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“Thinking Difference” brings together educators, innovators, nonprofits, and industry leaders to explore how collaborative action can solve our most pressing challenges—from workforce readiness to equity in opportunity.
Think Difference by MindSpark (00:00)
What is solving today's most pressing challenges like workforce readiness and equitable access to opportunity relied not on one sector, but on the power of community collaboration. Welcome to Think Difference, the podcast where educators, innovators, nonprofits, and industry leaders come together to shape the future. Here we explore how collective action can transform not just classrooms or boardrooms, but entire communities.
Stick around for stories, strategies and conversations that spark real world change as we make the weirdest connections to transact a win-win. Because at MindSpark, we don't just think different, we think difference. We're your hosts, Keisha Miller and Lauren Schaeffer. And in this episode, we're sitting down with Wendy Merchant, who is the executive director and founder of Stem Blazers. Join us today as we talk about the importance of representation and inclusion of women in the STEM world. Wendy, would you like to introduce yourself?
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Keisha and Lauren, for having me on today. ⁓ Hi, I'm Wendy. Like they mentioned, I'm the founder and executive director of Stem Blazers. I previously spent 20 years in the construction industry working as a mechanical consulting engineer. And ⁓ for the past 10 years, working with middle school and high school girls and now ⁓ young women, 18.
and older finding their way into the workforce in STEM. I'm a Colorado native, so I'm really enjoying this piece of my career where I'm able to give back and empower that next generation because there's so many incredible minds out there that we just need to add these young women to the workforce. Absolutely. Is STEM Blazers just in Colorado? STEM Blazers, yes. Well, yes and no. we're...
We have been here for nine and a half years in Colorado. So we are as far south as Douglas County. And then we also have programs and we reach up north into the Fort Collins area. And then for the past two years, since 2023, we've actually branched out into Raleigh, North Carolina. So we've been doing some programming out there to see if this is something that will be sustainable and
make an impact out there. And I believe we're at that point where we've determined it is. So we're excited to continue to ⁓ move to another region as well. It's hard to imagine that this work wouldn't be impactful everywhere. What new regions are on your radar? that's a really good question. Something our board's been talking about in strategy. think, you know, we...
When we look at a different region, we want to find communities where our resources are going to go the farthest and also have that community around us to be able to elevate the work that we're doing and to do it in partnership with us. finding areas where they have a good ⁓ footprint with tech or engineering, biomedical community, ⁓ so that we can create those.
corporate and community partners to be able to work with us because that's very important for us to be able to work with our community in order to really shape and get the next generation excited about different opportunities in STEM. That's awesome. I've actually this this past semester has been my first semester as a STEM Blazer chapter leader and I've really enjoyed connecting with the girls. I'm at Overland High School and it's just really cool seeing the girls light up.
when they learn about new careers and new pathways that they had never heard of or thought about or taken into account. And it's fun to see those light bulbs go off. I love that. And fun fact, I actually graduated Overland High School. No way. You're my alma mater. Yeah. When I heard that you were in Overland and that you were willing to champion that group of young ladies, I was so excited. Because that's where it all started for me was taking
classes in like mechanical design and drafting and architecture. And I really didn't know what to do or where to go from there, but I loved the word engineering and I was like, I really want to explore this. And so that's how I found my way into engineering. But I would have, you know, I would have like totally benefited from this type of program where I could meet other women and really know that there's, you know, a community and have some
have somebody behind you, cheering you on or helping you explore that. Because it just, a lot of times ⁓ we hear over and over again from our volunteers who are doing the same work as you as a chapter leader that they wish they would have had it. And I think that's why ⁓ we're so fortunate to be able to have such incredible women like yourself be able to inspire those young ladies. It's really fun. And it's really powerful being able to
tell the girls stories of being the only girl in a class I took or the only black or brown person in a class that I took. And it's really empowering to hear their experiences and hear them overcoming those sorts of challenges as well. Well, thank you for being there. Yeah, thanks for having me. Well, you've given us a little background on STEM Blazers and the history. Can you tell us a little bit more about the mission and your values? Yes. So our mission is to inspire the next generation.
