As Women’s History Month comes to a close, the ladies at Off The Lane took a moment to reflect on their lives as ambitious and creative women. Their inspirations, challenges, and confidence shines through and there is no mistaking these remarkable women have paved the path to what OTL is today. We are thrilled to be an organization built by such strong female leaders and we hope that their encouraging words resonate with all of you. Learn more below!
What advice would you give to young girls with big goals?
Big goal, small goal, in between goal… don’t think of it in terms of size but how passionate you are about it! Focusing on one goal at a time has always worked best for me so I’m not so scattered, and all my focus goes to achieving that one thing. Do the research, make the connections and use your community for help! Sometimes you can’t do it all alone and collaborating with like minds will help.
No one can stand in your way but yourself and don’t compare yourself to others with similar goals. You are your own unique person! Once you make the competition with yourself, you will achieve those goals in no time. And don’t forget… it may take a few tries (maybe a few hundred) but don’t give up!
What women in your life inspire you?
The women in my life that especially inspire me are the ones closest to home: my mom and my sister. Both of these women have overcome tremendous obstacles to get to where they are today and I would not be where I am today without their love and support.
One of our BOOST Co-Chairs and a previous Mentor for the Mentorship Program, Jillian discusses one of the biggest lessons she has learned during her career path.
How do you stay confident in a professional environment?
It can be super intimidating walking into a room of extremely smart and talented people and feeling like you don’t fit in, but it’s important to remember that you DO deserve to be there. You earned it on your own merit and there’s no reason to believe that anyone around you is any better than you. The most helpful thing is to find common ground with people that you may be intimidated by. At the end of the day we’re all human, we all have lives outside of this professional environment, and being able to understand their personal life a little more really helps to take the intimidation out of the work.
If I’m ever feeling really out of place or nervous and I don’t have time to get to know the person, I like to repeat a few words in my mind that always make me feel better. My words are Calm, Cool, Collected and Confident. I think it’s important to always have a homebase to go to in your mind when you’re really freaking out and I’ve found that repeating those words have helped me go through some of the toughest work situations.
Jenna has been interning with Off The Lane since January, assisting with graphic design, blog posts and outreach. Listen to her discuss how she manages work and life responsibilities.