Episode 47 : Forging New Career Path

Her Career Ladder

Welcome, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. This is Michele Heyward, with positive higher ed in partnership for Women's History Month. I am here with Nomble Lee with SISTEM. SISTEM is a community of women of color in the water industry. So if you have not been tuning in for the series of conversations, for leading women in water, and you're like, Michelle, I don't understand what you mean, like you want like Reiki, water cleaning, whatever it has to water, these women are all foot knees, whatever. But what I'm saying is, they are professionals that actually many different water systems throughout the United States. And tonight, we have a very, very special guest who's going to be talking about forging new career paths, but I believe it to nobly you share with you who she is, and then we will bring up our special guests for tonight.
Awesome, thank you, Michelle. And Hello, good evening, everyone. My name is Nomble Lee I'm out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I'm an environmental engineer with a focus in water and wastewater treatment. Also focusing on P FOSS removal. I'm so excited to be here tonight. So not only focus on forging new career paths and water, but forging new career paths overall, outside of the water industry, I love plants. That's just something that I do as a hobby on the side. And I also love spending a great amount of time with my family.
Thank you. Perfect. And with no further ado, here's our special guests for tonight joining us.
Hello. Hello, Kathy, how are you this evening?
I think great. I'm glad to be here. Yes, yes.
So just start out if you want to give like a tiny tiny background, tiny, tiny space of your humongous background and all of your accomplishments just introduce to the people today.
Sure. I'll keep it short though. So I am Kathy Bernardino Bailey. I am the Executive Director of Greater Cincinnati waterworks, Cincinnati, Ohio. And I'm one temporary assignment for one year with US EPA as a senior advisor to help them establish their lead service line replacement accelerators across the nation. So I'm there with my utility for 31 years, I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly. And I've been able to have a great career in it. And I really enjoy what I do, not only for Cincinnati, but in the industry.
Wow, that's amazing. Um, so yeah, just to jump right into forging a new career. And just focusing on the definition of forging means searching and looking for a new career, over the span of your career. What do you think has been your motivation to keep reinventing yourself? And has this been intentional, or just something that you fall into while while gaining different skills?
So that's a great question. I think when I first tried it, my career, it was not intentional at all. You know, I just kind of went with the flow, you know, so I started as a chemist, I was in a couple different positions, I was in it. I did some strategic planning all of that, but reasonably years, it's been very intentional, intentional in the steps that I've taken to maximize the opportunities that have been given to me, because I've been thinking more about, you know, at this point in my career, what else can I do? It's beyond me, how can I help others come into this industry, you know, help them on their career path, take the steps that they need to get going in their career, in this male dominated industry, it's very challenging. And so I've been very intentional in not just my career, but in helping others at this point. For me, yeah.
What are some of those experiences that you say were really pivotal in making those changes, whether it's being mentored by others, or simply just that grit and grind to do more and have more?
You know, I'd say it's been a few mentors. For me, one was a mentor that I had many, many years ago, but he's, he's like family to me. And it's interesting, because, you know, in this industry, you're usually looking for a mentor that looks like you. And there's not many that look like us in this water utility industry. And so, you know, it's hard to find mentors sometimes, but for me, I've had a few mentors that have helped me, you know, get on the right path helped me make some decisions when I wanted to go from one step in my career path to another, and then just just really be there as a support for me, you know, as I made those steps?
Absolutely. And, you know, while making those steps, how important would you say your y is, when you're talking about flowing into those different career paths? And kind of having a goal at the end? What was your why? And how important was that for you to be successful in changing careers?
Yeah, so early in my career, I didn't have a y, you know, it was just pretty much let me let me do this job, let me get this check. Let me keep it rolling, let me have some fun, you know, I did not have that. That why I had, you know, family, friends and fun, right? Not that I don't have that now, but, but I, I was living differently if I put it that way. But now, you know, I do have a why it's, I'm trying to figure out how I can have a positive impact, you know, not just in it, my utility, but in my community, in my legacy that I leave, you know, and what can I do to have that positive impact in my community and in all that I'm trying to achieve, and so I do have a while, which then makes me act differently, walk differently step in my career differently. And I'm happy about that, because I really see myself as a servant leader, trying to help others, you know, along their path as well, but also to, to grow and do better in the community and, and leave it better than I found it for generations to come.
