Career Pivots and Resets: How This Executive Mom Created Her Ideal Balance with Work and Life - with Kate Griffin

Leanna McGrath  0:08  
Welcome to the executive coach for moms podcast where we support women who are attempting to find balance and joy, while simultaneously leading people at work and at home. I'm your host Leanna Lasky McGrath, former tech exec turned full time mom, recovering perfectionist and workaholic, and certified executive coach. 

Leanna McGrath  0:30  
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the executive coach for moms podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. Today I am going to be sharing an interview that I did with the amazing Kate Griffin, who is a friend of mine, a mom of three, and vice president of a management consulting firm, I'm really excited to share our conversation because Kate talks about her journey through higher ed and tech. And she shares some of the career pivots that she's made along the way that have been really instrumental in helping to lead her to her current situation where she has created a wonderful situation for herself and her family. And it's very ideal for her because she's at this company that she loves. And she really enjoys her job. And the company supports her as a working mom and afforded her the space to show up both as the mom that she wants to be and the leader that she wants to be as well. You'll hear about some of her struggles and challenges along the way. But I hope that you'll walk away feeling hopeful, especially if you're in a situation that's not totally ideal. Or if you're currently feeling like you're not showing up as the mom or the leader that you want to be just knowing that it's possible and also that there are companies out there who truly value and support working parents and families. Hope you enjoy.

Leanna McGrath  1:59  
Hi, everyone, and welcome to the show. I am very excited today to have a friend of mine here to talk about her story. And that is Kate Griffin. And we're going to dive into her experience in higher ed and tech as a mom and some pivots that she's made. And just hear a little bit about her career and mom's story. So welcome, Kate, thank you so much for being here.

Kate Griffin  2:28  
Hey, Leanna! Great to be here today. Thanks for having me!

Leanna McGrath  2:31  
Yeah, thanks for being here. Maybe Can we start off, can you just kind of tell everybody a little bit about you, where you're at, how many kids you have, you know what you're doing these days in the world? 

Kate Griffin  2:42  
Yeah! So as Leanna said, my name is Kate Griffin, and I am a mom of three, that is my first priority. So I have a oh my gosh, an almost 13 year old which is really, really hard to say because I cannot believe that I know. And then I have twins that are eight. That's a lot. I know. We often feel outnumbered, but they also keep us on our toes and bring us lots of joy. So and then also, I work for a management consulting firm, I guess we would consider ourselves a boutique management consulting firm, and I'm Vice President of delivery services. We work on consulting with SAS organizations on everything post sale, pretty big part of our business is focused on consulting on all things customer success, and brings me a lot of joy to be able to work with customers. And that topic because it's a topic that I'm really passionate about and was where I got started within tech was in customer success.

Leanna McGrath  3:45  
Wonderful. So I'm really excited to invite you to share your story today. And thank you for being willing to, maybe we would start out I would love to just kind of hear about how you started out in your career and where you started and what that journey was like,

Kate Griffin  4:00  
that sounds like a good place to start. You know, sometimes I think about this, and it's it seems like so long ago and I guess it was because I've been in the field now for way more than 10 years. And so sometimes I think back and think of Oh, where did I start but I started in higher ed just like Yuliana the jumping point from higher ed to Tech really was about my working style, which is I love to work in a place that is fast pace, I like to move from thing to thing to thing. You know, I took one of those personality tests one time and I think it categorize me as a maverick. So for any Top Gun fans listening to this, so you know, higher ed is not necessarily the fastest pace industry to be in and I had a connection to a startup in Buffalo and ed tech startup and long story short, got a role at that company. And that was my first role. I I was working with customers and really was the, you know, the place where I started my customer success career is is I stated before,

Leanna McGrath  5:08  
okay, awesome. And was it before you transition to the tech or after you transition in tech that you transition to motherhood? 

