a Masters of Engineering from Stanford University. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two children. Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anacorrales/ 

This year’s theme for Hispanic Heritage Month from the National Council of Hispanic Employment Program Managers is, "Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation." With 62 million people and over 21 different cultures, Latinos/x are a unique combination of black, Asian, white, indigenous, Middle Eastern, and mixed races. When describing their identity, research shows that over half (51%) of Hispanics and Latinos/x say they most often use their family's country of origin – using such terms as Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran or Dominican. It's a cultural nuance, as most Latinos/x don't feel they fit under a "one umbrella" identity.  To build inclusivity in the workplace, leaders have an opportunity to drive a sense of belonging in the Latino/x community. In this episode, Monica Marquez (aka the “Macgyver for the Marginalized”) discusses how leaders can raise awareness and visibility to develop the next generation of future-ready leaders to go further faster, together. Highlights:  [2:22] Significance of Hispanic Heritage Month [6:26] Differences between Hispanic vs. Latino/x [9:42] Origin of “Latinx” [12:57] Embracing Hispanic and Latin/X terminology [14:54] Raising Latino/X visibility to develop the next generation   Quotes: “For the Hispanic and Latino/x community to move forward and get ahead, we have to go further, faster together as one inclusive familia. Some of us may think, won’t all of these different labels divide our community? Only if we let it.” - Monica Marquez "There are so many of my Latino/x colleagues I see doing amazing things. So let's lift each other up." -Monica Marquez “As my colleague, Frank Carbajal says, ‘Es tiempo to embrace Latinx’ - because you're embracing a new segment of the population that is identifying and saying they're proud Latinos/x with a strong Latinos/x origin. They want to recognize their roots, but they want a terminology that makes sense to them.” - Monica Marquez About Monica Marquez: Monica Marquez is a senior corporate leader, ex-Googler, and diversity expert. Website: https://themonicamarquez.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMonicaMarquez/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themonicamarquez/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themonicamarquez/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/themmarquez   About Nikki Barua: Nikki Barua is a digital innovator, serial entrepreneur, author & speaker.  Website: https://www.nikkibarua.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenikkibarua/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenikkibarua/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenikkibarua/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikkiBarua

The evidence is clear: women tend to be over-mentored and under-sponsored. While a mentor has knowledge and will share it with you, a sponsor has power and will use it for you. Meet Google’s Sharleen Gutierrez, a leading expert in diversity, equity and inclusion. Sharleen is the current Director of REWS Business Enablement Partners and has led teams focused on fairness and equity in Google’s talent processes. In this episode, Sharleen shares her story on how taking courageous leaps, even when she felt she wasn’t ready, paved the way to uncover her superpower. And, how her network of peers and mentors helped open doors to opportunities that accelerated her success.  She’s a strong believer in bringing together people with a wide variety of perspectives and experiences to get results. She prioritizes working on coaching and mentoring teams and developing talent. Sharleen is also a parent and shares with us her personal stories and the three things that help her juggle her priorities. Visit https://www.iambeyondbarriers.com/ where you will find show notes and links to all the resources in this episode, including the best way to get in touch with Sharleen.   Highlights: [02:25] Sharleen’s story [05:08] Career start at Goldman Sachs [08:17] How I landed in Diversity & Inclusion [11:17] The power of your community [16:00] How to think about networking [18:48] Discovering your superpower [22:05] Advice for career minded parents [26:58] Learning from failures and setbacks Quotes: “Shift your mindset to a place where you hold a higher value on the opportunity versus on how qualified you are for the job.” – Sharleen Gutierrez “Understand your networking style and consider how it works for you.” – Sharleen Gutierrez “Non-negotiables are very important for you to know and to serve as an anchor, as you’re determining your priorities.” – Sharleen Gutierrez “Know what your priorities are, commit to them, and then let go when things are not exactly the way you want them.” – Sharleen Gutierrez “Be mindful and approach life from a place of gratitude.” – Sharleen Gutierrez “Staying in the wrong role does not benefit anyone, it actually does a