#48 – Reclaim Your Career: Why It’s Time To Bet On Yourself And Leap Towards A More Fulfilling Path | Empowerment & Career Advice

[00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to the daring to leap podcast. I'm your host, Loree Philip. I am so excited to dive into this week's episode with you. Are you at a crossroads in your career questioning? If the path you're on is truly fulfilling. Do you yearn for change, but are unsure how to make that leap. Well today, Jess Galicia is here to discuss with us Why it's time to reclaim your career. That on yourself and take slow and steady steps towards a more fulfilling path. Let's dive in.

[00:00:33] Loree Philip: Jessica is the bestselling author of leap. Why it's time to let go, to get ahead in your career. Jess spent 15 years building a successful corporate career at some of the World's most prestigious companies like Apple, Bain and Siemens.

[00:00:50] Loree Philip: Today, Jess works with women navigating their careers, hosts. The Reclaim Your Career podcast and speaks to organizations about building meaningful [00:01:00] careers, advancing women, and the delicate balance between life and work. Welcome to the podcast,

[00:01:07] Jess Galicia: Jess. Hey, Laurie, thanks for having me. So happy to be here.

[00:01:12] Loree Philip: Yeah, I'm just So excited to have this conversation with you, because as we were discussing right before we jumped on, there are so many parallels between our stories and your book that's out is also called leap, which is really exciting. And so it's just so funny how how that works. we can talk all about.

[00:01:34] Loree Philip: Your story. So let's start with that. I'm really curious about you had a really great career in corporate for 15 years. Tell me what's your story there and what was it really that made you decide to shift

[00:01:51] Jess Galicia: gears? Yeah. Yeah. So you're right. I mean, I built up a great, what I consider a relatively traditional business [00:02:00] career for the first 15 years.

[00:02:01] Jess Galicia: I worked in startups. I went back to get my MBA from MIT. I worked in management consulting at Bain, worked at several great tech companies. And then in early 2020, I had a little bit of a wake up moment where I started to think about my career in new ways and really question if I was on the right trajectory.

[00:02:24] Jess Galicia: And I think that happened for two reasons. I think the first was just some passage of time. Right. I had spent over a decade working and collecting what I like to call these shiny gold stars working at these brand name places and moving further up and quicker along the ladder. And yet I still felt really unfulfilled.

[00:02:45] Jess Galicia: filled and I felt like I was on the wrong path. And so after a decade of doing that, you start to think, huh, okay, it's not just a matter of time to get to where I want to go, but maybe there's something different. [00:03:00] Maybe I really need to make a change in order to feel more fulfilled. filled. So along with that passage of time, the second thing too, is that I was stepping into motherhood for the very first time.

[00:03:12] Jess Galicia: So in early 2020, when I really started to have this kind of crossroads moment of reflection, I was also pregnant with my now three year old daughter. And I think that experience of stepping into motherhood was this chance to really reflect on my identity. And so much had been based on career. So much of who I was, was the work that I did.

[00:03:35] Jess Galicia: But I knew that as becoming a mom, that would take up a really big chunk of who I am. And so, it created both this opportunity to think about how I wanted to kind of reinvent and reconsider my identity, and then also lots of challenges of sort of adding more burdens and more work onto my shoulders.

[00:03:54] Jess Galicia: And so, I think it was that combination, that kind of colliding of just enough [00:04:00] time going by to realize, huh, this isn't going the way I thought. And then the, both joys and pressures that motherhood creates when you sort of add that into the mix of figuring out work and life. that was really the starting point for me and my pivot.

[00:04:15] Loree Philip: I can relate to so much of that especially around motherhood and how that changes your perspective around your career. And I'm just curious. It is the reflection point is so important and you get this idea and this kind of a. A whisper in your heart, your mind, you know, maybe this isn't exactly the right path for me and, and maybe there's something else and, and you start to explore once you decided, okay, I think I want to do something differently.

[00:04:51] Loree Philip: What was it that actually got you to sort of let go of any fears that you had, any kind of hesitation to actually [00:05:00] leap and not just dream about it? Yeah.

[00:05:04] Jess Galicia: Yeah. It's such a great question. And I think there are so many women who have that voice inside of them saying, huh, I kind of want to do something different, but there is this fear about making the leap.

