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VEST Her Podcast
A podcast exploring the invisible barriers holding women back in the workplace and sharing stories of women navigating careers and building power collectively.
VEST Her Podcast
Turning Strengths Into Opportunities
Are you ready to stop waiting for recognition and start owning your strengths? In this episode, we revisit one of our most transformative sessions: Turning Strengths Into Opportunities—an essential conversation for women professionals ready to take charge of their careers.
Too often, high-achieving women are so consumed by deadlines, expectations, and the constant comparison trap that they lose sight of their unique value. When was the last time you paused to reflect on what truly sets you apart at work?
This episode is your invitation to do just that.
We explore why naming—and claiming—your strengths is the foundation of long-term career growth, especially in workplaces where women still face double standards and invisible barriers. You’ll hear actionable strategies sourced directly from our community on how to:
- Transform self-awareness into career opportunities
- Control and communicate your professional narrative
- Build a circle of advocates who champion you behind closed doors
- Leverage recognition and compliments as stepping stones to advancement
Plus, we share the mindset shift that turns a simple “thank you” into a bold move toward your next opportunity.
Whether you're pursuing a promotion, navigating a career transition, or simply craving more alignment between your talents and your work, this episode offers both inspiration and practical tools to help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
🎧 Tune in now and take the first step in turning your strengths into real-world opportunities.
✨ Take the 10-Minute Strengths Challenge after listening—and consider joining our community of women who are doing the work to recognize and amplify their brilliance.
If you enjoyed the episode share it with a friend and don't forget to leave us a review. If you are ready to take your career to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women, all eager to help you get there and stay there. Check out our VEST Membership and apply today! www.VESTHer.co
Hey everyone, I'm Erika Lucas, your host for today. Welcome back to another episode of the Vestor podcast, where we explore the invisible barriers holding women back in the workplace and share stories of women navigating careers and building power collectively. Today's episode is all about a powerful session we just hosted with Vest members in March, where we talked about turning strengths into opportunities. We want to share some of those key takeaways we explore with VEST members, just in case you're also struggling with identifying and getting clear about what it is that you bring to the table and how you can use those strengths to move your career forward. To start this conversation, I have the most amazing team that ever existed the Vest team. Literally the Vest with the V, but the Vest team here.
Speaker 1:Sarah Gabby, jay, thank you so much for making time of your busy schedule to host this conversation and hopefully support more women that listen to this show, more women and people who are supporting women at work, because we know that we also have other people that listen to our show that are just interested in learning how to apply some of the practices and some of the conversations we have to make their workspaces more inclusive, not just for women, but for working families and for everyone in general. So thank you for making the time. So let's get started. Let's do just a quick round state your name, your role and maybe one word that gives you like a takeaway from when we hosted this session. Let's see if you can summarize it into one word.
Speaker 2:Whatever comes to mind I'may, johnson, I um help within um, community engagement, um and with vest. Something that I think truthful is what I got from the um, our session, just because I felt like the members were being really honest about what is hard for them and what's hard in the aspect of talking about your strengths and opportunities, because sometimes, as women, you know, we're told to be humble and so it's almost ingrained in us, even though it's like I don't want to be, I don't want to at all, but it is ingrained, and so I though it's like I don't want to be, I don't want to at all, but it is ingrained, and so I think it's powerful to be honest and truthful, and that's what I saw the women doing in our session.
Speaker 2:Even when it's hard to talk about our truths, I think, or our strengths and opportunities, they were truthful and they were, they were honest, and I really loved that.
Speaker 4:That's a great word, jay. I am Gabby Eichenlaub, I do operations at VEST and I think, kind of in line with your word, I think relatable would be my takeaway from the session. I think, you know, sometimes we have this idea that you're the only one that's going through this no one really. You know you're alone in the struggles that you're facing, or maybe seeing. You know the strengths that you have and, after hearing some of the members takeaways, I think that's something that they shared was that they were able to relate to other members. They had so much more in common than not, even though these are women across stages in their career, across industries and sometimes even across regions. They were able to relate to each other and that's super powerful, I think, as you dive deeper into these conversations, to be able to relate to others and be honest about what you're going through. So I think relatable is is my key takeaway.
Speaker 5:I'm Sarah. I'm Sarah Sotario. I take care of well, I help take care of everything related to membership, but less, and my one word is support. I think it's so hard as women. I think it's so like, related to Jay, to what you said. I think it's so hard as women. I think it's so like, related to what you said, I think it's so hard often. It is often so hard to see your own strength. So it was really inspiring to see so many women highlight others, other women's strength.
