Jenn Mitchell

I think my biggest achievement in my career path is learning and becoming me through all of the voices, through all of the pressure of sales, through everything. If you're not performing in this field, you get booted - it's performance-based. What it has done more than anything is it's refined my voice. I can walk into any profession and confidently feel like I will be able to succeed in it because I will find my voice in it. In this particular field of fiber and technology, it's predominantly men - I would say 5 to 6 men per 1 woman here in this company. Was it my preferred way? No, but it was certainly a way that thickened my skin like nothing else. I've learned how to really define my boundaries. I've had to tell a man how to talk to me, I've had to report to HR a couple times. I was not gonna cower in that environment, I was gonna stand up for myself, and I did. I learned from these experiences that women need to establish their boundaries, whether it's at work, whether it's inside their house, whether it's with their children. You have to have that little bit of that edge, or you end up with an autoimmune disease. We have to learn how to stand up for ourselves and to be genuinely true to our own self. I just remember my why, and I remember to stay so authentic. I've learned so much in this space to find my voice and to be authentically me. At the end of the day, the other person on the end of the phone or end of a Teams meeting, they're people - they're someone who also is running a business, running something that means something to them. It's like, how do I help you get from A to B a little bit better with the platform that I'm offering here? Just coming from that perspective, it takes away any sort of gimmicky, awkward, or pressure of sales to me.

You're not selling, you're serving. This was something I learned from the women in my previous organization, Arbonne. They were such an example for me of you can honestly have your cake and eat it too kind of thing - don't minimize yourself, keep going, and just be people-focused. I loved that. It really was a huge foundation for me as far as how I've built my sales mentality. I've carried that into this profession, and I have to thank them for that.

Don't quit. Like, for real, grit your teeth, do what you need to do to learn it, but give yourself grace, for sure. Know you've got everything you have already, and all you're doing is uncovering it - and that's the journey. That's the part of it that's so hard for us achieving people, but that is where you get the jewels, the gems come in, and it's lifelong assets for you on how you move forward in life. It is just these building blocks of success - just keep going. I mean, yes, aim for accolades, those are great, but keep going so you can truly go back to yourself and find that strength again, and use it. Use it for your whatever, whatever it is you're doing. Just stay so unapologetically true to yourself, and just know that anybody can do what they want to do. We don't have someone harping down on us with a piece of chalk being like you can't - as full-grown adults, I'm learning, like, gosh, if you want to pursue something, just try it, just do it. There's nothing that's gonna stop you except you. The biggest critic is what's going on in between your two ears. I just want to empower somebody with that message - please don't forget who you are. I don't think I'm much very accomplished in any way, but if I can do something by putting my focus and effort and heart into it, you can too. Don't let a parent or a partner or a sister or anyone deter you from what you feel like is true to you.

Staying unapologetically true to yourself is the most important thing to me. I'm such a firm believer that this is what's gonna heal so much in our future generations - if women just stay true to themselves and hold their ground about themselves. I just want to get the message across out there that as a fellow woman, as a fellow mother, sister, daughter, human being, just stay so unapologetically true to yourself. The biggest thing I've learned is finding my voice and being authentically me. I've learned that just being in the field, relatability and learning how to meet someone where they are is definitely something I've learned. At the end of the day, the other person is people - they're someone who also is running a business, running something that means something to them. It's like, how do I help you get from A to B a little bit better? Just coming from that perspective takes away any sort of gimmicky, awkward, or pressure. I think anything worth having or becoming, you need traction, you need friction. Women need to establish their boundaries, whether it's at work, whether it's inside their house, whether it's with their children. We have to learn how to stand up for ourselves and to be genuinely true to our own self.