May 13, 2024 • 17 mins
Join host Jen Kelly as she delves into the remarkable journey of Jessica Snow, a seasoned retail executive with over 15 years of experience leading strategy, merchandising, operations, and corporate development for top consumer brands such as Tim Hortons, Walmart Canada, and Aeroplan. In this episode, we reflect on key lessons and invaluable wisdom on navigating the delicate balance between ambition, pressure, perfectionism, self-care, and vulnerability.
However, it's Jessica's latest venture as co-founder of Be Uninterrupted that truly steals the spotlight. With Be Uninterrupted, Jessica and her team are on a mission to empower women facing career interruptions, providing an inclusive support system for professional women. Whether it's navigating the challenges of family responsibilities or negotiating career transitions, Be Uninterrupted offers actionable advice, vetted information, and a supportive community to help forge an uninterrupted future.
Follow Jessica on LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicasnow5/
Learn more about Be Uninterrupted:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/be-uninterrupted/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/be_uninterrupted
For us for actionable tools & tips for your leadership journey
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jen (00:01):
Joining me today is Jessica Snow, a retail executive with
over 15 years of experienceleading strategy operations and
corporate development for topconsumer brands like Tim Hortons
, walmart Canada and Aeroplan.
Jessica (00:15):
You know you could talk about inequality and women
representation at a macro level,but to me it's more the root
cause.
What is actually?
But to me it's more the rootcause what is actually
challenging the representationin amazing, talented women.
But yet you see that drop off.
Jen (00:32):
In this episode, jessica and I reflect on crucial lessons
, from navigating pressure toovercoming perfectionism.
We also delve into her newventure as a co-founder of Be
Uninterrupted their mission Toraise women up.
So career interruptions don'tbring them down.
Let's dive in.
Welcome to the podcast everyone.
(00:58):
Jessica, thank you so much forbeing with us today.
It's great to be here.
I wanted to launch on thejumping off point of reflecting
back over a decade of growth.
I think for all of us it'simportant for us to kind of have
snapshots of time when we lookback and think about how far
we've come.
Over the last 10 years you'veheld Director of Strategy and
(01:19):
Development at Aeroplan.
You've headed a strategy atWalmart Canada.
Most recently you were VP ofRetail at Tim Hortons.
That a strategy at WalmartCanada.
Most recently you're a VP ofretail at Tim Hortons.
That's on the professional side.
I know there's a whole otherstory on the personal side, but
as we kick things off and youthink back and look back, what
have been some defining momentsthat you're incredibly proud of?
Jessica (01:39):
To be honest, I think it's kind of the woven of both
the professional and thepersonal For me.
I've been involved in someincredible opportunities and
meeting some great people.
On the professional front, atAeroplan was part of the
trilateral agreement with CIBCand TV and Aeroplan, so that was
like a case study for HarvardBusiness School.
(02:01):
That in and of itself.
At Walmart, you know, driving athree and a half billion dollar
transformation and being partof that experience was
incredible.
And then at Tim Hortons, Ithink, meeting a lot of the
franchisees and the mom and popsthat really own the locations
and their love for theirbusiness and their customers.
Jen (02:20):
So as you think about that chapter and looking back, how
has your leadership perspectiveevolved, especially kind of
going from director role all theway through to VP and holding
multiple positions?
How have you evolved in yourperspective?
Jessica (02:35):
You know, being a director, I was a people leader
and then, as you get into moreof the VP role, you're now a
leader of people leaders.
Yes, earlier on I was focused onrecruitment.
Making sure that the team andthe individual team member is
comfortable is rocking androlling on their scope of work.
(02:56):
As I got more experience as aleader, all of that onboarding
really, you know, is a big focusof mine.
The other one also is on kindof the back end.
So when I have a team membersaying to me, you know I'm kind
of outgrowing this role and youknow it's in my best interest to
(03:16):
make sure that that individualcontinues to grow and stay
within the organization.
So constantly looking for newopportunities and setting them
up If they're not a good fit or,you know, or the company isn't
for them, making sure that theirexit is also just as good as
their recruitment.
