Heather Chapman Lalli

I think a couple things contribute to my success. One, I seek out challenges. I love challenges. I think any woman, anybody, period, who's successful, they really enjoy a challenge, and I get bored if I'm not constantly being challenged. The other thing is I'm very passionate about what I do, and my customers, and my team, the company I work for, the culture. I think the passion is a big piece of that, along with my interest in problem solving and enjoying complex business challenges and trying to come up with solutions. The other thing is, I've had a lot of advocates. I've never looked at myself as different, per se. I've had a really good support system. I've had some really great female mentors, and I've had a lot of really great male mentors, too. I never felt like they viewed me as different, or viewed me as less capable. I think having really good sponsors and finding out who those people are, and always staying curious, has really helped me get to where I am and helped me enjoy the process.

One thing that stood out to me, and I read Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In when I was in my mid-20s, was a piece of advice she gave that I've taken to heart ever since: your career is a jungle gym and not a ladder. I've made a lot of lateral moves, I've taken steps back, and it's always worked out because it's built my base. I think that's helped my career a lot. The other thing I'll say, speaking as a mother, is that everything is temporary. I've done some kind of crazy things, like going back and getting my MBA, or taking a role that was 75% travel, or taking on an executive-level role when I have young kids. Those are all things that are really challenging, and sometimes if you think about it too much, you're like, oh my gosh, this is crazy, I can't do that. But then you do it, and you realize you figure it out, and the pain is temporary, and things get easier over time. If you just dredge through it and power through, you're capable of a lot more than you realize.