I share a client's process of moving from confused and stuck to energized and thriving, rooted in the Build Your Brave Career Framework.

Specifically, I show you: 

1. Clarity — Stop asking the same big, vague questions so that you start telling yourself the truth about what you actually want.
2. Momentum — Commit to small, intentional actions that build the confidence and the direction you need to ensure your confusion.
3. Accountability — Decide who you're becoming and grow into your future you through self-concept and mindset design.

If you've been silently asking "what now?" this episode is your sign to take the next brave step. Click here to start working together to solve your career confusion through 1:1 career coaching with me.

Connect with Me:
You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I've watched with horror as more women have become timid about giving feedback and defensive about receiving it. This pattern is quietly cutting your career growth at the knees while multiplying your stress.

Here's what I know: You wouldn't coddle your code, your product, or your project when it needs iteration. So why are you being so precious about feedback on your own performance?

In this episode, I'm drawing a hard line between toxic workplace BS (which is NOT what we're discussing) and the constructive, developmental, growth-oriented feedback that is actual career generosity. The kind you need to actively seek out, receive with curiosity, and use strategically.

Here's what I cover:

• Why feedback is the accelerated growth engine in tech—and why your career needs the same iterative approach as your code
• The brutal truth about how women are held to higher performance standards (backed by research since the 1970s)
• Why your defensiveness is far more damaging than the original feedback ever was
• How leaders are watching for your response to feedback—not your perfection
• Why you must stop optimizing for likability and start optimizing for clarity and effectiveness
• The mindset shift that changes everything: feedback is data, not identity
• Concrete examples of professional feedback versus unhelpful criticism
• Why avoiding giving feedback makes you unclear and untrustworthy (not nice)

I also share real feedback my clients recently received and how they made it mean something totally different than what was actually said.

The women who enjoy their careers and reach their goals aren't the ones who never get criticism. They're the ones who are seen improving over time—in line with their values, purpose, and boundaries.

Bravery isn't just about bold moves. It's about sitting still in a moment of critique and choosing your growth instead of your ego.

Your Next Steps:

1. Separate the feedback from what your brain tells you. 
2. Make feedback a monthly habit. 
3. Seek feedback from your critics. 
4. Give yourself 24 hours. 
5. Stop optimizing for likability. 

Related Episodes 

• Importance of Specific Feedback in Career Growth
• Aggressive or Just Direct? Navigating Feedback as a Woman in Tech
• E85: How to Deal with Unspecific Career Feedback to Build Your Skills, Relationships, Career, and Salary

Connect with Me:
You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

What You'll Hear:

• Four buckets of listener feedback, from validating to challenging
• My vulnerable response to criticism about privilege, systemic change, and individual coping
• An invitation: What can Nicole create to support you in building your brave career?

Key Takeaway:
What you want to reject because it threatens you might be exactly what you need to work on right now.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Previous episode: "Bravery in the Meantime: How to Use a Tough Career Phase for Long-Term Success"
• Past episodes: "The Glass Floor" and "Recognizing Toxic Career Surroundings"

Connect with Nicole:
You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Building your brave career is sometimes about bravery in the meantime.

Listen to this episode for concrete examples of how to use a difficult career phase to build your long-term career without stressing out, burning out, or limiting your goals.

More Links:
Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Detailed Transcript
Right now, most women in tech are in a career phase that isn't quite what they expected. I mean, sure some of my clients and some fellow women in tech are moving abroad. Accepting promotions or lowering their stress by working fewer hours, traveling less, taking on less emotional labor. Yes, that is true.

What is also true is that most of my clients, and many women in tech, are in a career phase that kind of sucks. They've been laid off with no warning, passed over for deserved, and sometimes even promised promotion, or they're stuck working with people they don't respect on products that aren't quality at companies that don't seem to care. They're watching executives and shareholders, and investors take far more than they could ever create.

Because here's a brave truth: it's rough out there for a lot of women in tech, quite frankly, for a lot of everyone. And maybe that's you, and if it is, keep listening.

By the end of this episode, you'll have a few ways to build the skill of bravery in your meantime. Even if you're in a job, that kind of sucks. Right now, you may be feeling ignored, stressed, lost, angry, stuck. You may feel held down by bad management and tough, real economic realities, but you're still showing up for work.

Maybe you're biting back your sarcasm, your boredom, maybe even your hope. You are watching the cost of everything rise: food, clothing, housing, schooling, everything. It feels threatening. You're saving, but it never feels like enough. And you know that guy who does less and does it poorly is still earning more than you.

You want to grow, be bold, create your next career phase, but you've also survived three layoffs in two years. Your friends are struggling, your mentors are struggling. You look around and it feels like just about everyone is struggling.

You keep wondering what's right for me right now? Is there anywhere safe anymore?

  In the tech industry, we often celebrate the bravery of quitting, founding, leaping, reinventing. We talk about moving fast and breaking things, but sometimes the bravest thing, the best Next thing is choosing to stay. Choosing to stay at a job, that kind of sucks because it gives you the stability you need this month and the next.

It helps you rest, build skills, activate your network, and deepen your personal relationships. Yeah, it kind of sucks and you can use this phase.

You can use this phase to be your phase of bravery. In the meantime, crafting the foundation you need for that next clear leap. That might be exactly the type of bravery you need right now.

Now, before I go any further, I wanna be really clear the rest of this episode is not for you. Or anyone. If you are in a truly unsafe environment, if you're being abused, bullied, harassed, or just frankly not paid, these tips are not for your situation. You need to protect yourself, and you need to seek support.

What I'm about to share is for women in tech who are stressed, overworked, underpaid, and trying to stay afloat and craft a future in a very tough season.

Today we're talking about how staying, how choosing bravery in the meantime can support your next career and life phase. None of what I'm about to say will help a toxic or abusive situation. Okay?

If work feels draining. And it's impacting your life. This is your time to focus on bravery. In the meantime, it's about making conscious choices to build the habits and the skills you need for lowering your stress, for managing your time better. For most of you, that means working less. And setting yourself up in the future for greater income.

Because you have built, expanded your sense of self, you've made yourself more valuable on the market. These are tiny habits that remind you of who you are, what you want, and why you matter.

This might mean staying quieter in meetings, doing the minimum necessary for success in your role.

Pay attention to what I just said : you're still going to meet success for your role. You're going to achieve. Not gonna overachieve you are not gonna extremely achieve. You're going to achieve and do the minimum necessary for achievement in your role.

Maybe this means you're gonna be asking fewer questions and listening even more carefully to what is not being said.

You're gonna be tracking your time more consciously.

You are gonna be showing up on time with an attitude of your choice, and you're also going to be leaving on time in the attitude of your choice.

One of my clients who's in a unhelpful boss situation, has chosen her quiet tiny habit, is creating sticky notes and placing them around her apartment. These sticky notes translated into English. Say, " You are an expert. This is a phase I believe in me."

She's using these little habits, these little mindset choices as a reminder to keep learning her skills. She's an expert. Even if she has an unhelpful boss, she can still gain and deepen skills.

Building her network : this is a phase. It's a phase in her career. The next phase is coming because she's creating it because she believes in herself. Remember her quote, I believe in me . So she's going to events, expanding her network, and she picked up her favorite hobby again.

Another client to give you another example, is currently working with three colleagues who consistently drop the ball and then even worse lie about it.

Yes, she's keeping a running track of all the times that she saves their butt and all of the lies that they've made. However, what she's focusing on is her phone background is a thank you message from a long-term customer. Every single time she unlocks her phone, she remembers who she's really working for : her craft, her standards, and her future.,

Right now she needs to work in this environment, with this healthcare, because she has a child with a disability. But in a few years, she's gonna be going out on her own.

She's building the reputation and the skills and the network to set herself up for that success. She's choosing bravery in the meantime

. You too. If you are in this type of situation, you need to find your own quiet way to build your brave while you bravely stay.

Pick up a hobby you loved as a kid to build your energy and your personal relationship and your belief in yourself. Learn to play the piano again, like one of my clients, or join a hiking group or volunteer locally.

Listen, regardless of the phase you're in, keep it simple.

I love to say, I read fast and I run slow. I volunteer my time and my heart, and right now I am so privileged, so I'm donating more money than I ever have to feed my neighbors.

When you invest time in the parts of your life while you're building these tiny little habits, these quiet moments of bravery in the meantime, you are strengthening your internal safety net.

You're sendin...

You matter. Your voice matters. And your bravery—at work and in life—will shape our collective future. If you’re feeling stressed, numb, or just looking for a reminder that you’re not alone in these tough times, this episode is especially for you.

Call to action: After you listen, choose your “boat”—find a cause, no matter how small, and get involved. And if this episode helped you, please share it with a friend who needs a little encouragement today. Together, we’re braver.

Link to We Can Do Hard Things: The New Era: LOVE, FURY, FREEDOM

More Links:
Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Curious about how you can use your tech talents in new industries with better working conditions and much closer to your interests and purpose? Listen in, take note of where you feel that spark of interest, and get ready to build your brave career.

Call to action: If something in this episode sparks your curiosity, reach out to someone in that industry for a chat, update your materials, and start exploring your next brave move!

Here are the global growth projections for tech-related jobs across industries in the next five years:

• Healthcare – 20%
  Sources: BLS, AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association)
• Retail – 25%
  Sources: Statista, BLS
• Finance & Insurance (FinTech) – 30%
  Sources: Finextra, BLS
• Manufacturing – 22%
  Sources: Robotics Industries Association (RIA), BLS
• Aerospace & Defense – 15%
  Sources: BLS, Aerospace Industries Association
• Telecommunications – 18%
  Sources: BLS, CompTIA
• Government / Public Sector – 25% (varies by country)
  Sources: BLS, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
• Education – 18–35% (esp. online learning)
  Sources: BLS, EDUCAUSE
• Real Estate – 30%
  Sources: National Association of Realtors (NAR) Extension, Statista
• Construction – 20%
  Sources: BLS, Global
• Energy – 25%
  Sources: BLS, Global
• Transportation & Logistics – 22%
  Sources: Statista
• Hospitality & Tourism – 20%
  Sources: Statista
• Media & Entertainment – 25%
  Sources: Statista
• Pharmaceuticals – 18%
  Sources: Statista
• Professional Services – 28%
  Sources: Statista
• Automotive – 30%
  Sources: Statista
• Legal Services – 22%
  Sources: Statista
• Agriculture – 30%
  Sources: Statista
• Mining – 25%
  Sources: Statista
• Food & Beverage – 25%
  Sources: Statista
  
  

👉 Did you feel a spark reading through that list? That spark matters. It’s your signal to explore industries that align with your interests, values, and lifestyle while still leveraging your tech expertise.

