October 10, 2024 • 44 mins
In this episode, Erica D’Eramo sits down with Liz Schmidt, Executive Director of the Women Offshore Foundation and Operations Director at Shipyard Supply USA. Liz shares her journey from supporting military families with the Red Cross to transitioning into the yachting industry, where she now co-leads a thriving business. They discuss the challenges of balancing multiple roles, setting boundaries to avoid burnout, and the importance of following your passion in both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Tune in to hear valuable insights on leadership, time management, and career fulfillment.
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Episode Transcript
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Erica D'Eramo (00:05):
Hello, and welcome to the Two Piers
podcast. I'm your host, EricaD'Eramo, and today we're
interviewing special guest LizSchmidt. So Liz is currently the
Executive Director for the WomenOffshore Foundation, and she
also serves as the OperationsDirector at Shipyard Supplies
USA. So we'll be talking withLiz about the elements of a
(00:27):
multifaceted career, what thatlooks like, how work, life
balance comes to play in thatbut also her insights into the
intersection of philanthropy andbusiness and how that plays a
role in her life. So we're superexcited to have Liz join us. We
are definitely supporters ofwomen offshore and frequent
collaborators with them, andreally excited to get Liz's
(00:50):
insights.
Liz, thanks for joining.
Welcome,
Liz Schmidt (01:04):
absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I'm
really excited to be sharing mystories with you guys today.
Erica D'Eramo (01:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I typically ask people, youknow what, what is your origin
story? So like, what is the arcof your narrative that brought
you to this point in life. Whatmakes Liz you know who she is
today? Yeah,
Liz Schmidt (01:26):
so I'm a Midwesterner. I grew up in
Minnesota. I grew up in a lovelycommunity just west of
Minneapolis St Paul, on a lakecalled Lake Minnetonka, and grew
up with a boating lifestyle. Iwas on my first boat when I was
three months old, and have beenthat's been a huge part of my
(01:47):
life throughout my life. Inaddition to that, I was raised
in a service family. So my dadis a retired Sheriff, police
officer, my mother is a retirednurse, and so I was raised in
this family of giving back andproviding service, and was
always, well, involved in mycommunity at multi different
(02:08):
levels. I have my Girl ScoutGold Award, and always just
volunteerism and being a part ofthe community was always kind of
at the forefront of what I'vedone my whole life. So after,
after college, I went and servedwith the Red Cross. I had a
great experience where I didemergency communication
(02:30):
messaging, and I was based inFort Hood, Texas. So that's kind
of started my work in service,and was really launched into
supporting women, mostly asthey're typically the ones who
are, you know, married to thesoldiers that I was working with
at the army base and supportingthem back home in a multi
faceted ways. You know, thesoldiers were off in Afghanistan
(02:54):
at that time, that was mid 2000sso a lot of soldiers frontline
off in Afghanistan, and so thewives were left, you know, back
here in the States and runningthe households. And so our role
at the Red Cross was to help gettheir soldiers home. If there
was family emergencies, deaths,that sort of thing. But if there
(03:14):
were births, we were alsohelping to make sure that those
soldiers could connect withtheir families. You know, as
those births were, wereoccurring, so it was, it was
really great to be able tosupport, support these women on
the base and and, of course, mentoo, but it was a majority of
the women in the in the kidsthat we were working with at the
organization. I later went toFlorida. I now reside in South
(03:35):
Florida, and I worked indisaster relief. And that really
launched me into service areahere in a community where I was
really focusing on some of thesesocial services needs that are
in a community when people havea disaster, sometimes they're
just clinging on. And thatsocial services needs we were
not only helping themimmediately with what they
(03:56):
needed post disaster, so house,fire, flood, that sort of thing.
And then, of course, the largerdisasters that everyone always
thinks of, unfortunately,hurricanes down here in South
Florida, but it was additionalmaking sure that they had long
term services, that they wereconnected to those services in
our community. So I did thosethings for a few years, and then
later went to the YMCA, and hada great career there. I worked
(04:18):
in water safety, so I started toget back into my love of being
around the water worked todevelop community water safety
programs. I'm still involved inthe water safety world here in
Florida as it is such a need forfor kids to get swim lessons and
for families to be water safeand water aware here in Florida.
(04:39):
And so I worked and createdcommunity safety, water safety
programs for for familiesthroughout the South Florida
area, as well as and thenbranching to the greater state
of Florida. Much like a lot ofpeople during covid, I was able
to take an opportunity to say,okay, what are some other areas
that I'm interested in? I got mycaptain's license. And I started
(05:01):
to lean in more into the Marineand yachting space here in Fort
Lauderdale and where I live. AndI got the opportunity to start
working with a very good friendof mine who's now my partner at
shipyard supply USA. He neededsome help. The yachting industry
was crazy busy during covid, andso I got the opportunity to come
on board and really learnfirsthand. A couple of my first
(05:25):
yachts I was on are some of thelarger yachts that that are here
in South Florida. We work invessels over 100 feet. And so
when we're when we're talkingyachts, we're talking some of
the some of the bigger ones hereand and it's an amazing
experience to be a part of thiscompany. Now as a partner, I
joined just as kind of a helper,and helped the company through a
(05:46):
rebranding and a growth processto now I am partner in the
business and and really proud ofthe work we have put into to our
company. Here, we supply yachtswith mooring products, vendors,
vendor covers, which are allmanufactured locally here in
South Florida recently, I was sofortunate to have been found by
women offshore, and to be ableto work with them as their
(06:09):
executive director and reallytake my love for being on the
water, being in the industry,supporting women, supporting
women in non traditional roles,and to be able to really be at
the helm of this organization.
And I really, really do takethat all back to my upbringing,
of starting in that family areaof service.
Erica D'Eramo (06:27):
Yeah, wow. I do see the arc, right? And I think
as someone who also has had amaybe non linear trajectory, or
sometimes people will look at myexperience and be like, I don't
really see the thread here. Itlooks like you've done a lot of
different things, but there is athread, right? There's always a
thread that ties back to eitherour core values or or our core
(06:50):
motivations. And I'm justhearing so much in that thread
around service and community andreally enabling others to be,
you know, thriving and living,living the lives with lots of
opportunities that they want.
Yeah,
Liz Schmidt (07:06):
absolutely. And, and I agree. You know, people
are always asking me, how didyou, how did you get into
nonprofit, or, How did you getinto this yachting industry and,
and how do you do this work andthat sort of thing? And so I
just say, you know, I've beenable to craft a really great
professional life for myself,and by taking all the facets of
my professional work that Ienjoy doing it and being able to
(07:27):
create my work for myself that Ilike to do every day.
Erica D'Eramo (07:30):
Yeah, right, because while being the captain
of a vessel might sound verydifferent from, say, supporting
families on base, you know,navigating life transitions, or
maybe managing the operations ofan entire, you know, maritime
(07:51):
company. They might sounddifferent, and yet, probably a
lot of those skill sets aretransferable. So tell me a
little bit about that, like,what are some of these, like,
core elements that you thinkhave really been pillars in your
career?
Liz Schmidt (08:07):
Absolutely, you're so correct. They they all stem
from having learned greatleadership qualities and being
able to work as a leader, to beable to inspire other people to
be a leader, as well as projectmanagement skills, all of those
people that you mentioned, andall those different roles that I
have held. It takes projectmanagement. You have to take a
(08:31):
problem, you have to source itout. You have to suss it out.
You have to find your people tohelp you solve that problem. And
then you have to execute solvingthat problem. And that's one of
the threads there is being ableto take a problem in taking an
issue, good or bad, and gettingall the facts, collecting all
the information, and then layingit out on the table and saying,
what do we have here, and who dowe have with us to solve the
(08:53):
problem? And at each one ofthose spaces, whether you're on
a vessel, whether you're in acompany, whether you're working
within a community, you have keyplayers who can help you either
solve those problems or to helpyou to be able to move forward
when there's an issue. Yeah,
Erica D'Eramo (09:08):
I feel like stakeholder management, or, you
know, Stakeholder Relations, isprobably an element that comes
through, and a lot of these isunderstanding all of the
different pieces and all of thedifferent parts of the
community. And, you know, whoare decision makers, who is
impacted, who is affected?
Liz Schmidt (09:23):
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And knowing those
people and how everybody workstogether, right? And that's
really important too, is knowingskill sets and finding skill
sets, and sometimes you have topull those skill sets out of
people, but I think that's wheregood leadership qualities come
in, and those learnedleaderships, and I've had, I've
been fortunate up to be able tonot only seek out leadership
skills and training, but havesome great leaders and not so
(09:46):
great leaders to help me grow inbeing able to kind of figure out
that project management and howto work with a team.
Erica D'Eramo (09:54):
Yeah. I mean the other element that comes to mind
for me, and this was one of thethemes that we discussed for
this episode. Episode is, youknow, living these very full
lives with lots of you know,areas for our energy and our
time to go into lots ofdifferent interfaces and facets,
(10:15):
whether it's volunteer work,nonprofit board work, nonprofit
executive director of work, or,literally, you know, operational
directorship in a company. Howyou know the cliche question of,
how do you balance it all, butfrom a from a like,
philosophical, energeticperspective, what are some of
(10:35):
your thoughts on how all ofthese play in your life, and how
you kind of make it sustainable.
Liz Schmidt (10:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
First of all, my calendar is mylive or die. Everything has to
go on my calendar. If it's noton my calendar, it doesn't
exist. So that's a first.
I think my personality beingthat I like fast paced. I'm okay
(11:02):
with switching gears, right? Ican be working in this space and
working with chief officer on,you know, on a yacht, trying to
get their order set and readyfor them, and then immediately
switch gears and go and workingon planning our gala for the
women offshore Gala, right,coming up in February. So it's
like being able to switch thosegears. I like that fast paced
(11:23):
work. So that's one of the qual,you know, one of the skills and
qualities that I have to be ableto do it. I also enjoy my work.
