I'm going to mess up. You know, there's no avoiding that, nobody here really knows anything about CNC to the degree that they need to. I'm like the closest thing and you know at this point, I'm pretty confident in my abilities but there's a lot of things that need to be factored in, and I'm not confident that I know everything. I know a lot but to be able to factor all those things just comes with time and experience, and knowing that I'm going to mess up kind of puts me at ease cuz it's a lot less pressure on yourself when you don't have to be perfect with everything, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try, right? I'm gonna try and do the best I can. That's been my philosophy on every task. It's just do the best you can. If you mess up, you mess up. Own up to it, learn from it, jot it down, make a reference for it, whenever something like that happens again, and then just keep going up from there. 

Look into trade schools and certification programs. I've found that these options have a more direct delivery into careers than some other options.

My dad was diagnosed with cancer and passed away when I was young. It was a sad and stressful time for my family. I lost interest in everything—even school felt trivial to me. I was smart enough to get by but just didn't have the passion or interest.

I didn't do well in college because I couldn't find the drive or passion after the loss of my dad. I ended up dropping out of school and struggled to adapt to independent life. I eventually attended a vocational program and things turned around!

After dropping out of college, I was living on my own and took my old high school job back to try and pay the bills. However, it was difficult to get by. I was making less than minimum wage and would go days without eating.

I come into work, power up my machine, and go over what my day is going to look like and what I want to get done that day. I'm given projects but I do most of the start-to-finish planning on my own. This includes determining which tools I need, what the time window looks like, and planning all steps involved. I then get to work on the project. I have to constantly look over everything and make sure I'm double checking the work to prevent mistakes.

CNC Machinist

You have to go to college to be successful.

Hard Work

Pressure

Knowing That I'm Going To Make Mistakes Puts Me At Ease

I was fortunate to have two parents who gave the two things you need which is unconditional love and self worth. But I was a person who is pretty subject to peer pressure, and so I would define myself far too much by what other people thought of me. So, the approval of others for a long period of my life was more important than it should be. And so I knew I had loved my family and I was certainly blessed to do that. And they were good in all the ways one would hope for. But I think my own personal development took some time before I could say, actually, I needed to find myself internally, not however, if you define up by how other people via you, you're not gonna be happy person, right? Cuz you get ping pong balls around by you like me, you don't like me and this is not a healthy way to live, so it took me a longtime to realize it that wasn't way that happiness came from. Is what other people thought of you, it's really what you think of yourself, and how you define yourself. 

Work for a great social entrepreneur as their assistant, even if it is a job you think you are over-qualified to hold. You will do and learn a bunch of interesting things, get great exposure, and make some awesome contacts.

Financial challenges have a way of focusing the mind. In my case, I vowed that I would get myself out of debt and was pretty focused on achieving that. Once I did that, it was a lot easier to turn my attention to fully serving others.

Half my time is external with donors, corporate partners, and other key stakeholders. The other half of my time is spent internally on culture, strategy, management, and people.

CEO 

Family

Self-Reflection

Happiness Comes From Yourself Not Others

So like for me coming from an immigrant family is like college was always pushed in a way like stem or something that seemed like it was much more like to make you money was pushed. Did you like have anything similar to that or your parents just like happy that you're doing what you're passionate about. &gt;&gt; Fortunately, they got lucky cuz I chose engineering. They didn't have to teach me. But I know like, there were times where my mom was like, sure you wanna go to medical school, but yeah, so. &gt;&gt; [CROSSTALK] &gt;&gt; Exactly. Yeah, exactly. It's so funny cuz I remember seeing a meme whereby it's like with African parents you only have four career options. It's like engineer, lawyer, doctor or shame to the family. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; But of course, my mom would have loved me to do medicine. But I chose engineering which luckily I fell under one of the four career options. But I've also danced all my life. And I remember one time having a conversation with my mom and say, mom, would you have let me major in dance or anything. And she was like, nope. [LAUGH] But those things are very important too, cuz I know those dancing skills, all the art skills that I have, have also molded me to be a better mining engineer. My mom was always like, you make a good choice in what you do. Just make sure you love it and you enjoy it. You ask the question about if my family influenced my decision to do engineering? They didn't, but if they had and I didn't wanna do it, but I'm only doing it for mom and dad. It'd be really difficult for me to stick it out in engineering, because I'm not passionate about it, I'm only doing it for my parents. Just for the accolades that it comes to being an engineer. So engineering was really difficult. Being in college and stuff, there's so many times I would be crying and struggling. And my mom knows the struggle, and my friends, and all that. But because I wanted it, because I always went back to my why, and that's what keeps us propelling. And so I'll just say explore, try so many different things and know your strengths. Because that's how you get to go to your purpose that you were created for your passions become your purpose. And that's how you find your career. So explore as many things as possible, ask a lot of questions, put yourself in a lot of uncomfortable situations. Move to somewhere that makes you a little uncomfortable, where you're different. 