Kate Griffin  5:15  
Yes, I came into tech as a mom, I had my daughter when I was in higher education. And, gosh, she was probably two or three years old when I got started in tech. And it was definitely I would say, a cultural change from higher ed and being a mom to moving into tech, you know, the company and the environment I worked with was very young at the time. And I had different priorities than a lot of people that I worked with, I was very productive when I was in the office, because I was getting in, I knew my core objectives, I was a high contributor, and I wanted to then leave and then come home and spend time with my family. And I think that was positive and that I very quickly moved into a leadership position in the company, I think I really struggled to make connections with people that I worked with because of that. And one, because I was so focused, but two, I somewhat come part mentalize that of here is my job and my career. And then I didn't necessarily have great connections with people at work. But I really enjoyed work. And the people that I worked with, it just wasn't on a personal level that I had my family life. And those two things I always felt, especially in the beginning was very separated, I think it really had to do with I didn't have anyone that I really felt that I could connect with that also was a mom who is going through similar things. Yeah, you know, so I felt a little bit like an outsider.

Leanna McGrath  6:52  
Yeah. What was that? Like? Did it impact your work at all? It sounds like no, because you're you said you were very efficient and kind of worked your way up into leadership roles?

Kate Griffin  7:02  
Yeah. That's a great question, Leanna. It didn't affect my productivity are my outputs, right, I moved into a leadership position, I would say very quickly. And I really wanted that. And I noticed that I wanted that. But I think if I look back my mental health, I don't think I was doing any favors. In that sense, in that I wasn't really giving myself a support system. Honestly, when I look back, I really had no one that I was able to connect with. And the feeling of loneliness comes to mind right now a lot when I think back to those days of just feeling lonely and not knowing how to connect with people. So I focus a lot on work. And what I could achieve there, because that's what I knew how to do. 

Leanna McGrath  7:52  
Yeah, and it sounds like maybe there was a trade off there. Right. Like you had the loneliness for the continued promotion in the kind of productivity. But like you said, kind of you weren't always feeling great about it. Yes. And how was it having a two or three year old you said, and how was that experience in tech? And it was a pretty small company at the time, right? It? Was it in this kind of startup phase at that point?

Kate Griffin  8:17  
Yes. I don't know if we, they would have considered themselves a startup at that time. But it was on maybe just post even that phase, still very small. So growing rapidly faster than we could keep up with. And I think the struggle was a lot around this balance between these two, these two personas of work Kate and leader k and what I was trying to accomplish there, and then Mom and family and even though I didn't say this to people, so there may be people who listen to this and are like, I never knew that y never really talked about it, because I never really felt like I had this space to talk about it, of having that connection. So of course, I think that bled into motherhood and all that comes with that of just trying to balance and being able to stay focused with her and have moments with her that I wanted to have. I know in one of your your previous podcasts, you talked about having the choice to be able to stay at home, you know, it was not something that was in the realm for us. But also as I said, like I am a very driven, productivity focused person. I knew that I even if it was an option, I think I still would have opted into something. So I can't say that I didn't like what I was doing. I actually really really liked it. But the disconnect between the two was a struggle.

Leanna McGrath  9:51  
So then a few years later, it sounds like you added some twins to your life.

