We Can Reimagine the World and Our Careers Together — Motivation From the 2023 Inspiration Summit

In today’s world of work, motivation can be hard to find. We’re continuously hearing of toxic workplaces and practices (that affect women and People of Color disproportionately) as well as layoffs and economic uncertainty. This can cause us to not feel confident in the job market, let alone in moving forward and making wider changes to the status quo and world of work! 

In our third-annual Inspiration Summit, we sought to address some of this uncertainty and provide attendees with motivation and inspiration to get their dream jobs, be confident in their own unique skillsets, be active allies, prioritize themselves without guilt, reimagine the world, and more. As we saw in the event, burnout is pervasive, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take back our power!

“You aren't alone,” emphasizes Kathryn Minshew, Founder and CEO of The Muse. “We are all part of something bigger, and we are all doing really important work because you can't change a society, a country, or a culture overnight  — but you can change it. It's the work of all of us and all of the movements small and large that are making this happen.”

Here, we share actionable advice on how to make a change for yourself and for others and some of our key takeaways from the event. And, if you’d like to hear from our fantastic speakers themselves, the whole Summit is available to view on YouTube.

It starts with you: the importance of knowing yourself, your wants, and your limits.

The first step in growing a career and making a change in the world is knowing yourself. As Stacy London, Style Expert and Menopause Advocate, explains, to create an evolution in your life, “ambition and aspiration have to come with self-awareness.”

For example, in her own career, London originally wanted to be in fashion. But, over time, she came to the realization that fashion is based on our insecurities, and she discovered that her true wants lay elsewhere — in finding a community and sharing how style had the power to give people agency in expressing themselves. Eventually, this journey of self-awareness led London to become an advocate for menopause. “This is a huge transformative experience, affecting nearly all women, that for a long time society [...] didn’t talk about,” she notes.

For other women who have reflected on their wants and decided to make a career transition to follow their true passion, London has the following advice: “The most important thing is to learn to have an unwavering belief in what it is that you want to do and why you want to do it because you will be told no many more times than you will be told yes,” she advises. Through it all, you have to persevere in your path to achieve your goals.

And, as part of your journey toward self-awareness, you also need to identify what is meaningful to you outside of work so that you can live a full life. This, however, can be difficult in our modern society. While “we've created these enormous conversations about womens' careers, as we should do, and the systemic reasons for why women have found it hard to traditionally rise in corporate America, all of which is utterly justified, we've slightly stopped having conversations about what is it that creates a powerful life,” notes Joanna Coles — Former Chief Content Officer of Hearst Magazines; Board Member of Snap, Inc!, Sonos, and Bark; Producer of The Bold Type; and author of Love Rules. She highlights how we often spend less time with our families, friendships, and hobbies than our careers.

So, Coles muses, “what is it that creates a meaningful life?" Answering this question requires taking a moment to honestly consider about what you want. “I really want people to have bolder conversations about the kind of life they want and what constitutes a meaningful life because it's not just work,” emphasizes Coles. For instance, if you want a family and also a successful career, this shouldn’t be an “either-or” type of situation — we should be able to have it all! Raising a family “is complicated and difficult and expensive,” Coles tells us, “but it's also fabulous and life-affirming.”

There is also no perfect time to set out to follow your personal ambitions, so you shouldn’t hesitate to get started on achieving the life you want. As Nayeema Raza — Producer and Co-Host Of "On With Kara Swisher," New York Magazine — puts it, “our ambitions are broader than our career or personal life. And I know that in the vast trajectory of a life, resentment or regret is not a thing I want to have.”

Of course, to achieve your wants, you also need to recognize your limits, which is true for all of us. As Kristy Singletary, Global Head of Learning & Development Strategy, Enabling Functions at Pfizer Inc., tells us, 76% of employees feel burnout at least sometimes, with women and workers under 30 more at risk of burnout. But how can we address this challenge, especially since burnout results in emotional and mental exhaustion that can make taking action seem daunting?

First, Singletary notes the importance of being able to differentiate between good stress and bad stress. “The key thing about good stress is that it's short term and… it's something that actually inspires you, motivates you, and focuses your energy and your performance,” she explains. “Bad stress is the part that we want to be mindful of because this is a stress that wears you out and can lead to anxiety, confusion, poor concentration, and nothing that actually helps you.” Bad stress is long-term and can lead to burnout and feeling helpless and overloaded.