[00:05:16] Jess Galicia: And here's what I'll say for me and also for so many of the women who I interviewed for the book. Yeah. It doesn't have to be this dramatic, spontaneous, wildly courageous leap in one moment. What I found is that most women who are making a big career transition or reinvention or pivot, these actually are changes that are made over a long period of time.

[00:05:43] Jess Galicia: So usually it's something that is executed certainly over several months and often over years. And that was my story too. So it wasn't like I became interested in exploring this topic of women and career change and then went in the [00:06:00] next day and quit my corporate job and put everything into this.

[00:06:05] Jess Galicia: I really took kind of a test and learn approach and was okay with just moving forward kind of one step at a time. And then since then, over the last 3 years, I have kind of. scaled up and scaled down work in a traditional corporate setting. So I've worked full time, I've worked half time, I've had two kids along the way taking leave for them. But for me, the journey that I wanted to do was kind of build up enough of a foundation and enough of work across speaking and coaching in the book.

[00:06:37] Jess Galicia: To feel like I wasn't jumping from zero to 100, but maybe it was just making the jump from 50 to 100. So that's been my strategy is a little bit of slow and steady and test and learn. And I think what's so cool about that actually is It shows that these kinds of career reinventions are accessible to almost anyone, like even the [00:07:00] most risk averse woman, right, who's I'm never gonna make a change or do something spontaneous, you start to realize that it doesn't look like that boldly walking into the office and quitting.

[00:07:12] Jess Galicia: It actually looks like a series of very small, Steps that continue to push you forward. And I think that's cool because it kind of democratizes and opens up this path really for anyone, even if you are someone, and especially if you are someone who likes to kind of move at a slow and steady pace.

[00:07:28] Loree Philip: Yeah.

[00:07:28] Loree Philip: Thank you for sharing that. I think that's an important perspective that we missed. And I talk about this sometimes on the podcast where sometimes you see the end result of where somebody is now, and you didn't really see. The shifts along the way and the baby steps and the, learn to crawl, walk, run along the path and, and it's, it's definitely worth noting, especially for people that are a little bit more risk adverse people that are not ready to just, this idea of [00:08:00] leap makes you think you're just jumping out and I sort of self.

[00:08:04] Loree Philip: Protect against that because I, I care about everybody's it's just like, well, you don't need to just go do that right now. There's a lot of thought and prep and, things you can do without just letting go of of what you've built up for years. And and that's really 1 of the things that I think.

[00:08:25] Loree Philip: Holds people back is the status quo of I've actually spent my whole life adult life going to school, getting this experience, moving up the ladder, getting more education on this path. And it feels so risky to let it go and jump into something new.

[00:08:50] Jess Galicia: Yeah, yeah, and I totally hear you on the leap, right?

[00:08:53] Jess Galicia: And of course my book is called Leap. I mean, your podcast uses the word leap. And there is a moment of leap. You will [00:09:00] never feel 100 percent ready. There is always that feeling of, Fear and being terrified, but I think you're so right that the kind of bigger piece is this letting go, right? So the subtitle of my book, right?

[00:09:15] Jess Galicia: Leap. Why it's time to let go to get ahead in your career and that message. Really resonates with me so much because I think there's a lot of letting go that has to happen and one of the first things is Letting go of this idea that there's kind of one prescribed way to do your career, right? I think for so many women we've been told these certain narratives, right?

[00:09:39] Jess Galicia: it's like a binary, you know lean in or if not that then totally opt out and The reality is is those narratives don't really fit most women. Most women are operating somewhere in between. I love the work that Neha Roosh of Mother Untitled does. She talks a lot about [00:10:00] being in the gray, somewhere between this lean in and this opt out.

[00:10:04] Jess Galicia: But ultimately, no matter kind of any individual's choices, I think you're so right that there's this challenge to kind of let go of this path we've been told is the one way to succeed. And start to understand that there's There's plenty of ways to find success and that really success is so custom.

[00:10:24] Jess Galicia: It's so unique to who you are and what is success for someone else. Just if you go chasing that and even if you achieve it, it doesn't actually mean that that's. success in your life and according to what you think. So that can be a really, really hard, like intellectually, that's such an easy concept to understand, but actually practicing that in your life and letting go of that notion of, ooh, this is what good looks like.

[00:10:51] Jess Galicia: It's so, so hard. Yeah.