I've heard a lot of storiesaround some exits and some are a
(03:37):
little bit, I'd say, more harshthan they need to be.
I've actually exited, you know,some employees with a very
graceful soft landing and we'restill in touch.
I think that's really somethingto be mindful of.
Jen (03:53):
Within the onboarding, would you be referencing more
like senior leaders within theorganization and, if so, how
long should we be thinking aboutthat process to do it well?
Jessica (04:05):
So there's always the infamous question what's your 30
, 60, 90 day plan?
And, as an executive, it'sreally about you know,
influencing and whatever thegoals of your team are, to make
sure that you can interact andreally get your team in a place
of success.
It's important, as you know myexpectations from my coach or
(04:26):
boss and vice versa, where Iwould make sure that someone on
my team who's been onboarded,regardless of the level, has
that grace period, keeping inmind that, yes, they are new and
they could be talking adifferent language than what the
company is used to.
And so it's really about, kindof the integration period.
Jen (04:48):
Especially when you hire people who doubt do have so much
experience.
Right, you're just assumingthat, hey, we got the all-star
from X, y and Z company.
Now they're here.
Hooray, here we go, oh yeah.
So, as you think back to whoyou've been, what wisdom would
(05:09):
you impart on your younger self?
Jessica (05:11):
Things work out.
I would say some things that Iplanned out came to fruition and
other things did not at all,and where I am today is not at
all what I I planned in the end,but it's better than what I
really have.
You know, having two kids, adaughter and a son, a dog and a
(05:33):
husband I never necessarilyexpected all of that.
Ten years ago I just gotmarried to my husband.
We were living in downtownToronto in a condo.
We had our dog.
I had a lot of flexibilityright In terms of time to work.
A lot of people were gettingmarried at the time, starting
(05:55):
families.
I was working a lot of hoursand so, yeah, I was.
You know, I think the familyside of the equation was like I
completely underestimated whatit meant to have children and
what that would really mean.
The 30 year old, or, you know,late 20s, version of me was like
(06:15):
how is this all going to work?
You know, the Jess that was amom versus the Jess that you
know before children.
It's just different.
It's a different version of youthat I never expected.
Jen (06:30):
So I wanted to dive into the topic of perfectionism.
Let's start with how has itchallenged you as a leader?
Jessica (06:35):
I think it really helped me earlier in my career
Because I had the time right toset a really high bar and
expectation and the attention todetail.
As you get more senior youalmost have to balance out from
a perfectionism standpointwhat's good enough.
Jen (06:58):
Mm-hmm.
Jessica (06:59):
And is my expectation and the team's aligned.
And I make a point of, you know, aligning with expectations,
including the audience that I'mtrying to influence, the people
around me, my team members.
This is kind of what theexpectations of what we're
(07:20):
trying to deliver on, andthere's just a balance of stress
and managing time andprioritization.
Jen (07:28):
As team members are working through projects proposals,
there's iteration and theversion that you see is not
always the complete version, butyou had a very helpful way of
communicating along the way wayof communicating along the way.
Jessica (07:48):
I always start the meeting or whenever I'm
reviewing something, with whatpercentage version of the
solution is this?
If someone says the word draft,do I know what's?
You know I don't know whattheir version is, but if I know
that it's the 40% version, itgives me a better sense versus
the 90% version of where theythink the draft is.
But if I know that it's the 40%version, it gives me a better
sense versus the 90% version ofwhere they think the draft is.
(08:08):
I'm okay seeing a rarer version.
I'd rather see just a rarerversion and then see it evolve.
It's something that's actuallybeen quite helpful from a
communication standpoint, andthen we can also laugh at it.
Right, and we know it alsoopens up the conversation to
feedback.
Yeah, if we're working on the40%, then we know that there's
(08:31):
holes and that the team memberdoesn't feel as defensive versus
oh, this is the 90%.
Jen (08:39):
And how have you gone about managing the internal pressure
you put on yourself and nottransferring that stress down to
your team?
Jessica (08:49):
To me I always think about.
You know, first, principles ofthere's three different sources
of pressure.