“In a workplace, we have to understand that your name goes before your title, and you must always take care of yourself first before you are able to take care of anything else,” Singletary urges. A few ways that Singletary says you can take care of yourself and bring yourself back from a burnout period are: 

• Bringing awareness to your breath.

• Having daily affirmations. 

• Setting boundaries (and enforcing them).

• Writing down your accomplishments.

• Actually using your work vacation and personal time.

• Making time for activities that bring you joy.

By keeping burnout in check, you can more effectively move toward your true goals and ambitions that you’ve identified through self reflection.

Making waves by acknowledging and activating the power within yourself.

When facing the challenges of the world today, Lisa M. Borders — Co-Founder and CEO of Golden Glow Media, Host of the “Enlightened” Podcast, former President of the WNBA, and an honoree of People magazine’s 25 Women Changing the World — encourages you to remember that “there is value in every voice.” “You are absolutely valuable,” stresses Borders. “You are as smart, if not smarter, than everyone sitting in the room.” 

But how can you begin to acknowledge this type of power within yourself? In her personal experience, Borders found that coming to this realization can take time. “Different people start to understand how to activate their agency at different times during their individual career journey,” she explains. “[For instance,] I am from the city of Atlanta, and I grew up during the Civil Rights era and helped to integrate what was then called a private school… I did not hear my voice or recognize that I had very much power [...] until I was about 40.”

At that time, Borders realized that what her parents told her was true — she was powerful. “There was no one in that room any smarter than I was,” she recalls. “My experiences were equally if not more valuable for what we were trying to accomplish, and, at that moment, I can remember feeling like a fire was lit.”

To light that fire in yourself, Borders says to focus on being confident in your own self worth and recognizing that you do have power. “You are the CEO of you,” Borders emphasizes. As women, we are taught to collaborate and cooperate instead of making waves, but this isn’t the way forward. Instead, it’s important to try to face your fears and state what you want — and then go after it. “We are not here to make friends; we are here to be respected,” says Borders. And “adversity is not there to punish you; it's there to push and promote you. So, if you think about it as a gift, you'll be able to do your best.”

You are the only one who can forge the path forward for yourself. So, as Borders says, “make sure that you are taking care of you so you are bringing your best self to the game and delivering the best results.”

As we know, taking care of yourself in today's world is easier said than done. Luckily, Bea Arthur, Founder and CEO of The Difference, spoke to us on how to do just that via mindset management.

At the core of mindset management is the following advice from Arthur: “when you are selective with your energy and protective of your energy, you can be more effective with your energy.” To act on this advice, Arthur emphasizes the importance of prioritizing mental wealth and making sure that you’re facing each day with “rich bitch energy.” This involves making sure that every exchange feels regenerative and that you’re implementing the antidotes to what Arthur believes are the five most draining emotions:

1. The antidote to anger is taking a pause and a moment to breathe.

   • “Outsmart your outrage,” states Arthur. While the news can be disempowering, “no one should have power over your emotions besides you — not even your own negative thoughts." Anger is useful in small doses and reveals what you’re passionate about, but it’s also a double-edged sword that can burn you out and harm your health.

2. The antidote to doubt is certainty, which you get by listening to yourself and your instincts.

3. The antidote to shame is pride. You’re good as you are, so remind yourself of your accomplishments!

   • “Observe, don't absorb,” notes Arthur. If someone is criticizing you, you don’t have to accept it. Remember, you can always “return to sender.”

4. The antidote to guilt is grace. “You are a good person if you care about doing better,” says Arthur. And remember to apologize with action!

5. The antidote to fear is oxytocin. Eight hugs a day can do wonders! 

While implementing these antidotes, don't forget that “every emotion deserves equal respect,” notes Arthur. So, “pay attention to your emotions. They have information for you.” And be sure to surround yourself with people who care about you and reinvigorate you. As Arthur says, “capitalism is not the cure, community is the cure.” By acknowledging this and working together, we can best utilize our power to make a change.

Tips for advancing your career — no matter your unique journey.

Interviewing is a common thread for all people who are looking to advance their career, no matter where they’re starting from. So, we reached out to an expert, Eloïse Eonnet, Director of Coach Connect at The Muse and the founder of Eloquence Coaching, to share her best tips on acing an interview.