I really enjoy the people I workwith. I enjoy the type of work I
do, whether I'm standing on theback deck of a yacht, you know,
admiring the work that my teamhas built to make you know
whatever we're putting on boardthat vessel, right, being proud
(11:45):
of that and really enjoying thepeople I work with in that
space, to being working with mywomen offshore team, and seeing
how we can make difference in inwomen's lives. I love both of
those, and I've realized I don'thave to choose, and I'm really
lucky that I haven't had tochoose, and I can be able to do
both of those things, but itdoes take balancing. You know,
when I'm with women offshore,working with them, it's all in
(12:07):
when I'm working with myshipyard team, it's all in when
I'm at my board meeting for mynonprofit that I sit on, right?
I'm all in. And so each timethat you're in those spaces, you
have to fully dedicate yourbrain and your yourself to those
spaces you're in. And that's theother thing too, is, is I'm
working on this thing now, andI'm going to end that
(12:27):
conversation, and then I'm goingto move to this conversation.
It's you, it's being okay with aswitching conversations really
quickly, but also knowing whenI'm done with that conversation,
and I'm moving into this andputting on my yachting hat, and
I'm fully in on that, or I'mputting on my nonprofit director
hat, and I'm fully into that,and I've learned that that is
something that has really helpedme keep everything straight,
(12:50):
keep everything organized, butalso give both, you know, 110%
as I as I hope I have beenright. Yeah.
Erica D'Eramo (13:00):
So I am definitely biased about this,
but I love a boundary. And so asyou're talking I'm just kind of,
when you're talking about, likeswitching gears and stuff, I'm
really hearing and not boundary,like a hard boundary, like a
stop sign, but I'm just hearingthat differentiation that's
(13:21):
enabling you to switch from onething to another, and I'm
hypothesizing that you probablyhave become pretty comfortable
with boundaries, or, you know,what role does that play for
you?
Liz Schmidt (13:32):
Yeah, it's definitely something that I've
had to learn myself. I think, inthe beginning, working in this,
in this type of multifacetedwork, when I had other nonprofit
partners, especially prior tobeing with women offshore, some
smaller organizations that Iconsulted with and that sort of
thing, it was, it was difficultto to to have those boundaries
(13:54):
at first. And you do have tolearn that and and so knowing
like these are my times that I'min my shop with my team, working
on the builds that we have tobuild on, and project managing
with them, and making sure thatmy team, for example, at women
offshore, knows that, you know.
So from, you know, eight to 10in the morning, yeah, I'll get
your text messages and I'll, youknow, I might respond back, or
(14:15):
that sort of thing, but, youknow, but that's the time that
I'm with that team, and theseare the times that I'm with, you
know, you and this team. And somaking sure that everybody knows
kind of where I'm at and whatI'm doing, to a degree, helps
that, I think, helps them say,well, she's not responding to
me. Why has it been an hour andshe hasn't responded? It's like,
well, I'm, you know, I'm doingthis now, or I'm doing that now.
(14:37):
So setting that up in advance, Ithink, is really important. And
I think that takes, it takeslearning. People have to learn
that you want to be everywhereat all the times, but you can't
always be everywhere. And so ifyou set that expectation ahead
of time, people are going tounderstand that, and it's not
going to be an issue. So thatwas something I definitely had
to learn, and then I'm stilllearning this. And I think we
(14:58):
all are. It's just taking thattime for yourself. I still, I
have to admit, though I stillhave that guilt, I have to turn
my brain off in the evenings orsometimes on the weekends,
right? And it's giving myselfpermission to say, okay, it's
okay to take this Sundayafternoon to watch football on
your couch, right? Or it's okayto take the evening off, or that
(15:20):
sort of thing, and so givingyourself permission, and I know
for me, that's something thatI'm still working on and
learning, but that's where mysupport group comes in, right?
So I make sure that that myfriends, my family, you know,
they're helping me to turn off,and so that that's been really
important skill is to have themhelp me to say, you know, do you
(15:40):
really have to be in computerright now? You know, do you
really have to take that, thatcall this very second, right?
And that sort of thing. And sohaving them help support me,
just like how my team atshipyard, or my team at women
offshore supports me in the inthe professional sense, I think
is really important as well.
Erica D'Eramo (16:00):
Yeah, yeah. I hear a lot around communication
transparency, and I call it sortof the Like operator man,
operators manual, or thestandard operating procedure for
ourselves, that communicatingwith other people, that, hey,
this is, this is what youexpect, and this is how we can
work together and understandingwhat they're like operating
(16:21):
manual is can be so, so helpfulin, you know, just clarifying
expectations and being able towork together. And we take it
for granted that everyone's gotthe same operating manual, but
we really don't, right and, and,yeah, yeah,
Liz Schmidt (16:36):
absolutely. And I think in this type of work with
with women offshore especially,we are a team that is spread
across the US like we are at onepoint. I think even still, we
have somebody in every singletime zone across the US, so
nobody is working at the sametime, and everybody has
different hours that theyoperate and that they work
(16:57):
within. And so that has been areally great lesson in just
professional work life balance.
Because, you know, I may send anemail out, and I know just
because of the time, I'm notgoing to get a response until
the next day, or I'm not goingto get a response until a few
hours from now, because they'reprobably still asleep if they're
on the West Coast, because I'mon the East Coast, right? And so
that has really helped with kindof slowing down and saying,
(17:21):
okay, not everything has to beresponded immediately. And as a
millennial, the millennialculture, you know, we were, we
were kind of brought up andtaught our ourselves, most
likely, mostly that, you know,emails are this, you know,
immediate response thing, andthat, you know someone asks for
something, and you have to justhop to it and do it right away.
(17:42):
And I think the what womenoffshore, and the way that our
team operates across the US andthese different time zones, it's
taught me, is that's not alwaysrealistic or necessary, and
necessary is the key, right? Andand we suit our work done, and
we do it at such a high level,and it's having that grace for
each other and knowing thateverybody has to have that work
life balance.
Erica D'Eramo (18:03):
Yeah. I mean, I think back to, like, metrics for
maintenance, right? And workcompletion rates versus break in
work and when something comes onto your plate, what's going to
go off the plate and and havingcriteria for When things do
break in because, yeah, reallygetting our head in that space
(18:23):
that we would almost manage ourown time and priorities with
more intentionality andthoughtfulness, just like we
would, you know, a maintenanceschedule, I think is kind of
foreign to a lot of us, becausewe're so reactive and socialized
to Be and expected to be in manycases. So yeah, having some
(18:44):
criteria before something getsbumped to the top of the list is
something I'm also working on,also working on it.
Liz Schmidt (18:53):
And you know, I would say for me, I I'm such
more I'm so much moreunderstanding of my team that I
work with, and knowing that theyhave lives, and wanting to, of
course, respect that they havefamilies and lives and hobbies
and activities and and all thatkind of stuff. And so I'm always
like, Oh, it's okay. You'refine, you know? But then for
(19:14):
myself, me, I'm like, wait, Ihaven't, you know, I haven't
been on my email in two hoursbecause I've been doing
something else. I better jumpin, right? So, yeah, absolutely,
it's, it's being conditioned tothat, and it's starting to
trying to unwind thatconditioning to a degree. You
know, that's
Erica D'Eramo (19:28):
why I think it's great that you have, you know,
people to reflect back to you aswell and be like, Hey, you said
you wanted to relax. So When'sthat going to happen? Or, you
know, those people that can helphold a mirror up for us, the
trusted community, and trusted,you know, members of our inner
circle and and our work circlesas well, that can kind of
reflect back and show us whatwe're actually doing.
(19:51):
Absolutely,
Liz Schmidt (19:52):
absolutely you gotta have those, those allies
all over and all differentfacets, because I think that's
really important to making sure.
You don't get burned out, orthat you don't get that kind of
hysteria feeling of sometimes Isay I feel like I'm being pecked
off by chickens, right? It'scoming out to me from all angles
and and so sometimes it takessome of that trusted circle to
(20:13):
kind of help you have thatcalming, calming feeling. Yeah,
Erica D'Eramo (20:19):
I think one of the other elements that's
probably so challenging for manyof us who do get involved in a
lot of different things, is weget involved in those things
because we care so much aboutthe impact that it's having in
the world, or about the missionor the ultimate vision of these
organizations or companies thatwe're in. And so it can make it
(20:40):
harder, I think, sometimes, toreally take that longer view of
what is most sustainable when wewant so much for it to be
successful from a core valuesperspective. So tell me a little
bit more about that, like, howdoes how? How have you navigated
that? Because you're veryinvolved in things that, like it
(21:00):
seems, are important to you andmake a difference?
Liz Schmidt (21:03):
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, to a degree
that service, that service pieceof me, helps keep that going. I
think that having that passion,that's one of the things that
I've I've been told at alldifferent parts of my career, is
when I'm talking about my workthat I do that, you know, people
(21:23):
will stop me in the middle of asentence and say, Wow, you seem
like you're really passionateabout this work. And I think
that is what keeps my drive, isI've always been that person
that I have to be all in in myprofessional work and and I and
for me, that's really important.
And I know for some people, theyhave maybe a different
philosophy on professional work,and I absolutely respect that.
(21:43):
But for me, I think that thatpersonal passion and that
personal drive to make itbetter, whatever it is in my
work that I'm doing, helps driveme to continue to do it and push
it forward. And I also just havethis deep sense that I don't
want to let people down. Andthat's you know that. And
sometimes that can, can be a badthing, but not necessarily
(22:05):
always right. And so I want tomake sure whether it's it's a
community, whether it's anindividual, whether it's an
industry like I want to continueto push myself and push the work
that I'm doing, to make surethat I don't let let those
people down. And there'sdefinitely positives and
negatives to that feeling, forsure.
