Why Nova? Kathleen Woodhouse
I started my career as so many of us do: fresh out of college, bright eyed, and ready to change the world. What I didn’t realize was that changing the world is not a single-handed endeavor. To change the world from the inside of a corporation requires a good amount of skill, savvy, relationship building and political awareness.
Fortunately, I had a handful of powerful individuals who served as mentors and guides throughout my career. They taught me important lessons, made connections to the right people, gave VERY direct feedback and struck a balance of providing empathy and support with a good dose of tail-kicking!
As the youngest of five ambitious and high-achieving children – who are now ambitious and high-achieving adults – the messages of hard work, aiming high and continuously raising the bar were ingrained from my youth. These qualities served me well in an academic and corporate setting. As an employee, I believed that my hard work and strong results would be enough to ensure that I would be highly rewarded and recognized. Not so.
Enter my mentors.
These people taught me how to navigate the professional world: the leader who counseled me on the importance of time and place for certain communications, or the leader who urged me to take a stretch assignment that I would have walked away from without a second thought, or the leader who gave me a project that was way beyond my scope, and then supported me until I was ready to fly solo. These men and women believed in me – even at times that I did not believe in myself.
My career was shaped by these individuals. I started my career in staffing, working in a crazy 24/7 start up environment and loved it! I’ve worked with leaders in sales, engineering, marketing, legal, IT, manufacturing and finance. I’ve had client-facing and headquarters positions. In my last 15 years in the corporate world, I had global responsibilities from Europe to China to India. I started as an entry level associate and left as a corporate vice president.
As an entrepreneur, I rely on a trusted network of coaches, mentors and business owners. We explore challenges together, and rely on one another for guidance and counsel. We celebrate success, and work through tough questions. We practice the adage that none of is as smart as all of us.
To excel, we all need a network. We are learners. We need tools, action planning, support, and time for reflection.
Enter Nova Leadership Immersions.
Nova gives women tools and support to achieve their dreams. Nova is our way of giving women access to the skills and lessons that shaped our careers. Nova is about giving back and raising up – and I am so thrilled to be able to facilitate women coming together to do so!