[00:10:55] Loree Philip: I just want to add to this part of the conversation because I had this [00:11:00] conversation, I think it was just last week with a client and she had said something around, I'm, 28 years old and I should be doing I think I should be doing this, this and this. But I think I'm ready to be doing this, this and this.

[00:11:19] Loree Philip: And she was talking about traveling and doing various things that she wants to do. And I, I stopped her and I said, this is what I heard. You said should, and I think. Where, where we get caught up is we get this idea of all these things we should do. I should be this far along in my career. I should be going for the next promotion.

[00:11:42] Loree Philip: I should be trying to, navigate in this way or that way. And we forget to check in with ourselves on. But what do I want to do? Yes. Cause it doesn't matter what quote we should do. It matters it's [00:12:00] like our one life and we get to live it and we're the star of our show if we allow ourselves to.

[00:12:07] Loree Philip: Get in that driver's seat and decide I want to go here. I want to go here. Yes there's so much energy positive energy and the wanting versus the if you hear I should Go to the gym, or I really want to take that yoga class it's like the completely different vibe Yeah, so I'm glad you brought that up, Jess.

[00:12:28] Loree Philip: I don't know if you have any additional things to add to

[00:12:30] Jess Galicia: that. Yeah, oh, yeah, so much. I mean, it's so common this idea of should versus want, and I think a couple things there is, yeah, you're so right that it's, easy to listen to that should path that's been laid out for us. But and especially early in career, I think it is so enticing and you're looking around and people who are on that path maybe are like a couple steps, quote unquote, ahead.

[00:12:59] Jess Galicia: Right. But I [00:13:00] think with time you realize too that, if you're sprinting down the wrong path even if you're the fastest runner, if you're going down the wrong path, that's not productive, right? It's actually not leading you where you want to go. And then the other thing that I'll say too, that was really interesting from my research from the book is this idea of, we talked about letting go, but there's also this idea of let go to get ahead.

[00:13:25] Jess Galicia: And I think when women in particular think about, Oh, well, if I let go of this, I should, I should, I should, I'm going to be giving something up. I'll be falling behind. I'll be sacrificing or letting go. Right. But what I saw in so many of the stories is actually that decision to align career with actually what you want, something that's sustainable, something that reflects.

[00:13:51] Jess Galicia: It's the gifts and the talents that you have, something that you're excited to be doing for a marathon and not just a little two year sprint [00:14:00] that actually sets women up in so many cases to have more success. So ironically, there's this fear of, well, I'm going to give up, I'm going to get smaller. My career will be not as rich or as successful.

[00:14:12] Jess Galicia: But those decisions often are what catapult women into more success in the long run. And so that's something I think that. is a, a narrative that isn't shared enough that it's not just about what you're giving up. It's what you're going to gain from, from that decision too. Yeah,

[00:14:29] Loree Philip: I think it would be really useful if you had a story or an example.

[00:14:35] Loree Philip: I know you talk to so many women in researching your book and I'm curious. If there's something that stood out to you of a particular woman who decided to, to sort of reinvent themselves in such a way that worked out for them along the lines that you were describing, especially in the long run.

[00:14:54] Loree Philip: Of course, there

[00:14:55] Jess Galicia: are so many great stories in the book. One that I love on this point is the story [00:15:00] of a woman named Melinda Barnes, and she was a facial plastic surgeon, which is a very coveted subspecialty in the medical world.

[00:15:09] Jess Galicia: And so for a lot of people, Melinda had made it to this incredibly coveted position for anyone and especially for, as a woman of color or black woman. And yet she had this voice that we were talking about this voice inside of her that even when she reached that position, she felt like, huh, this isn't exactly it.

[00:15:28] Jess Galicia: This isn't what I really want to do. And what she really wanted to do is she wanted to get involved in the business world, the technology world. She wanted to be a connector between health care and business and tech that really would change not just the lives of the patients that she worked with, but actually how health care was delivered to people everywhere.

[00:15:49] Jess Galicia: And so she thought about leaving her role as a surgeon and her friends and family basically Thought she was crazy, right? They're like, what are you doing? You made it to the [00:16:00] top, right? You're in this incredible job that so many people are yearning to reach. And what do you mean this voice inside of your head shush it, right?

