Clearcover's International Women's Day Panel: Building Confidence and Achieving Equity
Written by Team Clearcover
To mark International Women's Day on March 8th, Women in Insurance and Technology (WIIT) at Clearcover hosted a panel focused around this year's theme, #EmbraceEquity. The discussion, hosted by WIIT members Kaitlyn Taylor, Director of Agency Accounts, and Catlin Finn, Senior HR Business Partner, featured inspiring women Clearcover-ers from across departments and at various leadership levels. All of the panelists imparted advice and knowledge gained from their years of experience while answering questions on a range of topics including professional development, the importance of mentors, building confidence, supporting other women, achieving equity in the workplace, balancing life as a working parent, and how women and men can better take care of themselves.
For Angela Pratt, VP of Servicing and Underwriting Operations, creating an individual development plan is essential to advancing a team member's professional development. She stressed the importance of writing a plan down and being self aware enough to lean into our strengths while improving in other areas. She encouraged everyone to "be self aware, allow yourself the room to fail, and learn [from it]."
In addition to tracking our professional development, Alyssa Thao, VP of Insurance Product, spoke about the important role that mentors play in shaping our careers. One of Alyssa's mentors was a peer at her former company who helped her when she moved into a role in which she had no prior experience. Other panelists have been mentored by former leaders, CEO's, and even colleagues who reported to them. Regardless of their role, each mentor allowed them to learn and advance into positions that may have otherwise seemed unachievable. Thanks to her mentor, Alyssa learned how to step out of her comfort zone in the workplace and she encouraged other women to seek out mentors whenever possible.
Claims Associate Manager Mayra Guillotte also emphasized the importance of "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable." At her previous company, she spent many years in the same role before she started making efforts to tell her leaders where she wanted to go. She advised us all to take the time to voice what we want to do and what we need to learn in order to advance in our careers.
In order to communicate where we want to go in our careers and allow ourselves to be uncomfortable, we must first possess the confidence to advocate for ourselves and the resiliency to work through possible setbacks. For Lead Machine Learning Engineer Yueshi Wu, a stressful start to her PhD program ultimately built up her confidence and taught her to be resilient. Her advice to us was, "always believe things will work out, and you'll be stronger." Like other panelists, she embraces failure as a learning opportunity, and she stressed the importance of having a strong support network. Unlike her previous workplaces, she remarked, "Everyone is supportive at Clearcover."
Jen Kemp, Clearcover's Controller and CAO, also spoke about her process for gaining confidence. To overcome the imposter syndrome that she has struggled with for most of her career, she has observed how confident people act and get respected and then she, "fake[s] it until the inside catches up." She recommends grounding ourselves in our successes and, when faced with a challenging situation, ask ourselves, "what is the worst thing that could happen?" if we fail in order to gain perspective.
Jen also spoke about how women can support one another in order to build up each other's confidence. She recommended that we all "lead with vulnerability" and take the time to ask one another, "are you okay?" She encouraged women to be advocates for one another, and Angela added that we should "amplify other women when possible." Jen believes that taking the time to talk to other women and men ultimately leads to equity in the workplace. When we understand where our colleagues have been and what drives and motivates them, Jen asserted, we can help everyone obtain the resources and opportunities to develop in their careers.
After focusing on the importance of mentors and the roles women can take in building each other up in their careers, Erin Willems, Senior Director of Analytics, spoke on another topic that impacts many women in the workplace: finding balance as a working parent. Several years ago, after realizing that she was spending too many of her at-home hours on her laptop, Erin learned to reprioritize and set boundaries. She advised other working parents to do the same, to ask for help from our spouses and others, and to always take care of ourselves.
Erin shared that her daily lunchtime walks are an essential part of taking care of herself. For panelist Carolyn Olsen, Director of Data Science, staying grounded and taking care of herself is essential to managing her anxiety disorder. She encouraged all of us to "find something relaxing and carve out time to do it" just as she does with her visits to Lake Michigan, make achievable lists of things to do and, most importantly, prioritize spending time with family and friends.
Over 140 Clearcover-ers viewed the panel live, and many more have watched the recording. Everyone appreciated the panelists' candor, and the discussions on imposter syndrome and building confidence resonated with many viewers. After the panel, WIIT has continued their celebration of Women's History Month with weekly postings on a company-wide Slack channel that offer facts about women's history, ideas for our own observances (watching movies by women filmmakers, listening to podcasts, and more), and how we can continue to support all of the women in our lives throughout the year. The month will conclude with a game of Jeopardy!
As one of Clearcover's many Employee Resource Groups, WIIT provides Clearcover-ers who identify as women with a space to foster a sense of belonging as they share ideas, find support and mentorship, and connect with other women across the company. If you're a job seeker looking to join a company where you'll always find support and a place where you belong, we invite you to look at our open positions and apply today.