of girls to be able to visualize themselves in a STEM career. So it's all about, to your point, of representation, ⁓ showing them that it is a possibility for them no matter who they are, where they come from. Everybody's creativity and innovation counts. ⁓ And so we want to inspire these young ladies to be able to not just be a passive user of tech or
you know, new things, but actually driving the industries that they work in. So that's all about our mission. ⁓ And our core values, I mean, we're all about making sure that they have opportunities. know, it's honesty, integrity. ⁓ We have a whole list of values that we ⁓ acknowledge and that we reference from the board.
that gets carried all the way through our staff, our team members, and then also to our volunteers. So it's really important that everything translates across. And ⁓ we just don't work in silos in different parts of the organization, but we're all working and going towards those values. That's amazing. We love to hear that. ⁓ I have a follow-up question for that. Sure. And it just escapes my mind, actually. ⁓
Why do you think it's so important to have the representation of women and people of color and just the non-traditional STEM ⁓ pilots? Why is it so important to have a diverse group of people working in the STEM fields? That's a really great question. And I can tell you what people have shared with me, what young ladies have shared with me. So these are firsthand testimonials. ⁓
I've had young women, we've gone into schools to do programs in some of the lower income resource areas where we've had the demographic is 85 % Latino population and firsthand have them say, well, science isn't for us or this isn't for us. And we're like, my gosh, yes, it is. You have so much to offer. It is for you.
So we do work really hard to make sure that we have women who they can visualize similar to themselves to be able to see that possibility. We had one young lady in one of our chapters. Oh gosh, I want to say it's been like five years ago now and just this beautiful young black woman. she said,
it's not for me. tried to, or no, she came, she was coming to our program and she tried to invite her friends and her friends are like, no, that's not for us. That's for rich white girls. And we're like, no, that's not the case. Like we need your mind. We need you to participate. This is so important. ⁓ And you know, we've had another young woman of color who is now an alumni of the program. And you know, when the young ladies graduate high school and their post-secondary education, we do,
stay in touch. And upon reaching out, having feedback from this young lady who is ⁓ in her second year of, you know, university at first civil engineering say, you know, I'm the only black girl in my, like, I'm the only girl and I'm the only black girl. sometimes it's very intimidating. And it's hard to, it's hard to want to keep going sometimes because, you know, it's, it's not easy when you're the only one. So ⁓ that is why
I think it's so important because it doesn't matter. there's so much, everyone has so much to offer. And if we all thought the same way or think the same way, look the same, have the same experiences, that's not going to drive our innovation forward. it's not going to be as creative. And tech and all the different industries, biomedical, all of them need to have
that broad spectrum and that vision and insight because what might work for some group isn't going to work for every group. And so we really need that. Yeah, the perspectives from all the different communities. Definitely. So, Wennie, what do your programs with these girls really look like when the leader's with them or when you're with them? What do those programming days kind of entail? What does a regular day look like?
So when we're going into a middle school, we are really leaning into hands-on activities. We really want to spark their interest. We want to get them excited, learn some vocabulary, and take that stigma away that, know, STEM isn't for them. you know, like, no, my friend group doesn't like that. We don't do that. You know, no, you can, you can do this.
And so like one of my favorite activities with the middle schoolers is our computer autopsy where we literally pull laptops apart, like have to rip them apart and then they get to explore and investigate the insides of these computers. And it really takes that, that young girl who's like, I'm not into tech. I don't really like it. ⁓ This is so cool. I want to know more. want to know more. It's hard, hard drive works and why.
you know, the CPU works or whatever inside the motherboard or, you know, how does this work? So that's really exciting for us to see. If we're in a high school, we do hands-on activities, but when we go in, it's all about bringing women in STEM to them to be able to speak about, hey, this is what I do. Here's my story, how I got here and have those interactive conversations so they can ask those questions.
and be able to understand how to navigate a path forward in an industry or area that they're interested in. ⁓ And then we're all about helping them find job shadow experiences. ⁓ And we do industry tours with them. So we want to take these young girls out into the community and get to see what does it look like to work at Google, Comcast, Lockheed Martin.