[00:16:08] Jess Galicia: Turn the volume down, you're in this great spot. But, for her she didn't listen to them. And what I love about her story is two things. One, she was able to turn down the volume of those other people who were telling her basically you are crazy, stay put. And she was able to turn up that volume of the voice inside of her saying, actually, there's more, there's something different that I want to be doing and I want to honor that.

[00:16:35] Jess Galicia: And part of that... She also had to do the tremendously courageous thing, which is really bet on herself to say actually, no, even though I've achieved this unbelievable career, I actually think I can achieve more which takes a tremendous amount of courage. So ultimately, she resigned from her position as a surgeon, didn't know what her next step was, [00:17:00] and she ended up joining a startup company in the health tech space called Rho.

[00:17:05] Jess Galicia: And since then the company has grown to become a company valued at over five billion dollars. She's the chief medical officer at Roe and she serves on a number of wonderful boards for organizations doing healthcare work in New York City. So she has made it even further beyond to higher levels of success than just being a surgeon.

[00:17:26] Jess Galicia: Like she has totally knocked it out of the park. But I love her story for those two reasons that I said, that. Ability to really tap into that voice inside of her in honor and prioritize it and then that amazing courage to bet on herself to say, I really believe in myself to do even bigger and better.

[00:17:47] Jess Galicia: And she did it.

[00:17:48] Loree Philip: Wow, what a story, Jess. I, those two concepts you just laid out are pretty much the, the baseline for, for this podcast. [00:18:00] Because The, the 1 thing that I, aspire to communicate in every single episode is this idea of listening to yourself.

[00:18:14] Loree Philip: We are our best advisors and we need to turn up the volume to that. We know more. Of where we should go and what we should be doing and what we want than any other person on this planet. Yet most of us either don't listen or are so busy and caught up with the day to day. Can't really hear it it's like we don't have that space to do it and her ability to bet on herself is, is such an aspirational goal for so many people because it's just wow, can you imagine having the courage [00:19:00] to think that you are capable to jump from here?

[00:19:04] Loree Philip: At the top of this mountain to get to the top of some other bigger mountain from surgeon to successful businesswoman. Wow. And I don't know if you have anything around this, but, um how can we as women. Start to bet on ourselves more like to me, it's, it's a matter of, of listening and trusting yourself and starting to really believe that, that you have, and you have in the past been capable.

[00:19:43] Loree Philip: Of taking on so many challenges in your life that you could do it again, and especially if it's worth doing. If you really, really want to do it, I think that's where a lot of resilience comes in is when you're aspiring to do [00:20:00] something that you want so bad that even when you get knocked down, you'll get right back up again because your heart is in it.

[00:20:08] Jess Galicia: Yeah, yeah, yeah, two things come to mind with that question of, okay, well, you're at the top of the mountain. You're eyeing this other peak that you want to get to. How do you even think about mustering the courage to take that leap? So two things that I'd say. The first is that I really believe in trying to.

[00:20:33] Jess Galicia: Dispel this notion that it's one leap, one moment in time, this massive chasm between one peak and the other. There are so many steps that you can take to close that gap and make it feel more reasonable, more achievable less scary to, to make that jump. Right. And so those are things like the test and learn, right, that I adopted.

[00:20:55] Jess Galicia: And so I adopted in my, my journey to this, which was, okay, let's start with writing. Let's start [00:21:00] with publishing content on LinkedIn. Let's stay connected to my corporate role in some capacity and move that up or move that down as I can. Or, even in the case of Melinda, where you could argue that that is a more dramatic leap to just resign.

[00:21:15] Jess Galicia: To your point, she's still building up this foundation and this skill set of really proving to herself that, hey, people have bet against me before, and I've been able to reach accomplishments that not necessarily people would have expected of me. And so I know my ability to do that, right? I've done it before, I can do it again.

[00:21:39] Jess Galicia: So I think it's that combination of resiliency and that, that what I say to people is just start. There is always a way to start and take one step that's getting you closer to that next mountain. So just start and you'll, you're able to kind of get some confidence and get some small wins that can help to give you that resilience and that confidence to follow [00:22:00] through.

[00:22:00] Jess Galicia: So that's the first piece of advice. The second is that I think women really should redefine our relationship with risk. And here's what I mean, there is this notion sometimes or this comfort zone of being very risk averse. I never want to take a risk I want to stay with the status quo. Well here's the reality, the modern career economy is all about changes.

