Angelia Bell

I attribute my success to making small steps forward and taking consistent action, even when things get tough. I have a lot of support from my family and best friends. They encourage me everyday to just keep going. I'm fortunate to have very close relationships where we all encourage each other. That support system has been invaluable in helping me push through challenges and continue moving forward in my career and personal life.

The best career advice I've ever received is to take baby steps and stay consistent. Everybody has moments where they just slack off, but the key is to not focus so much on the big picture but in meeting the smaller goals - just keep taking small steps. Consistency is everything. When you break things down into manageable pieces and keep showing up, that's when real progress happens. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed by the end goal; focus on the next small action you can take.

My advice to young women entering this industry is to take small steps and just go ahead and do it. Take the chance. Even if you're worried, you're scared, you don't think you can do it, or you're afraid you're going to fail - just do it anyway. Take the leap! Don't let fear or self-doubt hold you back from pursuing opportunities in this field. The key is to start, even if it feels uncomfortable or uncertain at first. The old saying is true that you can do anything you set your mind to. Trust yourself and your vision.

The biggest challenge in my field right now is that companies want someone with established experience or they want someone with bachelors or masters degree. It's a catch-22 situation where you need experience to get hired, but you need to get hired to gain experience. My challenge now is to keep building my portfolio so I can demonstrate what I can do and show potential employers my capabilities, even while I'm working towards gaining more formal experience in the field.

Work-life balance is absolutely the most important value to me in both my work and personal life. I have to have a little bit of both - I need some private time (Me Time!) to collect my thoughts and unwind, and leverage with work time. It's essential for me that these two areas don't cross over. I need clear boundaries between my professional responsibilities and my personal life so I can be fully present in both areas and maintain my well-being.