Go into every experience ready and eager to learn from others. Ask questions of everyone who works around you—even those who don't work directly in the same field. If you want to be a mining engineer, try to pursue your education and gain the experience you need without going into debt. Try your best to find affordable options to break into the field.

I started on the civil engineering path but didn't enjoy it, so I switched to mining engineering. Because I transferred into mining late, I took on internships to gain more experience quickly.

My background is in mining engineering but I got this opportunity to work as an environmental engineer. I doubted my ability to do it but took on the opportunity anyway to grow into a more well-rounded professional.

I've learned to be fearless when no one looks like me. I know who I am and am proud of my skin. It's rewarding to persevere and be the first to accomplish your goals against the odds. Stick to your morals and values and always maintain integrity.

As a woman in a male-dominated industry, I've learned to be persistent and not let anyone take away my voice. If an opportunity doesn't already exist for me, I'm determined to create it myself.

Every day is different. A day could entail ensuring that a petroleum contaminated spill on ground is cleaned, reported, and in compliance with environmental regulations. It could also include hours of creating quarterly or annual reports for mine areas to be in compliance with state water pollution control permits. Some days are occupied with interacting with operations and maintenance personnel through individual engagements or training at safety meetings to be environmentally-responsible.

Environmental Engineer

You lack direction and are doing too many things at the same time.

Choices

Education

Choosing To Major In Engineering

&gt;&gt; Can you tell us about a time when you might have done that to yourself where you said, this is a big decision, maybe got into your head a little? &gt;&gt; God, I wish I could go back to my old self. I wish I could go back to myself when I was in my mid twenties and my early thirties, cuz there's so much pressure I put on myself to get it right or get the promotion in the first year instead. And at the time, those were really big decisions and I'll give you one example. When I started at the firm, you would make senior in three year and I was lucky enough to make it in two. And then manager typically would be six and I wanted to do it for and I put so much pressure on myself to get it in for, get it in for and keep the pace of my advancement. I lost sight of other things. I lost sight of my health. I lost touch with my friends a little bit. And if I go back, I just say whether I made manager in four years or five years, it didn't matter. Again, it's easy to say that now, but that will be a great example where I just put too much pressure on myself and it didn't matter. &gt;&gt; When you realize that you were doing that to yourself, how did you stop that and how did you change? &gt;&gt; I looked in the mirror and I just said, I wasn't satisfied with who I was. I wanted success to be much broader. I wasn't happy physically. I also realize I was leaving people out. I was leaving people in my life that mattered. Different techniques worked for others. For me, it was every once in a while I'd look in the mirror and say, do I like that man or woman in the mirror that I'm looking at? And I just said that early time in my life, I didn't love it. I didn't love that person. So don't put so much pressure on yourself that my God, if I make this wrong decision, it's over. Cuz outside of something around ethics and values, you can undo anything. 

If you want to go into accounting, start at one of the larger accounting firms. They’re more diverse in disciplines and age, but there are also a lot of similarities between people, so it’s a lot easier to find people you can talk to, trust, and lean on for support and guidance.

I was the first in my family to complete college, so I didn’t really have any educational guidance at home. My parents taught us good values, but I had to really push myself to work hard at school because that wasn’t something we were taught at home.

I put so much pressure on myself to reach work milestones earlier than expected that I lost sight of things like my health and relationships. I realize now that reaching milestones earlier doesn’t matter if you’re sacrificing other important things.

U.S. Chair & Senior Partner

You have to stay competitive to stand out and be successful.

Values

Putting Pressure On Myself For Decisions That Didn’t Really Matter

When you were going into college, did it feel like you had any pressure from family or friends or just other people in your community to go to college or? &gt;&gt; I mean, I grew up in a family where education was the number one priority. Both my parents went to college. Three of my four grandparents have gone to college. And so it was kind of, it almost wasn't even a conversation, it was just an expectation that you would go to college. And that working hard and making the most of your education was expected. It's interesting when I think back on and also there was this huge expectation that you would use your education to do something that make the world better. My mom's parents were very involved in their community in Austin. They we're very politically involved and just really created that sense of it's what you do you use your education to, get good a opportunities for yourself and that is not about like making piles and piles of money that's about making the world better. I definitely had times while I was in college that I was sort of like how is this relevant to anything. [LAUGH] Cuz I think college can feel very, it's like you can be kind of in this bubble. It's amazing experience in some ways because it's all about learning and I think it's a lot about growing up and learning to live more independently and navigate your own social situations and all that kind of stuff. But I think for a lot of people, and this was true for me, especially if you're at a liberal arts college and not studying nursing or studying some track. The classes can feel a little bit like, what does this have to do with anything I ever think I'm gonna do. I mean, I'm old now, I'm 52. So I can look back on it and say do you think that you learn a lot in those experiences even if the particular content you're studying feels kind of irrelevant. Cuz you build a lot of skills, interpersonal skills, critical thinking skills, communication skills which are what you need to navigate the world successfully. 