To start, when interviewing, if you don’t feel like you’re in the driver’s seat, “you probably won't make it successfully to the next step in your career,” Eonnet says. But how can you feel like you're in the driver’s seat during an interview? During her session, Eonnet shared a few pieces of actionable advice:

First, she shared what not to do:

• Don’t prepare answers to specific questions, Eonnet advised. If you do this, you can get stuck if the interviewer doesn't ask the question you prepared for or asks a different variation of that question.

• Don’t assume that the interviewer is leading the meeting. This is “wrong for two reasons,” states Eonnet. “The first is that you're the one who's actually creating the content of this meeting by answering the questions, so you have way more agency in what is talked about and covered than you might think. Second, all your interviewers expect you to show up as that future collaborator/employee/direct report who's going to lead the conversation as much as they are.”

Next, Eonnet told us what you should do to build an interview agenda and content strategy that will help you be in the driver’s seat:

• Focus on preparation and determine the purpose of the interview.

• Your traits, skills, values, and competencies “should be at the heart of your interview strategy,” says Eonnet. “Make a list of your traits and prioritize the top 10 before an interview.". (These can be things like “great communicator” or “mission-focused”). Then, use this list to create a streamlined agenda to focus on during your interview answers. “Every question they ask you is an opportunity for you to share one thing on this list[...], which gives purpose to your answers,” Eonnet tells us. By focusing on “one trait from your agenda and by clarifying it at the top of your answer, you're grounding yourself.” You can also:

  • Use your top three traits as points to highlight in your introduction.

  • Use a specific trait to focus your response to a situational question.

• Finally, end the interview by stating how you’re excited to learn more and how you can utilize your skills to help the organization achieve their goals, which makes the conversation more two-directional.

As we can see, being aware of your skills and core competencies is imperative to ace an interview. Growing important skills is, therefore, equally as important. And, during the Inspiration Summit, we also heard about how to harness the power of a specific trait that’s important in almost any position — innovative thinking. 

To learn more, we heard from Hannah Hartsig, the Head of Customer Experience at Sling TV, who discussed disruptive/innovative thinking — a powerful tool for driving innovation in the workplace. This mindset involves challenging traditional ways of thinking to create new, breakthrough ideas that can revolutionize an industry or field. “Disruptive thinking is just critical thinking and critical thinking is just breaking down a seemingly complex problem to its most simplified core,” explains Hartsig. This type of thinking has been used by innovators across time: from Leonardo da Vinci to Uber.

According to Hartsig, a few concrete ways that you can improve your innovative/disruptive thinking ability are:

• The Minto method, which was invented by Barbara Minto. This involves defining the problem at hand, determining the complication that’s causing the problem, figuring out a specific question to answer, and then finding the answer to that question. (“How we get from the question to the answer is really the piece where critical thinking happens,” notes Hartsig.)

• She also suggests that you can dive into the critical thinking process via the Socratic method, which is continuously identifying and eliminating hypotheses until you find better hypotheses. 

• Alternatively, Hartsig credits her niece Vivian Norris with another method — asking “why” over and over until your preconceived notions break down and you start questioning things more easily.

• You can also use visual thinking, like you’d see from tour guides at an art museum, by asking: “what’s going on here,” “what do you see that makes you say that,” and “what more can we find?”

For all these methods, the specific way that you can come up with new, disruptive, and innovative ideas is by using White Space, which Hartsig learned about in a book by Juliet Funt. This is “a strategic pause between activities that allows for innovation,” explains Hartsig. “The pause or the silence is where we innovate.” So, take time between meetings and during the day to pause and let yourself zone out, since this is when innovation takes place.

Expert tips for career pivoters and returners.

Advancing your career via a pivot can be challenging. In fact, Kumud Bika, VP of Account Management at The Muse, notes that the central theme of a career pivot or transition is “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

For instance, preparing for a transition requires asking yourself deep and sometimes uncomfortable questions, says Lisa Walker, the SVP of Retail Wireless Operations at DISH. These questions include: “what do I love about my job,” “what keeps me up at night,” and “how can I get where I want to go?” To answer these, you have to put in the extra time. 