Kate Griffin  9:56  
Oh my gosh, I now surprise my So, yes, so in my journey in tech and into right, a leadership position within a customer success team, you know, we knew that we wanted to have more kids. And we were faced with the challenge of not being able to get pregnant again and not have any reason why. And now that I'm saying this out loud, maybe it was something to do with what I just noted. But this is like a therapy session. So we were unable to get pregnant. And it was a struggle to at that time, because again, I didn't have anyone that was going through the same life phases as I was. And so there wasn't anyone there, really, for me to talk to, of course, I have friends, a few of them that are still dear friends today that I talked to anyways, even though they weren't going through it, but they were great friends, and wonderful to be able to be an ear and somebody I could lean on. But we ended up getting to the point where we decided to do IVF. And we went through it was successful. And a fun story is that when we knew that it was successful, we were obviously very happy. And then we knew that we had the possibility of having twins, when we had our first appointment for them to check everything out. They said there was one, you know, successful pregnancy. So obviously, that's not the end of the story. No, I went back, you know, three or four weeks later, to find out surprised myself that there actually was two heartbeats. So it was a bit of a shock, being told that you're having one and then finding out four weeks later that it's actually two was just a little bit of whiplash. But they are two beautiful human beings today. And I couldn't imagine our life without them. And really, that was one a big moment for our family. And I was so happy to be having twins, and so thankful for that. And my daughter was excited to be a big sister and all the things when I very early on in my pregnancy, I had a little bit of a scare. And at that point, maybe I was 13 or 14 weeks. And my doctor said at the time I was I was traveling for work. And so they said, you know, you probably shouldn't travel just to be safe. And travel was taken off the table fairly early. And I bring that up because of what I just said before, if like one way I was able to make connections was I feel like trying to be very productive. And I was managing a team at that time. And so I wanted to be a high contributor, as well and make sure that they felt like they had what they needed. But now I wasn't traveling. And so something that made me feel connected to people was this way to contribute by getting in on the road and going to visiting customers. And I had a lot of relief when I didn't have to travel. Hmm, that's interesting. Yeah. But also struggled a little bit just finding this new identity that was non traveling, Kate and know what this meant. And would there be you know, dealing with would there be any stigmatism around that? Nobody ever said anything negative to me about it. But it also just wasn't really talked about, which almost can be a negative thing in itself.

Leanna McGrath  13:35  
Did you feel like it was a negative thing?

Kate Griffin  13:37  
I think early on when I, you know, said that I couldn't travel. It was like, okay, and that was it. You know, there wasn't any real warm, fuzzy, let's talk about it. How are you feeling about it? You know, and no processing that happened that that was a and so that's why I say I think I felt a little conflicted with it as there was just no response to it. 

Leanna McGrath  14:05  
Gotcha. So you're a mom already, and now you're pregnant with twins. How was that experience for you in terms of being pregnant at a startup and navigating maternity leave?

Kate Griffin  14:17  
It was not the most supportive experience of really thinking about you as a mom, and you're about to go through this very big adventure. Your body is about to go through a lot. And thinking about how best can we support you to make sure you as an individual, as a human being your physical, your mental, your well being is all taken care of. It was very sterile. And it's it's unfortunate. I mean, I think it's a little bit about the country that we live in, right in the lack of support in general that's out there. But at the time, even today, I think there's been some forward momentum from when that happened. And, but it was very sterile and just, here's what you will get. Here's the amount you will get every week. And this is when you need to tell us you're coming back. And that was it. So when I went on maternity leave it was and I carried the twins to 39 weeks. Wow. So I waddled into the office.

Leanna McGrath  15:23  
Did you work up to that point?

Kate Griffin  15:24  
Yep, yep, I worked up to the day before I had them, I know, I can still feel the pain of carrying those trains. And going into the office, it was 11 pounds of baby that I was carrying. You know, I worked up till the day. And when I went out, I did not think about work at all I couldn't to having twins is, could be its own podcast show in itself, and nursing twins and all that goes into that. So I was figuring out a lot, we were figuring out a lot routines and nursing and having a five or six year old at the time on top of that, so there was a lot to juggle. So there was no room in my brain to think about work. When I was out. It was a little jarring, you know, to get the email of basically, it's time time for you to come back. I can't remember what exactly what it was. But I remember some sort of communication, you know, of its time, this is gonna be the day that I'm going to go back. And I got all dressed up that day. And my husband took my first day back to work photo and tears in my eyes to to go back. At the time, I had a really wonderful team. And they walked into my office, and they had pictures of the twins all on a bulletin board on my desk, and they had food and it was really, really sweet. So I felt very supported in that moment. It was like a core memory from that time that I can remember walking is you know, all of that.

Leanna McGrath  17:02  
So it sounds like there was not that kind of emotional or holistic support from the company, but a little bit more of that emotional support from your team?

Kate Griffin  17:13  
Yes, yeah. Yeah. And my manager at the time is, is well, you know, I had these pockets of support, but it never felt like it was as a company, something that was valued from a broader sense of is a company. This is our mission. And this is how we want our employees to feel. And that always trickled down obviously, throughout my journey of what I've shared so far. trickled in here. There was really missing.