That at least the way I thinkabout it.
I break it down into threes asa former consultant.
There's time pressure,financial pressure, and then
there's capability.
There's time pressure,financial pressure, and then
there's capability.
And so the question always isis what is driving that stress
and anxiety and saying, okay,well, how do we solve for it?
(09:13):
I think if it's a financialpressure meaning you know things
are getting out of budgetthat's, in my opinion, kind of
the easiest.
Yeah, I would say capabilitygaps are much harder, because
you can't just fix them rightaway.
You need to figure out who onthe team, or do we need to bring
in outside help?
How does this all work?
I think the biggest one thatwe're all challenged with is
(09:36):
time.
Yeah, and so that's really whencritical prioritization needs
to happen.
I've worked in both environmentswhere I've had amazing bosses
and I've had bosses that areless supportive.
For me, it's important in bothsituations to over-communicate
(09:58):
and being able to have thatcommunication.
But, yeah, no, sometimes it'shard to insulate.
You know the pressures thatyou're getting down, especially
from the board, from C-suite,from international, and not let
your team really know about it.
Some self-care practices arereally important.
(10:18):
You know, center yourself a lotof stuff that I never thought I
would have time for, but it'salmost like for a leader.
Your mental strength is isreally important.
Jen (10:29):
Couldn't agree more.
We talk a lot about this on thepodcast, with wellness
practices, cold punch therapy,sleep and good nutrition, so
once again, it's the rollingtheme that's coming through.
How do you see the skill ofvulnerability in the mix here?
Jessica (10:49):
I think if you start showing some vulnerability as a
leader I don't know everything.
Jen (10:54):
Sometimes you don't know the answers vulnerable,
authentic, and that's kind of myhope with the podcast too, and
I've gotten a lot of feedbackfrom people saying just having
women share their stories thisway is almost dismantling you
know some facades of having itall together all the time.
So we're going to jump forwardhere in it, because I wanted to
talk about the vision forward.
(11:15):
Where do you think we need togo as it relates to having
representation and equality forwomen in the next 10 years ahead
?
Where does the work lie?
Jessica (11:26):
In Canada we are seeing stats climb, which is great.
They're just not there yet.
So, for example, one in threeare now a female, which is great
to see.
I think some of the challengeswe still see are pay inequality
like 80 cents to the dollar insome cases for the exact same
(11:47):
rule.
You know you could talk aboutinequality and women
representation at a macro leveland we can talk about the impact
and something like it'll takestill like about 150, 200 years
to get to a certain level of payequality.
But to me it's more the rootcause.
And what are we doing about theroot cause?
(12:08):
One woman at a time to say whatis actually challenging the
representation in mid management.
And then senior level women,where you have amazing talented
women, top of the class markscoming out of school, but yet
you see that drop off still.
Jen (12:26):
Like where do you think the real issues lie?
Jessica (12:28):
There's so many examples where there's life
interruptions, things such aswhat happens, god forbid,
someone in her family gets sick,an aging parent as she gets a
little bit older, now starting afamily what does that look like
(12:49):
?
She's now going on mat leave.
Well, in Canada it's dependingon the province you're in
anywhere between 12 to 18 monthsthat you could be out of work
because you have the privilegeof taking care of a newborn, and
this is something that you'regoing through.
These aren't things that yourmale counterparts, who are
(13:11):
equally as intelligent and allthe things that I just mentioned
, have to kind of manage throughright.
And so then, all of a sudden,they had that 12, 18 months from
a mat leave, and I've had,literally in the last three
months, two conversations withtwo women coming back from a mat
leave.
One didn't end up coming backbecause she got let go, and
(13:33):
another one was coming back butshe didn't even know what role
she'd be coming back to.
So I think that there's justvetted lived experience and also
helping them cross the path.
You know, when it comes tonegotiations, you do have some
leverage.
I didn't know that.
And what labor lawyer am Isupposed to, you know, get?
(13:54):
So you start calling yourfriends, but they're in your
peer group too, so unless theyhave an older sister or a mother
or someone, a mentor that canhelp them, you're kind of like
the blind leading the blind.
