Sabrina Katz

I attribute my success to just confidence in myself and continuing to try things. I've also had really supportive people along the way. Finding people who are supportive, like mentors, has been really helpful in my career. When I decided to shift and go back to grad school, I needed some help in figuring that out, and I found a mentor in Chicago who really helped guide me to make the right decision for myself. Having the right people along the way has been really helpful - not to do things for me, but just to help me figure it out for myself. It's also about saying yes to things. I started my teaching career 18 years ago because one school had an opening and they said they needed someone to teach this class. I had never taught anything before, but they gave me a shot, so I took it.

The best career advice I received along the way was just be yourself. Be yourself, be authentic and real, and state what you believe. For our business, we believe in certain things, and here's what we want to do. We turn down projects that don't fit into our moral compass. Really having that faith that it's gonna work out is important.

I always recommend that young women find someone to follow - find a role model for yourself. The role model might be someone that you don't meet or don't actually know, but you can look to as 'I want to be like that person.' But then also find a mentor, somebody who can sit with you and answer those questions of where do I go next, and how do I approach this question. Someone who can help with questions about salary, or raises, and vacation time. Having somebody to really talk to is super helpful, and that's what I try to provide for my students as they go on their way. I tell them to keep in touch - you can always come back and reach out to me and ask.