Speaker 1:Um, and I think that just um, that's what's so beautiful about this is that you do have this safe um space where women can come and support one another and just um, remind each other of what their strengths are, even though it's harder to see, uh, for yourself, but I love being able to see that at the session. But I love being able to see that at the session. Thank you for sharing. My next question for you guys is why do you think this session was important to have?
Speaker 4:particularly around this time. I think, coming off the beginning of the year, it's very much the beginning of the year is very much goal-oriented. You're kind of focused, you're kind of talking about what it is that you want to do and then it kind of like falls off a bit and then you kind of get into the realities of life and it can get a little harder to kind of recenter back not only on your goals but also what it is that you're bringing to the table, because it can be so easy to just focus on the end journey and like everything that you're missing to get there that you forget that like you actually bring a lot to the table already and how can you recenter on what you're already bringing to the table to get to the end goal already bringing to the table to get to the end goal I was.
Speaker 2:I think what comes to mind for me why it's important right now for us to talk about our strengths and our opportunities as women is because we're in a weird time scary time, unpredictable time in our country right now and scary as well, scary time. And so I think, with all of those feelings, you can feel out of control and feel like you don't have much control over anything going on and, I think, centering it back on ourselves and those that we trust and those that we support, and can relate to the three words that we thought of, I think being around those women and being with yourself and talking about yourself, and what am I good at and what can I do with my strengths and what opportunities can I do to make my community feel better. I think that is really important right now.
Speaker 1:Sarah, anything to add?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I suppose it's just. It allows you to feel to your point of control and it empowers you right when you talk about what you're good at, what you can do, um, and just realize, like when you be on yourself too, you know, when you get together with some powerful women that we can achieve so much. And then you start feeling hopeful and, um, you know, you sort of drown out all the other, all the noise, but yeah, I also think that you know it's easy.
Speaker 1:Um, somebody was telling me the other day that we are now consuming what used to take us like a year to consume. We're now consuming it like within a day or something like that. And then we're also working more than we've ever worked before, in terms of hours plus managing household, plus caring for our loved ones. All of this is easy, I think, for us to fall into this reactionary mode of like just doing what is expected of us, and maybe this is where you were going with Gabby earlier. Like you know, it's easier. You know what your role is, you know what the expectations of your role are, so you're just performing against that, and so most of the time it's hard for us to make time to say, wait, what am I good at? Because I'm just doing, doing, doing. I've seen that in myself and I've seen it in other best members who have confided in me. And then the other thing that I see that again I'm guilty of as well. There's no judgment here, so this is a judgment-free zone, but I think I know that I've done it in the past. I compare myself to other people that that seem to have it figure out or that seem to be further along, even though maybe they're not. But it's just easy for us to, instead of looking within, right, like what do I bring to the table? What do I really enjoy doing? What if I was to lead from this place of strength and joy, it's easier to say, well, man, she has it figured out. Man, she just got that promotion. Man, she just landed that role. Man, she's working for that company that you know provides all of those benefits. And it's then we get into this mindset that it's not even like to your point, jay, from a place of control, right, like we're controlling the narrative, we're controlling what we see as our strength, we're controlling what success looks like for us, and then we just become reactionary. And maybe then, maybe this is another way, because I know that, even though we're a women network for women, we're very real into discussing that not all women have always been supportive of each other, discussing that not all women have always been supportive of each other. Maybe one reason is that, you know, we are led to believe or ourselves get into a mindset of like, let's compete with one another instead of supporting one another and helping each one of us bring out our own strengths and then lead from a place of that and then figure out what success looks for us individually, and it might be completely different than yours, even though I was comparing myself with you. So, anyways, that is something that I don't know if you guys heard, but it was one of the patterns that I kept hearing from when we were hosting the session last week on this topic.
Speaker 1:I want to break it down into. So there was five. When we got together after the session, I think all of us identify five patterns that we see based on the responses from members and kind of the feedback that we received from them. Number one was the need to name and claim your strengths. Right, and sometimes, again, it's hard for us to make time to say, hmm, what am I good at. Sometimes, again, it's hard for us to make time to say, hmm, what am I good at. And a way that you can do that is through reflection and ask another for feedback, like, if you're really struggling to figure out, what am I really good at, what do I really bring to the table, maybe going back to others. And so we did an exercise where we break down members into groups so that other people could also give them feedback on, maybe, some of the strings that they hadn't realized they have. What do you think about this key takeaway of naming your strings and claiming them? And then, but before we even name them and claim them, how do we identify?