Absolutely, and leaving it better than you found it is one of the great benefits, but also outside of I guess, getting new skills and new experiences and higher levels, what do you say, are the benefits of forging these new career paths, or something that you found? Well,
for me, it's always an opportunity to grow and, and learn something else, to meet people to be, you know, of assistance to other people, you know, I think probably one of my greatest joys, is really meeting a lot of the women who are now in this industry, you know, many people of color, women of color, but it just gives me all kinds of energy to, you know, make myself available to help them, you know, and maybe they, they will have some of the missteps that I had along my path, but I can give them some of the insight that I have or share some of my experiences through storytelling, you know, but but that is something that's helpful. And so I think, you know, it's an opportunity to grow and make yourself available, you know, and as you grow, you learn new things, you experienced new opportunities, and then from that, you can figure out how you can, you know, take your next step along your career path.
I totally agree with that. And speaking of the women that you're now seeing, as a woman, myself, and I'm sure many others who wants to forge new career paths, what do you say, sort of the mindset that one must have or should have, or you recommend to have to be successful in that?
You need to be open. And, you know, as my mom was telling me, you know, you can do anything you put your mind to, you know, and at the time, it was like, Oh, Mom, what are you talking about, you know, but, but as I got I'm adult and thought about that, and now as I look back on my career, you can do anything that you put your mind to. And so, you know, I think it's important that that you are open, open to new opportunities. You know, I started as a chemist my degrees in chemistry, but I was in it for a while, as I mentioned, strategic planning, performance metrics. I dabbled a little bit in utility, mergers, performance metrics, you know, I've had all kinds of stuff going on, along my career in each one of the steps that I've taken to get to this point. And it's all been growth, you know, it's been growth and new skills and some skills that they, you know, probably fit me better than others, but but others at the time, it might have been something I didn't like to do, but then later on in my next step, maybe I needed that skill. And so then it became helpful and I appreciated it more. So I think growth and just a willing to change and be available and really know yourself know, know that you can take these steps and put your mind and your energy behind it so that you can be successful in all the steps that you take.
Yes, and when you speak about like, some of those steps and growing, we all know that growth can be challenging and not always fun. How do you say that? How do you You feel you can stay grounded and focused when you're probably uncertain of your next career change. I'm sure foraging isn't always just a beautiful process, he get very tricky.
Oh, yeah, I wouldn't say it's beautiful at all. But, but I think if you keep your eye on where you're trying to go, or that you know that there's something that's great or good, that's going to come from it. And I think that's what allows you to put your head down and keep going through it, right, because we all know that you often have to go through some stuff, right, in order to get to the other side, and have it be a good place to be in. And so I think growth and a lot of those, you know, those steps along your career path, some of them aren't good steps, you know, and you have to kind of sit down in it, and it's not good for a while, but then you rise up to that next step. And it's a good place to be, and then you appreciate, you know, what you just came through. And so I think, just having the right mentality and know, you're, again, I go back to knowing yourself, know how to talk to yourself and say, Hey, this is just a matter of time that I have to go through this, but I know the next step is going to be better, it's gonna be great, because I'm going through this now, and I can't be in this forever, you know, and, and, you know, if you're a faith based person, and of course, that gets you through as well. But you just have to know yourself and be willing to go through some of that that's not, you know, the greatest that it can be, but know that the other side is going to be a good place, and you're going to be better for it.
Yeah, that's so it's so interesting kind of knowing yourself and knowing where you are, I'm sure a lot of people have struggles at work, and maybe they feel unfulfilled or just simply unhappy. It's not always I believe, unnecessarily, a change in career that you need. It could just be a change in job and maybe a glass of wine. So like, how do you distinguish? Or how would you say you distinguish when it's either time for a new career versus time for a new job? Like, what is that term point? You know, that thing that lets you know, Okay, it's time for a new career. It's not just my work?