disservice to everyone involved.” – Sharleen Gutierrez “When thinking of success, keep human connection and interaction top of mind because it is people who create, develop, sell, implement. Whatever your business is, people are behind it.” – Sharleen Gutierrez “In this digital age, we have to remember the human aspects of our culture. And authenticity is a key component of that.” – Sharleen Gutierrez “Each one of us has to take responsibility for our own actions because how we show up is what cultivates company culture.” – Sharleen Gutierrez About Sharleen Gutierrez: Sharleen Gutierrez is a global thought leader on diversity and inclusion, talent management and culture change. She drives meaningful change towards greater fairness, equity and workplace inclusion in gender, race, LGBTQ+, ability and their intersections. She started her career at Goldman Sachs, where she spent 14 years in a variety of roles across the Human Capital Management Division. While at GS, one of her highly recognized achievements was pioneering the award-winning effort focused on women of color (before intersectionality was even a topic of conversation). Sharleen brings a global perspective on diversity, having lived and worked in Japan, and led D&I engagement initiatives in both South America and Europe. Recently, she led a team focused on fairness and equity in Google’s talent processes focused on systemic interventions and accountability measures that decrease gaps and increase parity. Currently, she serves as Google’s Director of REWS Business Enablement Partners. Sharleen was one of Diversity Woman Magazine’s top 50 change agents. In her spare time, she can be found exploring the world with her husband and three children. Links: LinkedIn: sharleen-gutierrez-7961741 Facebook: sharleen.gutierrez.3

There’s a reason why people say no one likes change. But for Kimberley Gardiner, Chief Marketing Officer at Tractor Supply Co, change is what she’s learned to thrive on and how she makes the greatest impact. Kimberley knows what it’s like to be the only woman in a room full of executive leaders, and she’s had to learn how to be authentic and boldly share her ideas, even if they were unpopular at the time. From being able to do this, she’s found more happiness and satisfaction from work than she could have imagined. Kimberley has a broad background in the automotive industry, previously having worked as SVP & Chief Marketing Officer for Volkswagen and Mitsubishi - and for Kia Motors America in marketing. She’s skilled at innovation and is a creative thinker. Her role as a change agent was a perfect fit for Volkswagen’s electric vehicles and the push for their adoption by the mainstream. In this podcast, Kimberley explains why leaders should be bold about asking for advice and tells us what she does every day that leads to her success. She also shares with us how to overcome failures, learn to say no, and what success habits helped her achieve her goals. Visit https://www.iambeyondbarriers.com/ where you will find show notes and links to all the resources in this episode, including the best way to get in touch with Kimberley. Highlights:   [02:53] Kimberley’s career journey [07:55] Embracing being a change agent [10:27] Managing your personal brand [13:24] Don’t be afraid to ask for advice [16:17] Building your board of personal directors [17:52] Kimberley’s daily success habits [22:50] Overcoming failures and setbacks [27:17] Executing and achieving your goals [31:48] Learning to say no [35:30] How to embrace change [40:08] Kimberley’s advice to our listeners Quotes: “You build business relationships like friendships, tell a little about yourself, ask for 5-10 minutes, and be very specific in your ask.” – Kimberley Gardiner  “When you encounter a failure, think about what you can learn from it rather than replaying the event over and over in your head. Put the record player away and move forward with the lesson.” – Kimberley Gardiner “Positioning success in terms of how it ladders up in the long term will help you be more successful in the short term.” - Kimberley Gardiner “By saying yes to everything you shortchange the things that are really important to you.”- Kimberley Gardiner  “The more you paint that picture early on, of what change can look like in the future, in a way that a person or team can relate to - saving you time, helping with turnover, achieving goals faster, and ultimately being more profitable, with a smaller footprint, the more people will be excited about the opportunity ahead.” - Kimberley Gardiner  About Kimberley Gardiner: Kimberley Gardiner, Chief Marketing Officer, Tractor Supply Company As the former Senior Vice President of Marketing & CMO at Volkswagen Group of America, Inc, Kimberley was responsible for leading brand marketing for VW, including building on the momentum generated by the introduction of Volkswagen’s first all-electric SUV, the ID. 4. Kimberley brings more than 20 years of automotive and marketing experience to her current role (joined Tractor Supply Co in July 2022). She recently served as the Chief Marketing Officer for Mitsubishi Motors North America and Kia Motors America, where she directed marketing efforts for the brand. Previously, she served as CMO and Vice President of Operations for 5th Kind, a global digital asset management company. She is known for being an innovative thinker with a passion for helping drive change in the automotive industry – a great fit for helping push for mainstream adoption of electric vehicles led by Volkswagen. Kimberley holds a bachelor’s degree from Mills College and an MBA from Indiana University. Links: LinkedIn: kimberley-sweet-gardiner