Erica D'Eramo (22:25):
Yeah, I have been working with a lot of my
coaching clients lately on, youknow, identifying their
strengths. And several timesover the past week, I've had a
client say, Huh? I mean, this isa strength, but it's also kind
of a weakness. And it's like,oh, yeah, that's the thing. That
is how it works, right? Like ourour greatest strength also is
usually, you know, just like acliche superhero, it's always
(22:50):
that their greatest strength iscorresponding to their greatest
weakness. So I'm interested, foryou, like that passion. I see it
so much in the volunteer work,in things where people's passion
is relied upon to, you know, geta lot done, and I see a lot of
burnout. So how have you found asustainable way? You've
mentioned some things, but I'mjust interested if there's any
(23:12):
other insights you have forthese people who do this mission
driven kind of work that theydon't burn out?
Liz Schmidt (23:18):
Yeah, well, I first want to recognize the people
that compassion fatigue is real.
I absolutely know that Isuffered compassion fatigue when
I was at the when I was at theRed Cross and doing that work,
and I was the start of myjourney in my professional
world. And so I probably wasn'tas well equipped with the tools
to be able to understand whatthat was at the time. I knew
(23:41):
what it was, but to understandhow to fix that. And so, first
of all, you know, understandingthat that is something, and to
get support where you need it,when you feel that you have
compassion fatigue, I think thatthat's really important in
depending on the type of workthat somebody is doing in that
service space. I think for me,it's, it's making sure, you
know, reflecting back on theboundaries, it's making sure
(24:03):
that I have my own timemanagement, that my time is
managed well for myself and andit's really easy for you know,
people to you know you, like yousaid, kind of use that passion
as a way to get some stuff doneor have alternate agendas. And I
think is, as I've grown in myprofessional career and had
taken on more leadership roles,I am a very cognizant of that in
(24:25):
my team, so making sure that I'msupporting them and that I'm not
asking too much because of thatyes culture or that passion to
want to get it done. And I thinkthat's experience that I've had
over over the years of gettingto that burnout space, or
feeling like I'm at that burnoutspace. So knowing your time.
(24:47):
When I was in college, I had areally good leader who had us do
a worksheet. I worked in theoffice of First Year Experience
and students in transition. Andso we were taking all the new
kids in and helping withorientation and things like
that. And at the beginning ofthe semester, she would have us
do a basic worksheet that youblocked off your time. And the
(25:07):
first thing she said was, youhave to get eight hours of
sleep. That's a non negotiable.
So block out eight hours ofsleep. And then from there, you
know, block out. You know,you're gonna go do some type of
exercise for an hour, and then,and all of a sudden, you know,
you have to block out time toeat. So is it 30 minutes for
breakfast in the morning, or isit 10 minutes for breakfast, you
know, and then is it an hour forlunch? But so we kind of blocked
(25:30):
it all out. And that was one ofthe those, the times where I was
learning like, hey, if I'm ifI'm purposeful in my time, both
in my relaxation time and in myprofessional time. And at that
time, of course, it was college,so I was, you know, juggling my
course load as well as as my myon campus work, but that's where
I really learned, like there istime in the day, it's just how
(25:51):
you use it. And so beingintentional, of having your time
planned out. And sometimes itworks really well, and sometimes
it doesn't work at all, but if Ifeel myself starting to get a
little crazy or starting to feela little bit out of control with
the amount of work that's beingthrown at me, I take it in and I
say, Okay, let me block out myschedule. Let me look and see
(26:11):
what I have here, and see how Ihave to rearrange stuff to make
that work. So I actually stilldo that here and there when, I
feel a little crazy, but, butthat time management is such a
skill, I think that is ishelpful in all this multifaceted
work that I do.
Erica D'Eramo (26:29):
Yeah, it's really like managing a budget in a way.
Because I think when you think,oh yeah, we've got whatever
$10,000 to do this project, thatsounds about right, and then you
start looking at, okay, but howmuch does, how much do the nails
cost, and how much does thepermit costs, and how much does
the paint cost, and how much do?
And really start looking and andgetting into the detail of it.
(26:52):
Then it becomes quite clear whatyou can and can't do with that,
and where there's efficienciesto be made. I that really
resonates for me, because latelyI have been every Monday I have
time at the beginning of myMonday I have, like, a little
co, co working group that meetsjust, it's like, you know, I
don't charge anybody for this.
(27:16):
It's just folks who want to showup and just spend 45 minutes
getting their week planned, andwe just do it in silence, and we
all just sort of block out timebased on what our priorities are
for the week. But the thingthat's been key for me is
actually doing my actuals. Youknow, in finance, we would have,
like, projected versus actuals,well, going in and saying, Okay,
(27:37):
how long did you take on doingQuickBooks reconciliation? How
long did you take on replying toemails? Because there's all
these things that we don'trealize we're doing that take up
time, especially theinterpersonal part, right? And
I'm it can be tough to reallyvalue that relationship
management when it's not on yourto do list, and at the end of
(27:58):
the day, you're like, Oh, Ididn't get anything on my to do
list done. It was a failure of aday. But actually maybe you had
some really importantconversations that needed to
happen, or maybe you held spacefor somebody, or maybe, you
know, you took a break and youwent for a walk. And actually
that was valuable too. So Istarted like, I've started
actually capturing my actualsfor where my my time was planned
(28:19):
for the day, and then where itactually went for the day, and
it's making me much morerealistic about what gets done
in a day. So
Liz Schmidt (28:26):
yeah, I'm sure that does that would be really
interesting to try, because Iknow over the course of
especially my work in inshipyard supply, because we
build products. And so mypartner is like, Oh, well, we
can just do that in two days.
And after a while, I'm like, No,we can't. We have to cut it, you
know, I'm not doing any of this.
I have a great coverage routinethat does it. But I'm like, we
(28:48):
have to cut the product. We haveto, you know, shape it. We have
to fit it to the vessel. We haveto go to the vessel maybe two or
three times to make sure, youknow, all this kind of things,
right? And so over, over thepast few years, being with the
company is like, no, thesebuilds are sometimes taking us,
you know, five days, and he'strying to cram it into two and
that sort of thing. So we'velearned together how to better,
(29:10):
you know, project manage ourtime out for these production
builds. And so in that kind ofsense, I think that doing that
for some of the personal lifestuff, right? I think can help
say, No, it actually does takeme a little bit longer than I
think, to, you know, go to thegym, right? Like, maybe I'm
thinking, Oh, 30 minutes becauseI'm like, I'm on the treadmill
for 30 minutes of theelliptical. But it's like, no,
(29:31):
it actually takes you 90 by thetime you drive, by the time you
walk in, but, you know, all ofthat kind of stuff. And it's
like, maybe if I gave myself 90minutes at the gym or gym time,
I would be more successful atgetting that space in for
myself, or whatever it is, youknow, then trying to cram it in
and then just not doing itbecause I run out of time, that
kind of stuff. Yeah, that's areally good idea.
Erica D'Eramo (29:52):
Well, I think especially from the from a
neurodiverse perspective, youknow, ADHD ers have a lot of
time blindness, which I.
Definitely have and and can bevery optimistic about how quick
we can get things done whenwe're hyper focused, and maybe
not so optimistic, or, like, notas realistic about all the
different distractions that maycome into play. So yeah. So as
you, as you, like a lot ofpeople, spend their entire
(30:16):
careers, either in philanthropyor nonprofit sphere, or they
spend it in private sector. Youknow, in I'll call it business
sphere. I guess it's not reallyan accurate, like alternative,
but or description of what thealternative is. What would you
for profit? We'll say forprofit. So, yep, yeah, what
would you, what would you say tothe folks who have you know.
(30:40):
Like, what are some of the theinsights that you think you you
particularly have benefited fromby crossing both of those
realms? Like, how has yournonprofit work maybe supported
your for profit and vice versa?
Yeah.
Liz Schmidt (30:54):
So one of the most common misconceptions that I
hear from people who aren'tfamiliar with the nonprofit
space is, there's, there's nomoney. You're always scraping
by. You're never going to make aliving all this kind of stuff.
And so first of all, I try tosquash that all the way. I'm
like, no, there are some amazingcareers you can have in that
space. There's organizationsthat nonprofits that have money
(31:18):
to be able to support their workin their community. And so I
first grew grew up career wisein nonprofits that were national
and that were large, and so Iwas able to see and learn some
of that firsthand, but they haveto be run like a business, and
that's the other thing, where alot of small nonprofits that I
have worked with and helped outdon't always necessarily look at
(31:42):
like that, and they they tend towant to give away a lot, and
they tend to want, and it's forthe passion, right? And I see
that, and it's sometimes we haveto take that step back, and we
have to, we have to run like abusiness and and so for the
nonprofit that I sit on theboard for, I sit on the board as
the treasurer, and it's a localenvironmental nonprofit called
the local octopus Foundation.
And I have, I have trained,trained, so to speak, my founder
(32:05):
and my other board members whoI'm very good friends with. I
have trained them to say, we runthis nonprofit like a business.
And they founded the nonprofitand had asked me to come on
board to help them, you know,become, you know, get their 501,
c3, status, and help them makesure that they're operating
everything correctly. And so Ihave trained them to say, you
(32:26):
know, we run this like abusiness. We take a look at our
budgets, we take a look at ourfinancials. We know what to say
yes to. We know what aligns withour corporate structure, so to
speak. And and so that really,though, became from my nonprofit
work at the YMCA, because theYMCA operates in both spheres,
right? They are a business. Theyare a gym and swim. They're very
(32:47):
known for that. They're veryrenowned for that across the
country, but they are anonprofit that does some amazing
things in their communities. Andso they do, they have revenue
that they have to meet. We hadsales goals, so to speak,
revenue goals that we had tomeet in order to keep the
business operational, but at theend of the day, we also had the
ability to give back and theservice part of our work, to
(33:07):
give back to the community. Andso I got a really great
upbringing so to speakprofessionally in the YMCA, to
say, how do we run a business tomake sure we're meeting our
sales goals, but how do we alsomake sure that we're supporting
a community at the same time,and so that work translates into
my for profit work, because wedo have sales goals to meet, we
do have criteria that we have tohit. But in addition to that, we
(33:32):
also look and see, okay, whereare some of those places that we
can give back to our team? Wehave a great team that works
really hard in some harshconditions to build the products
we need. And so how do we helpsupport them in other ways than
just, you know, giving theirpaychecks on Friday? And so I
think that's something that wehave built a really good group
(33:52):
of people that work andmanufacture our products for us,
because we're not just taking alook at that revenue in terms
of, like, how much can us as thepartners make in revenue for
this company, but giving backwithin our own business to the
people that serve our company.
