You mentioned, you set goals and then you end up somewhere else. &gt;&gt; Yeah. &gt;&gt; And do you think that there's a plan that just leads you to where you are and if you work hard, you achieve? Or do you think that when you set a goal, that is the thing you probably will end up doing? I'm not sure if I frame that. &gt;&gt; Yeah, no, I understand what you're saying. Well, everybody's not gonna end up where they want to. Cuz ten people probably set the goal to be governor and all ten of us aren't gonna become governor. I think what you need to do is set your goals and then keep your options open as best you possibly can and do things that will direct you to get there. And then you've got the best chance of achieving that goal. You're not always gonna get what you want. I mean, that's just the way life is. I mean, I wanna be a professional basketball player when I was in junior high school. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] But I kinda went by the wayside, you know what I mean? &gt;&gt; Yeah. &gt;&gt; But you need to have in mind what you wanna do and just keep working towards that. And for folks like you, I would give the advice to just keep your options open and keep learning. You never stop learning until you die, you just don't. You're always learning something new about something you previously had. And you should seek out to learn more and to gain more knowledge and to understand better. And that I think you need to keep up with what's going on. I mean, you can't get too wrapped up and just watching TV and playing video games. You need to get out into the world and experience things. And you need to take part in the progress, in the building up of that as opposed to being something that's trying to be stagnant and stay where you are. Because if you stay where you are you, everybody else is passing you by. And you can't let everybody else pass you by. 

Set your goals and then keep your options open as best as possible. Not everyone can reach a certain goal sometimes because it's just not possible. For example, 10 people may have wanted to be governor but all 10 can't get elected. Do things that will direct you towards the goals you've set so that you give yourself the best chance of achieving that goal, but keep your options open because things change along the way.

I ran for State Senate twice and lost, which was disappointing. However, I persevered because I still wanted to serve the public, so I found a place that was a better fit for me to get started.

Governor

Goals

Hard Work

Support & Encouragement

Set Goals But Keep Your Options Open

As a woman who has been through engineering what are the kind of issues that you face and how have you overcome them? And how does it feel to like be that woman in charge but also like kind of have that feeling of like isolation, like how did you deal with that? &gt;&gt; It's not always just being a woman in a very male dominated field. Everyone right, has a place where they're the minority or they're the outcast and it's yeah something that's always evolving. Sometimes I'll be sitting in a meeting with 40 people and I realize I'm the only woman and it's like. I have as I've gotten older, cared less and less about that and I think have the confidence and have had the success to just be able to be like, whatever, like, that's not a thing anymore. Like, I'm not worried about this thing. But it was super hard when I was in school though, like it's a big challenge to be noticed as an outcast, right? Like, it's obvious. It's not one of those things where it's like, no one cares, I was like well people have to care, right? There's inherent bias. And it's super difficult. You have to work super hard and you just yeah have to kind of create that own confidence to be successful. It takes a lot of self assurance I think and it takes where possible other people to help you who are gong through some of the same challenges to kind of build that foundation. And then once you have that self assurance that this is okay. I feel like it's a little bit easier, but it's really hard to get that. It's like a much easier thing to say than to do. &gt;&gt; You mentioned like, okay, sometimes you'll go into the meeting and you're the only woman there. But in terms of diversity of thought, when do you know to speak out? When are you like, okay, maybe I'm the only person that's seeing this. &gt;&gt; Always speak out. Always speak out. Yeah, I think one of the things that I've learned is it's always good to speak up, but it is always good to not seem victimized when you are speaking up. It's one of those things where you have to be really careful about how you phrase stuff and you don't want to ever sound like you're accusing people. Even if it's right, even if it's not I feel uncomfortable with this thing or something like that. I tend to fix people's pronouns a lot when they assume that engineers are men. Like, we really need to hire this new engineering manager or something. And then they'll refer to this person, this unhired person as he. I'm like nope, not necessarily a he. I just want you to know that right, so those kinds of things but even if it's just like hey, I think that you guys are going in the wrong direction on this idea. It's not like that's a terrible idea, right? It's like hey, I think that maybe you should think about this way or is there some information that I don't have here that you guys are basing this off of? Always speak up, but try not to make it accusatory. People work with you a lot better that way. 