Speaker 2:them. Well, something I really liked that a member said is when you are, when you are talking about your strengths and your and and what you talked about at different tables and different opportunities, cause those can bring opportunities to you through people who love and support you. So, once you have talked with those people who you love and trust about what your strengths are, what they think that your strengths are, and you have a good good idea of how you want to be described to people in different rooms that you're not in, tell those people how you want to be described to people in different rooms that you're not in. Tell those people how you want to be described so that we're not left to wonder, you know, if we're being compared or if you know you kind of have control over that. You know. Tell those people who you love and trust how you want to be described and what your strengths are, so that that's spreading around and in a way that you that you like.
Speaker 4:I think it goes back to what you're saying earlier to Jay, in terms of naming, naming your strengths, and it's part of that controlling the narrative too, right?
Speaker 4:So instead of just having everything come at you and letting other people tell you what you're good at or maybe your job dictate what you're good at you can then take control of the narrative in terms of, like, this is what I actually like to do, this is what you know brings me energy.
Speaker 4:This is the part of my job that fills me up the most. You know, we work on a small team, so a lot of us do a lot of the tasks, but there are certain areas where you just you are filled up a little bit more, right, and so I think that's a good way to really see what your strengths may be and really dive deeper on those, right. I think another part to kind of goes back to your goals, like what is it that you want to work on and what strengths you need, you know, maybe to um, to work on to get there, um, but I think all of it comes down to controlling the narrative again, controlling your, your, your um, your own narrative to work towards what you, what it is that you want to do and not just like where life or where your job is taking you right.
Speaker 1:Gabby, one of the things that you mentioned throughout the session consistently was the need to not wait for others to recognize those strengths, right. So often we're told just work hard and people will notice your efforts and your job, but the reality is that, I mean, I'm not saying that it never happens, but it doesn't happen at scale right and it doesn't happen consistently and it doesn't happen to everyone. So you mentioned consistently throughout the session the need for members to own being ambitious and to not waiting for others to recognize their strengths and to use those strengths again to create paths for them that align with your goals. What? Why were you so adamant about that specific point and and why did you keep repeating that to best members?
Speaker 4:I think it's important to remember I fall victim to it too right Of just like putting your head down, working, kind of just going around, going about your day and like obviously doing your best but not really advocating for the things that you want, or advocating for yourself. Really Right, like I think we we shared on our socials. Like being good at your job is not enough. You have to advocate for yourself too, and I think that comes in a variety of ways, whether that's, you know, advocating for the work that you have been doing.
Speaker 4:Speaking up and saying like this is the taking ownership of your work and your strengths, I think is one.
Speaker 4:I think it can also be about the opportunities that you want, right? So not expecting that things are going to come to you, but really claiming that narrative, claiming your strengths, and saying like, okay, this is the goal that I have, I want to be. You know, if we're talking about communication, I want to be. You know, speaking at paid events, okay, then I need to be out there saying this is what I'm good at, this is what I want to talk about, and talking to those people that can kind of help get you there. And I think the third part is I think Sarah, you mentioned this having a group of people that will be around you, that are trusted, right, that you can then share those opportunities and, jay, you mentioned this too that will be speaking for you as well, that will be speaking on your behalf to when you're not in the room. So, creating a group of trusted people that you've shared these wants and needs with and then that you know they will be out there, you know, bringing you to the tables even when you're not there.
Speaker 1:Gosh. This is particularly true right now. We talked about the environment that we're operating and I know that, unfortunately, there's been a lot of layoffs and people looking for job opportunities. And then there's the shame that comes with that right Unfortunately, because we've been socialized to think that that's somehow abnormal career control and I think we've all experienced that in our careers at one point or another, whether it was being let go or downsizing or whatever that affected our career transition but somehow we associated it with shame, like, oh my gosh, and as a result, we don't talk to people. We don't tell people that we're looking for opportunities, we don't tell people that, hey, this is what I'm good at and please share the word. So I yeah, yes to everything that you guys are mentioning, because mentioning because I think it's very real and it's it can help so many people if we normalize asking for help, identifying our strengths and then asking other people to advocate on our behalf when we're not in the room. So loving all of this.
