Irena Laster

I attribute my success to my ability to make connections. The trajectory and the way that I've grown, from the very beginning of my career to even now, it was all about who I knew and who I was connected to. Having those professional relationships and my interpersonal skills have really honestly helped me. I have this running joke with myself where sometimes I'm like, I've been a personality hire a little bit. I've relied a lot on personality to get me where I am. I mean, I also have the experience, but I think that just being able to relate to pretty much anyone that I come across, it doesn't matter what the skill set level is, it doesn't matter if they're junior or very senior, I've always been able to somehow relate to someone. And it really helps me navigate throughout my career.

The best career advice I have ever received, which I feel is also everyday life advice, is that nothing fails but a try and the worst somebody can say is no. You truly don't know what's in store or what's ahead unless you say something. No one knows what you're interested in unless you say something, so it's really up to you to be able to voice whatever might be on your mind, whether that's a concern or maybe it's an area that you want to grow in. It's up to you to really make that happen, so nothing fails but a try, and the worst somebody can say is no.

I would say to be resilient. I feel like as women, we naturally kind of have to be that, in a sense. Don't be afraid. Don't let imposter syndrome get the best of you. I think that women, specifically, we do a really good job at that, so just try, be confident, just try. Ask for what you want. Ask for what you need. Another thing I would say is to do a lot more listening than talking when you're unsure of something, because I feel like the loudest in the room doesn't always mean that they're the best person in the room. Sometimes there's a lot of strength in just being quiet and being observant, because then you can see the way in which a company is moving, maybe your colleague or somebody that's in a higher place at the manager or more senior level is moving, and then you can kind of adjust and refine the way that you're doing things according to their liking.

There's a lot of competition, I would say, because I work for a fiber internet provider and there's a lot of other companies that are coming up and they're also offering fiber, also at a similar price. I would say that there are periods of uncertainty because there's a lot of competition, so it just kind of depends on how well we're able to do within our market.

Something that I value strongly is alignment, moral alignment for sure, in my personal life and also within my professional life, because if it's not something that I'm aligned with morally, I'm simply not able to do it. I'm not able to resonate or connect with it. I have to be able to connect with it, because if I can't connect with it, it's really hard for me to be able to find a sense of purpose in what I'm doing. I would also say collaboration is really important to me because I feel like a lot of what I do and the way in which I work, there's no I in team. I need a team, I need a community as well to really help me succeed and have that support that I need, professionally as well as personally.