And then in addition to that,we're also philanthropic in our
community. So we have that, andthey talk about corporate
(34:13):
philanthropy, and it's talkedabout a lot in lots of different
facets, but for me, I see thatas part of operating our
business is giving back into ourcommunity and giving back in
spaces of our community that hasto do with the work that we do.
So we're intentional about howwe give back, who we give back
to in the work that we do. But Ithink all of that is really
important. And then lastly, Imean, it goes back to funding
(34:34):
and budgets, like knowing yourbudgets, knowing what's in your
bank account at all times,having that number, and that's a
little bit of a skill I learnedthat I have is to just kind of
have that roundabout number allthe time in my head, but knowing
that, and as something comes inthe account and out of the
account, and luckily, we're,we're, you know, small enough of
a company that I'm able to keeptrack of that. But you have to
(34:56):
have a handle on that. You haveto have a handle on your on your
QuickBooks, for example. Theleisure is right to know, okay,
if we go and we spend this, orif we have our team work X
amount of hours over what wetypically have them work because
we're on a crunch line to get abill done for a vessel that's
leading, how is that going toaffect our bottom line to be
able to continue to buy suppliesor do what we need to do? And so
(35:17):
having that part in me, I think,has made sure that we're
successful growing businessfrom, you know, compared to when
I started with the company, youknow, three, almost four years,
four years ago now. So, yeah,yeah.
Erica D'Eramo (35:31):
I mean, when done, well, it sounds like they
are that, you know, for profitand nonprofit, work is really
quite similar in many ways, andit makes me think of Simon Sinek
book, which everybody knows likestart with, why? But his book,
infinite game, actually talksabout this in terms of where you
(35:55):
know, capitalism and corporateentities have really kind of
strayed away from what theircore mission is because of the
element of shareholder value.
And so it becomes about like,you know, maximizing shareholder
value instead of, what is itthat we're trying to do, and
doing that as well as possiblein the most sustainable way as
possible, as you know, membersof the community, and then in
(36:15):
the nonprofit sphere as well,like when done well, it does
look a lot like a business,because it needs to be
sustainable and not extractive,in leaning on the most
passionate members toessentially run themselves into
the ground or donate all oftheir time, or be, you know,
underpaid or scraping by, whichis not, you know, like I see
(36:41):
that, I do see that a lot insome nonprofits that haven't
realized how unsustainable thatis.
Liz Schmidt (36:51):
Yeah, absolutely, and, and those you know, for
those organizations I would, Iwould take a look at, you know,
is, is your team? What are someways that you can restructure,
or what are some ways that youcan take a look at, if I have to
pay my team X amount and notenough to be able to feel good
(37:11):
about the work that they'redoing and to be able to make
ends meet at the end of theweek, what are maybe I need to
restructure my company so that Ican right and, or, you know, if
I'm a small nonprofit, and thisis something that I've seen in
some of the nonprofits I workwith, you know, they want some
of the really big, flashy CRMs,and they want some of these big
tools. And it's like, you know,maybe we start with Excel,
(37:33):
right? And that's the same thingwith business. I mean, you know,
with our company too, we take alook at what are some of the
things that that we do need, andthat do make our business work.
But then what are some of thosethings that we just we don't
need to pay for, and making surethat in both nonprofit and for
profit, we're not putting valueon because we have this X thing,
(37:55):
or we operate using this Xsoftware or that sort of thing,
that that means that we're at acertain pinnacle, means we're
paying so many money that we maynot need to right? And so if we
need it, let's use it. If wedon't need it, let's exit right?
And so I think in both of thosenonprofit and for profit, we
have to take a look at that andtime management of our team,
like I said, sometimes I know myteam's gonna have to work more
(38:16):
than what I budget them to workin both the for profit and
nonprofit sector and beingprepared for that, and knowing
how that's going to affectthings moving forward. But also,
is them working more? Is thatproducing more and that sort of
thing, and that's what we take alook at in our for profit space.
If my team is working to adeadline, it's because, you
know, we're working towardsprobably a pretty big build. At
(38:37):
the end of it, we're probablygetting a pretty big, you know,
paycheck back back into thecompany, and so, you know,
taking a look at, you know,those sort of things, and
balancing all of that out, andit's constant, and you have to
constantly be a step ahead to besuccessful. I feel it's
Erica D'Eramo (38:51):
interesting too, because as you're talking, and
I'm just hearing and thinkingabout how, really understanding
motivation, compensation,recognition, you know, even just
pay and remuneration might, thatmight also be a skill set that
gets strengthened from dipping,you know, from one side to the
(39:13):
other in non profit versus forprofit, where in non profit, you
do tend to attract a lot ofpeople who are very mission
driven and willing to maybe, youknow, work at a discount, which
is, again, not sustainable, butmotivating people based on that
mission, and then being able totransfer and kind of, yeah, that
balance. So, yeah, reallyinteresting, yeah, yeah. Well, I
(39:33):
really appreciate you coming onand sharing some of these
insights, because I don't like Isaid, I don't know that there
are lots of people who, youknow, operate in both realms
simultaneously, and havenavigated through these realms,
you know, back and forththroughout their careers. And so
I really, really appreciate allthe thought and learnings and
(39:54):
wisdom that you have been ableto share with us. And I just
want to ask, you know, I. Whatmight one takeaway be that you
would like to leave ourlisteners with today?
Liz Schmidt (40:07):
Go with what your passions are. I have felt like
I've stuck to that over the pastfew years in growing my company
and working in the nonprofitspace, and I think that has made
me a very well rounded but avery fulfilled person. I feel
just so happy to be able to workin this field, work in maritime,
(40:32):
work in the nonprofit side ofmaritime, work in the for profit
side of maritime. And I wouldsay to listeners, is really look
and see what that passions are.
And if you're in a space rightnow, professionally, and you're,
you're looking to, you know,branch out or grow or change and
that sort of stuff. I wouldhighly say, look at your
passion, and how can you work inyour passion area? Because I
know, for me that that reallyhelps me. It's, you know, it's
(40:55):
still work. I'm not, you know,it's still outlook, it's still
Google Sheets at the end of theday, but, but being able to be
in that passion space, I really,I really do feel, especially
service driven people are goingto see a difference in in how
they operate and theirfulfillment that they feel.
Yeah,
Erica D'Eramo (41:13):
that's that's really impactful. How might
people connect with the workthat you're doing? So, you know,
this is a great time to shoutout the entities that we want to
highlight here. Yeah,absolutely.
Liz Schmidt (41:25):
Well, women offshore. If you are a woman who
works in maritime, especiallywomen who works offshore,
offshore energy, please, pleasecheck us out. We are at women
offshore across all handles wehave. Our conference is coming
up in about two weeks, October,11 and 12th. And so we are going
(41:46):
to be sharing some really greatinsights to the industry, and
we're going to be following upwith some podcasts and some
lessons learned as well. So youcan check us out. We have a
podcast as well. Women offshore.
My company is called shipyardsupply USA. We're at shipyard
supply USA, across all handles.
So if you want to check out someof the work we do on some of the
yachts, I was just in Monaco atthe big Monaco Yacht Show that's
(42:08):
in the end of September everyyear we have the Fort Lauderdale
boat show. So which is anotherkind of Pinnacle Yacht Show
that's that's coming up here ina month. So we have some great
things coming up in both both myboth my spears. And the greatest
part is I get to combine them alot. So I meet female captains
when I'm when I'm working in inmy shipyard supply space, and I
bring them over into womenoffshore. And so I did that at
(42:31):
Monaco this, this, this pastcouple weeks. And it was really
great to be able to bring thosewomen into our community and
that sort of thing. So check usout. Like I said, Women
offshore. Women offshore.org,and shipyardsupply usa.com, if
you want to see some of the work
Erica D'Eramo (42:44):
that I do awesome, I was gonna say it's
like the opposite of a conflictof interest. It's like a
confluence of interest orsomething awesome. I
Liz Schmidt (42:52):
love it. I love it.
Take this card.
Erica D'Eramo (42:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's awesome. Yeah. We justdid the inclusion summit with
women offshore. So two peers.
Was not the inclusion summit.
That was, what a great event.
That was, thank you so much forhosting that. That was, you
know, members. So women offshoremembers, each company or entity
or organization that is amember, got a handful of tickets
(43:16):
for that. So highly recommend ifyou're, if you are a leader
within an organization and wantto explore membership with women
offshore, I would suggest itlots of good perks and benefits.
And then, yeah, we've got theconference, and this podcast
will go live on the day of theconference, if all goes planned.
So we'll be at the conference aswell. And then you've got the
(43:37):
gala, like you mentioned, comingup in February, which I'm really
excited about. So, yeah,definitely connect on all the
fronts. Absolutely,
Liz Schmidt (43:44):
lots of great stuff coming up all across the board
this fall. It's a busy time, butit's all good things, and, and,
and so it's really great to be apart of everything. I love it,
yeah,
Erica D'Eramo (43:54):
well, thanks for making time in your busy
schedule to come on here andshare your thoughts. And we
really appreciate it, and wewill have a summary of this
episode and links that werementioned in the show notes and
on our website. So that'stwopiersconsulting com, and
yeah, head over there to seesome of the insights from Liz
(44:16):
and the folks at women offshore.