all those really cool things. So ⁓ there's a lot that happens when we get to go and have that experience versus just talking about it and seeing it, but really getting to, you know, go explore. Yeah. The exploration is so cool. Mike, the group of ⁓ the chapter that I'm leading at Overland, a bunch of the girls expressed interest in medical careers. And so we decided to do a medical
professional panel and had eight different women that work in the medical field. And all of them worked in different spaces in the medical field. And the coolest part was watching the girls walk away from it and ask, ⁓ you know, start building their networks and ask for contact information and tell these women, I've never heard of that job before. I didn't know that that was something I could go do. And so that was super cool. And it brings me to my next question. Can you tell us about an educator or a mentor that you had early in your career?
that really changed the game for you? Yeah, I will give credit to my mentor, Mr. Dave Robinson. he was my boss and inspiration and my mentor when I was in my later 20s into my early 30s. I was fortunate enough to be able to work with him for, gosh, about 10, 15 years. And what really
made the difference for me. ⁓ I'd go check in with him on different projects and talk through different design scenarios. But he would say, you know what you're doing, just go get it done. You don't need my approval for every step of the way. And did it in a way that didn't take away any of my confidence, but really lifted me up and helped me understand, you're right.
I do know how to do this. This isn't something that I've never seen before. I can do this. So ⁓ I would say he was my biggest champion ⁓ as an engineer, and then also trailblazing the role of mom while being an engineer. in my industry, back when I had my son, who's now 22, women ⁓ didn't work from home. That wasn't really a thing back.
Yeah. The remote working was like, what do mean you want to work at home? Like, how are we going to make that happen? But my mentor, Dave, also my boss, he's like, what do you want? We'll make it happen. so we did. And it actually, I felt like it was extremely successful and allowed me to have both those roles and not have to choose between one or the other. Which is great. And I feel like the mentorship part in hearing you say Wendy's, it's so important to like,
Keep your confidence, I think it's really only maintain it and then build it and then also now be approachable and like, what's gonna make that work for partnership when your end and his end would be open, no scoring those new ideas and those new pathways. So what a great experience. And I did both of your ends to kind of say, can we do this? And you did, which is great. Yeah, ⁓ let's flip that question also. Can you tell us about some magical moments you had with mentees? Ooh, yes. ⁓
I don't even know where to begin. my goodness. So I have had the honor of being able to go in and work with lots of young ladies throughout so many different schools. And I would say one that stands out is working with some young ladies at North Glen High School and having
having one of them ask if they were smart enough to go to college and being able to say, yes, you can. And just letting them know that this is something that is absolutely possible for them. And you could tell this was something that they hadn't even allowed them to believe themselves. So being able to really encourage that and like this, here's the next step. ⁓ I've had a middle schooler before ⁓ going in to do a coding.
⁓ program with them and this young lady's name, I think her name was Charlotte, and ⁓ she, I just remember she walked in and she's like, I don't like technology, it hates me, I don't know what to do about this, I don't really want to do the activity. And what was funny was I go, just give it a shot. I go, there's no judgment, there's no, like, there's no stakes.
just explore this, see what you think. And by the end of our session, she was the last one. We had to ask her to close her computer because we were all getting ready to leave. And she's like, this was the best thing I've ever done. This is so great. So just seeing those moments where they have that aha moment and you're like, my gosh, that makes.
Every single bad thing that ever happens, not matter anymore because they can see that in themselves and they become empowered by it. It's like, okay, like, there we go. That's what it's all Yeah, this is the point. Yes. So earlier in our intro, you heard us say, we don't just think different, we think difference. And we're curious what that means to you and STEM Blazers. to me, what does that, how does that?