As Danya Johnson, Emerging Technology Programs and Operations Leader at GE Gas Power, tells us, this extra work may involve casting a wide net and researching a larger pool of potential career options. You’ll also need to dedicate time to skill-building. When considering a career pivot, “take an inventory of what you think you're good at and what skills you have or what you want to use,” she states. These skills and experiences can come from your previous jobs or activities like volunteering. 

If this sounds daunting, just remember that “aspirations without hard work are just dreams,” as Walker states. You have to devote the time and energy to making a plan and considering your skill gaps as well as your emotional and financial situation, she tells us. 

Another element of a career pivot is growing a network that will help you transition between paths by enabling you to talk to people who are in the career path you’re interested in. And, as Nanci Ferrari, Geo Lead- Campus Recruiting at Infosys, observes, another benefit of an expanded network is that “people see things in us that we might not see in ourselves.”  When reaching out and networking, Ferrari emphasizes how important it is to push past any fears you have of sounding uninformed. “Everybody's trying to figure out what they're doing every day,” she notes. So, “never to be afraid to ask."

In regards to finding a mentor, while this isn’t something that happens cosmically — as Walker says, there’s no “Fairygod-mentor” — proactively reaching out to potential mentors and sponsors on places like LinkedIn, Facebook, and tailored groups like the Society of Women Engineers to discuss your ambitions and other peoples’ journeys, is key. 

Then, after making a transition, it’s important to have an honest conversation with yourself to determine if it was successful. Johnson advises that you wait six months before taking the time to thoroughly consider if you’re using and growing the skills you want and doing work that aligns with your morals and values — work that makes you happy. “And, even if you did make a wrong step and took a position that feels like it's setting you back, you've gained something from it; you've grown," says Johnson. "I think that's the important part to remember.”

“With the right mindset, preparation, and support, [a career transition] can also be a really rewarding and fulfilling experience,” summarizes Bika.

The scenario of facing a challenging situation in order to move forward also holds true for those whose career journey involves returning to work after a period away from the workforce. For advice on this particular career journey, we asked another panel of experts. Here’s what they had to say!

Regardless of your reason for being away, returning to work after a period away isn’t easy, shares Kimberly Brown, Career and Leadership Expert at Manifest Yourself. To overcome this challenge, there are a few concrete actions that you can take:

Amy Manning, Senior Director of Global Retirement and International Benefits, People Experience at Pfizer Inc., suggests having as many contacts as you can on LinkedIn, reaching out to recruiters, searching for company hashtags, and even following people at the company you’re interested in.

Hallie Johnston, Director, Equipment Supply Chain — U.S. Dental at Henry Schein, Inc, says to focus on your “angles, allies, and advantages.” This includes determining your 30-60-90-day plan, identifying the people you need to build relationships with or rely on for advice, and figuring out your transferable skills. 

And, throughout it all, Karie Warfield, Client Experience Insights Supervisor Co-Chair and Resource Coordinator of the Heroes’ ERG at Achieve, emphasizes that you should take a mental health approach. “Check in with yourself and have a real honest conversation with yourself about whether this is a ready-to-return-to-work type of situation, or whether this is a necessity,” states Warfield. The former means looking at this as a skill readiness challenge using the advice mentioned above, and the latter is a mindset challenge, which means you need to look at resources, such as debt resolution programs and mental health assistance. “Find the time and resources to back you up until you find the place that's meant for you,” she shares. 

Next, many returners are worried about discussing their career break and facing discrimination from potential employers. In fact, Brown notes that “when I’m doing career coaching and someone is returning to work, the number one thing people are worried about is the stigma that comes with having the absence.” To help you overcome this worry, the key is practice. “If you’re not confident in your response and why you’re returning to work, the employer will not be confident in hiring you,” Brown notes. When planning your response, keep in mind that, as Warfield emphasizes, your reason for leaving the workforce doesn’t really matter — your ability to articulate it does. Also, “interviews are a two-way street,” says Warfield. “Interview the job just as much as that job is interviewing you, and do not be afraid to ask for what you need.” 

Then, after you’ve returned to work, Johnston has two main pieces of advice for you:

1. “Be proactive. Truly internalize what you want, [… and] don't let anyone hinder your confidence or how you operate.”

2. Build relationships to “reach out and educate yourself.”

Finally, if you’re feeling unsure about where you landed, Manning emphasizes not being afraid. “Even if it's not the perfect fit, if it's the right fit for that moment, you will still learn from it,” states Manning. “You have to be open to starting in a different place and doing something new. And even if it is the same area, you have to be open to doing it in a new way.”