Well, I mean, if you know yourself, and you know, what challenges you, you know, what, what motivates you, you know, what gets you up in the morning, and get you excited for the day, you know, those things. And so, when that's not fulfilled, when you're getting up in the morning, you're like, oh, my gosh, I gotta do this again. And that's, that's happening more times than not, then you might know, it's time, it's time for you to maybe do something different, you know, or you're bored with what you got going on, because maybe it's not challenging you as much I remember, you know, some of those jobs that I landed in, Milan, my path, I went to my supervisor and said, you know, what, this, isn't it, this is not happening for me, you know, it's like, I can do this, you know, in a couple hours, and I'm bored. And what's, what else is there? And, and what can I learn, and I remember one time in particular, I did that. And then he took me down this path of this was a the CFO that I reported to, he took me down this path of teaching me all these spreadsheets and all this crap, and oh, my gosh, and always pro formas. And all this stuff that I didn't want to be bothered with. But in my mind, I was like, I asked for this, right. So I, you know, I gotta sit here. And I tell you, it was used. Years later, after we came out of an ugly merger, that didn't work. And the city manager separated utilities back out, we didn't have a financial financial officer she had left. And so we were coming out of that merger, into our own independent utility again, and everybody was saying, well, we don't know the financials. And for me, it was like, Well, I know these spreadsheets and I know where they are. And I think if I can get us to those, we might be able to figure it out. And and I go back to that often think about it, because at the moment, it was something that I didn't ask for. Well, I asked for something right, there was a little more challenging, but I didn't like what he gave me. Then later on, it was very helpful to me. And sometimes, you know, we get in the way of ourselves, and we don't let that new thing blossom, right. We don't let it grow. Because it's not what we really were asking for it. And I think I would say, you know, go with it, go with it and learn from it and know that everything that you're doing has a purpose and you're learning from it. You might not see the purpose right then. But at some point in the future, you will understand that and you will be able to use what you've learned. And that was definitely a case for me. So I think that's something that's important.
Yeah, no, absolutely. I definitely agree with that as well kind of it will all work out in in sort of what I heard from an open to circle back some time, I did also want to touch on, this is something that I know people in my generation, and even some others are dealing with now sort of like this hustle culture, when it comes into forging those new career paths, and you feel like you can't see need to have maybe two or three different jobs. And if you're not growing by this time, and that time, I was wondering, did you ever feel that pressure? Or was it all very internal? Or do you feel that pressure to constantly I need to knew this, I knew that and constantly growing and showing?
Well, I think is, is, is a black people, we always have a hustle, right? I mean, even when I was a chemist on the job, I actually years ago, I used to own a bakery, right. And so I had their door, you know, I'm actually I'm an artist, I have artists art that I sell, you know, so we all have a hustle, right. And that's something that we do to challenge these days, though, that we have two or three hustles. But COVID has taught us that those hustles could actually be your full time job. And so we've now seen people that are making some career changes, because their hustle has grown into way more, you know, then then just a side note. So it's actually turning into be something that could be the full time gig that they want. And so, you know, there's more opportunities there. And so I encourage people, you know, because I don't want anybody to be on a job that they they just aren't fulfilled. And so I'm people to be in tune with what they considered that their main job, but also pay attention to those side hustles because some of those are growing into being the main jobs and could be very lucrative, not only for the person, but for their family and their generations to come. And so it's just weird space to be in right now. But, but I like the weirdness of it, because I think we are more in tune with what's important. I think we have, in many ways, simplified our lives. And I think we are trying to get to a better place with work. And if we get to a better place with work, it's a better work life balance, which is a win for our families. And certainly, you know, the black culture, which is a, which is huge, because we often for many years, we haven't had a great work life culture, because we've worked two three jobs at a time. And if we can get to a place that offers something different and better than then I encourage people to explore all of that.