⁓ So difference is leaving the space that you are in better than it was before you got there. So advancing students, ⁓ helping educators, whatever it takes, making it a better experience, a better place, ⁓ build opportunities, and leaving it better than when you got there. So I'm a big proponent of if everybody
If everybody just did a little bit extra and helped those around them, if everybody did that, so much could be accomplished. So ⁓ to me, that's what it means about difference is making that difference. As far as Stem Blazers, it's, I would say our team is all about, ⁓ you know, I have an incredible team and they will go above and beyond.
to make sure that if someone wants information, they get it. ⁓ It's thinking out of the box. It's being flexible. The only way to make a difference is being able to meet ⁓ the young girls that we serve where they're at and making sure that they get what they need so that they can keep moving forward. So ⁓ flexibility, meeting them where they are, that's going to create the difference because
every student, every school is different and there's no one situation that fits all. And you probably see that too. Yes, we see it all the time for sure. Let's see. Could you share a story from, you kind of already have a little bit, but maybe you have another one that you want to share from an event or a chapter meeting when you saw your organization's involvement make a huge difference in someone's life and how it reflected in STEM Blazers mission and values.
Yes, that's a really good question. So I can give you a really good story. We host an event every fall called the Mocktail Networking Social. And it's all about bringing professional women working in STEM, and men too, together with young women 18 years of age and older, kind of in that college age, and high school students.
together in a space for an evening to be inspired, but then also put networking into action. So it's all about helping create that network. ⁓ They're in a room that is cheering them on to succeed at this. it's helping them build their confidence when they're not in this same room. ⁓ But it's really about making connections. And what I always share with the girls is,
You know, you never know what can happen with a single conversation. might be something that changes, changes your life tonight, or it might change it in three years, 10 years, you never know. So always, you know, always value those conversations. But one particular event that we hosted for the mocktail, ⁓ one of our great volunteers was chatting with one of the high school students that we work with at the time. And she's like, you know, you'd be a really great candidate for this.
this award that we present every year in our organization ⁓ as the next young person to watch. And sure enough, she was like, Wendy, who is that? Can you nominate her? I think she'd be a great candidate. And sure enough, we did. And she was awarded this award for a young person in the telecommunications industry. That's incredible. Yeah.
It was so incredibly awesome because she's first generation. It was such a big thing, not just for her, but for her family. And so she can imagine. I mean, she's an incredible young lady. She's now at UPenn. And she's been like an advocate for policy change for those who.
who have ⁓ special needs and she's extremely intelligent, extremely brilliant. And I just thought that was so amazing because that's exactly why we had this event is so that those conversations can happen and those connections can be made. And it really turned out well for her that night. Yes, that's awesome. What a way to put it into action and watch it come out that way.
Definitely. for that mocktail event and just kind of your origin overall, who are some of your biggest partnerships that you see or see some of those girls going into those industries? We have had some really great partnerships with engineering and in the construction industry. Our premier sponsor for that event has been Burns & MacDonald for the last few years. And so they are a really big
engineering firm that works all over the country from land development all the way up to mechanical electrical systems for buildings. ⁓ We've had young women who have gone into the engineering. ⁓ One just got hired at a structural engineering company, another one who's working her third or fourth internship in the construction industry. ⁓ So I would say that's one where we've seen a lot of ⁓
a lot of traction and some really nice ⁓ pathway into that. I would say on the tech side too, a lot of the young ladies, again, the tech side, the number of women who, when I was doing my research ⁓ for, I never planned to go into nonprofit, but I was wanting to mentor and really make a difference 10 years ago. My research showed that
the women in computer science and tech have been declining since the 90s. And I just found out that Colorado has a very low percentage of women who are working in tech currently. And so being able to continue to support them, we have a young lady who's graduating from CU in computer science who has done internships with some of our tech partners. So.
⁓ I would say tech, we're really excited about clean energy and biomedical. We have some great partnerships in those industries as well. So, ⁓ you know, what's really great about Colorado, it has so much to offer in terms of aerospace, aviation, know, the construction, the engineering. We're kind of lucky and spoiled here because we have such a great opportunity. ⁓
But yeah, the girls we work with have gone into probably almost all of them had internships or a job with a lot of our partners. That's amazing. Do you find now a lot of partners reach out to like we are looking for interns or we're looking for people to hire? Do you have an outreach team that like find those partners more? How does that relationship work? It's typically it's mutual. So we will reach out and ask, you know, if there are any internship opportunities, if they could please share them with us when they do have them.