We hope you’re able to use the advice from these speakers to pave the way to the career of your dreams!

Making a lasting change: how to advocate for yourself, others, and the world!

1. Advocating for yourself.

The knowledge of how to advocate for yourself doesn’t come naturally, says Emma Goldberg, a Reporter for The New York Times. “We find it by seeking out expert advice,” she notes. And, at the Inspiration Summit, we gathered some of these very experts to help!

One scenario in which we have to advocate for ourselves is during a salary negotiation — which Goldberg says “can feel like an inherently uncomfortable thing.”

To overcome this feeling, Susan Levine, the Chief Executive Officer at Career Group Companies, says that you can prepare for a negotiation by recognizing your value within the organization and beyond. “Do your market research to know what people at your level are making across all markets in the industry that you're in,” she says. Then, use this research to confirm that you are “paid what you’re worth.”

Adding to this, Tameka Johnson, NA Senior Talent Management Specialist at Dow, reiterated how preparation is key. “Know what you have to offer the company, how you benefit the company, and some non-negotiables,” she shares. “You need to know your worth, your value, and be confident to speak for that.” And, remember that “we all have unique qualities and skillsets,” says Johnson. 

Further, Yolanda M. Owens, the Founder of CareerSensei Consulting, notes that “being confident in your abilities, being very self-aware, and understanding what you want, don't want, and what you're willing to compromise on” is key. As part of this, you should avoid the common mistake of worrying that you’re going to offend a potential employer by negotiating. “My grandmother always used to say that you can't catch a fish unless it opens its mouth,” says Owens. “So, you have to ask for what it is that you want because the worst thing is that they can say no… Be really clear about your expectations, and be vocal about that so there's no room for misinterpretation.”

And, what if you’re told no during a negotiation? If this happens, don’t be afraid to ask why, emphasizes Levine. It’s really important to “actually know from an employer's perspective why it's not the right time to ask for a raise,” she clarifies. Also, don’t let this be the end of the conversation! Johnson suggests setting a note on your calendar to have a follow-up discussion. Raises and promotions aren’t selfish to ask for — they’re necessary for employee morale. As Owens tells us, “it’s important to recognize people, whether it’s monetarily or through a title change… the reward for good work shouldn’t just be more work!”

2. Advocating for others.

One way that you can advocate for others is as an ally. But what does being an ally actually mean?

To start this discussion, Oladotun Idowu — Founder of Sisters In Media — shared four definitions of allyship:

1. Allyship is the lifelong process in which people with privilege and power work to develop empathy toward another marginalized group’s challenges or issues.

2. Allyship is an active, consistent, and arduous practice of unlearning and re-evaluating, in which a person in a position of privilege and power seeks to operate in solidarity with a marginalized group.

3. Allyship is efforts by groups of people to advance the interests of marginalized groups, both in society at large, and within particular social contexts, such as universities or workplaces.

4. Allyship is a strategic mechanism used by individuals to become collaborators, accomplices, and co-conspirators who fight injustice and promote equity in the workplace through supportive personal relationships and public acts of sponsorship and advocacy. 

Idowu told us that, while all of these definitions are true, “the most important aspect of them is the word action.” As such, she asked all the panelists what being an active ally meant to them:

• Steph Marcellin, Senior Manager, Recruiting at Coinbase, shares that being an active ally “is a conscious choice to show up in the world with an open mind, the willingness to educate yourself about things you don't know or understand, and being really curious about everyone you meet around you at work, especially a leader.”

• Reni De Leon Fox, Senior Learning Designer at KinderCare Learning Companies, agrees, saying that “unpacking your power and privilege is a great first step to being an active ally." She also emphasizes the importance of “continuing to look at your power and privilege and then listening and amplifying marginalized voices — especially intersectional marginalized voices” And, remember, “allyship is a journey; it’s ongoing action,” she says, and it takes time.

• Inaction is also not an option. Like Carrie Corbin, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Hope Leigh Marketing Group, puts it, not making the choice to be active makes you complicit in the way the world is today. “There is power in the advocacy of our collective voices and in allyship, especially from those with a platform,” she says. And the onus of speaking up and educating others shouldn’t fall on marginalized groups — allies need to take action.

