WEST Wisdom Blog

WEST’s Career Possibilities Panel & Speed Networking series has been incredibly popular. Our first Career Possibilities event of 2023 gave around 100 people the opportunity to learn about STEM communications positions from people that were currently working in that area. We’re thrilled to see the turnout for these events consistently increasing, allowing more and more STEM professionals, and STEM professionals-to-be an opportunity to prepare themselves for their next career move. 

Recently, YW Boston collaborated with WEST (Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology), a Boston-based learning community that provides a powerful forum and supportive environment for early and mid-career women in STEM. Both organizations work at the intersection of race and gender and seek to uplift women and women of color. In a recent Zoom call, YW Boston President and CEO, Beth Chandler, was interviewed by Elena Spencer, Vice President of WEST’s Board of Directors. In the candid conversation, Beth and Elena discussed various topics, including how to support women in STEM, YW Boston’s Parity on Board, and returning to the office. 

WEST is celebrating African American History month by highlighting African American women in STEM careers that have made critical contributions in their fields. These are women who have paved the way for equal opportunity employment to continue to progress each and every day. The women we have selected to be highlighted put in years of work to chase their dreams and break through barriers in order to live lives that were truly fulfilling to them. The personal and professional characteristics of these women are worth celebrating everyday throughout the year. 

Considering a job or career change can be daunting, or it can be the most exciting life change you plan in a year. The difference is in how you approach making your career change. You could jump in blindly and hope to stumble on the right job, hope that your new position is a good fit for you and that you find a position you can finally call your career, but hope isn’t a plan. Starting your career change process with the Career Possibilities Panel & Speed Networking series put on by WEST and sponsored by Gilead Sciences can be. This series features panels with specialized STEM experiences. Each event gives panelists the opportunity to share about their backgrounds, experiences, and current jobs, as well as giving attendees the opportunity to network with the panelists and other STEM professionals. 

Everyone has a natural motivation, something that makes them get out of bed every day and sparks their passion for their favorite things. Clive Patience is no different. As the Chief Technical Operations Officer at Agios Pharmaceuticals, Clive has a big role that covers a wide scope of day-to-day activities, but what drives Clive to love both his job and WEST is simple: the people. 

Often we misunderstand confidence to be a magical feeling that we either possess or it will elude us forever. We then find ourselves wondering how we can create this magical feeling of confidence. However, in reality, confidence is less of a magical gift and more a result of the everyday work of taking on difficult things, learning, failing, growing, and succeeding. In other words, it is not a question of whether you are a confident person or not, but a result of showing up courageously and authentically to things that feel hard (even impossible), scare us, and doing our best. Repeatedly showing up in those difficult situations courageously would slowly build that trust for you in your abilities, and that’s what confidence in self is: a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities, and judgment. Confidence is an outcome of courage, not the other way around. This is what Pallavi Srivastava will focus on in her workshop for the WEST community “Nurturing Confidence: The Path Through Courage & Authenticity.”

Pallavi spent the better part of a decade as a therapist and then as a leadership coach, working with leaders and high achievers across different industries (mostly women) who found confidence standing in their way. She recounts how surprised she was to find so many high achievers struggling with confidence. After talking with leaders, managers, and career beginners across different industries, she says for many of her clients: “you would not have thought confidence would have been a challenge for them.” But it was, and it is for so many. She says in her experience, people struggle with nurturing confidence because they think of it as a personal identity flaw. Many think of someone as not a confident person, instead of looking at it as a quality or ability they want to learn and grow. 

She has heard it so many times and in so many different ways, “I am just not confident enough to speak in the work meeting,” “If I could just feel more confident, I could aim for that next promotion,” “Other people know so much more than me, I am not there yet,” etc. Pallavi sees in them what they can’t see in themselves sometimes- their naturally authentic, confident selves navigating challenges in work and life with elegance. It is this realization in others that is why she has made it a major part of her life’s work to encourage people to create new perspectives on confidence. She says, “Confidence is not who you are or who you are not. Confidence is the outcome of your courage to show up as your true self, and be seen.” 

