Leah Linnemeier

Honestly, my parents contribute a lot to my success. I would not be where I am today without them. They were the ones who helped me move to Chicago to be able to go to DePaul, and without that, I don't even know where I would be. I probably would still be in my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I'm just eternally grateful for that, and they really still inspire me today.

The best career advice I've received is don't burn yourself out. While it's important to do hard work in everyday life, especially when it comes to your career, it's also important to make sure you're taking care of yourself so that you're not burning yourself out. If you do burn yourself out, then you're not going to be able to contribute to your career anyway. So honestly, taking care of yourself, making sure you're good, and then once you do all of that, you can do your best work.

I would tell young women entering my industry to be sure of yourself. I notice that a lot of the women I encounter are always just willing to take a step back, mostly because society kind of tells them to. But I think you have to be very headstrong, you have to make your way through the world, and I don't think that anyone should ever think that they are less because of their gender. Just be sure of yourself, be strong, know that you're doing the right thing, and always advocate for yourself. That's another thing - I know a lot of women will not advocate for themselves because a lot of the time we get pushback, but the only way to advocate for yourself is to advocate for yourself.

I would definitely say the disconnect between management, lower management, and then just standard employees is a big challenge. I feel like there's not one expectation for everyone, and when people aren't on the same page, it's very hard to understand the best way to go about things and the best way to run the workplace. Another challenge would be being in charge of people, especially because I'm friends with a lot of the people I work with. It is hard sometimes to have to talk with someone about what they should be doing if they're not doing it correctly. But it does always work out in the end, and it makes both of us better workers, so it's worth it.

I really value communication and consideration between people. I really like to consider all people on the same level, and I think it's really easy to have a genuine connection and have just a genuine conversation when you see each other that way. Just being considerate in your everyday life, you know, thinking of others so that others can, in turn, think of you. I also think anything that's selfless, like volunteering - I've done a lot of volunteering - is a really good way to go about the world, to make sure others are having as good of a time as you are.