In this episode, I build upon the last episode (link below). Then I share how I applied the Build Your Brave framework - clarity, momentum, accountability - to make a bold move in my own career. I also talk about the opportunities that still exist for women in tech who are willing to bravely leave behind what doesn’t serve them and intentionally build the careers—and lives—they truly want.

Want to take control of your career and build your bravery? Dive in, listen now, and reach out if you’re ready to work together or want to join my waiting list for coaching. 

Reference resources: 

• Bravely Bejeweled: Reflections on a Year of Loss & My Choice to Allow 2025 
• E62: Build Your Brave Framework 2.0
• Join the waiting list or schedule your three hour intensive: email me at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I also share two key updates for 2025: 

1. I am pausing new episodes temporarily to allow space for reflection and recalibration. I promise new episodes are coming. 
2. I will not be onboarding new coaching clients in early 2025. Join my email list to stay up-to-date. 

What’s Inside This Episode:

• A candid reflection on the highs and lows of 2024, including lessons learned from loss and transformation.
• My choice to focus on an intention over traditional goals, with “allow” as the guiding word for 2025.
• Two important updates for 2025. 

Questions to Reflect On:

• What was your most significant experience in 2024?
• What is your intention for 2025?

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com 

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Many ambitious women in tech find themselves at a crossroads—a point where pursuing their career goals seems daunting and when met with resistance, often leads to a withdrawal from growth. 

Through a representative client story about asking the tough questions, facing discomfort head-on, and making powerful decisions for her career trajectory, you'll learn:

• The importance of prioritizing your growth
• The reality that transformation always impacts others 
• One approach to navigating important but uncomfortable conversations
• Steps to stop making it easy for everyone else and start focusing on you

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Drawing from listener feedback on episode 126, we’re revisiting this topic with a clearer structure and actionable insights, including:

• Why being "on the market" doesn’t mean a full-time job hunt.
• How to navigate today’s dynamic tech landscape, from layoffs to AI-driven transformations.
• Five actionable steps to stay job-ready without burnout, including mindset shifts, keeping your collateral updated, and building authentic relationships.

Tune in to discover how small, steady actions can make a big impact on your career resilience, growth, and joy.

Resources Mentioned:

• Episode 126: The Mindset Shift: Understanding That You’re Always on the Job Market
• Schedule your free consultation

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I share two specific stories and one call to action to help you challenge the idea of adversity as a "test" so that you can decide if you want to shift towards perceiving adversity as an opportunity to be confirmed. 

1. A personal story
2. A client’s story

Key Takeaways:

• Shift from "test" to "confirmation" to transform how you view adversity.
• Bravery isn't about being perfect—it's about being human and learning from the process.
• Mindset shifts can lead to better boundaries, more energy, and greater career alignment.
• Reframing challenges can help you stress less and create opportunities for growth.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Listen in for unique value definitions and how Mahua puts them into action: 

• choose radical acceptance of reality
• practice daily humility
• show gratitude in every situation, also adversity
• consistently act with honesty. 

Ignoring the call to define your own values, your unique definition, and how you put them into action can lead to a growing cycles of stress, dissatisfaction, and overwork. Particularly in situations that increase your risk of adopting negative behaviors that don't align with who you want to be in your career and life.

Connect with Mahua Chakuvati on LinkedIn.

Related podcast episodes: 

• Accountability: Circles of Control 
• Career Tip: Stop Making What Other People Do & Say About You
• Clarity: Self-Concept 
• Who Do I Need to Become to Enjoy My Career?

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

In this episode, I share examples, including a personal story, to illustrate how being disliked can actually be a sign you're on the right career grwoth track. This episode is designed to challenge you and inspire self-reflection on your values and the company you keep.

Take a few minutes after listening to identify who you wouldn't want to praise you because their values don't align with yours. Write it down and keep it handy for those moments of self-doubt.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Kim shares her journey from a comfortable corporate job in digital marketing to becoming an entrepreneur. We discuss the long road to entrepreneurship, the challenges of leaving a secure position, and the rewarding experiences of leading a strengths-focused, tech-driven business. Kim emphasizes the importance of understanding and leveraging one's strengths to make impactful career choices.

We also delve into the value of tools like the Strengths Finder, the power of clarity, momentum, and accountability, and how brave decisions can shape a fulfilling career. Plus, Kim reveals her remarkable brave role model – Martha Stewart – and the profound influence Martha has had on her professional path.

Learn more about Atlasguru.com
Connect with Kim Bennett, CEO of Atlasguru.com

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Women in tech are great at solving problems. But sometimes we leap in to protect others from their errors and shoulder burdens that aren’t ours. It slows down our careers and increases our stress. 

This episode unpacks how stepping back, setting boundaries, and trusting others to handle their responsibilities empowers not just your colleagues but also yourself. You’ll hear real-world strategies to navigate these situations with courage, kindness, and clarity.

Key Takeaways:

• How societal conditioning impacts women in tech.
• Why rescuing others is not the same as being a team player or leader.
• The power of discomfort as a catalyst for growth.
• How respecting others’ growth creates space for your own.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

• Choosing to bravely recognize and believe in your inherent worth is brave. 
• Deciding that your voice deserves to be heard, that your dreams, goals, career, relationships, and money matter is brave. 
• Getting and staying involved in building the community, career, life, and world you desire is brave.

This week I address the emotional fallout after the most recent US elections. This is a dedicated brave space for women in tech who are grappling with emotions ranging from sadness to anger, fear, and betrayal. Wherever you are, know that your feelings are valid and that you matter.

I share some of two of the quotes helping me through this time: 

• “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” -Star Trek
•  “I never lose. I either win or I learn.” -Nelson Mandela

I also share a small slice of how my family's past drives my commitment to making brave choices for a better future.

This episode is a powerful reminder to embrace your inherent worth, your right to feel, and your right to take up space in the world. 

Remember: you matter.

Call to Action: If you found this episode valuable, please share the Build Your Brave Career podcast with a friend. 

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

For women in tech who often feel that being brave at work means facing monumental stress, this episode will give you a fresh and empowering perspective.

Through two unique client stories, I illustrate how bravery may start in moments of discomfort but end with greater confidence, ease, and more personal and professional growth. 

Bravery can include speaking up in meetings, asking more questions, setting boundaries, and expecting you get the respect, visibility, and pay you deserve. 

This episode serves as a guide for you to redefine bravery in a modern, holistic way, and taking action that brings you closer to your goals and dreams.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I delve into my own experience of waiting for a "professional prince charming" which led to a stagnating project and career slow down. As you listen reflect on your own career: are you waiting for someone to notice you, promote you, or solve your problems?

The key takeaway is that you are in control of your professional journey. Whether it’s setting boundaries, investing in yourself, or creating opportunities, it's up to you to stop waiting and start taking decisive action.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career:
Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I unpack the metaphors of the glass ceiling and glass floor, exploring how systemic barriers impact career advancement for underrepresented groups. Through five actionable strategies, I guide men on how to leverage their positions of power to break these barriers, creating a more equitable tech industry.

For all my women in tech, this episode is also for you. It is a gift and call to action ll to stop self-blame and recognize the invisible systems you navigate. Learn what you can do to advocate for yourself and others.

20 stats for why inclusive leadership matters for the business and your career: 

1. Higher Financial Performance: Companies with more women in leadership positions are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability. (McKinsey, 2020)

2. Increased Innovation: Diverse companies are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their industry. (Josh Bersin Research, 2020)

3. Greater Revenue from Innovation: Firms with inclusive teams are 45% more likely to report improved market share and capture new markets. (Center for Talent Innovation, 2013)

4. Better Decision-Making: Inclusive teams make better business decisions up to 87% of the time. (Cloverpop, 2017)

5. Improved Team Performance: Diverse teams outperform individual decision-makers 66% of the time. (Cloverpop, 2017)

6. Higher Employee Retention: Inclusive workplaces have a 50% lower employee turnover rate than less inclusive companies. (Deloitte, 2017)

7. Higher Return on Equity (ROE): Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability. (McKinsey, 2020)

8. Enhanced Company Reputation: 67% of job seekers consider diversity an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers. (Glassdoor, 2020)

9. Increased Employee Engagement: Companies with higher diversity scores have 2.3 times higher employee engagement levels. (Gartner, 2018)

10. Reduced Turnover Costs: Replacing an employee costs 33% of their annual salary; inclusivity reduces turnover, leading to substantial cost savings. (Work Institute, 2021)

11. Faster Problem Solving: Diverse teams solve problems faster than cognitively similar people. (Harvard Business Review, 2016)

12. Better Customer Understanding: Companies with more diverse management teams have 19% higher revenue due to innovation. (BCG, 2018)

13. Market Performance: Ethnically diverse companies are 36% more likely to outperform competitors in market share. (McKinsey, 2020)

14. Increased Workforce Productivity: Inclusive companies are 1.4 times more likely to outperform less inclusive organizations in terms of productivity. (Deloitte, 2017)

15. Reduced Absenteeism: Inclusive cultures see absenteeism rates drop by 75%. (Deloitte, 2017)

16. Lower Legal Risks: Companies that foster inclusivity face fewer discrimination claims and lower associated costs. (EEOC, 2020)

17. More Competitive Talent Pool: 78% of companies that prioritize diversity attract top talent more easily. (PwC, 2017)

18. Improved Company Sustainability: Firms with more diverse boards of directors are more likely to prioritize sustainability and environmental goals. (Harvard Business Review, 2019)

19. Higher Customer Loyalty: Diverse teams are better equipped to understand and cater to a broader customer base, leading to increased customer loyalty. (Gartner, 2018)

20. Better Performance During Crises: During the COVID-19 pandemic, companies with more women in leadership roles outperformed their peers. (Fortune, 2020)

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Listener question: “When I call off sick, one of the men consistently asks me if I am pregnant. I want it to stop. What can I do?”