Yeah, absolutely. And definitely, like you're saying a better work life balance. I think sometimes that's what hustle culture, sort of, it makes you risk that. And even when when thinking about those risks, what would you say are some of the risks of when you are forging a new career, whether that be taking a pay cut? Or I don't know, maybe hopping into something that isn't quite right for you? What would you say some of the risks maybe you've taken or experienced when forging new careers, it
definitely some risks that come with it, you know, there's risk in putting risk in the job that I have now, you know, where I'm temporary assignment with USEPA for one year as a senior advisor. And so there's risks. So I've left my comfortable Executive Director, job, right. EPA has me on loan for a year, but after a year, there's an optional second year, I don't know if I'll take it. But then I come back to my utility. And so there's the risk of that not being what it was, because somebody else has been running the utility. It's the risk that I come back to something very different that I don't like it's a risk that they won't be warm and fuzzy when I get back because I left them for a year or two years, you know, so. So there's a lot of risk when you take some of these steps along in your path, but I think you need to, you have to wrestle, I mean, you have to wrestle with what's important to you, right? And what, what your feelings are about it.
And for me, you know, I had to think about what was important to me. And it's important to me, that across the nation, particularly in disadvantaged communities, that we get these lip service lines out sooner versus later, right. That's important to me. And so if I could take this one year assignment, and have you know, a role in making that happen sooner versus later, then I thought that risk was worth taking. Some might think differently, but, but with every step along their path, if it's important enough, there's going to be some risk with it. And so you have to really, again, come back to knowing yourself to know whether or not you're going to be comfortable with the risk. And then I always, always I got the positive Listen, I got the negative list and I'm going side by side to, to, you know, look at it and say, Is this worth it? Is it? Is it worth it or not? Is it worth it to me? Is it worth it to my family? Is it worth it to the organization that I represent? You know, I do all of that. And I think it's, it's important that people do that.
Yeah, I totally agree. And I really liked how we keep touching back on knowing yourself and kind of I would assume, being very confident in yourself, your abilities, and the fact that, like we said before, having the faith that it all will work out, in the end, was there ever a time maybe you can speak or your confidence wasn't as strong as you would like it to be while attaining or going for a new career?
Yeah, I've had moments definitely had moments. You know, I right out of college. I worked for US EPA for two years. And then I came to the city. And a couple of weeks after being at the city job, you know, my coworker said, Hey, you, you only hired because you're black. And we got in trouble because we didn't have any black people. And so now you're hit. And that's the reason you're here. And number one, it's like, how in the world do you say that to somebody, but for me, that hit pretty hard, because I had spent way more than four years getting a degree, right, and had put myself through college, two and three jobs at a time to get my degree, to have this confidence with this degree now to come onto this job and have them tell me that which basically said, the fact that I had that degree didn't mean anything. And so my confidence, wavered quite a bit with that, you know, and for many years, it sent me down a path to prove differently, you know, that that wasn't the reason why you hired me. But I got through all of that. And then my confidence has been, you know, going up ever since then. And, and that's something that I try to work with, you know, when I'm mentoring, particularly women and women of color, you know, it's like, hey, trying to work on their confidence and let them know, you got this, you walk in the room, and you know, the topic you have on the topic, you know, and how can you build confidence, but you have to be very confident. And I have had, I've had more than one thing, many moments, where, you know, your confidence does waver, but you have to figure out how to get back on track. And you know, you get knocked back. But, you know, get yourself back moving forward in, you know, again, I go back to knowing yourself, no, no, you know, what has happened. And then you know, get yourself through that, talk yourself through it, understand what has happened, be honest with yourself, so that you can, you know, realize what has happened, it's knocked you off your competence, trail, and then get back on it. So you can keep moving.
Yeah, that's great advice. Also, in just speaking to, to your intersectionality of being both a woman and a black woman, while forging those career paths. I know that obviously, you've just expressed some challenges in that. Can you tell me about some of the benefits? Or advantages you found?
Yeah, um, you know, I, I think it's a huge advantage for me to have had the experiences that I've had, and what I bring to the table, you know, you know, when we're, when we're talking about people who are struggling to pay their bills, well, I've had that growing up as a child and my family experienced that, you know, when you talk about making decisions on whether or not you're going to have enough to pay a water bill or or good medicine and some other stuff, I've experienced that, you know, so I think in many ways, my life experiences although at the time when when they weren't as pleasant as they could have been, they certainly have shaped me into being, you know, a more compassionate leader that is very much in tune with the community and the sub sections of the communities and the neighborhoods and experiences that they have. And so I look at that as a positive that those experiences might have been negative at the time, but they're positives now in how I can be a leader in what I bring to the table to be a leader.