Intern at a lot of different places. It's really important to try to figure out what parts of a job or field you like and what parts you don't like. You can only really do that by trying it and gaining that hands-on experience.

I work in a male-dominated field and was often the only female in my classes. It would get hard because I'd feel like an outcast and was conscious of the biases. I worked hard to gain confidence and self-assurance and don't let it bother me anymore.

I take care of the overall design, layout, and expansion of the factory. That involves working with manufacturing engineers who manage the design of production lines to figure out the most optimal way to layout those lines for production. As a senior industrial engineer, I'm in more of a management role. A lot of my time is devoted to leading my team by breaking down barriers and empowering them to do their jobs successfully. I also spend some time working with spreadsheets and writing code.

Senior Industrial Engineer

Why did you move away from home to go work in a trailer in the middle of the desert? That's crazy!

Confidence

Being A Woman In The Engineering Field

It's really difficult, kinda to balance where I am, because I'm doing so much. Not only am I a mentor, I'm also the president of USITT. I'm also doing different projects. All these things, I'm getting experience, but as well it's kind of hard to balance school with productions where I'm here from 8 o'clock in the morning to do classes. And then after that I don't get out until like 11 at midnight, because I'm doing productions and I barely have time to do homework, to study. But it's that drive that kind of pushes me forward like okay I might lose this number of sleep, but I know I'm gonna be ready in the end. Different opportunities are going to be brought up to me. It's just driving forward, giving it my all, pulling up all-nighters, it's just basically what college is. Many people go into college with this mentality, that, it's super hard, the professors are gonna make it really hard. College is not hard, what's hard is balancing everything out. Either being with work in school and with family as well. Going into family. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; I have a Mexican background where my parents are a little bit strict. They want me home at a certain time but, they've given me the opportunity that they know that I'm here in the university pursuing my dreams here, working hard and where they give me that trust and be that okay, we'll let you stay up. [LAUGH] But you don't have to be home at a certain time, but the only thing that they want in return is to graduate from college. That's all they want to do. All they want is that diploma. They want me to do what I love. They want to give me that opportunity to pursue what I want to do. They just want in the end want that piece of paper and be like first generation, graduated from college, now into a new path. 

If you want to pursue this career, I would recommend you start talking to people and network to get involved in the entertainment industry. Get hands-on experience as early as possible so that once you graduate from college, you will have that necessary experience and be ready for any task thrown your way.

We left my extended family when we moved to the U.S. It's really hard at times because I'm not able to go back and visit my hometown or my family. It's a goal of mine to be able to visit again and make them proud with my accomplishments.

I'm the first in my family to go to college, but as a DACA resident, there aren't as many opportunities open to me. These limits and fear of being deported have made it hard to consider opportunities, find the right direction, and pursue my dreams.

A typical day in this part of the entertainment industry starts with going to the designated location to start setting up for the show. By working with my team, I help set up the stage, speakers, lights, and any other equipment that might be used during the show. Once everything is up and running, it's my job to make sure the show runs smoothly and to give the audience a good experience. After everything has ended, we take everything down and pack it up for the next event.

Entertainment Engineering and Design Student

You shouldn't pursue that career; go for this one instead.