What You'll Learn:

• Tools and attitudes for responding to invasive questions.
• How to push back directly and collect support from your colleagues.
• Real-life examples and effective phrases to use.
• How to accept offered help in an empowered way

Facing down misogyny in the workplace is not easy. You will most likely feel anxious or may also face pushback. 

Please continue to remind yourself that temporary discomfort will pass—and it is nothing compared to the lifelong regret of allowing disrespect to go unchecked.

You are not alone. Your bravery matters—not just for you, but for all of us.

When we as women in tech choose to be brave together, we reshape the tech industry for everyone.

To submit your question for an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Many women in tech face the drama: dealing with colleagues who don’t trust your skills. If you’ve ever felt sidelined in meetings, excluded from important emails, or observed others taking over your responsibilities, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we cover the important internal work you must undertake to address disrespectful colleagues. 

Then I offer practical advice for how to get specific about when and how you are being undermined so that you can evaluate the situations objectively.

I also guide you through initiating crucial conversations with your colleague, setting clear expectations, and confronting the situation head-on.

Conflict is necessary for growth and better working relationships, and I provide strategies to navigate these difficult discussions effectively.

Remember, as women in tech, we often face unique challenges, but by confronting these issues proactively, we can build the careers we deserve.

Mentioned episode: 

How People Pleasing Can Hurt Your Career and How to Fix It

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com
You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I have personal experience with this topic in two different different ways and suggestions of how to navigate them: 

• First, you need to ask for specific examples of situations in which you were labeled “aggressive.” 
• Then, you need to explore what type of discomfort you want to choose: shifting your communication or allowing others to feel discomfort. 
• Finally, you get to decide who you want to be in each situation, including changing your situation. 

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Let’s discuss how to not just wait for a promotion but to actively communicate and advocate for yourself.

First, you need to tell our boss directly that you want a promotion, ask them if they support you, and then listen carefully to their response. 

Then, you must create a specific plan based on your goals, your manager’s response, and the form of brave career you are building. 

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career:
Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Let’s tackle a listener's question about the ethics of accepting a job below their previous level during these mass layoffs. 

First, I share why my answer is a strong, unequivocal “YES.” Then I share additional insights from a variety of women across the tech industry.

Key takeaways:

• It's not your responsibility to fix systemic issues caused by corporate decisions.
• There's no shame in taking a job to pay your bills while building your brave career.
• Accepting a role below your previous level can offer benefits like reduced stress and a chance to reset your mindset.
• We must have the security and maturity to celebrate each other's successes in landing a job during these tough times.
• Use the reality that every role is temporary and you can embrace the opportunity to rediscover joy at a different level.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

• First, I urge a reevaluation to ensure your current situation is as secure as you think. 
• Then, we examine the root of your boredom. It might not be what you think it is: it is essential to differentiate between genuine disengagement and your unexpected response to reduced stress.
• Finally, I explore practical ways to stay stimulated, both in and outside of your job. 

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I unravel this misunderstanding of bravery and highlight the importance of experiencing the full range of emotions in your career journey through the Build Your Brave Framework and a specific client example. 

If you often find yourself consumed by doubt or fear after a success, this episode offers the insights and tools you need to practice feeling positive emotions without discomfort.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

US Election Day is November 5, 2024. This election is about so much more than politics. It's about our industry’s future as well as our careers and lives as women in tech. 

Many important topics are on our ballots: 

• Health care
• Climate change
• Political system 
• Health of our democracy 
• Paid parental leave
• LGBTQI+ plus rights
• Overall social justice
• Military interventions 
• International laws 
• Indigenous rights
• Gun control
• and many, many more.

I urge you to reflect on the policies, the candidates, and your own dreams, goals, experiences, and what you want from your brave career as a woman in tech. 

This is our opportunity and it is our time. Our votes. Our voices. 

I welcome you to join Women in Tech for Harris.

• Join the live, virtual event in September.
• Tiktok, Women in Tech for Harris 
• Facebook, Women in Tech for Harris 
• Instagram, Women in Tech for Harris 
• Linkedin, Women in Tech for Harris

Sometimes networking really does suck and it always sucks where you aren’t networking in a way that suits your goals and personality. In this episode, I share how you can tailor your approach and make networking more enjoyable. 

Listen in for my opinion on why your mindset is crucial, how modern networking isn’t what you think it is, and why you have to choose what to complain about.

You need to find a unique way of networking that aligns with your personality, interests, and goals. I provide examples of how my clients have successfully built their professional networks in ways that work for them.

Lastly, I emphasize the importance of being proactive in establishing and maintaining relationships, and how it directly impacts your career growth and opportunities.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I know it's tough to stay motivated and confident in your skills when facing rejection or a lack of offers. To help you stay strong, I share a simple yet brave technique: define who you are and what makes you great at your job. Write it down and say it to yourself in the mirror every day. 

I also suggest engaging in creative freelance/contract/fractional work, attending networking events, sharing vulnerably with others, and uplifting fellow women in tech. Together, we can support and encourage each other during this challenging time.

Your call to action: Take a few minutes today to write down your strengths and unique value. Say them out loud to yourself. 

If you know a woman in tech who could use some encouragement, reach out and remind her how amazing she is. Small acts of bravery and kindness can make a big impact right now.

To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career: 

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Yo and I covered a lot of powerful topics about quitting, so our conversation is available in two parts. 

Feedback was so positive and powerful that we released these two episodes on the Build Your Brave Career podcast feed as well.

Rethinking Grit: Embracing the Quit with Nicole Trick Steinbach PART 1 of 2

Yo and I explored these themes:

• The difference (and overlap) of Grit vs Quit
• How intersectional identities impact Quit vs Grit
• When women stay too long and a simple scale to identify if it is time for you too move on
• The metaphor of ‘Whispers, Missals, & Bricks’ of being called to change 
• The transformative power of the mindset “At the Moment Manager”

Rethinking Grit: Embracing the Quit with Nicole Trick Steinbach PART 2 of 2

Yo and I explored these themes:

• Goals and outcomes, and how generations do it differently
• Sunday Scaries and choosing to stress less
• How I am a sorta “Quit Coach”
• What kill criteria is and a story from my client
• Yo’s amazing quote of being “In Love with my own Self-Importance”
• Choosing the battles worth having for the growth you want
• The infamous “Ant Story”

Yo’s top three takeaways are:

1. In our culture we see grit as a virtue and quit as a vice. Per Annie Duke: “Success does not lie in sticking to things. It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest.”
2. Any decision is made under some degree of uncertainty – we don’t have crystal balls and new information will always reveal itself.
3. External validation increases the escalation of commitment. Fear of how others will view us if we quit is usually overblown.

My key takeaway is how important building the bravery to establish and then craft the habit of quitting -- places, relationships, habits, and jobs -- as a woman in tech is to ensuring that you never, ever quit yourself. Ever. 

Related Episodes:

1. The book Quit has been so instrumental to me and my coaching clients, that I also created a related Build Your Brave Career podcast episode: The Brave Act of Quitting: Recognizing the Right Time to Walk Away from Goals
2. Yo Canny was also a guest on my podcast, listen to her episode here: The Power of Personal Brands: Yo Canny’s Insights on Crafting a Compelling, Authentic Brand for Career Satisfaction E146

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

If you complete the exercise below and share it with me over email by August 23, 2024, I'll reward you with a 10% coupon on the coaching package of your choice to be used by August 30, 2024. Click here to get the details about my coaching offers.  

1. what do you celebrate from the last five years in your career? (in other words, what went well?)
2. how did you struggle and fail in the last five years? (in other words, what didn't go well?) 
3. how did you grow as a person in the last five years? (in other words, who did you become?) 

Related Content Links: 

• over 100 one-on-one coaching clients who have created over 3 million in new income and benefits
• over 125 speaker engagements with more than 100,000 audience members
• nearly 200 Build Your Brave Career podcast episodes, becoming one of the top 10% global podcasts
• over 300 emails to this list with insights, suggestions, and resources

Related Podcast Episodes: 

• Make Marketing Suck Less with Michelle Mazur, How Messaging Wins When Life Sucks with Nicole Trick-Steinbach
• Jess Johnson - EFT for Calming the Central Nervous System 
• Extraordinary Women Radio with Kami Guildner; Nicole Trick Steinbach – Helping Women in Tech Build their Brave
• Jenn Kurtek: Unexpected Global Woman in Tech, Entrepreneurship, Relocations, and Nomad Life

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Yo and I covered a lot of powerful topics about quitting, so our conversation is available in two parts. 

Feedback was so positive and powerful that we released these two episodes on the Build Your Brave Career podcast feed as well.

Rethinking Grit: Embracing the Quit with Nicole Trick Steinbach PART 1 of 2

Yo and I explored these themes:

• The difference (and overlap) of Grit vs Quit
• How intersectional identities impact Quit vs Grit
• When women stay too long and a simple scale to identify if it is time for you too move on
• The metaphor of ‘Whispers, Missals, & Bricks’ of being called to change 
• The transformative power of the mindset “At the Moment Manager”

Rethinking Grit: Embracing the Quit with Nicole Trick Steinbach PART 2 of 2

Yo and I explored these themes:

• Goals and outcomes, and how generations do it differently
• Sunday Scaries and choosing to stress less
• How I am a sorta “Quit Coach”
• What kill criteria is and a story from my client
• Yo’s amazing quote of being “In Love with my own Self-Importance”
• Choosing the battles worth having for the growth you want
• The infamous “Ant Story”

Yo’s top three takeaways are:

1. In our culture we see grit as a virtue and quit as a vice. Per Annie Duke: “Success does not lie in sticking to things. It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest.”
2. Any decision is made under some degree of uncertainty – we don’t have crystal balls and new information will always reveal itself.
3. External validation increases the escalation of commitment. Fear of how others will view us if we quit is usually overblown.

My key takeaway is how important building the bravery to establish and then craft the habit of quitting -- places, relationships, habits, and jobs -- as a woman in tech is to ensuring that you never, ever quit yourself. Ever. 

