Jeanett Mallett

I attribute my success to not accepting no. Obviously, a lot of the times, there are things in life that are absolute no's, but also allow yourself to think outside the box, and no isn't always a no. It may just be a not right now, or maybe you need to look for other opportunities. I think about my climb, and I'm still on my climb. I could have stayed and played safe and stayed at the university, but doing that, not only would I have stunted my financial growth, but I would have stunted my career growth, because I've been able to accomplish in 2 years what would have taken me 10 to 20 years staying where I was. Sometimes when your life isn't going the way you want, you don't need to stay where you're at just because. You can get outside your comfort zone. I made the decision to move to a place where I don't have family. My mom and dad are over 3,000 miles away, and it's been great. I've been happier.

The best career advice I've received is don't be afraid to call people to conversation. I never want to call out someone, because you never want to put people on the defense when you're actually trying to change people's perspectives and get them to see your points of view, but it's 100% okay to call people to conversation. One of the other things I've learned is you can do just about anything as long as you have the justification for it.

Don't be afraid to push back, and don't be afraid to ask for help. Now, when I say that, I need to be clear, pushing back doesn't mean undermining. I've noticed in this industry that people will undermine in the guise of pushing back. There's nothing wrong with pushing innovation and thinking outside of the box, but be conscientious about whether you're actually pushing back or undermining the people that are helping you grow. It's hard to grow and ask for help and build your career if you're undermining those that are helping you build that pathway into leadership.

The work culture is different from what I'm used to. I spent the majority of my life working in the Deep South, working in Mississippi, so I kind of jumped at this opportunity to move across the United States to Washington State, and the culture difference is significant. I really like that if I am making my work too complicated, my managers are quick to say, this is too complicated, make it simple. Even with being a woman here, most of my male colleagues have been very supportive. There are a lot of opportunities in my industry. My supervisors and managers have been extremely supportive, they are all about removing barriers, and very encouraging when I mention developing my career skills.

The values most important to me are integrity, strong morals, and valuing people. These principles guide both my professional work and my personal life.