Jen (14:08):
I wanted to underscore so in all of this discovery, as
you've been talking to him, andyou and your co-founder have
founded an amazing organizationcalled Be Uninterrupted.
To address exactly thesemoments and just to summarize
some like top line moments thatinterrupt most women, can you
just give us maybe like the top10?
Jessica (14:28):
The top one is family and health issues mental health,
work-life balance with youngfamilies, job loss interestingly
, job promotion.
How so, though?
So sometimes job promotion canmean you go from a doer to a
manager, especially if it's aninternal promotion, not just
(14:50):
like going to a differentcompany.
Suddenly, your peers are nowreporting into you.
There's a little bit of socialpressure that you would need
that you just want to navigate.
Jen (15:01):
Yeah.
Jessica (15:02):
And you want to make sure that you're set up for
success before you accept thatpromotion, and some of the
safeguards are in place for youthat you'd want to make sure of.
Or I've seen it where there's apromotion because of layoffs.
So I know a very senior womanwho not only is she now running
(15:24):
supply chain, she's also nowrunning merchandising and buying
as well, all under the sameportfolio, consolidation of
roles and all of theresponsibilities that come with
that.
Jen (15:35):
The goal and the mission for Be Uninterrupted as you
think about the next 10 yearsand the vision where you would
imagine you can really impactchange.
Jessica (15:50):
I can't wait until the day where women have 24-7 access
to vetted, actionable advice atthe moments that matter.
Yeah, coming home and having abad conversation with your boss
what do I?
Do you get that information,whether it's enabled by AI or
human connection, where it'sphone a friend or a mentor?
That's really what we'rebuilding is this ecosystem of
(16:12):
organizations and women comingtogether and sharing information
gives you confidence now to say, okay, I know what good looks
like, even to the point ofreferrals.
So not only just, oh, here's athree-step plan, but no, here's
actually three labor lawyersthat you can consider that some
(16:34):
of our members have used vouchedfor.
Our mission is to forge thefuture for uninterrupted female
success, one woman at a time.
Jen (16:42):
And we're going to link your information in the show
notes.
I can't thank you enough forgiving us such a peek into your
past and your growth and, moreimportantly, the vision forward,
and I encourage people who feelcalled to really reach out and
check out, be Uninterrupted.
So thank you for being here.
Jessica (17:01):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
Jen (17:03):
Thank you for joining us.
Don't forget to follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn, where we
transform the wisdom from ourpodcast into practical tips,
tools and takeaways for yourleadership journey.
Find us at gritgracepodcast.
See you next week.
Joining me today is Jessica Snow, a retail executive with
over 15 years of experienceleading strategy operations and
corporate development for topconsumer brands like Tim Hortons
, walmart Canada and Aeroplan.
Jessica (00:15):
You know you could talk about inequality and women
representation at a macro level,but to me it's more the root
cause.
What is actually?
But to me it's more the rootcause what is actually
challenging the representationin amazing, talented women.
But yet you see that drop off.
Jen (00:32):
In this episode, jessica and I reflect on crucial lessons
, from navigating pressure toovercoming perfectionism.
We also delve into her newventure as a co-founder of Be
Uninterrupted their mission Toraise women up.
So career interruptions don'tbring them down.
Let's dive in.
Welcome to the podcast everyone.
(00:58):
Jessica, thank you so much forbeing with us today.
It's great to be here.
I wanted to launch on thejumping off point of reflecting
back over a decade of growth.
I think for all of us it'simportant for us to kind of have
snapshots of time when we lookback and think about how far
we've come.
Over the last 10 years you'veheld Director of Strategy and
(01:19):
Development at Aeroplan.
You've headed a strategy atWalmart Canada.
Most recently you were VP ofRetail at Tim Hortons.
That a strategy at WalmartCanada.
Most recently you're a VP ofretail at Tim Hortons.
That's on the professional side.
I know there's a whole otherstory on the personal side, but
as we kick things off and youthink back and look back, what
have been some defining momentsthat you're incredibly proud of?