Leanna McGrath  17:40  
Yeah. And seems to be in in many companies. Right. And I think I'm pretty sure your company was a male owned company and kind of maturity. Yeah. Male leadership, right. I wonder if there were more women in leadership in the company or or female owners if maybe that would be a little bit different?

Kate Griffin  17:57  
Yeah, maybe it's one of those things that you can reflect on it and say, maybe if this had changed, or if this was that way, would have been different, but it was what I experienced at the time. 

Leanna McGrath  18:08  
Yeah. And when you kind of reflect on your experience in tech through your pregnancy, and your maternity leave, and your return to work, versus that experience in higher ed, you know, your first pregnancy and your first maternity leave. Was it similar? Was it similar experiences? Or was it totally different? What was it like for you?

Kate Griffin  18:29  
It was definitely very, very different. And when I came back, after having the twins it was jumping in, let's go. Here's all of the crazy things that have happened in the 13 weeks that you have been gone, which was how long I was able to be off for with the twins, which also is a crazy thing to think about how much your body has just gone through and being back to work after 13 weeks. And it was back in jumping into it. In my experience in higher ed, it was talking more about like, how are you doing? And what are you going through and I worked with some women and they always had great stories that I connected with and share advice. And it just I eased into it. Definitely more than I felt like I did with the second pregnancy. 

Leanna McGrath  19:20  
Yeah, that makes sense. I've only had the experience in the tech world, but obviously having worked in higher ed. I've seen other people have that experience. So that's interesting. So you've you've returned to work after you have the twins that you've talked about kind of your team supporting you back, you know, but a feeling kind of just get back to work from the company. What's that, you know, period like for you as a mom of now three and having a having infant twins and a five or six year old and being in a leadership role all at the same time? 

Leanna McGrath  19:53  
Yeah, from my career standpoint, I should say it was a very low point and I I learned a lot and I gained a lot of experience from from that. But reflecting back on it, it was some really sad days, some really hard moments that I wouldn't want to put anyone through. But I'm able to now reflect back on it and understand what were my takeaways from those experiences. And it was challenging of I talked about like tech can, especially in customer success, it can be very erratic. At that point, we do not have a very proactive strategy and working with customers. So it was very reactive. And that is a leader in a CS organization, I was always managing fires. So it was very stressful from the work side of it. I also was going through some health things at the time. And I come to find out what we think is a reason why I couldn't get pregnant, I had developed cysts, and ended up having surgery to remove one of my ovaries. And I then was diagnosed with endometriosis, I actually ended up having two surgeries. So you think about like, my physical health was not going great. My mental health at work was a lot of low points at work that were really, really challenging. But from motherhood perspective, you know, I was, I was really, really enjoying my time with the three kids. Of course, there are challenges I'm not making this like rainbow and sunshine is everything was perfect it was I always tried to put them first and prioritize that time with them, because I knew I wouldn't get it back. So there was moments at work where people would want to go out for drinks after or there was people in town that wanted to go have dinner, I was like, I don't want to go have dinner, I don't want to have good drinks, I just want to go home. And that really just started to kind of build up. What I will say is my ending point in this position in customer success, and that I got to a point where I did not enjoy my work. And I got into this loving it. I really liked the environment. I loved working with customers, I felt passionate about our mission. And there was a point where I felt negative about our culture, I didn't enjoy the work while I was still good at it with I was still performing. I had so many moments of negativity around it, that it was starting to bring down other aspects of my life of me coming home and just being stressed or not wanting to do anything and you know, worrying about things at work that really started to take a toll on me. You know, I got to this point where I was crying in meetings because I was so passionate, but also upset at things. And to me that was my breaking into, you know, getting to the point where you're so emotional for somebody who would never do that before. I had to say to myself, like something has to change. And that was really hard for me to come to the conclusion on because I felt like I put so much time and investment into this company into this role. But I also felt like I was at such a blocker. I could not get around to this.

Leanna McGrath  23:28  
What do you think like why what, what brought you to that blocker?

