Her Story
About Nicolette
Nicolette Stepakoff currently serves in an AI and change management role at Google, focusing on Google Cloud pre-sales, customer success, and helping organizations integrate AI tools into their workflows through strategic planning and enablement. She brings over a decade of experience in the technology sector, having previously worked as VP of Change Management at Eliza, an OpenAI partner, where she helped end users adopt ChatGPT and uncover practical workflows. Prior to that, she held positions at Okta as a customer success manager and at SADA Systems, where she started in pre-sales for Office 365 and built out a change management practice. Nicolette holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees in communication studies with an emphasis on executive communication from California State University Northridge, as well as multiple Google Cloud certifications. She is a member of the Worldwide Women's Association and supports My Candor, which provides vaccines to underprivileged areas in South America. She attributes her success to self-reflection, the ability to make difficult career decisions such as leaving and returning to Google, and guidance from mentors. Nicolette advises young women entering the field to prioritize networking and maintain long-term professional relationships through consistent outreach.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nicolette
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to self-reflection and the ability to make hard decisions, like leaving Google to start something up and then realizing it wasn't right and coming back. I'm able to do that because I have mentors that help me through that process.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I received from my mentor Tedra was that you have to step back and do what's best for you and your family. Understand that you have a separate identity outside of work, that is not the full you. That was a really hard lesson.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Go network, meet people in person, find out where they are, what they do, send them emails or LinkedIn messages asking them to have coffee. Networking is something after COVID that we kind of lost a little bit. The number one thing I tell all of my mentees is to create a Google form for anyone impactful and ask them to fill out their information so you can send them a holiday card every year.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
AI is moving very, very fast and people are a little scared of it still. In my industry we just assume people are where we are and they're not. Leaders need to take a step back and really understand and embrace that, level set their expectations, and help people along in this journey. It's not just roll it out, you need a strategy around it.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
In work life, grit - I don't care what it takes, just get it done. If you say you're gonna do something, just do it. Outside of work with kids, don't be an asshole, and you could do it if it doesn't hurt you or anybody else. Just be a good, kind person.
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