Related Episodes:

1. The book Quit has been so instrumental to me and my coaching clients, that I also created a related Build Your Brave Career podcast episode: The Brave Act of Quitting: Recognizing the Right Time to Walk Away from Goals
2. Yo Canny was also a guest on my podcast, listen to her episode here: The Power of Personal Brands: Yo Canny’s Insights on Crafting a Compelling, Authentic Brand for Career Satisfaction E146

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Susanne Mueller, leader, global traveler, and innovative Project Management and Enablement Professional, joins us to share her brave career story of crafting a mindset to accomplish a major life goal: a year-long sabbatical. 

Susanne and I have a decade-plus relationship that has shifted many times from colleagues, to coach-client, to friends.

She shares how she was able to release the expectations of others in her career so that she could pursue the experiences that set her soul on fire, with the help of mentors, friends, and coaching. Choosing to release society's expectations -- and other people's opinions -- allowed her to craft a career and life phase that you had dreamt about for many years. 

Tune in to hear about her powerful journey and how coaching has helped her decide that she can do whatever she wants. 

Hot topics from this conversation:

• Introducing Susanne
• Susanne’s brave story towards the decision to take extended time off and travel the world 
• Susanne’s brave role models and the effect they had on her life
• How coaching supported Susanne in the process of living her life in the way she desired vs. what was expected of her

Connect with Susanne on LinkedIn

Original episode: E88: Susanne Mueller - Embracing Freedom & Releasing Career Expectations, Management Sabbatical, Global Travel, and Women in Tech (Client)

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Amanda Burma, a powerful sales engineer within growing start-ups, my client, and my friend, shares her brave story about finding a career she loves while also thriving with a brain that includes ADHD and learning disability. 

Listen in to how Amanda is choosing to shift her assumptions and behavior to support her own growth, hold better boundaries, work less with more impact, and leverage the superpower of neurodiversity for herself and others. 

Amanda shares her process for how she identified where she thrives and how she continues to ensure that she grows. We finish off the episode with Amanda’s perspective on how coaching has changed her daily experience.

Spoiler Alert: Grateful tears at the end of this episode. 

Connect with Amanda Burma on LinkedIn 

Original episode: E80: Amanda Burma - Why Neurodiversity is a Superpower, Being a Great Sales Engineer, Asking Questions and Taking Action for Career Growth (Client)

Related Episodes:

•  How to Run Your Career Effectively
•  What Can We Learn from Doing Something Scary
•  Build Your Brave Framework 2.0

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Caroline Santinelli, a former teacher and now woman in tech, shares her brave career story of – as Brene Brown says – choosing to ‘belong to herself first.’ 

Caroline’s story includes moving from burnout-driven medical leave as a teacher, to embracing her innate strengths, choosing her health, and allowing her brave career to move through different phases.  

At the start of her career transformation, Caroline lost her voice (for real) due to stress, experienced her first panic attack, developed insomnia, kept getting sick with aches and fevers, and finally began having significant nerve pains. 

Caroline shares how she chose messy, deeply personal work of building her brave, searching out support from professionals. Her first significant step was giving herself permission to take medical leave. Then, over many weeks, she slowly gave herself permission to belong to herself and choose her innate talents. The next big step was allowing others to be disappointed. 

If you’re ready to learn how to belong to yourself, embrace your innate talents, and break free of the rules and judgments holding you back, this is your episode. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Introducing Caroline Santinelli - educator to business owner
• What it means to belong to yourself, one step at a time 
• Why it’s important to disappoint others instead of yourself
• How we’ve been indoctrinated to not belong to ourselves
• “Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke . . . She will need her sisterhood.” ― Gloria Steinem 
• Repeating a lesson until the knowledge breaks through into wisdom
• Rejecting standards that are inhuman and unprofessional, like 24-hour email turn-around time for all emails
• Caroline’s brave role models and how women empower women who then empower other women
• Learning to lean into your innate talent, listen to the way (not the obstacle), and then allow the open up

Connect with Caroline Santinelli on LinkedIn

Original episode: E99: Caroline Santinelli - Embrace Your Innate Talent to Return from Burn-Out & Transform Your Career (Client)

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Have you ever felt underappreciated and undervalued in your workplace, even after making an effort to ignite change? 

Jackie Podoll, a Data-Obsessed Senior Analyst with a passion for continuous improvement, and also my client joins us to share a brave career story. Her story focuses on her process of giving herself permission to choose herself, to stop allowing herself to be underappreciated, and then grow her career. 

In our conversation, Jackie shares how she identified what she actually wanted, how she made small tweaks to re-design the next phase of her life and career, and how she continued her strong financial habits to build financial freedom.

Hot topics from this conversation:

• 
  Introducing Jackie Podoll
• Jackie’s deep realization and her choice to leave
• Jackie’s break and her biggest surprise
• Jackie’s brave role model and the power of ‘slug life’ 
• How coaching supported Jackie live and work more authentically

Connect with Jackie Podoll on LinkedIn. 

Discover “A Purple Life” here. 

Original episode: E86: Jackie Podoll- Learning to Choose You, Stop Accepting Being Underappreciated and Undervalued, and Grow Your Career (Client)

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Dora Szasz, a research scientist and my former client, shares how she has chosen to find opportunity in even the most challenging experiences, including sleeping on a mattress in an empty apartment.

Dora shares her brave career journey that started in a small Romanian village, continued in Germany and France, and is now rooted in the United States. Listen as Dora shares how she crafted a career that built upon her interests, natural curiosity, and taking risks. 

Then Dora shares how she has been building the practices of learning to be more kind to herself, improving her sleep, and embracing her hobbies so that she can enjoy her life and career (and kitties) even more. 

Connect with Dora  Szasz on LinkedIn.

Original episode: Create Opportunities to Build Your Global Career as Woman in Tech with Client Dora Szasz - E67

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I teach you how to identify if you're caught in the people-pleasing loop and what steps to take to break free. 

You hear practical tips to recover your performance and return to career growth, using the three parts of the Build Your Brave framework: clarity, momentum, and accountability. 

Prioritizing others' approval over your own role and results will lead to burnout and negative consequences. Breaking the habit of people-pleasing is challenging, but it's possible with the right support and mindset.

This is a big topic, so send your questions and feedback to nicole@tricksteinbach.com. 

If you're ready to partner with me in overcoming people-pleasing and transforming your career, I'm here to help.

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

This podcast is an act of love and service for our awesome community of women in tech who are choosing to be less stressed and ending overwork by building the skill of bravery.

We know the tech industry and all of our jobs have changed so much since the first episode on Dec 29, 2020. 

I want to make sure that you are getting what you need and what you want when you spend your precious time with me here at the Build Your Brave Career podcast, so share: 

1. Your questions about the skill of bravery, your career growth, balancing being a successful woman in tech and a human who is also a caregiver, building a global career, making decisions, finding a new job and landing a promotion, mindset design, and so much more.
2. Your guest suggestions: your brave role models, your colleagues with an inspirational and brave story, and don’t forget to nominate yourself.

Please don’t be shy: no question or guest suggestion is too big or too small.

Remember: bravery is a skill, use it to help shape this podcast.

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Listen in for a nuanced conversation about the combination of the “Lean In” concept and the skill of bravery to how you can make choices to build your brave career. 

First, I discuss what the “Lean In” concept is, exploring both the positive and negative aspects of the approach. Then I dive into three specific, anonymous stories from my clients to personify how the concept can impact your career and life decisions.  

Use these stories to reflect on your personal and professional priorities and how you can consciously and effectively take action toward your goals. 

Spoiler alert: The best-case scenario of bravely leaning in is consciously, intentionally, and consistently making brave choices while also building your confidence, resiliency, skills, relationships, and creativity. Use every phase – even the mucky ones – to grow.

Hot topics from this episode:

• Introduction to the Concept of Lean In, strengthen and weaknesses
• Bridging Lean In with Career and Life Choices
• Three Client Stories of leaning in and building the skill of bravery

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Balancing the courage to pursue your ambitious career goals, in balance with your values and relationships, is a powerful but unexpected pathway to your brave career. 

Our guest this week is Nupur Aggarwal, an established and global product strategist, joins me for a candid discussion about self-confidence, authenticity, taking risks, and choosing to be true to your inner voice. Nupur shares her story of building a life in India and the US, as an employee at a massive corporation and a start-up founder, and as an ambitious professional and devoted mother, spouse, child, and friend.

Together we address the intense complexities of societal pressures and expectations that shape career paths, sharing personal anecdotes and transformative experiences. We explore self-doubt, internalized misogyny, and the generational impact of societal conditioning, stressing the ongoing work necessary to unlearn these narratives. 

This episode is a heartfelt tribute to the value of facing fears, embracing the unknown, and supporting each other through growth. Tune in for an enlightening dialogue on the shared journey of becoming and celebrating brave.

Hot topics from this episode:

• Emphasizing the importance of being true to oneself, even under societal and personal pressures that affect career decisions.
• Societal Expectations and Individual Dreams, career paths, family thriving, planning long-term in balance with present-day growth 
• Embracing Risk and New Beginnings, starting a start-up, moving globally, accepting growth jobs, and building confidence
• Overcoming Self-Doubt, normalizing feelings, and choosing to build confidence by facing fears and making choices

Related Resources: 

• Connect with Nupur Aggarwal on LinkedIn
• Learn about Indra Nooyi 

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

I share my career transformation story, using my Build Your Brave Framework, to answer the question, “What do I really want?” 

I walk you through how I redefined success and the struggle I faced in finding clarity, taking action that was based on my actual desires, and making a brave career decision that balanced what I wanted and what I needed. 

Listen in for the pivotal moments and conversations that helped me get more specific as I dove into the resistance and fear I encountered along the way. I detail the importance of seeking support, clarifying career phases, and defining success unique to you as a human. 

I draw parallels with the experience of my client, Rebecca Walter, and underscore the significance of normalizing the bravery of clarity and accountability in one's career journey.

