Renee Makkar

I would definitely say my family, especially my mom and my older brother - he has been like my rock. They supported me all throughout my life and helped me guide my thoughts throughout my career, school, and emotionally. Even when I got laid off from a company after Amazon because of the trades and President Trump raising the trading costs between here and China, which caused company restructuring, I felt like my entire world was falling apart. It felt humiliating in the moment, but it actually worked out for my benefit because if that didn't happen, I would not be in the role with the company I work with right now. Just having that support from my family reminding me that I'm a great employee that anybody would love to have, reminding me of what my strengths are and what I can offer - that really helped. Seeing some of my friends who are very successful engineers and doctors also getting laid off because times are tough right now helped remind me that my self-worth doesn't come from the title that I own, but it comes from what I can offer - my humane side, my analytical side, what I can offer to the people who work with me, but also to my community. It helped me think of ways to give back to the Egyptian community, my church, and how I can be helpful to others who might have a similar experience to me growing up. Being bilingual and fluent in Arabic, I volunteer in churches to help those who don't speak good English but speak Arabic, and I even took it to a professional side where I became an interpreter with LDC, going with cancer patients or regular people who need healthcare and need someone who can advocate for them because their tongue cannot advocate for them.

The best career advice I've ever received is to just focus on the present rather than only thinking about the future. Like, it's great to think of the future, but focus on what you can do now to make a change - that's more important than thinking about how you want to change the company structure in the future and do this and that. Focus on what you can achieve within your small scope until you can make a big difference.

The advice that I wish someone told me is that some fields are just naturally going to be male-dominated, and just because they are, that doesn't mean that you don't have a place and you don't have a voice. Most careers, except for the medical field, are male-dominated, but I would tell younger ladies to not be scared because they're male-dominated. You have a place, and you have a voice, and you can make a real change. Don't let anybody tell you that you only fit in this part, or you only got this job because you're pretty - no, it's because you're intelligent, and you have something to offer. Even if they can't see it, even if other people can't see it right now, your work will reflect it. Being a woman is very powerful, and while some people have different opinions about that, women have a lot more talent and can handle a lot more pressure than males. Even if you get knocked down, you still have opportunities to branch out and express yourself. If someone says they don't think you can do this or you're a good fit, my personal opinion is that's even a bigger opportunity for you to try and prove them wrong. You can bring a different point of view from the male perspective because the male brain is wired in one way and the woman brain is wired in a different way - we think of every single aspect and have so much more going on, so we can see some visuals that our male colleagues can't see. That's not to say they're bad or we're better, but we can bring other perspectives, and if we just deliver it the right way, it can make a whole lot of sense and can either help grow the company or help avoid some stuff.

I think that being a woman is very powerful, and the opportunities you have are significant even when you face challenges. Even if you get knocked down, you still have opportunities to branch out and express yourself. If someone says they don't think you can do this or you're a good fit, that's even a bigger opportunity for you to try and prove them wrong. The opportunities you have include bringing a different point of view from the male perspective, because the male brain is wired in one way and the woman brain is wired in a different way. We think of every single aspect and have so much more going on, so we can see some visuals that our male colleagues can't see. We can bring other perspectives, and if we just deliver it the right way through working on research, overthinking some of the aspects, and working on delivering a good project, proposal, presentation, or idea, it can make a change in a company - it can help grow the company or help avoid problems.

Definitely feeling like there's equality and feeling fair, whether that's when I manage a team or right now when I kind of manage a whole thing on my own. Feeling fair and following the rules is important to me, though I understand that circumstances are different. I think about showing the human side but also respecting the differences, recognizing that some situations could have their own exceptions. You still have to think fair in both aspects - whether that's your work, where I have to be fair to my job and to the place that I work for, but I also have to be fair for the human that works for me. It's about balancing the professional and human aspects in my work.