And what concrete steps can you take to be an active ally? De Leon Fox suggests joining an employee resource group (ERG) if available. She also emphasizes the importance of sponsorship and “speaking the names of people for opportunities who you know are from marginalized communities … Just drop the mic and create those opportunities for others, no matter what level you are.”

Corbin reiterates how allyship is for people at all levels. “You don't have to be in a leadership role to affect change,” she says. “It's just modeling the behavior and making a safe space for others. Even small changes can have a large impact… For me, self-awareness was the biggest thing and challenging myself to pay attention to how my own biases and social norms might be playing a role in how I interact with others."

For more tips on how to overcome the challenges of being an ally, we turned to Marcellin, who shares three assumptions allies need to overcome:

1. Being afraid of making a mistake and saying or doing the wrong thing, which results in inaction.

2. That everyone in a specific community feels the same way about an issue. “There's not a one-size-fits-all approach to being an ally,” she emphasizes.

3. That marginalized groups should teach you how to be an ally. 

As long as you’re willing to actively listen, create space, be curious, and show up for each other, you’re doing the right thing,” Marcellin encourages.

Allyship is one of many ways that we can support others. For instance, during the Summit, we learned that we can also draw from an unexpected place in order to learn how to better uplift and advance others as an employer: the hospitality industry!

As Danielle McLaughlin, VP, Chief of Staff at Casa Komos Brands Group (CKBG), notes, “luxury, at the end of the day, is really based around how you're making people feel… The reason why people are buying luxury brands and spending money on them is really about the emotional connection they are making with those brands and how those brands are making them feel, which is something that is really similar in the world of hospitality.” With this in mind, McLaughlin emphasizes how it’s important to advance and develop your employees using the same approach: forming connections and affinity so people know that they’re “really a part of something and building something from the ground up.” 

“When you're seeing the world automate itself so readily, the people connection and the human connection is so important,” remarks Heather Hartnett, CEO and General Partner at Human Ventures. “As we know, people want to do business with people,” Hartnett continues. As such, it's also a business imperative to elevate the voices and reach of your employees.

It’s important to “focus on how you're best empowering people first,” McLaughlin elaborates. This includes a dedication to growing soft skills, hiring for potential, and encouraging employees to self-advocate and define their own growth. In this way, employers can help empower and advance their employees.

3. Advocating for the world.

How can we change the world around us? Well, it starts with community. “I believe in the power of community, and I believe that you don't have to fight battles alone,” comments Tobin Heath, Two-time Olympic gold medalist, Two-time FIFA Women's World Cup Winner with the United States women's national soccer team, and Co-founder of Re-Inc.

During her talk, Heath recalled how she and her teammates were treated differently than their male counterparts and given less pay and resources. Despite the woman's team’s success on the field, they weren’t seeing their value appreciated or spaces that were built for them.

In a situation like this, Heath emphasizes the importance of the belief in a world of abundance — where there are not a finite amount of seats at the table. “We chose to believe that there was abundance out there and that we could not only create that abundance, but we could go out and grab it and achieve the kind of revenue that we knew we deserved and could create,” Heath explains.

With this belief in hand, Heath and her teammates were able to create change that resonated across the world. “We stood up, together, as a collective, and we said, ‘no we're done with this,’ and that started a massive massive moment of a power shift,” she recalls. “We went into 2019 defending our world championship because we had won in 2015 and, at the same time, we were fighting for Equal Pay since we had sued our employees.” This brought the issue to a world stage, and, after winning the World Cup, Heath recalls how the whole stadium, instead of chanting USA, was chanting “equal pay.” 

“This is a global movement… Women's sports isn't just about sports and it's not just about women: it's about progress, it's about equity, equality, and inclusion,” says Heath. And, thanks to their hard work, Heath and her teammates have made important progress to change the world around them both on — and off — the field. For example, Heath and a few of her teammates founded Re-Inc to reimagine the status quo. “Being four queer women founders was massive, just to exist in a space we felt wasn't created for us,” states Heath. “We were given this torch with the U.S. Women's national team, and it was our job and our responsibility to carry that torch as far and as high as possible for the sake of women's equal rights.”

Reflecting back on her journey, Heath notes that “every single woman in every single field has a shared experience. It might look different, it might feel different, but we all have a shared experience, and our voices coming together is really really powerful.”