Kate Griffin  23:32  
I think that it really was when I think back to what's the core array of that? What's the root cause of that feeling? I think it was a lot about, you know, the path that I was on was always a little bit negative. There was always a little bit of a cloud that was over me as I continued to move into these leadership roles. And that coupled with the erratic ups and downs that our company was going through, and a lack of support, I felt like for me was probably the main three things that got me to this point. And we went through some major organizational changes. We had some acquisitions, but we also had some pretty big shakeups within our org, and it was one of the final shakeups. That was my straw to say, I actually just can't be successful in this role anymore. I can't contribute. I can't contribute with this mindset. It's not doing any favors for my family and for my children the time that I want to be able to focus on them. So I knew that something had to change. And so I took a pivot which at the time that pivot I was questioning it because some may say it was a step back. It was no longer in SES leadership position. It was I'm moving in a completely different department and operations and to reporting to a different C suite leader, and different set of responsibilities. But I had a lot of things that I enjoyed, which was the operational aspects of our work within CES was always lacking. We never had a team that was focused on that or doing that. And for me, I was like, hmm, well, maybe this is an opportunity to flex the skills, and I can take a step back, and I can just breathe. So I knew that it was where I needed to go. Or I knew that I needed to change something at that point.

Leanna McGrath  25:38  
Yeah. Well, I guess I'm curious. So you, you felt like I need to change something? Why that like, why not another company? Why not another role within this company?

Kate Griffin  25:49  
I had a really great connection to one of the leaders of the company who was a woman in a leadership position. And we had a few conversations about what could a path look like of noting, like, they didn't want me to leave. But I also couldn't stay where I was at, and talking through some options, which was really helpful. And I'm really thankful to that individual in the conversations that we had at that time. And I knew that, for me was an opportunity to quickly step out in into something different. But I knew that there would be challenges with X, I was still in the same company, I was still was going to have some of those same values, but a moment for me to pivot, move in a different direction. And then look at, well, what could this path look like for me, because at the time, I was saying to myself, I don't know if I ever will take a leadership role in customer success. I would not say that today. I would not say that today. But in that moment, that's all I knew was this, to me was a very negative experience. Right. From my point of view, I learned a ton. And, of course, I had so many great connections with people and customers, you know, there were aspects of it that didn't end that were where I wanted them to be. So that pivot ended up being really, really positive for me, I didn't expect it to be that positive, and that it gave me the opportunity to breathe and to focus on the things that I wanted to focus on. And then to figure out, what's the next step? Where do I want to go? So when I was in that leadership position in CSC was like, there were so many clouds in front of me that I couldn't even see straight. And so stepping to the side, and being able to then get rid of those clouds to say, Well, what, what are my skill sets? What do I actually enjoy doing? And really going back to the root of what is the type of work I like doing what I really would want to make an impact on? Yeah, and so I was in that role, we ended up going through a merger at the time as well. So I probably was only in that original ops role for maybe nine months, but I felt like it made a very big impact across the entire organization, and then shifted into a new role in the merger, which you know, happens. And, and then it really, you know, it was, you know, one day of Alright, I'm ready for the next step. And where, where am I going to go from here? So no, even my tone of when I was how I said, that is different, because it really felt different, I think that I would have shifted to a new company, at that point where I was in a very low place to get new leadership position, I would have still had those clouds in front of me. So having the break to me was so beneficial, have long term success in my career. And anyone who's going through something like that today, you know, I encourage you that while it may feel awkward to say, I should be going up. All right, go left, go backwards, like you never know what those paths will lead to. And I'm on a great path. And I've had a lot of success posts that so it ended really well for me. Well, it hasn't ended. But, you know, I'm I'm in a really great place and really, really happy with that decision.

Leanna McGrath  29:21  
Yeah. So you kind of took a step away from leadership?

Kate Griffin  29:25  
Yes, yes. Because I was not managing a team and design a very big team at that time. So I wasn't managing people. So people management, you know, that

Leanna McGrath  29:35  
It can be draining, right, especially if you don't feel set up for success by the organization.