Thanks so much, Liz,
Liz Schmidt (44:19):
thank you. You.
Hello, and welcome to the Two Piers
podcast. I'm your host, EricaD'Eramo, and today we're
interviewing special guest LizSchmidt. So Liz is currently the
Executive Director for the WomenOffshore Foundation, and she
also serves as the OperationsDirector at Shipyard Supplies
USA. So we'll be talking withLiz about the elements of a
(00:27):
multifaceted career, what thatlooks like, how work, life
balance comes to play in thatbut also her insights into the
intersection of philanthropy andbusiness and how that plays a
role in her life. So we're superexcited to have Liz join us. We
are definitely supporters ofwomen offshore and frequent
collaborators with them, andreally excited to get Liz's
(00:50):
insights.
Liz, thanks for joining.
Welcome,
Liz Schmidt (01:04):
absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I'm
really excited to be sharing mystories with you guys today.
Erica D'Eramo (01:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I typically ask people, youknow what, what is your origin
story? So like, what is the arcof your narrative that brought
you to this point in life. Whatmakes Liz you know who she is
today? Yeah,
Liz Schmidt (01:26):
so I'm a Midwesterner. I grew up in
Minnesota. I grew up in a lovelycommunity just west of
Minneapolis St Paul, on a lakecalled Lake Minnetonka, and grew
up with a boating lifestyle. Iwas on my first boat when I was
three months old, and have beenthat's been a huge part of my
(01:47):
life throughout my life. Inaddition to that, I was raised
in a service family. So my dadis a retired Sheriff, police
officer, my mother is a retirednurse, and so I was raised in
this family of giving back andproviding service, and was
always, well, involved in mycommunity at multi different
(02:08):
levels. I have my Girl ScoutGold Award, and always just
volunteerism and being a part ofthe community was always kind of
at the forefront of what I'vedone my whole life. So after,
after college, I went and servedwith the Red Cross. I had a
great experience where I didemergency communication
(02:30):
messaging, and I was based inFort Hood, Texas. So that's kind
of started my work in service,and was really launched into
supporting women, mostly asthey're typically the ones who
are, you know, married to thesoldiers that I was working with
at the army base and supportingthem back home in a multi
faceted ways. You know, thesoldiers were off in Afghanistan
(02:54):
at that time, that was mid 2000sso a lot of soldiers frontline
off in Afghanistan, and so thewives were left, you know, back
here in the States and runningthe households. And so our role
at the Red Cross was to help gettheir soldiers home. If there
was family emergencies, deaths,that sort of thing. But if there
(03:14):
were births, we were alsohelping to make sure that those
soldiers could connect withtheir families. You know, as
those births were, wereoccurring, so it was, it was
really great to be able tosupport, support these women on
the base and and, of course, mentoo, but it was a majority of
the women in the in the kidsthat we were working with at the
organization. I later went toFlorida. I now reside in South
(03:35):
Florida, and I worked indisaster relief. And that really
launched me into service areahere in a community where I was
really focusing on some of thesesocial services needs that are
in a community when people havea disaster, sometimes they're
just clinging on. And thatsocial services needs we were
not only helping themimmediately with what they
(03:56):
needed post disaster, so house,fire, flood, that sort of thing.
And then, of course, the largerdisasters that everyone always
thinks of, unfortunately,hurricanes down here in South
Florida, but it was additionalmaking sure that they had long
term services, that they wereconnected to those services in
our community. So I did thosethings for a few years, and then
later went to the YMCA, and hada great career there. I worked
(04:18):
in water safety, so I started toget back into my love of being
around the water worked todevelop community water safety
programs. I'm still involved inthe water safety world here in
Florida as it is such a need forfor kids to get swim lessons and
for families to be water safeand water aware here in Florida.
(04:39):
And so I worked and createdcommunity safety, water safety
programs for for familiesthroughout the South Florida
area, as well as and thenbranching to the greater state
of Florida. Much like a lot ofpeople during covid, I was able
to take an opportunity to say,okay, what are some other areas
that I'm interested in? I got mycaptain's license. And I started
(05:01):
to lean in more into the Marineand yachting space here in Fort
Lauderdale and where I live. AndI got the opportunity to start
working with a very good friendof mine who's now my partner at
shipyard supply USA. He neededsome help. The yachting industry
was crazy busy during covid, andso I got the opportunity to come
on board and really learnfirsthand. A couple of my first
(05:25):
yachts I was on are some of thelarger yachts that that are here
in South Florida. We work invessels over 100 feet. And so
when we're when we're talkingyachts, we're talking some of
the some of the bigger ones hereand and it's an amazing
experience to be a part of thiscompany. Now as a partner, I
joined just as kind of a helper,and helped the company through a
(05:46):
rebranding and a growth processto now I am partner in the
business and and really proud ofthe work we have put into to our
company. Here, we supply yachtswith mooring products, vendors,
vendor covers, which are allmanufactured locally here in
South Florida recently, I was sofortunate to have been found by
women offshore, and to be ableto work with them as their
(06:09):
executive director and reallytake my love for being on the
water, being in the industry,supporting women, supporting
women in non traditional roles,and to be able to really be at
the helm of this organization.
And I really, really do takethat all back to my upbringing,
of starting in that family areaof service.
Erica D'Eramo (06:27):
Yeah, wow. I do see the arc, right? And I think
as someone who also has had amaybe non linear trajectory, or
sometimes people will look at myexperience and be like, I don't
really see the thread here. Itlooks like you've done a lot of
different things, but there is athread, right? There's always a
thread that ties back to eitherour core values or or our core
(06:50):
motivations. And I'm justhearing so much in that thread
around service and community andreally enabling others to be,
you know, thriving and living,living the lives with lots of
opportunities that they want.
Yeah,
Liz Schmidt (07:06):
absolutely. And, and I agree. You know, people
are always asking me, how didyou, how did you get into
nonprofit, or, How did you getinto this yachting industry and,
and how do you do this work andthat sort of thing? And so I
just say, you know, I've beenable to craft a really great
professional life for myself,and by taking all the facets of
my professional work that Ienjoy doing it and being able to
(07:27):
create my work for myself that Ilike to do every day.
Erica D'Eramo (07:30):
Yeah, right, because while being the captain
of a vessel might sound verydifferent from, say, supporting
families on base, you know,navigating life transitions, or
maybe managing the operations ofan entire, you know, maritime
(07:51):
company. They might sounddifferent, and yet, probably a
lot of those skill sets aretransferable. So tell me a
little bit about that, like,what are some of these, like,
core elements that you thinkhave really been pillars in your
career?
Liz Schmidt (08:07):
Absolutely, you're so correct. They they all stem
from having learned greatleadership qualities and being
able to work as a leader, to beable to inspire other people to
be a leader, as well as projectmanagement skills, all of those
people that you mentioned, andall those different roles that I
have held. It takes projectmanagement. You have to take a
(08:31):
problem, you have to source itout. You have to suss it out.
You have to find your people tohelp you solve that problem. And
then you have to execute solvingthat problem. And that's one of
the threads there is being ableto take a problem in taking an
issue, good or bad, and gettingall the facts, collecting all
the information, and then layingit out on the table and saying,
what do we have here, and who dowe have with us to solve the
(08:53):
problem? And at each one ofthose spaces, whether you're on
a vessel, whether you're in acompany, whether you're working
within a community, you have keyplayers who can help you either
solve those problems or to helpyou to be able to move forward
when there's an issue. Yeah,
Erica D'Eramo (09:08):
I feel like stakeholder management, or, you
know, Stakeholder Relations, isprobably an element that comes
through, and a lot of these isunderstanding all of the
different pieces and all of thedifferent parts of the
community. And, you know, whoare decision makers, who is
impacted, who is affected?
Liz Schmidt (09:23):
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And knowing those
people and how everybody workstogether, right? And that's
really important too, is knowingskill sets and finding skill
sets, and sometimes you have topull those skill sets out of
people, but I think that's wheregood leadership qualities come
in, and those learnedleaderships, and I've had, I've
been fortunate up to be able tonot only seek out leadership
skills and training, but havesome great leaders and not so
(09:46):
great leaders to help me grow inbeing able to kind of figure out
that project management and howto work with a team.
Erica D'Eramo (09:54):
Yeah. I mean the other element that comes to mind
for me, and this was one of thethemes that we discussed for
this episode. Episode is, youknow, living these very full
lives with lots of you know,areas for our energy and our
time to go into lots ofdifferent interfaces and facets,
(10:15):
whether it's volunteer work,nonprofit board work, nonprofit
executive director of work, or,literally, you know, operational
directorship in a company. Howyou know the cliche question of,
how do you balance it all, butfrom a from a like,
philosophical, energeticperspective, what are some of
(10:35):
your thoughts on how all ofthese play in your life, and how
you kind of make it sustainable.
Liz Schmidt (10:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
First of all, my calendar is mylive or die. Everything has to
go on my calendar. If it's noton my calendar, it doesn't
exist. So that's a first.
I think my personality beingthat I like fast paced. I'm okay
(11:02):
with switching gears, right? Ican be working in this space and
working with chief officer on,you know, on a yacht, trying to
get their order set and readyfor them, and then immediately
switch gears and go and workingon planning our gala for the
women offshore Gala, right,coming up in February. So it's
like being able to switch thosegears. I like that fast paced
(11:23):
work. So that's one of the qual,you know, one of the skills and
qualities that I have to be ableto do it. I also enjoy my work.