Related Episodes: 

• Unlocking the Build Your Brave Framework for Career Transformation: An Example and Guide to Stress Less, Work Less, and Earn More - E149 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Answering the question "What do you really want?"
• Redefining Success and Career Goals to Build Your Brave Career 
• Changing definitions of success and career journeys, including career phases
• Recognizing the need for professional support and guidance in the career redefinition process, including mentors, coaches, advisors, and role models in navigating career changes
• Embracing resistance as a sign of growth and self-discovery to become a catalyst for personal growth and clarity

For more information on how you can build your brave career, reach out to me
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Rebecca Walter joined us to share her brave career story of redefining career goals, career growth, and skill-building phases can be your path toward a more dynamic and rewarding career path as you choose to shift what success means to you. 

Rebecca's story includes transitioning from her reliable, long-term career in education into exploring her many skills and goals to arrive at the surprising choice to craft a multifaceted career phase of solopreneurship. She shares her unique experience and process, based on trying and building new skills, exploring her assumptions in decision making, and choosing to develop a new mindset balancing self-permission and real-world constraints. 

In her process of growth, she identified her desire for breadth and multi-faceted choices to fulfill her personal and professional goals. We discuss the allure and benefits of part-time contracts and freelancing, social jobs like waitressing, and structures that integrate pauses and vacations that balance personal and professional needs.

Rebecca is a brave role model who has chosen to build fulfillment in variety, flexibility, and value-based career building. Listen in for two fo her brave role models, two humans from very different generations and for very different reasons. 

Related episodes: 

• Caroline Santinelli - Embrace Your Innate Talent to Return from Burn-Out & Transform Your Career E99 
• We can do hard things: Dan Levy’s Good News: No One Knows What They’re Doing 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Personal Career Paths: career breadth over depth for a multifaceted career
• Transition from education to solopreneurship
• Redefining Success: shifting views on what constitutes success
• Temporary and part-time jobs and their unexpected rewards

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Check out my website

Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

Connection with me on LinkedIn

Human connection, also called networking, is the most important strategic approach to career growth, so this episode covers the foundations for networking: mindset, approach, and implementation details. 

Most importantly, if you feel scammy while networking, you are doing it wrong. Instead, connect with curiosity and interest as a human, to another human. In short: stop being weird and start being connected. 

I share some common misconceptions and challenges I hear frequently about networking and how to resolve each of them. Then I offer a step-by-step process to empower you to navigate networking for career growth with authenticity and genuine curiosity, paving the way for sustained career growth.

Networking, done right, will cultivate a robust and authentic network, underscoring the transformative impact of human-to-human connections in shaping successful and fulfilling career paths. And that is brave. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Importance of Networking for Career Growth
• Statistics on job offers starting with personal connections
• Balancing functional skills and networking
• How to Approach Networking: mindset, obstacles, and long-term thinking
• The interest interview: the mechanics of networking
• Nurturing professional relationships

Resources:

E72: Momentum - Interest Interviews 

Career Tip for Women in Tech: Interest Interviews for Career Growth - E37 

The Power of the Interest Interview for Career Growth into Tech with Jess Tillis 

Network to Find Truth, Joy and Purpose in Your Life to Grow Your Career from Education into Tech with Ashley Willumitis E61 

Realizing Your Deep Inalienable Worth to Grow Your Career with Ashley Willumitis (Client) - E120 

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

This week we discuss the importance of imagining and becoming your future self in the context of career growth and transformation. With thought-provoking questions about who you will be in three years, 10 years, and even 30 years, I dive into the significance of bravery and imagination in shaping your career and life.

Drawing from my own experiences and those of my clients, I walk you through the importance of envisioning both the "what" and the "who" for your career. I share a specific example so that you can experience the gap between an exclusively ‘what’ goal and a goal that nurtures the who and the what. 

Sustainable, lucrative career growth and career success demands commitment, time, purpose, and bravery. This episode helps you craft them all. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Importance of imagining who you will be in the future
• Becoming Who You Want to Be, personal and client examples 
• Example of a balanced goal: the difference between being just a director and being a fulfilled and balanced director

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

This week we dive into perfectionism and performance anxiety with guest Melissa Rauen. In one year Melissa changed almost every aspect of her life: she got married, bought a house, shifted her career, and transformed her approach to work and life. 

Melissa shares how she began separating her identity from performance in a way that has been pivotal in both her career and her life. Listen in for how she built simple, regular practices to foster gratitude, lower her stress, reduce her workload, and strengthen her mindset.

Then we discuss the growing and demanding opportunities within the multifaceted Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) career tracks. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Exploring the journey of overcoming perfectionism and performance anxiety.
• Separating identity from performance and daily practices for shift 
• Career opportunities within GRC, compliance, governance, and risk management

Connect with Melissa Rauen on LinkedIn

Related Episodes: 

E51: Marcae Bryant Omosor: Clarity, Purpose and Let the World Catch Up with You; CyberSecurity, Data Protection
E64: Clarity - Self-Concept Design

For more information on how you can build your brave career, reach out to me
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Nope. Not around here.

Around here we build the skill of bravery so that we can stress less, work less, and then earn more. 

Because this is the Build Your Brave Career podcast. 

This podcast is just for you, an experienced woman in the tech industry who is ready to flip the script on the tired sterotype that women like us have to be stressed out, overworked, and underpaid. 

We don’t. 

In fact, growing your career as a woman in tech can be interesting, enjoyable, and lucrative. Okay, let’s be real: it can be really lucrative.

But we both know that isn’t going to *just* happen, because even with your education, experience, and how much hustle, you’re still stuck. You’re asking yourself: Is all this time and stress actually worth it? Am I really cut out for tech? What am I missing? 

Look, I get it because I lived it. That’s why I can help and that’s why this podcast is for you. 

First, you’ve got to forget what you've been taught: bravery isn't a personality trait, available only to the brash and bold techbros.

Bravery is a skill, available to everyone, and, as a woman in a male-dominated industry, you already have it. Now you need to build it. 

That’s what this podcast is all about. 

I’m Nicole Trick Steinbach, your host and the International Bravery Coach. 

I’m also a woman in tech. I started as a secretary in a computer science department in 2000 and exited corporate as a global senior director in 2019. In between I lived in Germany for over 13 years and worked in over 25 countries. 

During my corporate career, I led matrixed project teams all over the world to drive forward large strategic programs. I also coached and consulted upcoming leaders and experts craft their fulfilling and lucrative careers. 

Now, I run my own business as an organizational change management consultant and certified coach. My individual clients are women like you who are ready to craft and uplevel your brave career. 

Build Your Brave Career episodes are a mixture of conversations and solo episodes. 

Every conversation is with a fellow women in tech to share how they built their brave careers as well as the specific advice you can use in your own career. 

The solo episodes with me are where I share my frameworks, insights, and principles that you can use to reduce your stress, cut your overwork, and ensure you are well-paid while you enjoy your career. 

Each episode is curated to support you in your career growth. We talk about setting and achieving unique career goals, nurturing your network, establishing and cultivating boundaries, reducing stress with mindset and strategy, building functional and interpersonal skills, increasing total compensation, navigating the job market, and so much more.  

Building the skill of bravery is the most powerful way to create the career and life you really want. You can be a woman in and around tech who stresses less, works less, and earns more. 

Make sure you subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcasting app.

Ready to learn more about how to Build Your Brave Career, check out the following resources:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Let’s delve into the crucial role of specific feedback in skill development and career growth. With statistics, my personal experience, and testimonials from my clients, I reveal the profound impact that specific, concrete, trackable feedback can have on your professional growth. 

I emphasize the importance of detailed feedback for gaining insight into interpersonal and functional skills, enabling you to create targeted action plans for personal and professional advancement. The gender disparity in specific feedback highlights the significant impact on career advancement, confidence, and job satisfaction. 

Finally, I share my method of gathering specific feedback from my coaching clients. I provide the specific questions as well as the tangible result so that you can take ownership of obtaining and utilizing specific feedback to propel your career as a woman in tech forward. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Importance of Specific Feedback in Career Growth
• Gender Disparity in Specific Feedback: women receive 20-35% less specific feedback than men
• Impact on career satisfaction, promotions, career advancement opportunities, and confidence

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

One powerful quote can help you quickly clear up a stressful, unrewarding career situations: “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.” ― William Gibson

I share personal and client experiences to help you reflect on current career situations that are burning you out and aren't actually your fault. Especially for women in male-dominated industries, we often turn negative situations inward, questioning our own abilities and blaming ourselves incorrectly. We take accountability for bad product, bad processes, broken standards, and even a$$hole behavior. All of it keeps you stressed out, overworking, and underpaid. 

Instead, I suggest bravely navigating the balance between areas for growth and refusing to take on blame that isn't yours. 

If you're seeking structured support, download the free Accountability Triangle to help you get clear on what is going on and how to fix it without overworking. Download it at https://tricksteinbach.com/work-less/ 

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

M Pavia, Product Marketing Expert, shares her experience of reclaiming her career self-confidence to embrace her intrinsic worth during a difficult career phase, which took place during a difficult, bizarre phase of the job market. 

First M shares her biggest lessons that began with her courageous leap into an Ivy League business school for her MBA, then her mismatched job experiences and management styles. All of which led to self-doubt and application rejections that shook her confidence. 

We discuss the process of managing dips in self-confidence when negative, external factors seem relentless, particularly during a tough job market in the tech industry. M shares her insightful strategies, including therapy, reframing her experiences positively, and recognizing her value beyond external validations, coaching, and building specific career skills. 

We also explore the impact of class differences, opportunity gaps, and cultural differences that impact access, growth, and professional development. 

This episode underscores the importance of trusting your own brave career journey, even when the job market or specific positions don't, as well as the power of getting support to craft your own narrative. 

To all the courageous listeners striving in their careers: remember, your worth is intrinsic and unconnected to your professional phase. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• M's career advice on maintaining awareness of one's value during tough times
• The Struggle With Negative Thoughts and techniques to live through them 
• The difficulty of seeking external recognition with the importance of recognizing and valuing one's intrinsic worth
• The process of moving away from brand-name identification, while acknowledging the power of brands to visibility and opportunities 
• Societal Biases and Personal Anecdotes: class differences, privilege, affirmative action, white supremacy, misogyny and patriarchy in career growth 

Resources
Connect with M Pavia on LinkedIn
Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life
Paper that details the tenants of White Supremacy
Overview of the US Supreme Court and 2023 Ruling about Affirmative Action

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Radical responsibility is a concept about moving from blame and criticism, towards actual responsibility for the results that you are not just experiencing, but you're also co-creating. It's about making that shift from being the victim. It is about placing yourself into a position of empowerment and choice. 