Jessica (01:39):
To be honest, I think it's kind of the woven of both
the professional and thepersonal For me.
I've been involved in someincredible opportunities and
meeting some great people.
On the professional front, atAeroplan was part of the
trilateral agreement with CIBCand TV and Aeroplan, so that was
like a case study for HarvardBusiness School.
(02:01):
That in and of itself.
At Walmart, you know, driving athree and a half billion dollar
transformation and being partof that experience was
incredible.
And then at Tim Hortons, Ithink, meeting a lot of the
franchisees and the mom and popsthat really own the locations
and their love for theirbusiness and their customers.
Jen (02:20):
So as you think about that chapter and looking back, how
has your leadership perspectiveevolved, especially kind of
going from director role all theway through to VP and holding
multiple positions?
How have you evolved in yourperspective?
Jessica (02:35):
You know, being a director, I was a people leader
and then, as you get into moreof the VP role, you're now a
leader of people leaders.
Yes, earlier on I was focused onrecruitment.
Making sure that the team andthe individual team member is
comfortable is rocking androlling on their scope of work.
(02:56):
As I got more experience as aleader, all of that onboarding
really, you know, is a big focusof mine.
The other one also is on kindof the back end.
So when I have a team membersaying to me, you know I'm kind
of outgrowing this role and youknow it's in my best interest to
(03:16):
make sure that that individualcontinues to grow and stay
within the organization.
So constantly looking for newopportunities and setting them
up If they're not a good fit or,you know, or the company isn't
for them, making sure that theirexit is also just as good as
their recruitment.
I've heard a lot of storiesaround some exits and some are a
(03:37):
little bit, I'd say, more harshthan they need to be.
I've actually exited, you know,some employees with a very
graceful soft landing and we'restill in touch.
I think that's really somethingto be mindful of.
Jen (03:53):
Within the onboarding, would you be referencing more
like senior leaders within theorganization and, if so, how
long should we be thinking aboutthat process to do it well?
Jessica (04:05):
So there's always the infamous question what's your 30
, 60, 90 day plan?
And, as an executive, it'sreally about you know,
influencing and whatever thegoals of your team are, to make
sure that you can interact andreally get your team in a place
of success.
It's important, as you know myexpectations from my coach or
(04:26):
boss and vice versa, where Iwould make sure that someone on
my team who's been onboarded,regardless of the level, has
that grace period, keeping inmind that, yes, they are new and
they could be talking adifferent language than what the
company is used to.
And so it's really about, kindof the integration period.
Jen (04:48):
Especially when you hire people who doubt do have so much
experience.
Right, you're just assumingthat, hey, we got the all-star
from X, y and Z company.
Now they're here.
Hooray, here we go, oh yeah.
So, as you think back to whoyou've been, what wisdom would
(05:09):
you impart on your younger self?
Jessica (05:11):
Things work out.
I would say some things that Iplanned out came to fruition and
other things did not at all,and where I am today is not at
all what I I planned in the end,but it's better than what I
really have.
You know, having two kids, adaughter and a son, a dog and a
(05:33):
husband I never necessarilyexpected all of that.
Ten years ago I just gotmarried to my husband.
We were living in downtownToronto in a condo.
We had our dog.
I had a lot of flexibilityright In terms of time to work.
A lot of people were gettingmarried at the time, starting
(05:55):
families.
I was working a lot of hoursand so, yeah, I was.
You know, I think the familyside of the equation was like I
completely underestimated whatit meant to have children and
what that would really mean.
The 30 year old, or, you know,late 20s, version of me was like
(06:15):
how is this all going to work?
You know, the Jess that was amom versus the Jess that you
know before children.
It's just different.
It's a different version of youthat I never expected.
Jen (06:30):
So I wanted to dive into the topic of perfectionism.
Let's start with how has itchallenged you as a leader?
Jessica (06:35):
I think it really helped me earlier in my career
Because I had the time right toset a really high bar and
expectation and the attention todetail.
As you get more senior youalmost have to balance out from
a perfectionism standpointwhat's good enough.
Jen (06:58):
Mm-hmm.
Jessica (06:59):
And is my expectation and the team's aligned.
