Woman Wednesday #30

Name that Woman Trailblazer: The first wife of the heir apparent to the British throne, Charles, Prince of Wales. She became well known internationally for her charity work for sick children, the banning of landmines and for raising awareness about those affected by cancer, HIV/AIDS and mental illness.

👉 Click here to reveal this woman.

Hi! I’m an innovation strategist, consultant, and researcher for organizations in the education space.

While I grew up in the Boston area (and am forever a New Englander!), I’ve been in San Francisco for the past 5 years and loving California living.

I currently work for a growing education tech company, helping individuals build skills and connect to learning opportunities to advance in their careers.

🔗 Want to connect with Kara? Say “hi” on LinkedIn.

Managers are the gatekeepers to strong company culture.

Here is a people manager report that will help HR teams discover how to help managers tackle their top challenges and responsibilities.

Inside, you’ll find:

Q: How did you get into your current role/industry?
A: I started my career in marketing & research working for clients in diverse industries, including healthcare and industrial equipment, and was staffed on a particularly memorable education initiative that sparked two realizations:

(1) I care deeply about education’s ability to make a positive change in people’s lives.

(2) There is SO MUCH potential to improve education offerings in the US. So, after much introspection I went back to school for an advanced degree in leadership & education, which gave me the skills and experience to pivot into this sector…a worthwhile journey!

Q: What’s something you do to help boost your productivity?
A: Time-bounding my work has been helpful for boosting my productivity especially when I need to be self-motivated. I’ve found that if I estimate how much time it’ll take to do something, and give myself a deadline, I’m more likely to feel the urgency to try to stick to it.

Q: How do you find work-life balance?
A: Especially as I work from home, I try to get out of the house every day and completely detach on the weekends. Separating work space from personal space can be so good for mental health.

Q: What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve received so far?
A: It can be all too easy to focus your attention on areas where you need to improve.

I’ve received the helpful advice that while professional development is important, what’s equally, if not more, important is leaning into your strengths and harnessing the skills you bring to the table.

Look for opportunities in your work to demonstrate how much you rock and let yourself shine!

Q: What’s your favorite software or app that helps with your workflow?
A: Google Calendar. It’s super simple, but my life would be SO disorganized without it.

Q: What’s a book or podcast you’d recommend to a colleague?
A: The most recent book I read is From Reopen to Reinvent, by a colleague and mentor of mine, Michael Horn.

The book discusses the narrative around a “return to normalcy” that many schools are facing after moving towards online learning during the pandemic, and how schools can use this time as an opportunity to not just return to pre-pandemic normal, but instead take learnings from the pandemic to innovate in schools for the better.

Lots of interesting food for thought around how to create real change that can be applied to other scenarios as well!

Q: What do you like to do in your free time outside of work?
A: I have fully embraced the California sunshine and spend most of my free time hiking, running, traveling, attending concerts/music festivals, and skiing in the winter months.

I also love creative projects & am forever learning new things — dabbling in painting, photography, and cooking tasty new meals.

⌛ Read more about time management here.

🗓️ Whether you’re new to Google Calendar or an expert, here are some fresh tips.

I was recently in a tough work situation and was able to navigate it with the help of my coworkers who are also thoughtful, wonderful friends. Building relationships with coworkers has been so instrumental to my work happiness & success on a day-to-day basis and has helped when needing guidance through ups and downs.

After switching from in-office to a permanent work-from-home situation, the small conversations when passing by a coworker’s desk or chatting in the kitchen disappeared from my work life, and I found that it became more difficult to keep in touch with coworkers who I had regularly talked with in the office (which I’m sure many of you have experienced as well!). I decided to set up one-on-one meetings with several coworkers (even if it’s just once a month) to make sure too much time didn’t pass without us catching up.

Setting aside this intentional time has been great for keeping relationships strong and talking through challenges. I’ve found that meeting with people on different teams or parts of the business has helped to give me a fresh perspective on a project, or a different way of approaching a task. Learning from and brainstorming with people with differing points of view have helped me get out of ruts and spark new ideas that I otherwise may not have considered.

Sometimes those 1-1s would shift around if we were busy, and that’s okay because having them on the calendar has been a helpful reminder to step away from my work meetings and get in some much needed casual conversations with those outside project teams.

monday.com is the secret to effortless collaboration with your team. Try it free today.

The Daily Upside helps you rethink your financial news diet and gives you crisp, unbiased business insights each morning for free.

Office Otter is the freemium automated to-do list you didn’t know you needed (until now).

Weve offers over 100 games you can play with your team to build stronger workplace culture.

Do you have a mentor, colleague, family member or friend who inspires you on a regular basis?

Give them some much deserved kudos and shout them out to our growing TA community.

Nominate someone here