Sophia Weeber

What inspires me is always reinventing myself. I was fortunate enough to live in 4 different countries - I studied abroad in Mexico, studied in Boston, did a year in Italy, and a year in Russia. I'm from Houston, Texas, and having that global experience of living in different countries, being half Mexican from my mom's side and European from my dad's side (Germany and Spain), the cultural experience has shaped me. I've also had challenges like being divorced and relationship experiences, challenges every day with work, maybe the workload or having a bad day. But I always see that there's always positivity in life. I always see that you can reinvent yourself and always move forward and improve. Every single day, you can do better today than you could yesterday, and every day's a new day. I love to see how I can grow in my field in finance, how I can grow through fitness where I've seen the progress, and even through fashion. I'm inspired by timeless people like Coco Chanel and Queen Elizabeth - it's fashion that doesn't expire. You can wake up every day, look good, feel good, while going to the gym, going to work, even just going to the grocery store. Overall, we're all humans, we're all trying to be better than who we were yesterday, and that inspires me. Never give up on yourself - that to me sums up my life. Don't give up.

I can't pinpoint someone telling me the best career advice. I think I've kind of developed my own advice throughout the years with living in different countries, even countries I didn't even speak the language, dealing with different cultures, and also with relationships. I've built my own way of thinking - I still have to show up for myself, I still have to believe in myself, believe in my worth, and stay true to my values. It's very easy for somebody to have that victim mentality, but rather than doing that and letting myself go, I'm still here, I'm still showing up at work, I'm still going to the gym, and if anything, it makes me work even harder for the challenges that I've gone through. The best advice, not necessarily career but personal and everything, is never give up on yourself. That to me sums up my life. Don't give up.

Believe in yourself, because nobody else will. You always have to be true to who you are, know your worth. I run half marathons because I love when people cheer for me. You could have great parents or loving family and friends, but at the end of the day, you are you for you. You could be your worst enemy or your best friend. I would say to someone young, always prioritize yourself first, and be your own best friend. It's very easy for somebody to have that victim mentality, but you still have to show up for yourself, believe in yourself, believe in your worth, and stay true to your values.

The biggest challenge is that there's always a lot of new business, there's always a lot of new deals, which is great, but because of that, we're also a very small team, so the workflow of it could be a challenge. But that's generally good - if anything, I just work around that schedule of the workflow challenge.

I value respect. That's number one - being respectful for each other. We're all humans, I don't know your story, you don't know mine, so we don't know what other people have gone through in life. Respect is key, whether that is a senior leader in management or someone that's below you. You always have to be kind to each other and be nice. It's so basic, but that's something I do value. Also, loyalty, friendship, and family is something I hold dear to me - family and friends that I can trust with whatever I say to them, and I know that they're not gonna talk behind my back or they're not gonna be judgmental. For me, that's so key, and it's so rare to find a group of people that you can really connect and bond with. I've been fortunate enough to have family that is loving and supportive, and I've also built a community of friendships on the side that I know I can count on for years and years to come. We're all here to support each other. Even if someone is having a bad day or going through something challenging in life, just let them know I'm here for you, for whatever you need.