[00:22:24] Jess Galicia: There are industries that are evolving and emerging that are totally new that won't don't exist now that will exist in 10 years, vice versa. And people don't stay in the same job for decades on end, right? The average millennial is switching jobs. four times in the first 10 years of their life.

[00:22:42] Jess Galicia: So this ability to reinvent and reshape your career is really a skill that will aid you and serve you well across your entire career. And the notion that taking no risks is beneficial to your career, I think is wrong, [00:23:00] right? We know that risk is a strategic advantage. It's a way to kind of place your bets on some risk and get outsized impact.

[00:23:09] Jess Galicia: outsized lift in terms of your career. So we always think of this mindset, or it's easy to think in this mindset of minimizing risk, but I like to encourage women to think about if you are taking no risks in your career, then that is potentially the biggest risk of all. So we know that we have to take risks to optimize our career.

[00:23:31] Jess Galicia: So that mindset shift can start to. Make that leap between mountains feel a little different when you know well, I got to jump at some point, right? So let me prepare to do that and maybe now's the time versus thinking that the right thing to do is stay on that mountain for eternity and the rest of your career.

[00:23:50] Loree Philip: Yeah, I like that you brought this idea up of risk, and there's this risk versus reward trade off, and I completely [00:24:00] agree with you, what you said earlier about, gone are the days that we spend 30 years in the same career, it, even if you want to, businesses are not holding their, Employees for that long anymore, things shift businesses let go of whole groups within the company, whether or not they're great people, high performers or not.

[00:24:26] Loree Philip: And so risk is inevitable. And the question is, will you be ready? But also. I love this idea, especially in the terminology of reclaiming your career, you get to decide when you're ready by starting to explore it now on your own terms, not when it's too late and they're your company is downsizing and you don't really know what else you would be doing.

[00:24:55] Loree Philip: What are some of the benefits, what are some of the rewards for that risk that [00:25:00] people can, get when they decide to reinvent their career?

[00:25:06] Jess Galicia: Oh, I think there are many benefits, right? I mean, to your point first, there can be concrete benefits to the person's career development, right? To say, okay, you're able to access a new lane, you're able to avoid these challenges that might be coming your way.

[00:25:21] Jess Galicia: So that's the first is there's these foundational career benefits. But I think the others are when we find women who are often, well, let me put it this way. When women are making these big jumps, they're making them for a reason, right? They're looking for something else. They're looking for alignment of their career to their interests or what they want to contribute into the world.

[00:25:46] Jess Galicia: Or they're looking for a benefit like more alignment with their life. Right. More work life balance, call it putting that in air quotes. There's something generally that women want when they're putting in the effort [00:26:00] and taking the risk to make a big change. And so I think that's those are the benefits that you find, right?

[00:26:08] Jess Galicia: And we know that think about aligning, right? When you align your career to your interests, it's not only a nice thing to do. We often brand that as like a fluffy. Oh, I'm going and working for my passion and following my passion. Well, no, that's not what we're saying. What we're saying is that you're aligning your career to something that is inherently interesting to you or inherently aligns with your values or your lived experiences.

[00:26:32] Jess Galicia: And actually, that's a really strategic way to approach your career because one, You probably have some competitive differentiators with your lived experience, right? So if you're passionate and interested and drawn to this work, it's usually for a reason, often based on your lived experiences and that can make you more qualified for that work.

[00:26:52] Jess Galicia: But the 2nd is this kind of sustainability and long term vision. I see so many women who are sprinting in two to three year [00:27:00] types of stints in their career but they're not able to sustain that pace for the marathon. But when you align your work with something that is tied to those interests and what you want to contribute, or is tied to a more sustainable life for you with work or family you are able to kind of lock into that marathon.

[00:27:18] Jess Galicia: And ultimately even someone like sprinting for one mile, right? They're not producing as much as someone running a. slower pace for that marathon. So I think there's tons of benefits that women get from these career changes from actually catapulting your career development to learning this this skill of reinventing, which is you've described so well as something that's just part of how work exists today.

[00:27:44] Jess Galicia: But also these benefits of aligning to what you care about and finding a path that's more sustainable longterm.

[00:27:51] Loree Philip: Yeah, I, I, I love all of that and I'm starting to think about, for, for listeners out there that are like, okay, I'm [00:28:00] in this career. I've been in it for a while.