I really enjoy the people I workwith. I enjoy the type of work I
do, whether I'm standing on theback deck of a yacht, you know,
admiring the work that my teamhas built to make you know
whatever we're putting on boardthat vessel, right, being proud
(11:45):
of that and really enjoying thepeople I work with in that
space, to being working with mywomen offshore team, and seeing
how we can make difference in inwomen's lives. I love both of
those, and I've realized I don'thave to choose, and I'm really
lucky that I haven't had tochoose, and I can be able to do
both of those things, but itdoes take balancing. You know,
when I'm with women offshore,working with them, it's all in
(12:07):
when I'm working with myshipyard team, it's all in when
I'm at my board meeting for mynonprofit that I sit on, right?
I'm all in. And so each timethat you're in those spaces, you
have to fully dedicate yourbrain and your yourself to those
spaces you're in. And that's theother thing too, is, is I'm
working on this thing now, andI'm going to end that
(12:27):
conversation, and then I'm goingto move to this conversation.
It's you, it's being okay with aswitching conversations really
quickly, but also knowing whenI'm done with that conversation,
and I'm moving into this andputting on my yachting hat, and
I'm fully in on that, or I'mputting on my nonprofit director
hat, and I'm fully into that,and I've learned that that is
something that has really helpedme keep everything straight,
(12:50):
keep everything organized, butalso give both, you know, 110%
as I as I hope I have beenright. Yeah.
Erica D'Eramo (13:00):
So I am definitely biased about this,
but I love a boundary. And so asyou're talking I'm just kind of,
when you're talking about, likeswitching gears and stuff, I'm
really hearing and not boundary,like a hard boundary, like a
stop sign, but I'm just hearingthat differentiation that's
(13:21):
enabling you to switch from onething to another, and I'm
hypothesizing that you probablyhave become pretty comfortable
with boundaries, or, you know,what role does that play for
you?
Liz Schmidt (13:32):
Yeah, it's definitely something that I've
had to learn myself. I think, inthe beginning, working in this,
in this type of multifacetedwork, when I had other nonprofit
partners, especially prior tobeing with women offshore, some
smaller organizations that Iconsulted with and that sort of
thing, it was, it was difficultto to to have those boundaries
(13:54):
at first. And you do have tolearn that and and so knowing
like these are my times that I'min my shop with my team, working
on the builds that we have tobuild on, and project managing
with them, and making sure thatmy team, for example, at women
offshore, knows that, you know.
So from, you know, eight to 10in the morning, yeah, I'll get
your text messages and I'll, youknow, I might respond back, or
(14:15):
that sort of thing, but, youknow, but that's the time that
I'm with that team, and theseare the times that I'm with, you
know, you and this team. And somaking sure that everybody knows
kind of where I'm at and whatI'm doing, to a degree, helps
that, I think, helps them say,well, she's not responding to
me. Why has it been an hour andshe hasn't responded? It's like,
well, I'm, you know, I'm doingthis now, or I'm doing that now.
(14:37):
So setting that up in advance, Ithink, is really important. And
I think that takes, it takeslearning. People have to learn
that you want to be everywhereat all the times, but you can't
always be everywhere. And so ifyou set that expectation ahead
of time, people are going tounderstand that, and it's not
going to be an issue. So thatwas something I definitely had
to learn, and then I'm stilllearning this. And I think we
(14:58):
all are. It's just taking thattime for yourself. I still, I
have to admit, though I stillhave that guilt, I have to turn
my brain off in the evenings orsometimes on the weekends,
right? And it's giving myselfpermission to say, okay, it's
okay to take this Sundayafternoon to watch football on
your couch, right? Or it's okayto take the evening off, or that
(15:20):
sort of thing, and so givingyourself permission, and I know
for me, that's something thatI'm still working on and
learning, but that's where mysupport group comes in, right?
So I make sure that that myfriends, my family, you know,
they're helping me to turn off,and so that that's been really
important skill is to have themhelp me to say, you know, do you
(15:40):
really have to be in computerright now? You know, do you
really have to take that, thatcall this very second, right?
And that sort of thing. And sohaving them help support me,
just like how my team atshipyard, or my team at women
offshore supports me in the inthe professional sense, I think
is really important as well.
Erica D'Eramo (16:00):
Yeah, yeah. I hear a lot around communication
transparency, and I call it sortof the Like operator man,
operators manual, or thestandard operating procedure for
ourselves, that communicatingwith other people, that, hey,
this is, this is what youexpect, and this is how we can
work together and understandingwhat they're like operating
(16:21):
manual is can be so, so helpfulin, you know, just clarifying
expectations and being able towork together. And we take it
for granted that everyone's gotthe same operating manual, but
we really don't, right and, and,yeah, yeah,
Liz Schmidt (16:36):
absolutely. And I think in this type of work with
with women offshore especially,we are a team that is spread
across the US like we are at onepoint. I think even still, we
have somebody in every singletime zone across the US, so
nobody is working at the sametime, and everybody has
different hours that theyoperate and that they work
(16:57):
within. And so that has been areally great lesson in just
professional work life balance.
Because, you know, I may send anemail out, and I know just
because of the time, I'm notgoing to get a response until
the next day, or I'm not goingto get a response until a few
hours from now, because they'reprobably still asleep if they're
on the West Coast, because I'mon the East Coast, right? And so
that has really helped with kindof slowing down and saying,
(17:21):
okay, not everything has to beresponded immediately. And as a
millennial, the millennialculture, you know, we were, we
were kind of brought up andtaught our ourselves, most
likely, mostly that, you know,emails are this, you know,
immediate response thing, andthat, you know someone asks for
something, and you have to justhop to it and do it right away.
(17:42):
And I think the what womenoffshore, and the way that our
team operates across the US andthese different time zones, it's
taught me, is that's not alwaysrealistic or necessary, and
necessary is the key, right? Andand we suit our work done, and
we do it at such a high level,and it's having that grace for
each other and knowing thateverybody has to have that work
life balance.
Erica D'Eramo (18:03):
Yeah. I mean, I think back to, like, metrics for
maintenance, right? And workcompletion rates versus break in
work and when something comes onto your plate, what's going to
go off the plate and and havingcriteria for When things do
break in because, yeah, reallygetting our head in that space
(18:23):
that we would almost manage ourown time and priorities with
more intentionality andthoughtfulness, just like we
would, you know, a maintenanceschedule, I think is kind of
foreign to a lot of us, becausewe're so reactive and socialized
to Be and expected to be in manycases. So yeah, having some
(18:44):
criteria before something getsbumped to the top of the list is
something I'm also working on,also working on it.
Liz Schmidt (18:53):
And you know, I would say for me, I I'm such
more I'm so much moreunderstanding of my team that I
work with, and knowing that theyhave lives, and wanting to, of
course, respect that they havefamilies and lives and hobbies
and activities and and all thatkind of stuff. And so I'm always
like, Oh, it's okay. You'refine, you know? But then for
(19:14):
myself, me, I'm like, wait, Ihaven't, you know, I haven't
been on my email in two hoursbecause I've been doing
something else. I better jumpin, right? So, yeah, absolutely,
it's, it's being conditioned tothat, and it's starting to
trying to unwind thatconditioning to a degree. You
know, that's
Erica D'Eramo (19:28):
why I think it's great that you have, you know,
people to reflect back to you aswell and be like, Hey, you said
you wanted to relax. So When'sthat going to happen? Or, you
know, those people that can helphold a mirror up for us, the
trusted community, and trusted,you know, members of our inner
circle and and our work circlesas well, that can kind of
reflect back and show us whatwe're actually doing.
(19:51):
Absolutely,
Liz Schmidt (19:52):
absolutely you gotta have those, those allies
all over and all differentfacets, because I think that's
really important to making sure.
You don't get burned out, orthat you don't get that kind of
hysteria feeling of sometimes Isay I feel like I'm being pecked
off by chickens, right? It'scoming out to me from all angles
and and so sometimes it takessome of that trusted circle to
(20:13):
kind of help you have thatcalming, calming feeling. Yeah,
Erica D'Eramo (20:19):
I think one of the other elements that's
probably so challenging for manyof us who do get involved in a
lot of different things, is weget involved in those things
because we care so much aboutthe impact that it's having in
the world, or about the missionor the ultimate vision of these
organizations or companies thatwe're in. And so it can make it
(20:40):
harder, I think, sometimes, toreally take that longer view of
what is most sustainable when wewant so much for it to be
successful from a core valuesperspective. So tell me a little
bit more about that, like, howdoes how? How have you navigated
that? Because you're veryinvolved in things that, like it
(21:00):
seems, are important to you andmake a difference?
Liz Schmidt (21:03):
Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, to a degree
that service, that service pieceof me, helps keep that going. I
think that having that passion,that's one of the things that
I've I've been told at alldifferent parts of my career, is
when I'm talking about my workthat I do that, you know, people
(21:23):
will stop me in the middle of asentence and say, Wow, you seem
like you're really passionateabout this work. And I think
that is what keeps my drive, isI've always been that person
that I have to be all in in myprofessional work and and I and
for me, that's really important.
And I know for some people, theyhave maybe a different
philosophy on professional work,and I absolutely respect that.
(21:43):
But for me, I think that thatpersonal passion and that
personal drive to make itbetter, whatever it is in my
work that I'm doing, helps driveme to continue to do it and push
it forward. And I also just havethis deep sense that I don't
want to let people down. Andthat's you know that. And
sometimes that can, can be a badthing, but not necessarily
(22:05):
always right. And so I want tomake sure whether it's it's a
community, whether it's anindividual, whether it's an
industry like I want to continueto push myself and push the work
that I'm doing, to make surethat I don't let let those
people down. And there'sdefinitely positives and
negatives to that feeling, forsure.