⁓ They will reach out and ask if we have anyone interested. Our workforce program that we have right now is very focused on ⁓ taking a mentor and pairing with an internship, a paid internship, that ⁓ we find or that we help ⁓ mentees be able to find so they can actually have ⁓ a real work experience. And also, ⁓
that mentorship as they're going through it, which really helps support them to have like the best, the best experience they can have because they have someone who's helping them advocate and navigate. So yeah, we're really excited about that program that we offer. Yes. And what every way to give an accurate picture of what that could look like long-term before someone gets in there and they're like, oh, no, don't like this anymore. Whether you realize something for success in that longevity piece.
Who is a dream partner of yours? Someone you guys haven't necessarily gotten to engage with a lot, but you would love to see STEM Blazers partner up with. That's such a good question. ⁓ I think...
⁓ who would be a dream partner? ⁓ You know, we have some really great partnerships in aviation and aerospace. ⁓ Maybe taking it one step further and really partnering with like an airline so that they can, they can actually, ⁓ I don't know, just have that, just that extra experience where they can.
get more involved, more in depth in what that could really look like. ⁓ Only 7 % of the pilots today in the world are women. And I'm sure if you ⁓ watch TV and you see the news, there's always delays and there's all sorts of things that are happening because our current generation of pilots are now retiring and being able to get more pilots into
you know, into those jobs and, know, from the traffic control to, you know, just being pilots in general. think, you know, if we could, I think that would be so cool to be able to just give them that experience, ⁓ give them a direct route to that. That could be really incredible and really impactful. Definitely. My, my grandfather was a pilot and he always had a joke that there'd be so much less drama in the airlines if there were more women.
Everything would run smoother, work better, plans with land when they're supposed to. ⁓ Let's see, what are some of the harder or often overlooked realities for women working in STEM fields? And how does STEM Blazers help shine a light on those challenges and prepare women for those challenges? I've been asked that question before. I think some of those challenges are the way companies will recruit.
So we hear that, I've heard, like, well, we go to the career fairs and we just don't see the candidates. And we don't see a lot of women applying for these jobs. And I think that challenge for women is knowing about the opportunities and also ⁓ having those companies be able to recruit in different ways. So if what's not working now isn't working, don't keep doing it.
find other ways to meet these young ladies or create different events or different forums or different anything to be able to connect with them so that you can find that talent and pull them into your pipeline. And I think that's one thing that I really love about what we do is when we partner, that is our whole goal, like our full circle.
you know, accomplished, for lack of a better word, ⁓ is to not just get them excited, but then connect them with our partners so that they can take on those future roles. ⁓ And I think connecting, you know, sometimes connecting the dots is really important. just, you know, if you have a job or if you get a degree in electrical engineering, you know, how does that translate?
not just into construction, but to tech and all other industries and really being able to show those options. ⁓ And I had another thought and I lost it. It'll come back to me at some point. ⁓ I think the other, biggest challenge ⁓ for women as well, one of the bigger challenges is, you know, we, and I'm sure you've heard this a million times, but women want to be perfect. So encouraging ⁓ women to apply for jobs.
to get into those careers and into those industries. ⁓ I've had young ladies before say, I don't know if I could get that job or get that internship. I don't know if this is something that I should apply for. it's like, always, always apply because you're never going to get something if you don't apply. ⁓ And then we help them with professional development skills too.
that confidence level again is so very important and, you know, you know, go after it, you know, the worst that can happen is you get told no. Yeah. And I think ⁓ I remember my experience when I was younger, growing up, I always noticed the boys were always ready to go for things, even if they weren't totally prepared for it or didn't have exactly the right skill set or, you know, the job posting says you need five years of experience and they've only got three. They're just always like,
well, I'm gonna I'm gonna go for it anyways. And I think a lot of times to your point, women need to be perfect to show up to that. so encouraging young ladies to show up as they're imperfect and learn on the job and learn as you go and grow in that way. Because men do it all the time. They do it all the time. Yeah, they they're they'll say yes, before they even know what they're being asked. Yeah. Right. I'll it out. I'll figure it out, which is so great. Like, that's a great thing. ⁓
And being able to overcome things. when we're talking about problem solving and innovation. Definitely. Any more questions, Lauren? Uh-huh.
