Vanessa McAteer

I think it's just the relationships that I have built with those who have been especially for those who have been multiple places with me. I have folks on my team now who worked with me at Disney, and I brought over from past teams that I've had, and I think consistency in who I am and how I show up. And the rawness that I am willing to show and be vulnerable and be honest about, I think that helps solidify my position and where I am and what I'm doing, because that builds trust, and the trust locks in those things to make people feel like they still want to work with you.

I spent a lot of time at my time at Facebook with the Cheryl Sandberg was there at the time. And so the lean in circles that we would do as being part of that organization always brought just such a really helpful perspective of very well-established and high-level female executives who always pressed on the you can literally cannot have it all, in the sense of like there will always be something that's less than 100% that you're doing, and being able to bend and flex the things that can be 100% right now, but the other things that could be less than 100% at the same time, it's okay, and the motherhood and having a career is always going to be the juggle, like there isn't a way to nail it, so there isn't a way to do it perfectively at the same time. And so for me I've always attempted to make sure I don't aim for that, and I don't aim to do all of it 100% at the same time, and that I'm just very communicative about what I can and can't do.

I think my best advice for women is to sort of have your goals in mind, have your plans in place, but also just to be very observant, to be a sponge, to be very cognizant of who you have around you, who's part of your organization, who's making the decisions that will affect you and your team and your colleagues, and to evaluate what's best for you or how you work best with those sorts of folks around you. I think a lot of times we keep our eye on the prize for what we want, and we lose sight of who's involved in getting us there or helping us get there or going along the way with us. And sometimes it's better to be aware of who those people are or how the organization is built or what sort of partnership you would have along the way and then act accordingly, or make choices accordingly.

Yeah, I mean, the job market is just tough. So I think the biggest challenge is just kind of the state of the world and the country that we are in. Better realizing and understanding what we're up against in terms of the market. And for us in entertainment, it means like who's going to the movies, and at what time are they going and for how long and what kind of box office can we expect. Being able to invest in your talent, be smarter. A lot of the budgets that we all have in all our industries to build teams, to launch products to take build out things for different projects you're working on. These are all things that are going to come with a lower budget these days, so working smarter instead of harder is like more critical now than it ever has been. Better understanding like how do we not necessarily do more with less, but like do the most we can with what we have, I think is the better way to look at it. And that's I think an opportunity that's gonna stick for a long time.

Yeah, I think transparency and humility are really important to me in my life, in my personal life, but also just professionally, like some of the greatest people I've ever known have just been so raw and honest and transparent. And then humility is another thing of like I just don't ever believe that there's something too small or too big for someone to do. The way that I manage this team here at DreamWorks, the way that I've ever been in a leadership position is a moment and a feeling of gratefulness. And being able to lead a team is a privilege, and it's an honor, and it feels like something that whatever they're doing, whatever the thing is in their day-to-day that they need, I should be able to step in and do for them at the drop of a dime. So there's no task that's too small.