In this episode, I delve into the concept of radical responsibility in the context of your career and the challenges faced by women in tech. I discuss the impact of overwork and stress, and how you can stop feeling powerless in such situations by choosing Radical Responsibility. 

Listen for practical strategies for taking control of your workload, including setting boundaries, declining unnecessary meetings, and communicating effectively with managers. The episode highlights the importance of holding oneself accountable with compassion and bravery to make brave changes. 

If you're feeling overwhelmed in your career, especially as a woman in tech, this episode is for you. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Description of Stress and Overwork
• Radical Responsibility, shifting from blame and disempowerment to taking responsibility for co-creating results
• Embracing Empowerment
• Exercise of Radical Responsibility in Action

Download the Accountability Triangle to Work Less here: https://tricksteinbach.com/work-less/

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Christine Kern discusses the importance of carving out your career path with intention, courage, and a deep life perspective. She shares the intimate details of her journey, from running high-powered teams across the EMEA region to her bold decision to leave a dream job in pursuit of creating environments that foster individual and collective flourishing. 

As women in the fast-evolving tech industry, Christine and I explored the crossroads where professional growth and personal values meet. We stressed the need to listen to life's whispers and honor the calls to action they carry. 

Christine shares a specific story about how she made a powerful transformational decision for her career. She shares foundational information about radical responsibility and conscious leadership. 

Catch these three questions to craft your own clarity to take Radical Responsibility: 

1. How have I contributed to my results and my life? 
2. What was my part in the positive, neutral, and negative results? 
3. What is life whispering to you? 

This is a vivid conversation about honoring and owning your achievements, choosing to empower life’s whispers, and seizing your dreams with courage. Particularly if you are looking for your next big step that balances growth, stretch, and intentional impact, you want to listen carefully to this episode. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Learn more about Christine Kern
• Connect with Christine Kern on LinkedIn
• Learn about the Conscious Leadership Group
• Discover more about Diana Chapman

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Being underpaid is an all too common dilemma for many professional women, especially women in tech. This episode will show you how to address being underpaid and how to fix it. I outline an eight-step process, crafted from my own experience as well as those of my clients. 

This episode starts with the emotional journey of discovering and managing your feelings about being underpaid. Then I walk through the crucial but difficult step of ensuring that you are ready for a salary correction so that you can collect the specific data and insights to set a realistic goal. 

I lead you through how to establish your unique strategic approach in negotiating for fair compensation, emphasizing the need for clear communication, boundary-setting, and ongoing monitoring. 

In this episode, I also address the systemic issues that can impact you and your approach to proactive career management, including staying engaged in the job market and seeking outside support when needed. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Understanding Underpayment and Taking Action
• Dispell shame and blame associated with being underpaid
• Steps for Addressing Underpayment
  • Feel your feelings. 
  • Confirm that you are ready for the salary and responsibilities 
  • Get specific 
  • Create your strategic approach 
  • Start the conversation 
  • Stay accountable and govern
  • Get (and stay!) on the job market
  • Feel the feelings

Related episodes: 

• E79: How do I know if I am underpaid as a woman in tech?
• E42: Are you Underpaid, Overworked and Un-invested as a Women in Tech?

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Jennie works with small and medium-sized companies to understand and reduce their impact on our environment. Jennie is also my client. We delve into the strategies and emotions behind Jennie's bold career moves, including how she specifically confronted being underpaid and establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries. We talked about overworking, overproducing, and choosing to take medical leave. 

Then Jennie shares her passion for sustainable product development and her pivot towards helping businesses lessen their negative ecological footprint. Finally, we dive into relationship shifts and how coaching supported Jennie during her decision and growth process.

Remember, your bravery can lead to remarkable changes—not just in your career, but in our world. Share this story with someone who's chasing courage, and keep pushing the boundaries, together. And don't forget—be brave, eat more plants, and let's make sustainable choices!

Hot topics from this episode:

• Career advice: Setting boundaries and not settling for less
• The importance of financial stability, prioritizing savings and building an emergency fund
• Navigating being underpaid
• Making bold decisions that balance life and career desires and goals
• Sustainable Living and Sustainable Product Development 

Resources:
Connect with Jennie Block on LinkedIn 

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Listen for a specific example of how to utilize the Build  Your Brave framework to stress less, work less, and earn more. I share a specific example of how I continue to use the framework in my own career and business growth: renaming this podcast from “Celebrate Brave” to “Build Your Brave Career” 

I walk you through the three components of the "Build Your Brave" framework: clarity, momentum, and accountability, illustrating how each overlap and support each other in building the skill of bravery. 

Then I go deeper into my personal experience so that you have insight for your brave opportunities: seeking expert advice, reflecting on feedback, and connecting to intuition and desire. I also delve into the challenges and emotions that I experienced during this process, most particularly, the effort of creating transformation while focusing on small, consistent steps. 

You are encouraged to examine your career and identify areas where you might be holding yourself back or overemphasizing external factors so that you can use the "Build Your Brave" framework to stress less, work less, and earn more as you grow your career. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Overview of the Build Your Brave Framework: Clarity, Momentum, and Accountability
• An example of the Build Your Brave Framework: Renaming this Podcast from "Celebrate Brave" to "Build Your Brave Career"
• Strategies for incorporating community feedback and suggestions into the decision-making process
• Engagement with experts to align the renaming with the podcast's purpose and audience
• Addressing fear, insecurity, and worry while making significant changes
• Emphasizing the importance of taking small steps toward achieving goals
• Encouraging listeners to apply the Build Your Brave framework to their own career challenges

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Check out my website
Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration
Connection with me on LinkedIn

Our guest, Sita Lakshmi Sangameswaran, is a developer relations expert. In this episode, she shares her wisdom on embracing resilience, the power of self-definition, and the importance of staying curious. 

We also dive into what developer relations really is, why it matters, and how Sita followed her curiosity to grow her career. Listen particularly to how she doesn’t wait for things to get bad before she continues to grow. 

We also discuss the beautiful balance of “too small” goals and maintaining work-life balance. Then we delve into the significance of creating a supportive community of women and the need for true change in representation and inclusivity. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• What Developer Relations is and the role in technology
• The importance of making big decisions and stepping outside of one's comfort zone
• Balancing Career Growth and Well-being
• Celebrating Brave Women and Supportive Communities

Resources: 

• Connect with Sita Lakshmi Sangameswaran on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sitalakshmi04/
• What is developer relations? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developer_relations
• What is machine learning? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning
• What is the Shine Theory? https://www.shinetheory.com/
• Learn more about AnitaB.org and Grace Hopper Celebrate https://anitab.org/ 
• E97: The Power of Investing in the Green Zone https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/e8f735b9103c5334b052417dc3fedccf
• E33: Shine, Amplify, and Raise up Women in Tech https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/bf6a765603e90b225aa8bfb8d50276c7

For more information on how you can build your brave:
Nicole@tricksteinbach.com
https://tricksteinbach.com/
https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/
https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

We dive into the crucial topic of internalized misogyny and its impact on women's perception of leadership, particularly in the tech industry. Through a thought-provoking conversation, I challenge the discomfort and resistance towards female leadership, with concrete data that highlights the benefits of women in leadership roles, such as better work-life balance and increased profitability.

I share a personal story that illustrates the influence of internalized misogyny, urging listeners to reconsider their own biases and influences. I emphasize the significance of recognizing and deconstructing internalized misogyny, revealing its profound impact on career progression and meaningful connections. As we strive for gender equality and empowerment in the workplace, it's essential to confront these ingrained beliefs to propel not only our individual careers, but also the collective advancement of women in tech and beyond.

Join me in this ongoing conversation by sharing your insights, highlighting what I might have missed, and suggesting ways to further deepen and enrich this discussion. Let's embrace bravery in challenging these barriers and supporting the growth of female leadership in tech and beyond. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Brave it up!

Hot topics from this episode:

• Internalized Misogyny and Perception of Female Leadership
• The connection between internalized misogyny, career progression, and relationships
• The impact of internalized misogyny on personal and professional growth 

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

Your personal brand can make or break your career growth. Yet, too many women in tech and corporate careers don’t kow how to craft a personal brand that is simple, impactful, and reflect who you really are. That changes with this episode of the Celebrate Brave podcast.

Yo Canny is our guest this week and she breaks down what a personal brand is and how you can quickly and continuously craft your own. Through Yo's lens, we explore how women in tech can navigate career advancements and express their unique identity in a world eager for authenticity.

Yo and I then share anecdotes that reveal the transformative influence of a well-crafted personal brand that goes beyond your resume to represent the essence of who you are while growing your career.

Yo shares that a personal brand has four key components: 

1. Who you say you are 

2. What your superpower is 

3. What your mission is 

4. Why you do what you do

Yolanda “Yo” Chavez Canny was in marketing leadership positions for over 42 years and is now the host of the a top 10% global podcast “Girl, Take the Lead!” During her career she managed teams and had 2 “C-suite” positions as Senior VP Global Marketing, Pilkington Barnes Hind, and Vice President Sales and Marketing, The Tech Interactive. She was the first in her family to go into business and her drive to achieve came from her father’s Mexican American roots and growing up in a bi-ethnic family where acceptance was a struggle. She received her MBA in 1978 when few women were in Business Schools. Most recently she has been an Adjunct Lecturer at San Jose State University in the Marketing & Business Analytics Department. She now applies all that learning to podcasting! She was been given many opportunities to lead by women who have gone before her and she now wishes to pay that forward by helping all women lead! 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Personal branding's role in supporting professional achievements from personal identity.
• Identifying core values and defining one’s mission to create an authentic personal brand.
• The interplay of personal experiences, career challenges, and the integration of one's superpowers in developing a personal brand.
• Trusting your intuition and the value of recognizing personal insights.
• The role of powerful questions and crucial conversations in personal and professional development.