You guys have great questions. Thank you. Thank you. I really enjoyed your, ⁓ your point about, ⁓ the way that companies and organizations are, kind of networking and going out and finding and sourcing talent. How, know, if you just keep coming back with a list of, of the same type of person, the same guy, the same, you know, type of type of individual, ⁓ then you probably need to change the way that you're sourcing contacts and sourcing, ⁓ new prospects for the job.
Exactly. I do have follow question. Wendy, does your programming offer any sort of like skill building around interviewing, professional email writing, or any of sort of those like what we call software skills that aren't necessarily like content training, but just here's how you go out in the workforce and kind of present who you are in a powerful professional way to get those opportunities. Yeah, definitely. So we do have a lot of professional development workshops that we'll do.
And on our side, we call them essential skills. we will go through how to create a resume ⁓ and what to put on there. And a lot of times, you know, well, I took care of my siblings or I worked in a daycare. I can't put that down. It's like, yes, you can. You were responsible. You have responsibilities. You had to be accountable. You had to manage.
you know, other things going on and your time and their time. So, you know, we help them figure out how do you word that in a way that comes across as a professional skill because all of it, all of it is. And we will help them with, we also have a volunteer who's incredible and she will review resumes and then provide feedback. So she's helped high school students as well as college students.
⁓ building that resume. We also do mock interviewing with students and we do that for for not just jobs but also like ⁓ scholarship opportunities or if they have to do an interview for a scholarship. We've done that. We've had LinkedIn workshops where we have sat down and said okay here's LinkedIn, here's what's important.
Here's why you want to have a professional headshot versus something you post on Instagram. And also keeping your professional world, like your academic professional pathway in social media separate from your personal. that's very important ⁓ because something, your personal content might.
know, influence what happens on your professional side. So being able to be aware of that ⁓ and ⁓ yeah, cover letter writing. ⁓ We do these workshops, but then we also will work with students one-on-one who reach out, who would like to, ⁓ who'd like just a little bit more. And then we work with one school in particular who is a school for teen moms and that's something.
that really is important for them because they're trying to ⁓ find a job and help support themselves and their baby. ⁓ that's something that is more of a focus for them and very important for them. it's important for everybody. So again, we try to meet our schools and our students where they're at.
and support them however we can. But that professional piece of it, that professional development really is important because there are so many students who don't know how, like they're paralyzed by, I don't even know how to start an email. don't know. If I can't say it in five words on a text, how do I reach out? Because it's just not something that they're used to. So that's a really good point and a really good question.
and something that's really important. And how do you find a job? How do you even like go to look to find an opportunity? And one of our board members has expressed their frustration with universities. You know, they give them all this education, but then they don't like give them any like skillsets or a class on now how do you go find that opportunity? So, ⁓ and that's something that
Like my son, he's 22, he's graduating this spring and just being able to say, you know, did you try this? Have you explored that? Have you put these words in? Have you gone to the career fairs? That's one thing is they don't take advantage of career fairs. One, they don't really hear about it because they're just trying to do their work. But it's so important. And I think students, like at the university stage, could...
utilize those tools a little bit better. Absolutely. Yes. There's that breakdown kind of piece between the two and it can be really overwhelming and intimidating for young people who haven't had that experience yet and don't have the support from other people to go those directions. that's Yeah. I was one of those. don't. Yes. Same. I cried in the bathroom. So was like, what do do? It was horrible. Yeah. And, you know, and back when I was graduating,
We didn't have the internet and we didn't have any kind of electronic platforms like LinkedIn. And so it was sending out hard copy letters to companies and waiting for a call or calling on the landline. I mean, this is like arcade, you guys. I can't believe it. I remember not hearing back or, no, they're not available. And having to go walk into an office and say, hey.