This is the foundation for her upcoming event. Pallavi Srivastava believes that confidence is not inherently tied to any specific personality type, and is not something that only a select few are born with. Instead, confidence is: being more aware of ourselves and finding our own strengths and appreciating them. It's about being true to our authentic selves and knowing that being our true authentic selves and leaning into courageous action will get us through. 
This is what attendees can expect to learn in the upcoming WEST workshop: “Nurturing Confidence: The Path Through Courage & Authenticity.” Drawing on her professional experience as a leadership and growth coach, as well as her personal journey in nurturing her own confidence, Pallavi will bring practical coaching tools to this workshop. She says, “I am excited that attendees will have the opportunity to explore and reflect on confidence through a new lens of courage and authenticity. They will learn first-hand how they can tap into these aspects to nurture their confidence, so that it doesn’t remain an elusive feeling, but turns into a life-long asset.” The workshop will include small group exercises so that participants can experience the 'how’ of the process.

Pallavi says that a practical approach in bringing real-life change is the centerpiece for her whether she is coaching leaders one-to-one or facilitating workshops. She holds her belief in this practical approach because of her own personal journey of well-being, which included struggles with confidence, burnout, and relationships. 

Before jumping to the well-being field, Pallavi Srivastava started her professional career as a business journalist way back in 2007. After a few years in the profession, she found herself completely burned out. She realized that one of the biggest things she struggled with, and wanted to change for herself and others, was the narrative that success has to cost us everything else we care about. She left her job and went on a quest of exploring how one can create a life where success and achievements don’t cost us our well-being and fulfillment. 
Since then, using different tools and playing different roles (first as a therapist and now as a coach), she has been on a mission to support people in creating a successful career that is life-giving, enjoyable, and fulfilling. She wants to support people in their pursuit of successful careers in a way that is an opportunity for them to be their authentic selves, and live their full potential. That is the vision with which she created her coaching company, ‘The Wellbeing Ways LLC’. She says, “I am so excited to serve the extremely talented and successful women that are a part of the wonderful WEST community through my workshop and coaching”.

If you’ve ever thought having more confidence could help you be seen in the workplace and give you more opportunities to grow and succeed, you won’t want to miss this event! Join us in this 75-minute session to learn how to nurture your confidence and spring up to tremendous career growth!

A life full of pieces that are important to you can be a truly amazing thing, but it can also be demanding, stressful, and draining. So many things in our daily lives are important to us: our physical and mental health, our families, our jobs, our friends and colleagues, hobbies, and communities we are part of, the list can go on. These are all amazing things that enable us each to build a life that we love. We can love our jobs, our families, our friends and colleagues, spending time practicing hobbies, resting and recharging ourselves, but can we balance doing it all at once?

Kristine has lived all over the country, but after spending time at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute she has decided to continue to call the Greater Boston Area her home. She has spent most of her career studying cancer and working to provide solutions to cancer patients around the world. She came to WEST initially in 2014 for a Career Possibilities Panel focusing on R&D careers. After loving her first experience with WEST, Kristine continued to stay involved and has helped develop events, served as an Advisory Board member and in 2022 joined the Board and the mentoring committee. 

It's that time of year again! The time of year where the list of people to shop for is much longer than the list of ideas for what to buy for each person. Gift giving can be a truly rewarding experience, but what to buy can be a truly exhausting one. This year, the WEST leadership team is here to help take the stress out of holiday shopping and simply add to the rewarding experience of gift-giving. 

There’s a stigma associated with being an introvert. People say introverts are more often shy, soft-spoken, and stay to themselves; “they” say introverts are not good public speakers, team leaders, or marketers. Sure, people say these things, but how true are they really? If the true definition of an introvert is simply that they are re-energized by spending quiet time with themselves, then what do any of those characteristics or skills have to do with being introverted?