SBWiSTEM x Invoca
“Courageous Conversations”
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Debrief by Angel Pacheco, SBWiSTEM blog contributor
When life got to the point where she was feeling unmotivated daily, Sonjia Polanco followed her instinct and made the decision to leave the office and role that no longer served her future. It was time to find the next thing, and to the bewilderment of many, she quit and was out the door before figuring out what that “next thing” was. Two weeks later, she found herself on the Lynda.com team, building what would ultimately become LinkedIn Learning.
Now a Senior Business Analyst for Procore, Sonjia said for her, leaving without a job lined up drove her to find that next opportunity. It was one of the many stories that perked up the ears of more than 55 professionals who jammed into the front lobby of Invoca’s State Street offices for Santa Barbara Women in STEM’s Courageous Conversations panel discussion Nov. 9.
The brave panel also included Caitlin Davis and Scott Boczek, both from Invoca; Christine Campos, of Sage Publications; and Elaina Rife, from Sonos. Moderated by Santa Barbara Women in STEM Professional Development Director Maygan Cline, the panel described their first job experiences, shared their successes and failures, discussed individual pursuits of career advancement and work/life balance; and provided tips for approaching their own management and teams when it comes to tough conversations.
One of the more unique stories came from Scott, who described his unconventional journey of going from being a high school teacher to Disney University Leadership Development Manager. He acknowledged it started with a risky move -- leaving a stable position in education to operating a submarine at Disneyland as an hourly cast member.
“I took every advantage to learn as much as I could that year,” said Scott. “I was asking to meet with different directors, different business leaders, and just asking as many questions as I could.”
The meetings led him to discovering the Disney University, which lit the fire that sent him flying through company ranks.
Much of the evening centered on finding the courage to act in order to improve workloads, environments and quality of life. For Christine, that was most true when she approached a manager about temporarily working remotely from India so she could spend time with her mother.
“I would have never had this opportunity of working there and being with my mom if I hadn’t had the courage to go and ask a question, which I was so scared of asking initially,” said Christine. “That’s when I realized, if you want something, you’ve got to ask for it. What’s the worst that can happen? They say, ‘No?’ But you at least have that peace of mind knowing that you asked for it.
Speaking to a crowd of mostly up and coming professionals, the panel had plenty of words of wisdom to share.
“You’ll probably always be your biggest critic, but listen to what other people are telling you. If you get a promotion or get more responsibility it’s because somebody saw that you can handle it,” said Caitlin, dispelling the common “imposter syndrome.”
The lighthearted evening also included Rusty’s pizza courtesy courtesy of Invoca, a dip in the company’s ball pit and plenty of chances to network.