Education

Perseverance

Finding Balance In College

We are seduced by what we think is the glamorous, I work in a business film-making that attracts thousands millions of students each year hoping to get a grasp the brass ring of a bold face name. It's a fool's errand, it's the hardest work I know. I just built a barn, and I made it my point to employ only people who are from this little village. And each one of the individuals who dug the foundation, who poured the cement, who cut the timbers, who did everything from soup to nuts has a life as as rich and as fully led as mine? We are way too seduced by things that we may not be suited for. I tell students in film classes there is no shame in saying, you know, I realized that I don't have something to say. This is not for me, I'd rather do something else. That takes a huge amount of courage than to continue to go out to Hollywood to have your five year plan that turns into a 10 year plans that turns into a 15 year plan. And you're still trying to hope you get a movie of the week and you haven't done that and you're taking this and you're working as a waiter here and that, you know. At some point along the line, somebody has to wake up and say, you know what? This isn't what I want to do or if I'm still a waiter after 30 years, my wish is so strong that I can taste it every day and I greet each day with that optimism and that, if not optimism then that drive that's going to keep going to overcome it. And so what we have to do is constantly put our own selves through a kind of examination that our media culture, particularly this internet culture doesn't do, which says who am I? What is it that inly rejoices. Am I on my own path? Do I realize there is no other path but my own to have? How do I escape the expectations of others and of the false expectations I have imposed on myself. If I can make that, if I can make those steps away, if I can free myself from all of the prisons. And they're many, many prisons that are entailed in that. Then I forge my own path, then I have a way that is my own way. And that's unique just as the guy who dug my foundation has it and we can look at each other as equals just as the guy who poured the cement is as equal and he could understand. I don't know something about editing scenes, but I he doesn't know anything about this, or let's turn it around and say, my god, what an incredible art this guy has how he poured this in January. How did he keep it so perfect in the midst of all of this cold and couldn't he say, whoa, really moved me that scene really moved me and so. That's what we all have to do, and the problem in the media culture is we want instant gratification, we think we can have it. We have lots of examples before us of people who are famous for no other reason then we've been told they're famous. They haven't done anything, they are in themselves self sustaining industries. The triage is huge, the shooting ratio that is to say the people who achieve that and the people who want to do that is millions and millions to one. So why get into that rat race? Why is it necessary to be distracted by all of these things? And to figure out the much more difficult question. I mean, I'll tell you why people are more discrete. Because the more difficult question involves an intimation of one's mortality, it involves a sense that it's not easy. It involves a kinda excruciating honesty that perhaps is embarrassing, and perhaps might have you change the set of friends that you have. That requires a kind of sobriety that is not have anything to do with drugs or alcohol, but has everything to do with kind of a clear eyed view of what's going on. Now you can do that and still continue to tweet and Facebook and that's terrific. 

I can't tell you how to become a filmmaker because each person's path is their own. I do advise periodically evaluating yourself to determine if filmmaking is what inly rejoices. It takes a courage to realize and admit that you don't have something to say and filmmaking isn't for you. Make sure you put effort into self-evaluation so you don't waste your life on a dream that isn't really yours. Whatever you're doing, you'll know you're making a right step if you feel a spark of authenticity.

My mother died of cancer when I was 11 years old. It was like a grenade had blown up in our emotional lives. But it also triggered circumstances for me to find my true passion. Tragedy can provide the catalyst and courage to go forward and do things.

While creating my first film, I was living in New York and thought I'd have to leave my dreams and get a better paying job. Instead, I moved to rural New Hampshire to live on nothing and finish the film. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Documentarian & Filmmaker

We won't support your film. You're too young to be a filmmaker.

Honesty

Self-Reflection

We're Drawn To Things We May Not Be Suited For

It's not always rosy and bright colors. What we do in the audit profession and accounting, it's a lot of work. There are a lot of requirements, regulatory requirements, getting your CPA license, doing all those things. And then when you have clients that are requesting things that need information or there needs change. Some of the challenges that I've encountered is figuring out how to balance that. Figuring out how to like, yes, we have to get this done by the end of the week because the report needs to go out. So that means by Friday, I have to be at a certain point. And my team has to be at a certain point as well. So is balancing how hard do I push on Monday versus how much harder will I have to push on Thursday or Friday morning even. It's balancing all the different personalities that you encounter just in the day to day with when you're in client service. Even amongst an engagement team, it's that balancing that can be a challenge. Well I always get it 100% right no, I think that's part of the adventure too right figuring out okay am I organizing myself well enough? Am I organizing my team in the right way so that we're not working till two in the morning every single night just because we have to file something by Friday. It's balancing those aspects that can be a challenge. 

Communication is key. It opens doors. If you communicate the things that are important to you, they're much easier to attain. For example, moving to KPMG's Dallas office wasn't on my radar at first but as soon as it became important to me to move, I communicated that to my managers and they helped make it happen.

I moved across the country to Dallas for work. I initially felt isolated but I made an effort to make connections and build new support systems.

Working in accounting, especially for a Big Four company, gets very stressful and difficult sometimes. Balancing large amounts of work is challenging. Self-awareness, time management, and organizational skills help a lot.

I'm a senior manager for KPMG's audit practice, so my daily responsibilities include planning and executing audit reports, advising on audit processes, and managing auditors on team engagements.