Speaker 1  29:40  
It can be very draining, yes. So you know that it was just an individual contributor role, but working cross functionally across the company, and it really allowed me to leverage some skills that I wasn't using before that, you know, I was able to say, Wow, I really enjoy doing this or I really enjoy thinking In this way that I wasn't doing before, probably because I was managing a lot of fires. And, you know, I couldn't again, see through that.

Leanna McGrath  30:07  
Yeah, yeah, it's hard when you just every day people just keep bringing you fires, and you just feel like I just want one day to think. Yeah, absolutely. 

Kate Griffin  30:16  
Yep. 

Leanna McGrath  30:16  
So then when you transitioned out of that kind of operations role, you went to now this new role in this new company and management consulting, is that right? Or was there any, were there any steps in between that?

Kate Griffin  30:29  
No, that was it. And actually, when I was interviewing for companies, I had one company that actually had two offers one for this management consulting firm and one for a, another SAS organization, it was Customer Success leadership position. So you know, was thinking about that again, and there was something about and I always joke with him now of I don't know why, but I just felt really comfortable in my conversation with you and our interview. And felt like, I think that this is the place for me, like, I think that this is where I want to go to one, I knew it was a very small company. And given what I had just gone through, and all of the acquisitions and mergers and all of that stuff, I just wasn't ready to go into that space again. And that this is a small company, I love being nimble and quick and flexible. And I think I'll be able to get a lot of, you know, a lot of exposure to that, or that will be a lot of the environmental Yeah, and I had really great conversations with the leadership team. One thing to note, too, is that in both of those interviews, so one company, the the person that I would have reported to you was a female, she had twins. And we felt so I felt so connected to her. And then in this other company, it was two men who had a long term history in tech. And I felt my conversations with both of them were so great, and I felt a strong connection. And I could tell just the way that they spoke about how they wanted to create a culture and you know, be able to have a balance between family and work and enjoy what you're doing. They were very passionate about that. And they definitely sold me on it. And it is very true to what I'm experiencing today, because I now have been there for over two years. But I wanted to note that to that, because you brought up about like being like seeing like a woman leader or having somebody to connect with. And I do think that there is something about being able to connect as women. But I also think that there is the ability for us to connect with a male leader, right, and be able to feel that support. And they really are doing a wonderful job of creating this space for that to happen.

Leanna McGrath  32:51  
That's amazing to hear. I think that was something that when I decided to go back into tech, after taking my break from tech, it was similar. I went in my boss was male, right, and a CEO, and he was very much like I was five months pregnant at the time. So he said, you know, you're you're going to have this other startup, and we want to support you in that. And so I agree, I think it's not necessarily a requirement that it's a woman, because there are plenty of women leaders who don't necessarily have that same mindset or mentality about having a good balance and family being more important than work and that kind of thing. Right. And so, yeah, I think that makes total sense. And that's really interesting that you had almost like you had an opportunity to work for a very similar situation. And, and you chose this one. And it sounds like it's worked out really well for you. Yes. 100%. And you mentioned before about the operations role being kind of key to your success on this journey, right, and being able to pivot to this new role, and not carrying those clouds with you. I'm curious if you can just talk a little bit more about that, and how that opened up more space for you. And what you learned from that experience? Because I think you're right, I think it's sometimes we think we have to move forward and up and up and up the corporate ladder. But I think sometimes those journeys aren't always linear, right? And we don't just go up, up, up, up, up, sometimes we have to step down or step sideways. And I think especially for working moms, that's more common, right, where we might take a sidestep or career pause. And so I guess, you know, to anyone who's considering that or has been through that, or maybe is feeling living in those clouds, and is trying to figure out what to do next. I'm just curious kind of what you learned from that or what you might share there.