And I make a point of, you know, aligning with expectations,
including the audience that I'mtrying to influence, the people
around me, my team members.
This is kind of what theexpectations of what we're
(07:20):
trying to deliver on, andthere's just a balance of stress
and managing time andprioritization.
Jen (07:28):
As team members are working through projects proposals,
there's iteration and theversion that you see is not
always the complete version, butyou had a very helpful way of
communicating along the way wayof communicating along the way.
Jessica (07:48):
I always start the meeting or whenever I'm
reviewing something, with whatpercentage version of the
solution is this?
If someone says the word draft,do I know what's?
You know I don't know whattheir version is, but if I know
that it's the 40% version, itgives me a better sense versus
the 90% version of where theythink the draft is.
But if I know that it's the 40%version, it gives me a better
sense versus the 90% version ofwhere they think the draft is.
(08:08):
I'm okay seeing a rarer version.
I'd rather see just a rarerversion and then see it evolve.
It's something that's actuallybeen quite helpful from a
communication standpoint, andthen we can also laugh at it.
Right, and we know it alsoopens up the conversation to
feedback.
Yeah, if we're working on the40%, then we know that there's
(08:31):
holes and that the team memberdoesn't feel as defensive versus
oh, this is the 90%.
Jen (08:39):
And how have you gone about managing the internal pressure
you put on yourself and nottransferring that stress down to
your team?
Jessica (08:49):
To me I always think about.
You know, first, principles ofthere's three different sources
of pressure.
That at least the way I thinkabout it.
I break it down into threes asa former consultant.
There's time pressure,financial pressure, and then
there's capability.
There's time pressure,financial pressure, and then
there's capability.
And so the question always isis what is driving that stress
and anxiety and saying, okay,well, how do we solve for it?
(09:13):
I think if it's a financialpressure meaning you know things
are getting out of budgetthat's, in my opinion, kind of
the easiest.
Yeah, I would say capabilitygaps are much harder, because
you can't just fix them rightaway.
You need to figure out who onthe team, or do we need to bring
in outside help?
How does this all work?
I think the biggest one thatwe're all challenged with is
(09:36):
time.
Yeah, and so that's really whencritical prioritization needs
to happen.
I've worked in both environmentswhere I've had amazing bosses
and I've had bosses that areless supportive.
For me, it's important in bothsituations to over-communicate
(09:58):
and being able to have thatcommunication.
But, yeah, no, sometimes it'shard to insulate.
You know the pressures thatyou're getting down, especially
from the board, from C-suite,from international, and not let
your team really know about it.
Some self-care practices arereally important.
(10:18):
You know, center yourself a lotof stuff that I never thought I
would have time for, but it'salmost like for a leader.
Your mental strength is isreally important.
Jen (10:29):
Couldn't agree more.
We talk a lot about this on thepodcast, with wellness
practices, cold punch therapy,sleep and good nutrition, so
once again, it's the rollingtheme that's coming through.
How do you see the skill ofvulnerability in the mix here?
Jessica (10:49):
I think if you start showing some vulnerability as a
leader I don't know everything.
Jen (10:54):
Sometimes you don't know the answers vulnerable,
authentic, and that's kind of myhope with the podcast too, and
I've gotten a lot of feedbackfrom people saying just having
women share their stories thisway is almost dismantling you
know some facades of having itall together all the time.
So we're going to jump forwardhere in it, because I wanted to
talk about the vision forward.
(11:15):
Where do you think we need togo as it relates to having
representation and equality forwomen in the next 10 years ahead
?
Where does the work lie?
Jessica (11:26):
In Canada we are seeing stats climb, which is great.
They're just not there yet.
So, for example, one in threeare now a female, which is great
to see.
I think some of the challengeswe still see are pay inequality
like 80 cents to the dollar insome cases for the exact same
(11:47):
rule.
You know you could talk aboutinequality and women
representation at a macro leveland we can talk about the impact
and something like it'll takestill like about 150, 200 years
to get to a certain level of payequality.
But to me it's more the rootcause.
And what are we doing about theroot cause?