like to the front desk, hey, I submitted a resume, can I talk to somebody? And still getting the, I'm sorry, they're not available to the point where it was like, okay, I went to school with one of the guys who was working in the office and I'm like, is you know, so and so working here, I'd really like to say hello. And that is how I ended up getting my first job. Because it's all about your network again.
back to that and who you know and making that connection. yeah, if you got to do it in person, do it in person. Yeah, sometimes that's what it takes. Well, Wendy, we really appreciated you being here today. And we wanted to ask you one last question. OK. Yeah. What's the one idea, insight, or challenge you want listeners to carry forward from this conversation? You have...
much great work happening. You are a pivotal example of like, here's where your career started and you made a shift now go in a different direction of a nonprofit, even with like your passion and your content. So kind of being very much in play, although changing what you were doing. And then thinking of kind of STEM laser's missions and values and all the things you're promoting for these young women. What's that one thing you would want anyone listening right now to carry forward as we wrap up our episode? I would say don't
Don't just stay in one lane. If you're interested in what's happening in a different direction, I was always scared to, you know, I would see job postings with like Lockheed Martin or some other companies. And I'm like, but this is all I've ever done. can't, I, that's, you know, that's probably too far out there. I would say you're,
everything you do, the one thing I would say, the biggest takeaway is every experience you have is something that can be useful wherever you go or whatever industry you want to work in. You know, I say this all the time to my son and to the girls is, you know, I know you don't like tech, but try it. Yeah. Whatever you learn from that, you might use it immediately.
or it's going to give you an entire insight into a problem that you might have to solve in your job in five years. every experience, whether you enjoyed it thoroughly or it was really challenging and you don't like it, every experience you have will help you in something that you will do in the future, no matter what. So ⁓ whether it's working with kids, you know.
or working with adults, sometimes they can translate and help each other. So always really take that experience and live in that moment and then remember it because you're gonna be able to pull on it no matter what you do. And I never intended to set out to work in the nonprofit industry. As a matter of fact, someone said, you should make this into a nonprofit.
And I was like, what are you talking about? What do you mean? And going from like a corporate style career over to nonprofit, was, it was like the, know, I would describe it as changing countries, living in a different country because what applies in one does not work in the other and the way you speak and the approach and the insight is so different that from one to the other. And I, I wish.
I would have had different skills. I wish I would have been able to bring an MBA experience or something like that. But I was like, I am an engineer. I know I can solve problems. So this is going to work out. I'm going to figure this ⁓ out. again, it's taking those skills from that first career and saying, OK, this is how I can translate them over here. I just have to tweak it.
But the beautiful part now is looking back is, you know, maybe I don't have that nonprofit from the beginning, but because of work we do, I'm able to understand how our corporate partners approach things and what those important, you know, key words are or buzzwords are to be able to hit so that they can connect with you in a meaningful way. ⁓ that's what I would say. Just always take everything from an experience.
And don't ever think it was waste because it will be helpful at some point. I love that. And I think another key part is like giving yourself permission to try new experiences. Like, yeah, I change paths and change courses at 20, 30, 40, so on and so forth. They don't think as women, we always allow ourselves to do that so much and like lane change. so that is great advice. You've summed that up perfectly. Thank you.
Well, Wendy, thank you so much for being here today. We appreciate you joining MindSpark to discuss the importance of women being seen, heard, and celebrated in the STEM world. Where can listeners find you? All right. So you can find our website at STEMBlazers.org. ⁓ We also have a podcast. ⁓ Awesome. Again, it's just simply STEMBlazers. And I personally find it
completely inspirational when we have on guest speakers who talk about their careers. ⁓ And it's hosted by our alumni. So they're asking questions that are really important for them where they are in their life. ⁓ I'm on LinkedIn all the time. So if anyone wants to connect, please reach out. And that's usually where you can find me. Thanks so much, Ulysses.
Thank you. This was fun. you. was such a pleasure. So at MindSpark, we don't just think differently. We think difference. If this competition sparks something in you, share it forward. Let's keep making the weirdest connections to create the biggest change together. Until next time, stay curious, stay bold, and keep thinking difference. Thanks, Wendy. Thank you, Wendy. Thank you, both. This is great. I enjoyed it.