Speaker 1:The last item that we discussed as a key takeaway was that we also needed to act on the recognition, and I think you spoke on this a little bit, gabby, but I want to give it up to Sarah and Jay to also elaborate. But the need to. You know, oftentimes, especially women, we're told oh my gosh, gabby, you're so great at operations and making everything streamlined and easy for people to understand, and blah, blah, blah. And then we go like thanks and leave it at that, right, like, oh, thank you. Oh, it's a team effort, which it is most of the time it is, but, like we often don't take compliments very well, that's for another, maybe podcast episode.
Speaker 1:But the other one is we also just leave it at that, oh, thanks, when in fact we can use it to create opportunities, right, oh well, thank you, that you mentioned I'm very good at streamlining. By the way, I'm looking for funding to create this. How do you leverage compliments after people identify your strengths to then create opportunities for yourself? And you mentioned this, gabby. Like right now, if somebody compliments you that you're a great speaker, you know maybe following up, say, hey, thanks for thanks for your feedback. By the way, I'm available for the rest of the year if you know of any other speaking gigs, you know, like, just how do we get rid of the, how do we become bold and how do we don't let opportunity slide Because we just let it at you're great, and we didn't leverage on that compliment anybody else wants to share, or is it just me?
Speaker 2:no, I think that that is totally something I also struggle with and, like I talked about in the beginning of of this session, like you know, as women we have this idea grained into us from from when we were little to be humble and to just be gracious and oh, thank you, and oh, I don't want to go into what I'm good at, but, um, we should, and we totally, we totally should, should talk about what we're good at and what strengths we have to lead to opportunities. And I and I know it can feel uncomfortable, um, but sometimes when things are good for us, they feel uncomfortable and I think that's okay and getting used to that uncomfortability until it's comfortable. So, maybe, practicing with, like we said, friends that you trust, and something that like I think would be a good idea is to just have a friend, keep asking you like why? So, if you say I'm good at this, to just have a friend keep asking you like why? So if you say I'm good at this, why, and then well, how are you good at it?
Speaker 2:Just kind of practice with a friend, talk about some one of your strengths and then ask them to just keep asking you questions. So then you just keep talking about what you're good at, why you're good at it, how you're good at it. What can you do with that? You know, I think just practicing to get kind of out of that uncomfortability of talking about ourselves is a good idea. And then I was also going to say one other thing. I forgot, but if it comes back to you, if it comes back to me, I'll let you guys know.
Speaker 1:Gabby, Sarah, anything you want to add.
Speaker 4:I just wanted to speak to. I think we're we're also aware of the double standard that comes with women speaking up, whether that is speakingconfident or demanding or whatever, whatever the word that we've heard around, thrown around before. I think it's important to again name, name the challenge right, that there is a double standard, and then work towards like okay, whether that's personally or in the workplace, you know, acknowledging other women's efforts. I think it's just important to also acknowledge that double standard.
Speaker 1:What are you talking about, gabby? Never heard of that before. Huh, no, very thank you for highlighting that and great reminder for us all. Yeah, I think.
Speaker 5:I want to add, just like I think it's important to also keep an eye out, you know, just to support other women in within your circle, but also maybe a little bit beyond it, just if you know that they could use some help with advocating or finding their strength. Just to do that, for them to be that person. Because we often look internally, you know what's in it for me, what can I get out of it. But I do think when you do, you know, when you look outward, you can find, hey, you know I can be supportive Because that's what we want, right, that's what we're saying. Let's not be, let's support other women. We're women who support other women, right? We're not pitting ourselves against one another or each other. So let's be that person to like, look out for, for those who need help too, and not not everyone has that, that friend group or that safe space, so you could be that too to that person, right? So I think that's key.
Speaker 1:All right. So this goes to all of you three. What is one strength you're claiming more boldly this year?
Speaker 2:I think my voice and I feel confident in my voice and in using it for advocacy and for power. I, you know, love this topic. I love helping build confidence in people. Um, and being kind of, you know how I was talking about. If anybody ever needs practice, you know, I would love to help you feel more confident and talk about that, because I think it can do wonders. So I think for me, I'm just really dwelling into the power that my voice has.
Speaker 5:I really enjoy caring for others. I enjoy seeing how helpful that can be. So I'm going to just continue working on that and, at the same time, setting boundaries and caring for myself too, because I need that to be able to extend that to others. So that's what I'm focusing on for myself.