Speaker 1  34:57  
Yeah, I think taking the time to think, before you react, to be able to take time before you decide is so powerful. That's a practice I preach in our work today, take time to think before you respond before you try to figure out this problem, take a walk, because it, it really can do a lot for your ability to reset and see things with clarity. Now, I wasn't like I just took an hour to think about that. I clearly took months to think about that. But it allowed me to reset and Reshef like, what do I value? And what do I want to be focused on. And I knew that I wanted to be mom, first, I wanted to be able to pick up the kids from their activities at the end of the day and not be rushing home, I wanted to be able to be present, and find things to be able to connect with them. And when I think in my role before that, I struggled with that quite a bit. And I think it's because my brain just couldn't slow down to think about those things. Because I was always thinking about work and the escalations and the team and the direction and the strategy, all of this stuff. So my brain was too full of that stuff to be able to really weed it out and focus on the things that I wanted to focus on. And then to, as I said, In the beginning of this podcast, that I still really value work and my contributions in this space. So it allowed me to take the time to find what those things were, and what type of work I really wanted to focus on. And then going into the interview process with, I know that these are the things I value. So I'm not in a rush to jump into like, jump into a position. And so I can take my time to find the role that's right for me. And clearly I've done that. But I have this great example, when my daughter, one of the twins when I made this change, and then started working from home because it is a all remote company. And so I worked from home every day. And one day, we sat down at the dinner table. And she was like, Mom, remember when used to like rush in and would sit down to always be late for dinner as like those days. And I didn't like those days, I always felt rushed and stressed and I was thinking about the last email or the phone call I had in the car on the way home just to be able to sit down at the table with them. And that's not the case. Today, I shut my laptop and I walk into the kitchen and we focus on the things we want to focus on. Right, yeah, I also feel like I just turned 40 And just the confidence and the ability to navigate all these things is much easier than it was in my late 20s and early 30s When I first had the kids, so I have no problems walking away from my, my inbox with emails in it, I have no problem shutting my laptop, even though I know I have something I need to do next. So there's also something to be said there. 

Leanna McGrath  38:20  
Do you think that that is simply related to age or what allows you to be able to do that?

Speaker 1  38:26  
I do think it is a little bit in the the makeup of you as an individual. And I will say I am somebody who I look at my list. And I will say Alright, here's the most important thing. The other things are the rubber balls that can drop and bounce a little bit. This one's glass, I can't drop it. Okay. And so I do feel like I have a pretty good strategy of prioritize and focusing on the thing that needs to focus on. And the other thing is, we'll have to wait because we're all human, and you can't accomplish everything that is on your list. So I will say I think it's a little bit about your skill set in I don't know if it's DNA or what you would call it but your you is is an individual. That's one thing. I think it's life experience. And I think it's also the things that you have around you, your environment, your family, your physical environment, your work environment, your colleagues and clearly, you know, it's night and day for me of my first experience in tech to what I'm experiencing now. So I can't say it's all about age inexperience. I think those others factor into it quite a bit as well. 

Leanna McGrath  39:37  
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that supportive environment is really crucial. Right? Because then you don't feel guilty about I think as women a lot of times we feel like we're letting someone down if we shut our laptop at five o'clock. And you know, maybe there's more that we could have done. Did we do enough? Are we enough you know, and and so whenever we have kind of where the xpect pation from the leadership of an organization is that no, like you, that's not your first priority. And if you're going to let someone down, it shouldn't be yourself and your family, then, you know, I think that that probably for me as a lot as well, yeah. 100% All right, well, it was so fun to learn more about you and learn about those different points of your story. Because obviously, you know, different people, including myself come in at different points in our journeys. And so I've seen parts of it along the way. And so it was fun to kind of hear, hear about your whole journey. So thank you so much for sharing, I know that a lot of other people listening to the podcast are going to relate to your story so much. And it's just really helpful to kind of hear about what other people are going through. And also, I think, maybe a bit of hope for people who are in positions where they're not feeling successful, or they're not feeling like there's a cultural values alignment. It's nice to know that there are companies out there that where that is available and possible. Yeah, so thank you!

Kate Griffin  41:08  
Of course! Thanks for having me!

Leanna McGrath  41:11  
Thanks so much for tuning into the executive coach for moms podcast. Please like, subscribe or follow the show so you'll be notified when the next episode is available. I hope you'll join me again next time. Take care

Transcribed by https://otter.ai