Resources: 

Connect with Yo Canny on LinkedIn

Girl, Take the Lead podcast

Listen to Girl, Take the Lead on your favorite platform

E128 - Standing Out in an Interview: Mastering the Art of Self-Introduction

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

This week we discuss the importance of knowing when to shift or quit a goal, especially when it comes to our careers. I first share what a SMART goal, why they are important, and then I encourage you to consider the "unless statement" so that you can understand when it might be time to pivot, transform, or let go of a career goal. 

I explore the significance of resilience and commitment in reaching our goals, with the counterbalance of the courage to change direction, which can lead to unexpected and faster results. I invite you to reflect on the message in the quote from the book "Quit": "Winners quit a lot. That's how they win."

For all the ambitious women in tech and those navigating their career journeys, I offer practical insights and advice on setting smart goals and recognizing when it's time to make a change. 

Tune in to discover the power of the unless statement and how it can create more ease, freedom, and faster results in your career pursuits. Don't miss out on this empowering episode on knowing when to break free from outdated goals and embrace new opportunities.

Let's celebrate bravery and the courage to evolve in our careers!

Hot topics from this episode:

• The importance of knowing when to shift or quit a goal
• Build Your Brave framework to make decisions about goals
• SMART Goals
• Knowing when and how to quit a goal
• "Unless” statements

Resources: Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, by 

Annie Duke - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60097435-quit   E33: Shine, Amplify, and Raise up Women in Tech -  https://celebratebrave.libsyn.com/shine-amplify-and-raise-up-women-in-tech

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

Sarah Charles is our guest this week and together we explore the intertwining journey of authenticity and career transformation, highlighting Sarah's shift from a conservative corporate environment to owning a values-driven financial planning firm that empowers women, inspired by both personal evolution and strategic life design.

Sarah opens up about her bold journey, sharing potent career advice from the book "Quit" by Annie Duke, and how embracing change is crucial for personal growth. You'll hear about her authentic evolution post-merger and her powerful insights on shedding societal pressures to create a workplace on her terms, where she’s not only succeeding but also helping other women build their financial confidence.

I share my personal anecdotes too, drawing parallels to Sarah's experiences and the concept of investing in your "green zone." Together, we explore the nuances of authenticity and the profound impact it can have on both your professional and personal life, especially for women in tech who often face unique challenges.

The biggest thing we can learn from this episode is that embracing authenticity and being open to change are both crucial for personal growth and professional success. Through Sarah's journey, we experience the power of self-discovery, the value of seeking guidance, and the importance of aligning one's career with their values, skills, and passions, as depicted by the Japanese concept of "ikigai." 

Additional Resources:

• Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-k-charles/
• Ikigai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai 
• Quit, The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, by Annie Duke https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60097435-quit 
• Designing your new life   https://designingyour.life/insights/designing-your-new-work-life-infographic-preview/
• 5 Steps to Designing Your Life (Ted Talk):   https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_burnett_5_steps_to_designing_the_life_you_want 
• Sanctuary Financial Planning https://sanctuaryfinancialplanning.com/
• E97: The Power of Investing in the Green Zone  https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/e8f735b9103c5334b052417dc3fedccf 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Sarah’s career advice and insight from the books Quit and Designing Your New Life
• Investing in Personal Development and Curiosity with Exploring Career Possibilities and Finding Purpose
• Authenticity in the Workplace, including the mportance of authenticity as a privilege in the context of career growth
• Our personal accounts of hiding and then embracing our true selves
• The concept of "ikigai" and finding a sense of purpose in career growth and life

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

This week I address the misconception that many high-achieving individuals hold themselves to a standard of perfection based on a major misunderstanding of career growth: that functional standards are the same as human and growth standards. 

This episode is particularly for high-achieving women who work in fields, like coding, engineering, compliance, data privacy, governance, and more, that require near 100% functional standards. Far too many of you have replicated that standard to your growth, which holds back your skills and career growth. That standard is 60%, even lower during high-growth career phases. 

I challenge you, my brilliant listeners, to choose one area of your career where you will embrace the 60% standard. Whether it's skill-building, giving a presentation, applying for a new role, or investing in yourself through mentoring, certification, or coaching, I encourage you to aim for progress, not perfection.

Women in tech, and all individuals striving for growth and success in their careers, will experience easier growth and faster results when you adopt this far more humane and brave standard. 

Take the brave step towards embracing the 60% standard and watch your career flourish.

Hot topics from this episode:

• The Difference Between Functional and Human Performance Standards
• Examples of Embracing the 60% Standard
• Call to Action - Embrace the 60% Standard in Career Development

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

Women must recognize the symptoms that indicate the need for professional development and investment in their career growth goals, so this episode answers the question "How did I know it was time for me to get career coaching?" from 10 different women. 

I start with a common misconception that career coaching is only for those who are struggling in their careers and how professional men get significantly more professional development investment from their employers than women. 

Then I dive into why I first chose to get career coaching, as well as why I decided to invest in more career and leadership coaching over the following decade of professional growth. 

Finally, 11 women from all over the world, from diverse industries, and unique roles share their specific and unique stories that led them to invest time, effort, and money in a career coach. Some of the women are (or have been) my clients. 

I hope their brave stories resonate with you and inspire you to reflect on your own career needs, goals, and growth to help you know when it is time for career coaching. And when it is not. 

The biggest thing we can learn from this episode is that investing in career coaching is not a sign of weakness or failure, but rather a proactive step towards personal and professional growth.

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

In this episode of the Celebrate Brave Podcast, I am sharing a conversation from a related podcast, This Could Have Been An Email to dive deep into the world of career coaching and explore whether or not it's something you need. 

I joined hosts Nicole Vafadari and Alexandra Suazo to share my journey from poverty and abuse to becoming a Global Senior Director in the tech industry.

We discuss the benefits of engaging a career coach and what to expect from a coaching relationship. I highlight the importance of credentials, experience, and proven results when selecting a coach. 

The conversation takes a personal turn as we explore the guilt associated with asking for more and the balance between empathy and being direct as well as the cultural context for assertive and aggressive behavior. Along the way, we also touch on topics such as financial management, self-advocacy, and the importance of seeking support.

Join us as we unravel the world of career coaching and discover the impact it can have on your professional and personal growth. Tune in to this episode of the Celebrate Brave Podcast and find your own path to success.

Hot topics from this episode:

• More about Me (Nicole Trick Steinbach, International Bravery Coach) 
• Indicators for Seeking Career Coaching
  • Surprise as a good indicator, such as being surprised by performance evaluations
  • Other indicators include stress, sleeplessness, and uncertainty about the next step
  • Importance of career coaching as a personal and long-term investment
  • Importance of skills growth and personal satisfaction in one's job
• Benefits of Engaging a Career Coach
  • When to reach out to a coach (feeling lost or confused about the future)
  • Importance of credentials, experience, and proven results when selecting a coach
  • Discussion on the assertiveness differences in different regions and cultures
  • Importance of showing up for oneself and opening doors for others
  • Overcoming fears of asking for oneself and finding inspiration in others
  • Guilt in asking for too much and cultural norms vs. the patriarchy
• Selecting the Right Coach
  • Importance of addressing personal trauma or underlying issues before seeking a coach
  • Need for clients to work with therapists or gurus simultaneously
  • Importance of verifying a coach's credentials and existence of recommendations
  • Blunt approach and addressing topics like white supremacy and patriarchy in coaching sessions
  • Suggestion to interview multiple coaches to build trust and find a coach who takes accountability and responsibility
• Leadership, Interpersonal Skills, and Functional Skills 
• Advocating for Oneself and Others
• Seeking Help and Support

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

Many of us have experienced the process of identifying our "no's" and "yeses" only to discover a significant gap between the two. It can be disheartening and confusing, so this episode walks you through how you can close the gap through bravery. 

It takes bravery to dive into the unknown and create a life and career that truly fulfills you. The greater the gaps, the more we grow and develop our skills of courage and resilience.

I share a client example of how you can embrace the Yes-No Spiral, build the skill of bravery, and grow your career with the Build Your Brave framework. 

Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all template for career success. While there are best practices and helpful resources, it's crucial to make the journey your own and tailor your actions to suit your unique path. This is where personalized coaching or collaborating with others can be invaluable.

Hot topics from this episode:

• Introduction to the Yes-No Spiral
• Embracing the Yes-No Spiral
• Differentiating Positive and Negative Spirals
• The Build Your Brave Framework
• Your Career Action Plan with Steps to Close the Yes-No Gap
• Seeking Support in Closing the Gap

Resources: 

E74: Momentum - Evaluation Framework

 https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/fd01580c56ecd96540bc5de2b50ca541

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

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In this episode of the Celebrate Brave Podcast, Rochelle Marie shares her inspiring journey of saying yes to life and embracing new experiences. From completing 50 activities before turning 50, to starting her own business and overcoming significant challenges, Rochelle embodies the power of saying yes. We cover a lot of ground in this episode: new experiences, pushing bravely beyond boundaries, narcissism, financial mistakes, new love, gender identity, taking responsibility, and breaking free. The biggest gift from this episode is how beautifully and intentionally Rochelle role models how to examine life experiences to learn from them, grow in your accountability, and consciously choose differently when the moment arises.

We dive into how her willingness to try new things has brought both joy and heartache, and how it has made her life fulfilling. We explore the driving forces behind Rochelle's yes mentality, including her personality traits as the eldest child and her natural inclination to push boundaries. She shares her motto of never regretting what you do, only what you don't do, and how this mindset has helped her bounce back from failures and setbacks.

Rochelle courageously opens up about her experience getting involved with someone with narcissistic personality disorder, leading to financial struggles and bankruptcy. She role models with bravery and vulnerability how she broke free, took responsibility, and learned from her own choices. 

Then Rochelle shares one of her many brave role models, a young person who is currently bravely and with love exploring her gender identity.  

 Hot Topics 

• Primary Topic: Embracing the Power of Saying Yes 
• Overcoming Challenges and Learning from Failures
• Building Supportive Communities

Resources: 

Her Leadership Coach Podcast: https://www.herleadershipway.com/podcasts/her-leadership-coach

Her Leadership Way website: https://www.herleadershipway.com

Her Leadership Way Action Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hlwactiongroup 

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

I welcome Linda Yates who shares her personal story and vulnerable insights on the power of saying "yes" to yourself and embracing new possibilities.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Impact of Confidence: Linda emphasizes the role of confidence in how we present ourselves to others, from our clothing and body language to our words and leadership style. She invites listeners to reflect on areas where they can enhance their self-confidence. 

