Violet Dreyer

I think I attribute my success to my younger self. I am really inspired by young me to kind of shape and shift what I've kind of worked in now. So I would say my younger self. I think you grow and you learn, and you hopefully learn from the things that don't work out very well.

I think what I have noticed in any different type of career is that career is not always for you, or you can get yourself into a career that you find doesn't work with you. I think life's too short, and it may be hard to quit, but if you quit, you can find something that you're truly passionate about. As long as you're happy doing what you're doing, that's the most important thing. You're going to give most of yourself to doing that, and you're going to be happy, your best work's going to come from that. So I think just truly do what you actually love, and don't be afraid to quit to find what that is.

Be friends with each other. I think there's a lot of what might feel like competition, but really just making friends, and being friendly, and finding common ground is so important. I think finding that fellowship is what really helps other young women. But just make friends, I think. Networking is huge, and it goes a long way and serves a long time.

I think funding is always a challenge, and trying to find that. Opportunities are there, but people don't always hear about them, so networking can be a challenge, just trying to figure out the right ways to network and how to speak to other people and organizations. So I think funding and networking are some challenges, but we're learning to go with it, especially because the times are changing, and there's different ways to communicate, different ways to navigate, different types of funding every year. Just kind of keeping up with the times on that can be the most challenging.

Definitely honesty. I think we can always tell people what they want to hear, but it's not what needs to be said. I also think that if you're in a meeting and you maybe have a different outlook, don't be afraid to say it, even if people disagree, because you might actually change people's minds. I think we all have our own mindset, and it's important to share that, and not just go along with what sounds the best, but to actually challenge ideas, because the most growth is going to come from that. So I think really just honing in your perspective on things, not being afraid to share that.