[00:28:02] Loree Philip: maybe I should be starting to think about how I might reinvent my career, but I really don't know. I haven't really thought about what. What that might look like for me. What, what is your recommendation, Jess, on how listeners can get started to start to explore for themselves what a career reinvention could look like for them?

[00:28:26] Jess Galicia: if you're someone who's feeling really fulfilled fantastic. Stay where you that's, that's wonderful. women who do have this it

[00:28:40] Jess Galicia: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I just but I don't know what I want. I know it's not this, but I don't know what I want. And here's what I can say with confidence without even having any further conversation with that individual. What I know is you know more than you are telling yourself. It's about this volume, right?

[00:28:59] Jess Galicia: We [00:29:00] have this voice inside of us. It is powerful. It is knowledgeable. It knows a lot, but the volume is turned down. So it's less about figuring out, Oh, well, what is it that I want? And it's more about practicing and implementing behaviors or habits that help you to turn the volume up on that voice. And so what I recommend is really looking for exercises that will prompt this reflection muscle, that kind of intuition muscle of tapping into that voice.

[00:29:32] Jess Galicia: This is challenging, especially for very high performing women who are in elite, demanding careers. These are the type of women who are prone to action, right? They know how to get stuff done and they're like, give me my list. I'm going to go crush it, right? So I really, really push women, right? Stop.

[00:29:50] Jess Galicia: Right? We're going to not focus on action. We're going to really focus on reflection, intuition, tapping into that voice inside of you. I don't believe there's [00:30:00] any perfect journal exercise or any perfect reflection. There are so many formats and shapes that this can take. But it's coming up with a practice that allows you to continually and consistently really reflect on these questions of, what do I want out of my career?

[00:30:15] Jess Galicia: Where can I contribute the most? What benefits will I get out of this career change or this career decision? And repeatedly having a habit of doing that can, that can help to strengthen the volume of that voice.

[00:30:28] Loree Philip: I love that suggestion, Jess, and I was that person you described. I was at a point in my career where I knew it wasn't this, but I had no idea what I should do instead.

[00:30:45] Loree Philip: And I, I completely agree with your assessment around turning up the volume on your intuition, your inner wisdom, really listening to yourself more. And, you're right, there's no [00:31:00] 1 size solution. And what I recommend for listeners who are interested in, in doing this also to add to what Jess is saying is.

[00:31:08] Loree Philip: To try to find something that works for you. So some people like to journal. Some people don't like to journal some people like to talk and there, there's a lot you can do, with talking it out with a, with a friend, a cop a trusted confidant getting your words out into the air.

[00:31:32] Loree Philip: Help, and that's the basis of a lot of coaching is to, to start just digging in and seeing what comes up and you can do that with somebody, or you could even record yourself on a, like an audio recording, like a voice to text kind of thing and just talk it out with yourself. And all of this doesn't take.

[00:31:54] Loree Philip: Hours and hours, but a few minutes a day, checking in, asking yourself these [00:32:00] questions will really move the needle and start to build that muscle. And action is great. I, I get caught up in action, action, action, action, action. And I was actually, I was laughing at myself around this because I was the person at the Boeing leadership center doing all this.

[00:32:21] Loree Philip: stuff to learn and grow and, and in the class and the instructor would say things like, now let's reflect, take out a piece of paper, write down the three things you learned. And I could have died. I was like, I this is dumb. I don't really know. That's how far removed I was. from myself and reflecting and seeing the value of that reflecting.

[00:32:53] Loree Philip: And now it's what I'm advising people to do. It's what I'm trying to get people to think about all the [00:33:00] time. So there is so much value in it. And I'm so glad you brought that up, Jess. I don't know if you have anything to add to that. Yeah,

[00:33:09] Jess Galicia: no, you will. You're what you were saying made me think of two kind of funny things, right?

[00:33:13] Jess Galicia: And the first is just that I think about meditation and the saying or the idea that the people that have the hardest time with meditation. Are the ones that need it the most right? And I think it's the same thing here. It's like the these high performing high octane women who are have the hardest time with sitting with that reflection and moving away from action are the ones who need it most.

[00:33:40] Jess Galicia: So that's the first thing. And then in terms of the actual practice or habit to use, right, whether it's journaling or writing or talking, as you said I like to think of it this very simple way, which is that the best practice or the best habit is the one that you will do. Right? So finding something that is [00:34:00] sustainable, that you will actually follow through on, I think the consistency trumps any magical formula for exactly the best the best way to practice this.