Erica D'Eramo (22:25):
Yeah, I have been working with a lot of my
coaching clients lately on, youknow, identifying their
strengths. And several timesover the past week, I've had a
client say, Huh? I mean, this isa strength, but it's also kind
of a weakness. And it's like,oh, yeah, that's the thing. That
is how it works, right? Like ourour greatest strength also is
usually, you know, just like acliche superhero, it's always
(22:50):
that their greatest strength iscorresponding to their greatest
weakness. So I'm interested, foryou, like that passion. I see it
so much in the volunteer work,in things where people's passion
is relied upon to, you know, geta lot done, and I see a lot of
burnout. So how have you found asustainable way? You've
mentioned some things, but I'mjust interested if there's any
(23:12):
other insights you have forthese people who do this mission
driven kind of work that theydon't burn out?
Liz Schmidt (23:18):
Yeah, well, I first want to recognize the people
that compassion fatigue is real.
I absolutely know that Isuffered compassion fatigue when
I was at the when I was at theRed Cross and doing that work,
and I was the start of myjourney in my professional
world. And so I probably wasn'tas well equipped with the tools
to be able to understand whatthat was at the time. I knew
(23:41):
what it was, but to understandhow to fix that. And so, first
of all, you know, understandingthat that is something, and to
get support where you need it,when you feel that you have
compassion fatigue, I think thatthat's really important in
depending on the type of workthat somebody is doing in that
service space. I think for me,it's, it's making sure, you
know, reflecting back on theboundaries, it's making sure
(24:03):
that I have my own timemanagement, that my time is
managed well for myself and andit's really easy for you know,
people to you know you, like yousaid, kind of use that passion
as a way to get some stuff doneor have alternate agendas. And I
think is, as I've grown in myprofessional career and had
taken on more leadership roles,I am a very cognizant of that in
(24:25):
my team, so making sure that I'msupporting them and that I'm not
asking too much because of thatyes culture or that passion to
want to get it done. And I thinkthat's experience that I've had
over over the years of gettingto that burnout space, or
feeling like I'm at that burnoutspace. So knowing your time.
(24:47):
When I was in college, I had areally good leader who had us do
a worksheet. I worked in theoffice of First Year Experience
and students in transition. Andso we were taking all the new
kids in and helping withorientation and things like
that. And at the beginning ofthe semester, she would have us
do a basic worksheet that youblocked off your time. And the
(25:07):
first thing she said was, youhave to get eight hours of
sleep. That's a non negotiable.
So block out eight hours ofsleep. And then from there, you
know, block out. You know,you're gonna go do some type of
exercise for an hour, and then,and all of a sudden, you know,
you have to block out time toeat. So is it 30 minutes for
breakfast in the morning, or isit 10 minutes for breakfast, you
know, and then is it an hour forlunch? But so we kind of blocked
(25:30):
it all out. And that was one ofthe those, the times where I was
learning like, hey, if I'm ifI'm purposeful in my time, both
in my relaxation time and in myprofessional time. And at that
time, of course, it was college,so I was, you know, juggling my
course load as well as as my myon campus work, but that's where
I really learned, like there istime in the day, it's just how
(25:51):
you use it. And so beingintentional, of having your time
planned out. And sometimes itworks really well, and sometimes
it doesn't work at all, but if Ifeel myself starting to get a
little crazy or starting to feela little bit out of control with
the amount of work that's beingthrown at me, I take it in and I
say, Okay, let me block out myschedule. Let me look and see
(26:11):
what I have here, and see how Ihave to rearrange stuff to make
that work. So I actually stilldo that here and there when, I
feel a little crazy, but, butthat time management is such a
skill, I think that is ishelpful in all this multifaceted
work that I do.
Erica D'Eramo (26:29):
Yeah, it's really like managing a budget in a way.
Because I think when you think,oh yeah, we've got whatever
$10,000 to do this project, thatsounds about right, and then you
start looking at, okay, but howmuch does, how much do the nails
cost, and how much does thepermit costs, and how much does
the paint cost, and how much do?
And really start looking and andgetting into the detail of it.
(26:52):
Then it becomes quite clear whatyou can and can't do with that,
and where there's efficienciesto be made. I that really
resonates for me, because latelyI have been every Monday I have
time at the beginning of myMonday I have, like, a little
co, co working group that meetsjust, it's like, you know, I
don't charge anybody for this.
(27:16):
It's just folks who want to showup and just spend 45 minutes
getting their week planned, andwe just do it in silence, and we
all just sort of block out timebased on what our priorities are
for the week. But the thingthat's been key for me is
actually doing my actuals. Youknow, in finance, we would have,
like, projected versus actuals,well, going in and saying, Okay,
(27:37):
how long did you take on doingQuickBooks reconciliation? How
long did you take on replying toemails? Because there's all
these things that we don'trealize we're doing that take up
time, especially theinterpersonal part, right? And
I'm it can be tough to reallyvalue that relationship
management when it's not on yourto do list, and at the end of
(27:58):
the day, you're like, Oh, Ididn't get anything on my to do
list done. It was a failure of aday. But actually maybe you had
some really importantconversations that needed to
happen, or maybe you held spacefor somebody, or maybe, you
know, you took a break and youwent for a walk. And actually
that was valuable too. So Istarted like, I've started
actually capturing my actualsfor where my my time was planned
(28:19):
for the day, and then where itactually went for the day, and
it's making me much morerealistic about what gets done
in a day. So
Liz Schmidt (28:26):
yeah, I'm sure that does that would be really
interesting to try, because Iknow over the course of
especially my work in inshipyard supply, because we
build products. And so mypartner is like, Oh, well, we
can just do that in two days.
And after a while, I'm like, No,we can't. We have to cut it, you
know, I'm not doing any of this.
I have a great coverage routinethat does it. But I'm like, we
(28:48):
have to cut the product. We haveto, you know, shape it. We have
to fit it to the vessel. We haveto go to the vessel maybe two or
three times to make sure, youknow, all this kind of things,
right? And so over, over thepast few years, being with the
company is like, no, thesebuilds are sometimes taking us,
you know, five days, and he'strying to cram it into two and
that sort of thing. So we'velearned together how to better,
(29:10):
you know, project manage ourtime out for these production
builds. And so in that kind ofsense, I think that doing that
for some of the personal lifestuff, right? I think can help
say, No, it actually does takeme a little bit longer than I
think, to, you know, go to thegym, right? Like, maybe I'm
thinking, Oh, 30 minutes becauseI'm like, I'm on the treadmill
for 30 minutes of theelliptical. But it's like, no,
(29:31):
it actually takes you 90 by thetime you drive, by the time you
walk in, but, you know, all ofthat kind of stuff. And it's
like, maybe if I gave myself 90minutes at the gym or gym time,
I would be more successful atgetting that space in for
myself, or whatever it is, youknow, then trying to cram it in
and then just not doing itbecause I run out of time, that
kind of stuff. Yeah, that's areally good idea.
Erica D'Eramo (29:52):
Well, I think especially from the from a
neurodiverse perspective, youknow, ADHD ers have a lot of
time blindness, which I.
Definitely have and and can bevery optimistic about how quick
we can get things done whenwe're hyper focused, and maybe
not so optimistic, or, like, notas realistic about all the
different distractions that maycome into play. So yeah. So as
you, as you, like a lot ofpeople, spend their entire
(30:16):
careers, either in philanthropyor nonprofit sphere, or they
spend it in private sector. Youknow, in I'll call it business
sphere. I guess it's not reallyan accurate, like alternative,
but or description of what thealternative is. What would you
for profit? We'll say forprofit. So, yep, yeah, what
would you, what would you say tothe folks who have you know.
(30:40):
Like, what are some of the theinsights that you think you you
particularly have benefited fromby crossing both of those
realms? Like, how has yournonprofit work maybe supported
your for profit and vice versa?
Yeah.
Liz Schmidt (30:54):
So one of the most common misconceptions that I
hear from people who aren'tfamiliar with the nonprofit
space is, there's, there's nomoney. You're always scraping
by. You're never going to make aliving all this kind of stuff.
And so first of all, I try tosquash that all the way. I'm
like, no, there are some amazingcareers you can have in that
space. There's organizationsthat nonprofits that have money
(31:18):
to be able to support their workin their community. And so I
first grew grew up career wisein nonprofits that were national
and that were large, and so Iwas able to see and learn some
of that firsthand, but they haveto be run like a business, and
that's the other thing, where alot of small nonprofits that I
have worked with and helped outdon't always necessarily look at
(31:42):
like that, and they they tend towant to give away a lot, and
they tend to want, and it's forthe passion, right? And I see
that, and it's sometimes we haveto take that step back, and we
have to, we have to run like abusiness and and so for the
nonprofit that I sit on theboard for, I sit on the board as
the treasurer, and it's a localenvironmental nonprofit called
the local octopus Foundation.
And I have, I have trained,trained, so to speak, my founder
(32:05):
and my other board members whoI'm very good friends with. I
have trained them to say, we runthis nonprofit like a business.
And they founded the nonprofitand had asked me to come on
board to help them, you know,become, you know, get their 501,
c3, status, and help them makesure that they're operating
everything correctly. And so Ihave trained them to say, you
(32:26):
know, we run this like abusiness. We take a look at our
budgets, we take a look at ourfinancials. We know what to say
yes to. We know what aligns withour corporate structure, so to
speak. And and so that really,though, became from my nonprofit
work at the YMCA, because theYMCA operates in both spheres,
right? They are a business. Theyare a gym and swim. They're very
(32:47):
known for that. They're veryrenowned for that across the
country, but they are anonprofit that does some amazing
things in their communities. Andso they do, they have revenue
that they have to meet. We hadsales goals, so to speak,
revenue goals that we had tomeet in order to keep the
business operational, but at theend of the day, we also had the
ability to give back and theservice part of our work, to
(33:07):
give back to the community. Andso I got a really great
upbringing so to speakprofessionally in the YMCA, to
say, how do we run a business tomake sure we're meeting our
sales goals, but how do we alsomake sure that we're supporting
a community at the same time,and so that work translates into
my for profit work, because wedo have sales goals to meet, we
do have criteria that we have tohit. But in addition to that, we
(33:32):
also look and see, okay, whereare some of those places that we
can give back to our team? Wehave a great team that works
really hard in some harshconditions to build the products
we need. And so how do we helpsupport them in other ways than
just, you know, giving theirpaychecks on Friday? And so I
think that's something that wehave built a really good group
(33:52):
of people that work andmanufacture our products for us,
because we're not just taking alook at that revenue in terms
of, like, how much can us as thepartners make in revenue for
this company, but giving backwithin our own business to the
people that serve our company.