Yeah, that's, that's excellent. And in that leadership that you speak on as well. I was wondering if you if you found that maybe you give different advice depending on where different women are in their careers, versus someone that is early on, or one that's a little further down the line because as you know, you can change careers or four through career paths in any one time in your life, whether you're in your mid 60s, early 20s 30s 40s, every decade, you can really change. Do you think that your advice changes as maybe women approach different milestones? Oh, absolutely.
Oh, absolutely. Your advice definitely changes. You know, as you as you change in your decades of years on this earth, you know, you, as you get more experience as you go through quite a bit, you definitely change with that in. So I think your advice changes to in, in your need for life changes. You know, I think early on in my career, I needed more advice on how to navigate, you know, a male dominated industry, you know, and how to not survive, but thrive in it, right, I needed to understand how to thrive. And so that then changed to, Okay, I'm sorry, I'm thriving. But now I need advice on how people will listen to me and hear that I have something to say, then I got that. And then it's like, okay, now I need advice on how to be more of an effective leader, I'm a leader, but I need to be an effective leader, right. And so needed advice in that way. And so I think you go through different phases, as you take all these steps along your career path, where the advice that you need, and the advice that you give, is very different.
Now that's so interesting. And I think about that now, mainly, because as I turn 30, like you're saying, just how you think and how you feel, how you approach different career opportunities, from starting off, where money is the goal, and then now you have an actual purpose, and the why all of that does change over time. With those new careers. If you were to explain, I guess, your career path and all the different, you know, different trials and all the different roads you've taken, what was a word you would use to describe that?
Um, I'd say intentional, intentional, early on in those first few years, not so much. But, but I had a couple instances, different things that happened early on, that then made me very intentional in how I engaged and what I engaged with. And so I've been very intentional, and opportunities, whether or not I take them or not, I've been very intentional in, you know, what I wanted to put a stake in the ground for and what I would not waver on, you know, different beliefs that I had, I've been very intentional in different projects and things that I wanted to do that had a legacy within the community, you know, and so, I say intentional, is probably one that comes to mind, I guess, I but I was intentional. And now learning space where I'm trying to inspire trying to inspire others to grow and go for different opportunities that might be before them.
Okay, and we are approaching that 630. Mark, but just to end with everything, are there any final words you would say to encourage those who are considering a new career path? And maybe don't have that confidence or question themselves? Just any final words to encourage inspire them? Like you just said?
Well, I mean, we are resilient people. I mean, we've seen that over the years and everything that we've been through in this country, right? We are very resilient. And so I think I often look at as an opportunity as why not, why not take that next step? Why not put yourself out there, go out on the limb, try something different. Try something different, that you can grow from, learn from, you know, and move on to the next thing from there. And so, I would encourage people go for it, go for it. Do not sit back and and be comfortable. Have courage, right over comfort. And get out there and try something new and different that will push you energize you, motivate you make you thrive and be more than you think you can be. Because I think sometimes we sit back and don't. This message came to me when I took this job when I was not going to take the job. And I was just going to do it temporarily. You know, I just thought oh, I'll step in. But they'll find somebody they'll do a national search and won't be, you know, a few months, and I was in church and the message It was all about we're given these God given talents, but we never fully use them. Right, we never fully use them, we just kind of dabble at it. But we never fully use our talents. And we need to step up and fully use our God given talents, and make sure that we are living the most in the best that we can be, not only for ourselves, but everybody else in the mess. It was as if I was the only one in the congregation that day. And that message just slapped me upside my head. And that next day, I applied for the job and got the job. But my point is, we often just get comfortable, you know, and I'd say, take the courage, get out of your comfort zone and go for it, you know, and find something new that you can grow from and be innovative, through that opportunity.
I love them beautiful. And, you know, maybe it was it was by God, that message was given out here today. I love that it's definitely necessary. Kathy, I want to say thank you so much. This has been such an eventful and inspiring conversation, something for everyone to take away. I love this. The sun has been getting.
marking it out. The
sun is showing off. So it's never been this great.
It must just be for you. Thank you so much. This has been amazing. Thank you.