2. Stepping Out of Comfort Zones: we discuss the importance of leaving one's comfort zone to experience personal growth. We encourage you to assess whether you are currently in a comfort zone and if you are ready to take the brave step forward.

 3. Saying "Yes" to Yourself: Linda and I stress the importance of believing in what is possible for yourself, even in the face of societal pressures and comparisons on social media. We offer practical strategies to create boundaries, reflect on one's potential, and say "yes" to personal growth.

4. Start with the end in mind: Linda shares a powerful exercise to identify what you really want, starting with the end in mind and allowing yourself to begin with what you don’t want. 

Call to Action:

Listen to your optional homework to start with the end of your life and then work backward towards how you want to say yes in this phase. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Importance of what you put out into the world
• Linda's focus on the power of yes and goal-setting
• Importance of stepping out of comfort zones
• Saying Yes to Yourself
• Balancing Life Choices
• Navigating Career Transitions

Resources in this episode: 

Linda Yates: https://lhyatesconsulting.com/ Linda’s Book: Beyond The Clothes: Image & Presence  

 https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Clothes-Presence-Linda-Yates/dp/1534862250/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474000694&sr=1-1&keywords=beyond+the+clothes

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

Welcome to Yes-ember! Our first guest is Amanda Irtz, a former middle school school leader and now parenting coach.

Amanda Irtz shares her life-altering journey from being a “yes woman” for everyone else all the way into burnout, into an entrepreneur and mother who has designed a life around expansive moments of “yes.” Amanda shares how she learned to say "yes" to self-care and things that aligned with her personal values and goals. 

Then we talk through how Amanda helps parents thrive with the Confident Parent Collective, how she embraced co-parenting, and navigates through single motherhood to cultivate a nurturing environment for her family. 

Are you ready to celebrate your brave and find your 'yes'? 

Hot topics from this episode:

• The power of 'Yes' and the alignment with personal values
• The transformational shift from being a 'yes woman' to prioritizing self-care
• Recognizing burnout and Amanda's transition from experiencing burnout to empowering parents
• The transformational journey from self-denial to self-realization

Related resources

Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-irtz-summers-8aa2b218/

Connect with Amanda on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmandaEmpathy/

Learn more about the Confident Parent Collective: https://confidentparentcollective.com/

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

Welcome to Yes-ember with the Celebrate Brave Podcast! This month, we're diving deep into the magic of yes and crafting an authentic, expansive career and life.

In this episode of the Celebrate Brave Podcast, I guide you through the transformative power of saying "yes" to your desires and dreams. It is crucial to identify and claim your “yes” in order to achieve your brave goal, whatever it is.

You know you are ready to step towards your yes energy when you know what you next as well as when you feel an unclear yearning or desire and even when you feel bored or are overwhelmed with curiosity. 

To support your process, I share a powerful exercise for you to identify your most important “yes” energy, goals, and dreams by tapping into your deepest aspirations. Make sure you have a pen and paper for this one. 

Hot topics from this episode:

• Welcome to Yes-ember
• Importance of identifying and claiming your Yes
• Emphasis on individuality and customization in implementing your Yes
• Instructions for a guided exercise to identify personal Yes goals

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

Welcome to No-vember! Our second guest is Louise Lewis, a former tax lawyer and certified coach. 

In this episode of the Celebrate Brave Podcast, guest Louise Lewis candidly discusses her journey of self-discovery, navigating burnout, confronting family dynamics, and finding their authentic self, while providing insights and reflections on the challenges of personal growth and the importance of self-care.

Louise shares her personal journey of navigating a professional environment where she was very successful and yet felt like she couldn't truly be herself which drove her toward burnout. She generously shares her specific steps to move through burnout into health and specifically how she identified her “real problem.”

Spoiler: it wasn’t her boss, her partner, or her gym habits, it was her own mindset, deep-seated beliefs, and her habits of people-pleasing and perfectionism. 

Louise discusses the importance of self-care, the power of therapy in uncovering deep-rooted issues, and the process of finding her authentic self.

If you've ever felt like you're not living up to expectations or struggling towards burnout in your career growth, this episode is a must-listen. Join us as we explore the journey of self-discovery and learn how to celebrate our own bravery.

Hot topics from this episode:

• Career Pressure, Stress Symptoms, and Burnout
• Setting boundaries and noticing how others respond
• Therapy and coaching towards Self-Exploration and Discovery
• Imperfect Role Models and rejecting the pedestal 

Resource in this episode: 

• Connect with Louise Lewis: Email: louise@louiselewiscoaching.co.uk
• Website: louiselewiscoaching.co.uk
• Social Media: LinkedIn
• Your Way Program: https://louise-lewis.mykajabi.com/yourway 
• Your Way Podcast: https://pod.link/1659820785

What is codependency? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codependency What is enmeshment? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enmeshment

 Related Celebrate Brave podcasts: 

• E84: Accountability - Crucial Conversations
•  https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/4ab70823a619596693e78ad864d3168e
• E122: How to Work Less with the Accountability Triangle  https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/e9805a116ed45e2607ca56ea24b2e6b0
• Get your copy of the Accountability Triangle so that you work less: https://tricksteinbach.com/work-less/

Books: 

• Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2133999.Will_I_Ever_Be_Good_Enough_Healing_the_Daughters_of_Narcissistic_Mothers?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Un2ssZxri6&rank=1
• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693771-the-body-keeps-the-score?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=8MUbgh4Xle&rank=1
• My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of Our Bodies and Hearts  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34146782-my-grandmother-s-hands
• Becoming Safely Embodied: A Guide to Organize Your Mind, Body and Heart to Feel Secure in the World  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57356335-becoming-safely-embodied

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbac

Welcome to No-vember! Our first guest is Suzanne Culberg, the Nope Coach. 

Suzanne shares her personal journey to becoming the Nope Coach. Drawing from her own experiences, Suzanne delves into the power of setting boundaries and taking responsibility for our own work. 

Through thought-provoking insights, Suzanne challenges the notions of over-giving and overconsumption, emphasizing the need for individuals to prioritize themselves and set limits so that you can find freedom and lightness. 

Listen in to discover how setting boundaries and embracing self-care can ultimately lead to higher productivity, increased creativity, and a life of fulfillment. 

Key Topics 

• The power of “nope” Lessons learned from personal experiences and transformations
• The role of personal responsibility in creating a sense of entitlement and the importance of saying no
• The negative effects of overgiving and the importance of setting boundaries
• Providing assistance without sacrificing one's own well-being with lifeguard energy

 Resources 

E122: How to Work Less with the Accountability Triangle https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/e9805a116ed45e2607ca56ea24b2e6b0

Get your copy of the Accountability Triangle so that you work less: https://tricksteinbach.com/work-less/

Suzanne Culberg https://www.suzanneculberg.com/

The Nope Coach podcast: https://pod.link/1686087866

Learn more about ALOK here: https://www.alokvmenon.com/about/

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

Welcome to No-vember with the Celebrate Brave Podcast! This month, we're diving deep into the power of saying no and setting boundaries to help you thrive. 

Today, I have a special exercise for you to identify your own no's, and in the coming weeks, we'll have inspiring guests sharing their own approaches and suggestions on harnessing the power of no.

If you've been feeling frustrated, stressed, overwhelmed, or resentful in your life or career, it's time to pause, take a breath, and evaluate what's not serving you anymore. This is where our Build Your Brave framework is the tool to guide you: clarity, momentum, and accountability.

To start, imagine a room that represents your life, filled with objects symbolizing your career, relationships, hobbies, and more. Reflect on what stands out to you, and what's overwhelming or missing. Use this exercise to help you identify what you don't want anymore, giving you the clarity to make decisions and create positive changes in your life.

To help deepen your experience, I share three real-life examples from my clients who did this exercise, identified and embraced their no's so that they could transform their careers.

Remember, Brave Ones, by saying no, you're saying yes to a life of authenticity, fulfillment, and joy.

Hot topics from this episode:

• No-vember and the power of “No”
• Link to the Build Your Brave framework
• Visualization exercise with a metaphorical room
• Noticing what stands out, what is too much or too little, what's missing
• Noting or circling things that are now a no
• Using this clarity to make decisions and shift career and life
• 3 client examples

Resources 

Build Your Brave Framework 2.0  https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/4fc92b1d8e5d5b19098c376c55a40090

E125 - Embracing Change: Reflecting on the Feeling of 'Is This It?' and Setting Bold New Career Goals  https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/02ff7b97674d7a9a9288733ecb913229

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach

In this episode of the Celebrate Brave Podcast, I dive into the career shift from a senior functional role to a leadership position. Whether you're already at the senior level and want to step into leadership, just starting out and aiming for executive roles, or are already in a leadership position and want to help others make the transition, this episode is for you.

I discuss the shift in focus from performance to perception as you progress in your career, emphasizing the importance of who knows about you and the perception they have of you. I use the metaphors of elevators and a one-sided door to illustrate the need for networking, building a board of advisors, and nurturing relationships to open doors to leadership opportunities.

Tune in to learn more about this career transition and the steps you can take to make it happen. And remember, we need more women in leadership to make a positive impact in all industries. So go out there and celebrate your brave journey to senior-level and above careers! 

Key topics from this episode:

• Transitioning from Senior Functional Level to Leadership
• Shifting Focus from Performance to Perception
• Two Metaphors for Career Progression
  • High-rise building with staged elevators 
  • One-sided door that looks like a wall 
• The importance of having people on the other side who can provide perception-based opportunities
  • Board of Advisors for career progression
  • Interest interviews and conferences as networking opportunities

Resources: 

E66: Clarity - Board of Advisors:  https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/b7d6c0be41feb0a8b43c2a458c0dbc1b

E72: Momentum - Interest Interviews:  https://pod.link/1563427212/episode/1738460e0634934d10f532eea769e07d 

For more information on how you can build your brave:

Nicole@tricksteinbach.com

https://tricksteinbach.com/

https://www.instagram.com/nicoletricksteinbach

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletricksteinbach/

https://www.facebook.com/NicoleTrickSteinbach