As a woman in leadership today, taking unconventional paths leads to more success. This means facing that challenge at work that everyone else is avoiding or putting yourself out on the line to make a tough decision. As a Senior Vice President at Publicis Sapient, Alyssa Altman leads the Automotive and Consumer Products industry in North America. She knows firsthand about shaping her company’s leadership. One way she’s done this is through a program called the Fellowship in Transformation Leadership which is an MBA-like series that is helping to mold Publicis Sapient’s next generation of managers.  Alyssa shares with us today how she builds solid teams that work together to accomplish their goals. She also talks about the importance of providing value to clients and always doing great work while still managing your career. She’s familiar with being the sole female leader in an organization and has many times had to find the courage to have that difficult conversation. Alyssa believes in learning from failure. She also believes in being authentic and looks for that quality in the people she hires. In addition, she looks for employees who aren’t afraid to make bold moves. Learn from Alyssa’s experiences and how she gained confidence as an impactful leader.  Visit https://www.iambeyondbarriers.com/ where you will find show notes and links to all the resources in this episode, including the best way to get in touch with Alyssa.   Highlights: [03:37] Alyssa’s journey [09:03] Mastering managing at scale [11:19] Alyssa’s WHY [14:01] Doing great work AND managing your career [17:00] Being the only woman [19:44] Gaining the courage to have a difficult conversation [21:58] How to move your ideas forward [25:08] Evolution of effective business development [28:47] Approach to decision making [31:36] Learning from failure [39:24] Designing teams [41:18] Top trait for success [42:17] Common attributes of great leaders [46:26] What Alyssa wishes she had learned earlier in her career [47:48] Biggest trends that will impact business [53:17] The greatest joy of Alyssa’s career    Quotes:  “Leaders should not try to be everything to everyone, but instead build a team of people that feel empowered to take ownership and to tell you when they need you.” – Alyssa Altman “You always need to be in the work, because it gives you the perspective, it gives you the connection.” – Alyssa Altman “Don’t think of it as a sale, think of it as a partnership that you're helping to bring someone something they are going to see value in.” – Alyssa Altman “As a leader you need to find ways for people to feel like they're winning, even if you have a failure.” – Alyssa Altman “Acknowledge your successes and learn how to market them.” – Alyssa Altman  “Leaders are not afraid to make bold moves and make mistakes and then recover from those mistakes.” – Alyssa Altman  About Alyssa Altman: Alyssa Altman is a Senior Vice President at Publicis Sapient.  She leads the Automotive and Consumer Products industries in North America.  In her role, Alyssa helps her clients find their digital future through the delivery of omnichannel strategies and robust technology solutions. Throughout her 20+ years at Publicis Sapient, it has been her passion to shape and lead diverse teams who realize goals through inclusive collaboration. She believes that with the right people in the room actively engaging with each other, we gain valuable insights that create innovative solutions to any business problem we may face.  When not working directly with clients, she plays an active role in shaping and executing Publicis Sapient’s MBA-like leadership program called the Fellowship in Transformation Leadership.  Alyssa also has a keen interest in shaping the next generation of women leaders as an Advisory board member of Publicis Sapient Women’s Leadership Network (WLN). Externally, she is an Advisory board member of Debbie’s Treasure Chest and sponsors a community service initiative that teaches high-risk teens the skills necessary to enter the workforce. Alyssa was honored by Consulting Magazine as a “Global Leader in Consulting” for Excellence in Engagement. Prior to her tenure at Publicis Sapient, she worked for Ernst & Young in the Strategic Advisory Services Group. Alyssa has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in English from the University of Michigan.    Links: Website: https://www.publicissapient.com/ LinkedIn: alyssaaltmanpublicissapient  Facebook: alyssa.altman Twitter: AlyssaAltman Instagram: @altmanalyssa