Speaker 4:Those are all really great. Um, I feel like I am claiming the strength of rest, right, the strength of not always having to be involved in something or working on something, or just constantly feeling productive. I think, personally, that's one I need to I'm working on not that I need to be better at the one that I'm working on Because it's important to give ourselves the time to recover, right, so we can work, show up better, can work show up better, not only in our work life, but also our personal life, right, I have two little kids, so I want to make sure that when I am with them, I don't have the brain fog. I want to make sure that when I am at work, you know I'm productive and ready to go for working, for you know the members that we have in our organization, the amazing speakers that we get to come speak, and so I know that, in order to do all that, I need to make sure that I'm caring for myself, like you said, sarah, but also just taking the time to not always be on.
Speaker 1:This doesn't have to be everyone, if nothing comes to mind, but if it does come to mind, what is one opportunity that you're going to pursue because of this strength? It could be something fun I mean, Gabby, you said you want to spend more time with your kids without the brain fog but could also be an opportunity. Or it can be something fun like making time for you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think for me it will be fun. I am working on our vacations, actually having them planned out, not to the T, but just knowing, okay, this is going to happen. It's not going to be a reactive like oh, I need one right now, but really taking those times. So that's a big one. And then the small one is like when work is done, I'm done. Not answering weekends is family time when I'm? You know, the kids are starting baseball soon, so when they're at the games I'm not checking, checking phone for emails that came through or anything like that. So just like trying to have more of a focus during those times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, setting boundaries Amazing.
Speaker 5:Sarah, I can absolutely relate to Gabby. I mean, like I feel like she's just taking the words out of my mouth. That's what I would like to. That's great.
Speaker 2:Jay, I think I can't think of any like big big things right now, but just using my voice to feel empowered and feel decisive.
Speaker 2:I know, like I'm, I can be a people pleaser and so, like you know, being in like an indecisive realm can feel comfortable or kind of passing off decisions to other people, or you know whatever you want to do or whatever is fine with me, and I think taking more control of of my decisions and what I would like and I have power in my voice and so I can create the reality that I want and not just be passive and pass it on to other people. Even if it's a small or big things you know, like what do we want for dinner, then you know I don't have to let other people decide even something small like that. If I want pizza, I'll say I want pizza, things like that.
Speaker 1:It starts with small steps, right, and then those small steps just become larger and larger and larger. Yeah, I love well. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I am one very grateful to have the opportunity to work with each and every one of you. I learn every day from you and I know our best members do as well and just really grateful for the time here today and for sharing and for being able to. You know, like I tell people all the time, I have the best job in the world. I get to work with the best people and we're doing it to help women and working family, Like the reason why we do the things that we do. I think it's what keeps us going, so you're part of that. Why? So? Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:If you are listening to this episode, we have a challenge for you. Take 10 minutes today, right right after this session, so don't say I'm going to do it later. Just right after you click stop or this episode ends. Take 10 minutes and write down three strengths that you know you have. If you're struggling in this area, ask someone that you trust to name one or more, so to help you identify and get clear into what your strengths are and then look for strengths that, look for areas in which you can turn those strengths into opportunities. Right, how are you going to lead from that place of strength and what opportunities might you tackle on this year or next year? And then, after you do this exercise, we want you to think really hard of finding a support community consistently.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter what subject we talk about. At best, something that comes up every time is the need to ask for help and the the willingness to receive help, and that comes with having a support community. Right, we know how important relationships are, but traditional networking events really doesn't do it right. We need to be intentional about building meaningful connections and really building support communities with people that share our values and that are going to be there to support us when we need it. That's how we get more comfortable asking for help and more comfortable receiving it. So we can't stress enough the importance of building that support community.
Speaker 1:You can find those online. You know there's some free options with online communities. Find an in-person community. It could be a trade community. So if you're in a certain industry that you find or selfish, plug here. We would love to have you as a Vest member, Consider joining our peer community. Invest in yourself so often as women. If our kids need tutoring, no problem, we'll invest in a tutor. If we need to send support or a care package for a friend or a loved one, no problem, We'll invest and send them that. But when it comes to investing in our own professional development and our own sanity and our own support systems, we see it as a luxury, and that's another thing we need to normalize investing in ourself and investing in tools and systems that support us, not just when we do it for somebody else. So, with that, consider joining our VAST community. You can learn more at wwwvastherco. And yeah, we're here. Connect with us on LinkedIn and we're happy to answer any questions that you have. If you enjoyed this episode.
Speaker 3:Share it with a friend and don't forget to leave us a review. And if you're ready to take your career to the next level, apply to join our community of professional women all eager to help you get there and stay there. Go to wwwvestherco and apply today.