(12:08):
One woman at a time to say whatis actually challenging the
representation in mid management.
And then senior level women,where you have amazing talented
women, top of the class markscoming out of school, but yet
you see that drop off still.
Jen (12:26):
Like where do you think the real issues lie?
Jessica (12:28):
There's so many examples where there's life
interruptions, things such aswhat happens, god forbid,
someone in her family gets sick,an aging parent as she gets a
little bit older, now starting afamily what does that look like
(12:49):
?
She's now going on mat leave.
Well, in Canada it's dependingon the province you're in
anywhere between 12 to 18 monthsthat you could be out of work
because you have the privilegeof taking care of a newborn, and
this is something that you'regoing through.
These aren't things that yourmale counterparts, who are
(13:11):
equally as intelligent and allthe things that I just mentioned
, have to kind of manage throughright.
And so then, all of a sudden,they had that 12, 18 months from
a mat leave, and I've had,literally in the last three
months, two conversations withtwo women coming back from a mat
leave.
One didn't end up coming backbecause she got let go, and
(13:33):
another one was coming back butshe didn't even know what role
she'd be coming back to.
So I think that there's justvetted lived experience and also
helping them cross the path.
You know, when it comes tonegotiations, you do have some
leverage.
I didn't know that.
And what labor lawyer am Isupposed to, you know, get?
(13:54):
So you start calling yourfriends, but they're in your
peer group too, so unless theyhave an older sister or a mother
or someone, a mentor that canhelp them, you're kind of like
the blind leading the blind.
Jen (14:08):
I wanted to underscore so in all of this discovery, as
you've been talking to him, andyou and your co-founder have
founded an amazing organizationcalled Be Uninterrupted.
To address exactly thesemoments and just to summarize
some like top line moments thatinterrupt most women, can you
just give us maybe like the top10?
Jessica (14:28):
The top one is family and health issues mental health,
work-life balance with youngfamilies, job loss interestingly
, job promotion.
How so, though?
So sometimes job promotion canmean you go from a doer to a
manager, especially if it's aninternal promotion, not just
(14:50):
like going to a differentcompany.
Suddenly, your peers are nowreporting into you.
There's a little bit of socialpressure that you would need
that you just want to navigate.
Jen (15:01):
Yeah.
Jessica (15:02):
And you want to make sure that you're set up for
success before you accept thatpromotion, and some of the
safeguards are in place for youthat you'd want to make sure of.
Or I've seen it where there's apromotion because of layoffs.
So I know a very senior womanwho not only is she now running
(15:24):
supply chain, she's also nowrunning merchandising and buying
as well, all under the sameportfolio, consolidation of
roles and all of theresponsibilities that come with
that.
Jen (15:35):
The goal and the mission for Be Uninterrupted as you
think about the next 10 yearsand the vision where you would
imagine you can really impactchange.
Jessica (15:50):
I can't wait until the day where women have 24-7 access
to vetted, actionable advice atthe moments that matter.
Yeah, coming home and having abad conversation with your boss
what do I?
Do you get that information,whether it's enabled by AI or
human connection, where it'sphone a friend or a mentor?
That's really what we'rebuilding is this ecosystem of
(16:12):
organizations and women comingtogether and sharing information
gives you confidence now to say, okay, I know what good looks
like, even to the point ofreferrals.
So not only just, oh, here's athree-step plan, but no, here's
actually three labor lawyersthat you can consider that some
(16:34):
of our members have used vouchedfor.
Our mission is to forge thefuture for uninterrupted female
success, one woman at a time.
Jen (16:42):
And we're going to link your information in the show
notes.
I can't thank you enough forgiving us such a peek into your
past and your growth and, moreimportantly, the vision forward,
and I encourage people who feelcalled to really reach out and
check out, be Uninterrupted.
So thank you for being here.
Jessica (17:01):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
Jen (17:03):
Thank you for joining us.
Don't forget to follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn, where we
transform the wisdom from ourpodcast into practical tips,
tools and takeaways for yourleadership journey.
Find us at gritgracepodcast.
See you next week.
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