Put effort into building your interpersonal, critical thinking, and communication skills while in college. You'll need those skills to navigate the world successfully. As far as majors go, my law degree has given me a lot of opportunities and extra knowledge, but it's not necessary to go to law school to make positive change in the world.

It was a huge expectation in my family that I would go to college and use my education to do something to make the world better. It was never just an option or even a conversation in my family.

I wanted to be a doctor but was discouraged by the difficulty of O-chem. I was taking history at the same time and loved it, so I took that path instead. It worked out because I gained valuable critical thinking skills that have helped a lot.

After law school, I worked at a big law firm but hated it. I felt like I was always on the wrong side of every issue I was working on. When I moved onto a smaller consulting firm, I saw that there are other ways to create change outside of law.

I'm the principal of an organization that works with companies to change their talent practices to be more inclusive of young people who might not have finished college or have gone through other hardships in life. We work to make sure companies aren't overlooking people who could be great employees but don't fit the company's traditional employee profile.

Principal

Expectations And Opinions Of College

Along your journey through school and through your career, what are some obstacles that have stood in your way? &gt;&gt; Wow, where do I begin? [LAUGH] Well, I do think there's sort of two things that I would reflect on, one around the should. You should do this, you should do that, you should do this. And I think that we are so afraid when we're the first, when we're the pioneer that's making good on the hopes and the dreams of the family of messing it up and making the bad choice. So the idea of what you should do, I internalized that. And that was an obstacle, that I have to do this. I have to go to this school, I have to get this grade. There wasn't a lot of room for risk. So that was an external obstacle I think that with an unintended consequence. And then when I internalized it, I ended up over-engineering my life. If I had overcome that idea of what I should be, based on everybody else's idea of what I should be, I probably would have made a pivot much earlier from a career standpoint. 

Dispense with the notion of the dream school and start thinking about the dream experience. If you think about it that way, then you can't fail. Not getting into a particular program is no longer a failure. You've actually opened up a broader set of options for yourself that way.

I put a lot of pressure on myself to achieve success for my whole family. The best advice I've received is to run your own race and find success for yourself because your idea of success will be different than the ideas of others.

I internalized pressure from my family about what I should do regarding college. I was over-engineering my life to be perfect. If I had realized earlier that that's what was happening, I might have pivoted to something I was passionate about earlier.

I'm in charge of strategic partnerships and external engagement, so my days involve a lot of meetings, partnership pitches, and communications. I manage whatever strategic initiatives we have going on, which also involves a lot of communications through email, phone calls, meetings, and the like. I may also be working on an upcoming motivational speech or scheduling a public speaking event.

Senior Vice President

You have to do things a certain way and there's no room for risk.

An Obstacle I Had To Overcome

What was your support system like throughout all of your high school, elementary school and then college, and then now your career? &gt;&gt; I think that I come from a very supportive family, but a family of doers. And a mother who was, a mother and father, very hard working but in different ways. Neither of them went to college formally. I'm the first in my family to go to college. And so I think that the support network was there in terms of the ability that you can do and deliver. That comes with a heavy responsibility, because that means that you have to do the hopes and the dreams of the whole family are waiting on you. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; When I started out right after college, the intention was to go to law school. And for no other reason except that my mother said to me, you should go to law school. And she's gonna hate that I'm retelling this story. &gt;&gt; [LAUGH] &gt;&gt; But you should go to law school because I've never met an unemployed lawyer. And so, we are very outcome-oriented. And I graduated from college and I applied to law school, and I applied to eight of them and I didn't get into one. And that was a very humbling experience, especially for me as a young person who was used to winning and getting everything. And so in having that early failure was really helpful and instructive. 

Carrying The Weight Of The Hopes And Dreams Of Family

I think we could consider you a minority, right, when it comes to tech products. &gt;&gt; Sure, yeah. &gt;&gt; Tech fields or tech startup companies. I'm sure there's challenges, do you feel any animosity towards. &gt;&gt; Yeah. &gt;&gt; The females trying to start up? &gt;&gt; I get asked that question a lot, because there's not that many female founders, and there's particularly not that many female founders in tech, and very few in hardware. And, I've always approach it as just like, you be you, like I'm me. So I really don't think about that piece of it. And I don't know that that's, I just don't, I honestly don't. I think being a founder is really hard for anyone, whether you're a male or a female. So for me, it's a non issue. I don't think about it. But at the same time, I know that it is something for a lot of people. So as much as I can, I try to chat with other aspiring females who wanna be a founder or whatever, and they ask me for advise and I'm happy to give it. But I really generally just to my very best to take it as it's even. And I think if people start focusing on it, that's the problem. If you focus on the fact that you're a female, and you focus on the fact that there's very few, that's where you're going to lose that confidence, and you're going to step back and retreat. And not be able to do what everyone else, males and females, could do. So to me, I really try to make it sort of a non issue. 

Pressure

Knowing That I'm Going To Make Mistakes Puts Me At Ease

Knowing That I'm Going To Make Mistakes Puts Me At Ease

Steve Seon

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