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This week I’m excited to share some highlights from the recent Ask Me Anything session I hosted with Elpha.
Elpha is a vibrant community of professional women who provide support, share knowledge, and offer job opportunities to one another. Each week, members hold office hours to share their career journeys and answer questions from the community.
Members asked fantastic questions about balancing motherhood and career, exploring career options, and much more.
I’m excited to share their questions and my answers with you!
Here are 3 of my favorites:
Q: Can you share specific strategies or routines that have helped you balance the demands of your career at Pinterest with the challenges of life in general, especially while managing an autoimmune disease?
After getting diagnosed with my autoimmune disease, I revamped my whole lifestyle to optimize for my health.
Here are my strategies for feeling my best:
Sleep – I’m in my bed by 10pm and I aim for 8 hours of sleep (not always possible with a baby but I do my best). On days where the baby is up all night, I take a nap mid-day (usually a yoga nidra via Insight Timer).
Nutrition – I'm 100% gluten-free, mostly dairy-free, and try to limit processed foods. For caffeine I do matcha instead of coffee. And limit alcohol to once or twice a week at most (it's a treat, not a habit).
Toxins – I'm very conscious of what goes into my body and the environment in our home. I use the EWG Skin Deep database and the Yuka app to check for toxins in my toiletries, makeup, etc. We use glass containers for storing food instead of plastic, have a water filter, and use steel or food-grade silicone for anything that our kids use (cutlery, water bottles, etc).
Stress – Exercise is the biggest way I manage my stress. I aim for a workout 3x per week (strength classes via the Peloton app) and a 15 minute walk outside on the days off. Stretch goal is one yoga class per week (30 minutes at home). Plus I turned off most notifications on my phone and try not to check email there (still working on this!)
Q: (1) If you could go back to the moment you joined Pinterest and give yourself three pieces of advice for balancing motherhood, career, and mental health, what would they be? (2) And, just for fun, if you could have one superpower to help you juggle it all, what would it be and why?
I have 3 pieces of advice, all centered around the theme of learning patience:
1) Identify what skills you want to learn every 12-18 months.
Ask your manager for the opportunity to develop those skills - you might be surprised at the projects or resources that exist that you're not aware of.
Example - becoming a manager is an outcome that I was really focused on, but learning the skills of coaching, hiring, and delegation were tangible things I could develop before I made the leap to manager (and those skills made me more equipped to make that leap).
2) Learn to let go of control and ask for help.
You can't control when/if you get pregnant, you can't control how you'll feel after having a baby, you can't control what kind of kids you'll have.
Embrace the chaos that is the first year of postpartum.
When it feels hard, ask for help so you're not doing it alone. You also can't control exactly how motherhood will impact your career, but you can choose to work at a company that supports working parents so you have more support at work.
3) Go on a silent meditation retreat!
I did this one year after I joined Pinterest. Yes, it's 10 days of PTO, and it might sound more appealing to go on a "real" vacation, but the investment in your mental health will be so worth it. Do the Vipassana retreat (it's donation based and accessible around the world).
Superpower - I want the ability to space travel so I can go to my favorite place in the world (Hawaii) every day, see my parents and in-laws frequently (they don't live nearby) and travel with my family around the world without the hassle of getting on an airplane!
Q: What are your favorite wellness tools / resources? Also, how do you handle stressful situations? How did you build up your in-person networking skills?
Here are my favorite wellness tools:
Morning pages (from the book "The Artist's Way")
A daily journaling practice that I do in the morning and has helped me become more creative. Recommend if you're feeling stuck, uninspired, or in a rut. The book has helpful prompts to guide you in nurturing your inner artist.
Movement
I love the Peloton app's Flash 15 workouts! They offer 15 minute virtual classes (strength, cardio, yoga) which I can fit into my busy mornings and the instructors are SO motivational. I always feel energized after a class (and no, you do not need the Peloton bike to do this, the app is completely separate).
Meditation
I don't do this as much as I'd like but when I have time, I love the Calm app and their "Daily Calm" meditations. Quick, bite-sized sessions to help me get grounded.
Yoga nidra (via the Insight Timer app)
Yoga nidra is like a power nap, sometimes I do a 15-20 minute session in the afternoon to get my energy up (especially helpful after a rough night with the baby).
Gratitude journal
Last thing I do before going to sleep (by 10pm) is write 5 things I'm grateful for.
Pick any journal, you don't need anything fancy. This helps me cultivate a mindset of gratitude.
Re: stressful situations, I prepare with a guided meditation or go for a walk outside to clear my head. I get less stressed about meeting with senior people and more stressed with making small talk with peers.
Re: networking, one thing I'm trying is to force myself to make small talk in low-stakes situations (chat with my Uber/Lyft driver, the concierge at the hotel, the random person in the elevator). Every time I do this it helps me build the muscle of talking to strangers, so then when I need to network “professionally”, the setting has changed but I'm already equipped with the skill.
I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about me and my journey! See you next week.
Namaste,
Tamara