Managing Director, Audit

You have to be a workaholic if you want to be successful.

Planning

The Challenge Of Working In Audit

When you do good work, right, you do the right thing. You do it correctly, do it in the right way, there are opportunities to continue to explore and go down different paths. And for me, I was a great auditor I also really enjoyed interacting with people. And because of that great track record that I had, when I told the partners in the Norfolk office, I'm thinking about moving to Dallas. They said, okay, let's make some phone calls. There wasn't a struggle. It was, first having that base of being grounded in the technical work, right, because you have you have to be able to do your reconciliations and do the paperwork that you need to to get the job done. And doing that well, that opens doors because when you have a good work ethic, you perform well, you're a high performer. People want you to help them do things. And if, they realize because you've communicated it that this is important to you, and it means something to you, they helped make ways for you to go down whatever path that might be. So when I started in Norfolk Dallas wasn't on the radar and or even moving so far away was it wasn't on the radar at all. But, as my life changed and I was realizing what was important to me and I was still doing great audit work, great accounting work, doing the things that meeting the obligations that we have with the clients and in the office. When I decided that, yes, I think I need to, I should leave. This is gonna expand who I am there weren't many questions about. I don't think we can make that work, stay grounded in who you are. Do the work well, take the time to learn what it is that you're doing, because that sets the base for being a good accountant and communicating that once you realize what's important. It opens doors. 

Opportunity

Hard Work Opens Doors To New Opportunities

Only 4% of CPAs are African American or like 19% are women. So I guess my question is like, how did you maneuver that through your career, like having that mindset, okay, like I belong here. &gt;&gt; You can't rely on others to change those statistics. You can only rely on your actions. And so if there's an interest that you have, you stick with it, and then you can be part of the change agent. You have to really be strong in your goal setting and commitments to yourself. When you do that, you don't let that obstacle go be an impediment. I'm like the only one in my country club. I used to be only one in my class. I sat in front, raise my hand cuz there's certain things I wanted to get out of it, regardless of who was around me. You need to get enough experience. So when you leave, you're bringing something you're bringing expertise. It's tough but if you hang in there, you're gonna leave with a curriculum vitae that that's strong. That's going to give you more opportunities. And just, let's keep it real. To stay at these large institutions, conglomerates, firms and you're diverse, you have to be the best, or you'll be gone. So it's so important to be really really good at what you do because that opens the door for all the other advantages and accolades that you have. A worst on a case is you not going to get adequately recognized. But you won't let the lack of recognition be an pediment for your pursuit to be excellent. 

Find good mentors to guide you in the right direction. If you see someone you relate to who has been successful in the field you're wanting to get into, get to know them, seek their guidance, and cultivate that relationship. My mentors have played a huge role in my road to success.

I grew up in Philadelphia where there is a lot of gang activity and violence, but I worked hard to grow away from that and accomplish my goals. I now speak to students, many of whom come from similar situations, to inspire success.

When I was younger, African Americans weren’t given commercial-related engagements because they were mostly small, closely held entities run by white businessmen. I finally got a job at Johnson & Johnson to gain that commercial corporate experience.

I'm the CEO of our accounting firm, so I lead the team in providing a variety of accounting services for business, non-profits, government agencies, high net-worth individuals, and professional athletes. Our typical services include financial, performance, and compliance audits, tax planning, forensic accounting, and business advisory to help others with their productivity and profitability.

Chairman & CEO

African Americans can't have the same success.

Determination

Don’t Let A Lack Of Recognition Be An Impediment As A Minority

The advantage that I have is that I've been doing this for 32 years. So over those periods you develop a brand, you develop a reputation of quality. You really gotta be able to do good work. You really gotta be able to grow businesses. If you're part of their growth, you're gonna honestly be with them. I mean, I've been out here long enough that my reputation precedes me. But at the end of the day, you really have to continue to do a great job. Be technical relationships is very important. Folks, you always have to try to figure out a way how you can help someone. Networking knows how can I help you? When you have that mindset and you have those successes, it's easy, people are gonna refer you. Most of my clients come as our referrals. 

Hard Work

Set Goals But Keep Your Options Open

Set Goals But Keep Your Options Open

Steve Sisolak

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