[00:34:11] Loree Philip: Yep, you're absolutely right, Jess, we're going to start to wrap this interview up, but I'd love to hear any closing thoughts or ideas you have for the audience around reclaiming your career, career intervention, leap, whatever you have to leave with our listeners today would be great.

[00:34:31] Jess Galicia: Yeah, I'll leave with a few thoughts, and the first we've touched on, so I'll keep them quick.

[00:34:37] Jess Galicia: I think restating this idea that if you're sitting there thinking, there's a voice inside of my head saying, this isn't it, but I don't know what else I want, really encourage yourself to think that. And trust that more than you're telling yourself and work on dialing up the volume of that voice inside of you.

[00:34:56] Jess Galicia: The second thing I would say is there's other women who say, I know what I want to do, [00:35:00] but I have no idea where to start. And my advice there is really simple. It's Just start. There is always a way to find a step to move towards that goal, and just start. Don't overthink it, just start, and the path will emerge as, as you take that first step.

[00:35:18] Jess Galicia: And then the last thing I'll say and if you are someone who's been hearing what we've been saying about Move away from action, spend more time in reflection, and you're like I hate this, that is so not me. There is a middle path, too, right? Which is that here's how I think about it.

[00:35:33] Jess Galicia: It's kind of strategic planning for your career. So I think about women who are running businesses and companies, or operating in really high performing roles. They are creating strategic goals for the year. They're measuring those goals. They understand what their mission and their objective is.

[00:35:53] Jess Galicia: They're able to knock this out of the park when it comes to their professional career and the work that they're doing in their job. [00:36:00] But interestingly, lots of those same women are not applying the same principles when they take a step back and just think about their career trajectory itself. And so I also encourage women to get into this more structured practice.

[00:36:14] Jess Galicia: It's a little bit more action oriented, which is around strategic planning. So book 90 minutes on your calendar every quarter, just like you might do for your own job. Right. And really get clear about, Hey, what's my mission for my career this year? Is this a year where I want to dig into professional development?

[00:36:31] Jess Galicia: Is this a year where I'm kind of coasting because I want to spend more time with my kids? Is this a year when I want to make that big pivot or that big change? And then use those quarterly meetings as. Touch points, reflection points map out the goals that you want to get done for the next 90 days and then use your next meeting as kind of a retrospective to look back and implementing even that framework.

[00:36:54] Jess Galicia: It sounds so simple, but there are so few women who are regularly doing that. And so [00:37:00] implementing that can be really transformational when it comes to feeling purposeful in your career and feeling like you're really in the driver's seat and reclaiming that control over your path. So I think those three things you know, more than you're telling yourself just start and then really think about how you're managing and commit some time to the actual management of your career.

[00:37:24] Jess Galicia: Great.

[00:37:24] Loree Philip: Thank you for that, Justin. If you could just share with our audience how they might connect with you learn more about

[00:37:30] Jess Galicia: your work. Yeah. So my overarching website is reclaimyourcareer. co. You can find Leap Why It's Time to Let Go to get ahead in your career on Amazon, Barnes Noble, and select.

[00:37:44] Jess Galicia: stores in person you can listen to my podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast, it is called Reclaim Your Career. And then also encourage you to follow along on LinkedIn where I post lots of content and lots of [00:38:00] thoughts about women and work and the balance between work and life.

[00:38:02] Jess Galicia: So you can find me there, Jess Gallagher. And yeah, I look forward to continuing all the thinking and all the conversations around these super important topics and this idea of empowering more women to leap and to reclaim control.

[00:38:16] Loree Philip: Oh, thank you, Jess. I appreciate your insights, your wisdom, and I just had fun chatting with you today.

[00:38:23] Loree Philip: Thank you so much.

[00:38:25] Jess Galicia: Yeah, me too. Thanks, Lori. It was awesome to be here.

[00:38:27] Loree Philip: Thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you've enjoyed it, I would love for you to subscribe. Make sure to tune in next week. Our amazing guest, Dana Neelan will be here. She's a public speaking and storytelling coach and is going to be sharing all of her tips about how we can speak confidently so that we can grow our careers and inspire our listeners.

[00:38:53] Loree Philip: I hope you have an amazing week. It's your time to shine. Bye.