And then in addition to that,we're also philanthropic in our
community. So we have that, andthey talk about corporate
(34:13):
philanthropy, and it's talkedabout a lot in lots of different
facets, but for me, I see thatas part of operating our
business is giving back into ourcommunity and giving back in
spaces of our community that hasto do with the work that we do.
So we're intentional about howwe give back, who we give back
to in the work that we do. But Ithink all of that is really
important. And then lastly, Imean, it goes back to funding
(34:34):
and budgets, like knowing yourbudgets, knowing what's in your
bank account at all times,having that number, and that's a
little bit of a skill I learnedthat I have is to just kind of
have that roundabout number allthe time in my head, but knowing
that, and as something comes inthe account and out of the
account, and luckily, we're,we're, you know, small enough of
a company that I'm able to keeptrack of that. But you have to
(34:56):
have a handle on that. You haveto have a handle on your on your
QuickBooks, for example. Theleisure is right to know, okay,
if we go and we spend this, orif we have our team work X
amount of hours over what wetypically have them work because
we're on a crunch line to get abill done for a vessel that's
leading, how is that going toaffect our bottom line to be
able to continue to buy suppliesor do what we need to do? And so
(35:17):
having that part in me, I think,has made sure that we're
successful growing businessfrom, you know, compared to when
I started with the company, youknow, three, almost four years,
four years ago now. So, yeah,yeah.
Erica D'Eramo (35:31):
I mean, when done, well, it sounds like they
are that, you know, for profitand nonprofit, work is really
quite similar in many ways, andit makes me think of Simon Sinek
book, which everybody knows likestart with, why? But his book,
infinite game, actually talksabout this in terms of where you
(35:55):
know, capitalism and corporateentities have really kind of
strayed away from what theircore mission is because of the
element of shareholder value.
And so it becomes about like,you know, maximizing shareholder
value instead of, what is itthat we're trying to do, and
doing that as well as possiblein the most sustainable way as
possible, as you know, membersof the community, and then in
(36:15):
the nonprofit sphere as well,like when done well, it does
look a lot like a business,because it needs to be
sustainable and not extractive,in leaning on the most
passionate members toessentially run themselves into
the ground or donate all oftheir time, or be, you know,
underpaid or scraping by, whichis not, you know, like I see
(36:41):
that, I do see that a lot insome nonprofits that haven't
realized how unsustainable thatis.
Liz Schmidt (36:51):
Yeah, absolutely, and, and those you know, for
those organizations I would, Iwould take a look at, you know,
is, is your team? What are someways that you can restructure,
or what are some ways that youcan take a look at, if I have to
pay my team X amount and notenough to be able to feel good
(37:11):
about the work that they'redoing and to be able to make
ends meet at the end of theweek, what are maybe I need to
restructure my company so that Ican right and, or, you know, if
I'm a small nonprofit, and thisis something that I've seen in
some of the nonprofits I workwith, you know, they want some
of the really big, flashy CRMs,and they want some of these big
tools. And it's like, you know,maybe we start with Excel,
(37:33):
right? And that's the same thingwith business. I mean, you know,
with our company too, we take alook at what are some of the
things that that we do need, andthat do make our business work.
But then what are some of thosethings that we just we don't
need to pay for, and making surethat in both nonprofit and for
profit, we're not putting valueon because we have this X thing,
(37:55):
or we operate using this Xsoftware or that sort of thing,
that that means that we're at acertain pinnacle, means we're
paying so many money that we maynot need to right? And so if we
need it, let's use it. If wedon't need it, let's exit right?
And so I think in both of thosenonprofit and for profit, we
have to take a look at that andtime management of our team,
like I said, sometimes I know myteam's gonna have to work more
(38:16):
than what I budget them to workin both the for profit and
nonprofit sector and beingprepared for that, and knowing
how that's going to affectthings moving forward. But also,
is them working more? Is thatproducing more and that sort of
thing, and that's what we take alook at in our for profit space.
If my team is working to adeadline, it's because, you
know, we're working towardsprobably a pretty big build. At
(38:37):
the end of it, we're probablygetting a pretty big, you know,
paycheck back back into thecompany, and so, you know,
taking a look at, you know,those sort of things, and
balancing all of that out, andit's constant, and you have to
constantly be a step ahead to besuccessful. I feel it's
Erica D'Eramo (38:51):
interesting too, because as you're talking, and
I'm just hearing and thinkingabout how, really understanding
motivation, compensation,recognition, you know, even just
pay and remuneration might, thatmight also be a skill set that
gets strengthened from dipping,you know, from one side to the
(39:13):
other in non profit versus forprofit, where in non profit, you
do tend to attract a lot ofpeople who are very mission
driven and willing to maybe, youknow, work at a discount, which
is, again, not sustainable, butmotivating people based on that
mission, and then being able totransfer and kind of, yeah, that
balance. So, yeah, reallyinteresting, yeah, yeah. Well, I
(39:33):
really appreciate you coming onand sharing some of these
insights, because I don't like Isaid, I don't know that there
are lots of people who, youknow, operate in both realms
simultaneously, and havenavigated through these realms,
you know, back and forththroughout their careers. And so
I really, really appreciate allthe thought and learnings and
(39:54):
wisdom that you have been ableto share with us. And I just
want to ask, you know, I. Whatmight one takeaway be that you
would like to leave ourlisteners with today?
Liz Schmidt (40:07):
Go with what your passions are. I have felt like
I've stuck to that over the pastfew years in growing my company
and working in the nonprofitspace, and I think that has made
me a very well rounded but avery fulfilled person. I feel
just so happy to be able to workin this field, work in maritime,
(40:32):
work in the nonprofit side ofmaritime, work in the for profit
side of maritime. And I wouldsay to listeners, is really look
and see what that passions are.
And if you're in a space rightnow, professionally, and you're,
you're looking to, you know,branch out or grow or change and
that sort of stuff. I wouldhighly say, look at your
passion, and how can you work inyour passion area? Because I
know, for me that that reallyhelps me. It's, you know, it's
(40:55):
still work. I'm not, you know,it's still outlook, it's still
Google Sheets at the end of theday, but, but being able to be
in that passion space, I really,I really do feel, especially
service driven people are goingto see a difference in in how
they operate and theirfulfillment that they feel.
Yeah,
Erica D'Eramo (41:13):
that's that's really impactful. How might
people connect with the workthat you're doing? So, you know,
this is a great time to shoutout the entities that we want to
highlight here. Yeah,absolutely.
Liz Schmidt (41:25):
Well, women offshore. If you are a woman who
works in maritime, especiallywomen who works offshore,
offshore energy, please, pleasecheck us out. We are at women
offshore across all handles wehave. Our conference is coming
up in about two weeks, October,11 and 12th. And so we are going
(41:46):
to be sharing some really greatinsights to the industry, and
we're going to be following upwith some podcasts and some
lessons learned as well. So youcan check us out. We have a
podcast as well. Women offshore.
My company is called shipyardsupply USA. We're at shipyard
supply USA, across all handles.
So if you want to check out someof the work we do on some of the
yachts, I was just in Monaco atthe big Monaco Yacht Show that's
(42:08):
in the end of September everyyear we have the Fort Lauderdale
boat show. So which is anotherkind of Pinnacle Yacht Show
that's that's coming up here ina month. So we have some great
things coming up in both both myboth my spears. And the greatest
part is I get to combine them alot. So I meet female captains
when I'm when I'm working in inmy shipyard supply space, and I
bring them over into womenoffshore. And so I did that at
(42:31):
Monaco this, this, this pastcouple weeks. And it was really
great to be able to bring thosewomen into our community and
that sort of thing. So check usout. Like I said, Women
offshore. Women offshore.org,and shipyardsupply usa.com, if
you want to see some of the work
Erica D'Eramo (42:44):
that I do awesome, I was gonna say it's
like the opposite of a conflictof interest. It's like a
confluence of interest orsomething awesome. I
Liz Schmidt (42:52):
love it. I love it.
Take this card.
Erica D'Eramo (42:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's awesome. Yeah. We justdid the inclusion summit with
women offshore. So two peers.
Was not the inclusion summit.
That was, what a great event.
That was, thank you so much forhosting that. That was, you
know, members. So women offshoremembers, each company or entity
or organization that is amember, got a handful of tickets
(43:16):
for that. So highly recommend ifyou're, if you are a leader
within an organization and wantto explore membership with women
offshore, I would suggest itlots of good perks and benefits.
And then, yeah, we've got theconference, and this podcast
will go live on the day of theconference, if all goes planned.
So we'll be at the conference aswell. And then you've got the
(43:37):
gala, like you mentioned, comingup in February, which I'm really
excited about. So, yeah,definitely connect on all the
fronts. Absolutely,
Liz Schmidt (43:44):
lots of great stuff coming up all across the board
this fall. It's a busy time, butit's all good things, and, and,
and so it's really great to be apart of everything. I love it,
yeah,
Erica D'Eramo (43:54):
well, thanks for making time in your busy
schedule to come on here andshare your thoughts. And we
really appreciate it, and wewill have a summary of this
episode and links that werementioned in the show notes and
on our website. So that'stwopiersconsulting com, and
yeah, head over there to seesome of the insights from Liz
(44:16):
and the folks at women offshore.
Thanks so much, Liz,
Liz Schmidt (44:19):
thank you. You.
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