Michelle, we can hear you. Yeah,
I could come off a mute. It really worked very well. I want to say thank you to Novalee so much for taking the time to have this great conversation and inspire so many of us here. I'm a civil engineer. Y'all may not know this. But I did other things. I built the facilities they designed right. And so I want to thank nobody so much for interviewing you. I'm going to we're going to switch over to the q&a session. And Nicole, the founder of system is going to facilitate that for us today over the Unicode.
Thanks, Michelle. I like everybody said already I've been very excited about this session. Kathy, you know, it's you. And I had a had a special moment the day I met you. And I was like, I have to know the woman with that fro. Is my goal, this conference? And it was it gave me life, right? Because the energy that we put into each other is what we what was needed at that moment because we don't see each other often. Right. So from across the room, and I can say I know you're there for me, and I appreciate. Absolutely. So I do want I think there was a question on on LinkedIn, where did it go? There it is. Were there ever any career jumps you made that you regretted, in hindsight, maybe you wish you stayed a little longer or in a previous role, or tried something to get something else out of it?
You know, there's one career jump I made. And I was I was, you know, the Yellowlees word titles, but I was the performance metric champion. And so I basically had to work with our seven different divisions, to figure out their performance metrics, and then track them and report out them on a monthly basis to our director at the time. And we we never figured out how to do performance metrics well in the organization. And I really felt like if I had more time in that before, we just said, forget it, that, that maybe I could have made something of it. And I wanted to learn more about performance metrics, right. And so I think that was a moment where I wish I had stayed longer. I think it would help me now because I'm struggling now to get my division heads to realize the importance of performance metrics. But I think that one probably would have been one that I would point to.
It's interesting, when you think about your career, there's nothing in my opinion, even if you whatever you learn, you learn for a reason, right? Like you were talking about earlier. So it's less about regret, but like you said, it's like I could have I could have I could have gleaned more from that experience. But performance metrics is just tough in general. I mean, every organization struggles with, you know, the wording, how they, you know, because you get different information from how you worded things and all that. So that's, you know, and if that's not, you know, what you studied, where you would start so I'm impressed that you did it. You pushed yourself right to try it and, and see what happens. So yeah. Are there any other questions? Michelle? Oh, here we go. Have you been able to get yourself out of that comfort zone and how have you been able to get yourself out of that comfort zone and take that Risk.
You know, like I said, I didn't have this, I didn't have this insight early on in my career, I was just trying to get a paycheck and, and survive. But I think in recent years, you know, I have had, you know, the vision that I want to be a positive change in the community, you know, I want to, to make sure that I can do something that lifts people up out of their circumstances and puts them on, you know, a better path moving forward. And so I think, knowing that there's a lot of work in that space. That gets me out of my comfort zone to run after that, to see what I can do, you know, at the utility, you know, to help people with their bills, customer assistance programs, more water main replacement projects, removed the lead service lines, think about what we're going to do against P. Foss, you know, all of those things, I think, because I want to have that, you know, that lasting legacy in the community. That gets me out of my comfort zone, because there's a lot of work in that space. Probably one new
rookie move. I know some people have that confidence, you know, out the gate, but I think it also comes with, like you said, experience, and saying like, okay, all right, I succeeded pretty well with that. Right? What, what else can I do? And even though it doesn't necessarily mean it's less comfortable, but you're more prepared to take on the risk if you if you know what I mean? You know, it's just, you deal with that discomfort and you plow on anyway. Yeah, yeah. Do we have any other questions? Here we go. I love it. As your power and influence has grown in your organization and industry, how have you used it for change in the water industry? And I think, Kathy, before you even say what you think you've done, you know, if no one is following Kathy, on, on Instagram, I mean, Instagram, Twitter, she's the first lady of water, and just her presence. She is like, she is unapologetically black. And she is very clear about what she finds value in. And so I will say that, that's the way that I've seen you use your power influence, just your presence, right? And just being willing to speak out on things and just be you. Because I think for so many of us, you know, as we're coming up, we're like, I don't know how much of me I can be, they might not be able to take all of this and so so someone else in the water industry, that's, that's watching you. That's what you have been a positive influence for me.
