Makayla Hines

I truly attribute my success to the failures I experienced along the way and the mentors who supported me. When I failed the bar exam twice - once by just 2 points - I was devastated. I had put myself through 3 years of law school, spent so much money, and studied so hard to become an attorney. At the time, I didn't understand why it was happening, but looking back now, had I not failed, I wouldn't have taken that break from the legal field, I would have stayed at the firm I was working at, and I wouldn't be doing exactly what I want to be doing now. It took some years to have that aha moment of realizing that's why it happened - this is where I was supposed to be, this is where I was supposed to end up. Those failures, as painful as they were, led me to where I'm supposed to be, and I'm thankful for them. I also couldn't have survived without my mentors, Mark Steven and my boss David, who took me under their wing, patiently answered all my questions, and taught me everything I needed to know about this company and this field.

The best piece of advice I was given when I first started at Lockheed Martin was to give it a year. They told me, give it a year, and if you still don't understand what's going on, then something's wrong, but you have to give it a year. That advice really stuck with me because there's such a huge learning curve in this field - you're not only learning the knowledge you need to actually perform your work, but the company structure is very different than other corporations. Looking back now, the type of worker I am today is night and day from the type of worker I was a year ago. I know so much more, and you learn so much on the job. That one year timeframe gave me permission to struggle, to not know everything right away, and to keep pushing through the stress, worries, and anxiety until things clicked.

I would say don't give up, and you really have to just go for it. It's very intimidating, and as bad as it sounds, fake it till you make it, until you figure it out. There's a huge learning curve in this field because not only are you learning the knowledge you need to actually perform your work, but the company structure is very different than other corporations. You've got to keep going. Give it a year, and if you still don't understand what's going on, then something's wrong, but you have to give it a year. Keep pushing through the stress, through the worries, through the anxiety, and see where you're at a year from now. Don't let the anxiety of 'I don't know what I'm doing, I shouldn't belong here' - don't let those thoughts creep in. Push past them and keep going, and you'll see. You do belong. You can do it. If I can do it, you can do it. It's especially important in male-dominated fields like mine, where you walk into rooms and you're the odd one out, or you're in meetings and men talk over you or dismiss your opinion. You need that backbone to say, nope, I belong here too. Look at all these other women who have done it - I'm following in their lead.