Well, thank you for sharing that. Thank you very much for sharing that. But But yeah, that's, that's dead on I Am I what you see is what you get, you know, I I'm showing up every day, you know, bringing all of myself, you know, all of my blackness to the table, you know, and in the industry. I call them on some of the craziness that they dish out, you know, and tell him he's like that. That's not true. It's not gonna fly. You know, I'm not here to hear all that crap. Let's tell the truth. It was so we have real conversations when when I'm in the room, in the room and on the boards and, and attending conferences, and it meetings, it's like, I'm not going to sit here and have you sugarcoat something, because it's what you like to hear. It's like, we're going to get down to the real deal. And what the truth is in certainly, I bring that to the table, you know, in the industry.
And it's refreshing. For sure. Now, I don't know how much more time we have. We have any more questions, Michelle. I don't I don't know about anybody else. But I want to say that my word of the Year has been intentional. So when you said that it spoke directly to me, because you like you know, I'm a planner by nature and all those things, but you have to like say this is what I'm going for this is I'm very specific about it, right? Because it things don't just happen, well, things will happen without all that but you have to be intentional with your goals and your desires. And I think that you know, we have watched you go through your steps and learned a lot from you and your intentionality, even when you aren't saying okay, this is what I'm gonna do. You just can see the determination. And it is a it's a breath of fresh air for sure.
Thank you. Thank you, you know, intentional is my word again this year. It's the only word that I've picked up when I pick a word. It's the only word that I've come back to. But But it's so strong in me to be very intentional, intentional, and where I am in my space because I've got 31 years in the industry. And so I'm trying to figure out what that looks like next. We're very intentional in what I do and how are pouring to others before I take that next step.
We have Michelle's back so she told us we We don't have anything else. Any other questions? No more questions. I'm
sad. I'm sad. But I did put your Twitter handle I went and found your shield. Is that the word that's too long is the number already before I started typing with those, you know, the Twitterverse. Like, that's too long. So if you're a little or you have pets that bark. Yeah, just go ahead and follow Kathy on Twitter. So now I got somebody else to do like what we talking about today. It's hard to take people over to talk and take, I'd be like yeah, okay. Do not without us. Yeah. Well, we would have folks have interesting things to say. Yes. Yes. I'm excited. Okay. Nicole, any final thoughts? Oh,
well, yeah, I'll let Kathy go. And then I'll close it up.
Yeah, I don't I don't have any final thoughts. I just want to thank you for having me here tonight. I appreciate it.
Thank you. I just wanted to quickly tell everyone, if you haven't seen the rest of our sessions, you know, this is been hosted by positive hire with an with System and System is a group of women of color in the water space. And it is a safe space for us to get together and talk about things and, you know, encourage each other talk about opportunities, technical breakthroughs, all of these things, because we found that a safe space was needed. Because we want to strengthen ourselves and then go out into the world and make it make this industry even better. And on one of those calls, we talked about having a word of the year. And we brought that up. And I was like that is a great idea. Because I don't do resolutions, right? But I can have a word. And that word is forged me forward. And that that little bit of inspiration has been you know, Pivotal, right? So those are the kinds of things that we share with each other and goals and dreams and all of that. So, you know, if you'd like to join an event, if you want to be an ally, feel free to reach out to us because we want to know that you're out there for us. That's one reason why we did this right. So everyone can see and see the power that a group like this does. So thank you so much for joining. Hopefully, you'll hear from us very soon. Everyone have a great evening.
Yeah, thank
you, everybody. And for those of you that follow us on LinkedIn tomorrow, we will be having at one o'clock Eastern time. 10am Pacific, we will have just a walk on. It is black maternal health month. And so we know how black women die often during childbirth, young woman 21, that delivery her only child at 21. So come join us. I have an advocate named Jessica Walker, who has been in this space for over 20 years, talking about what the disparities are, but also what are solutions. So come join us. It will be on a positive hire company page on LinkedIn as well as over on YouTube at positive hire coach. So we do all things not only for our intellectual being but also on an individual level as we talk about our health and wellness as women as black women as women of color. So everybody come over and join us. See you there. Thanks, Nicole. Thanks, Kathy. See ya
Thanks. For sure.