Episode description

“Before you climb the ladder, make sure it’s leaning up against the right building.”

-Steven Covey

Until a few years ago, I had not taken the time to think about what that “right building” looked like for me. Most of my career decisions have been based on goals that were defined by my middle class upbringing - money, title, stability and prestige. For a long time, this did not bother me. I was able to compartmentalize work and get fulfillment through my relationships and hobbies outside of it. But as I have grown in my career, work has has taken up more rom not just on my calendar, but also of my headspace. And the details I was able to leave behind earlier - what my day to day looks like, the kind of problems I solve for and the culture at work are a much larger part of my life, and play a significant role in determining my happiness. While I still don’t know exactly what the “right building” looks like, it is something I am actively working on.

So I was delighted to discover that my good friend, Jen Stefanski, has given this some thought. In this episode, Jen shares her career journey and how she learned to make professional decisions based on the life she wanted. Through the years, her career moves have been guided by personal needs even more so than professional wants, and this has been her recipe for success and happiness. As Maya Angelou said: “I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life.”

Jennifer Stefanski serves as Product Counsel at SurveyMonkey, and previously held Product Counsel roles with PayPal and eBay. She began her career at Blank Rome, LLP as an associate in the Intellectual Property and Technology practice group. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Pennsylvania State University. She also teaches a communications course at Santa Clara Law School as a co-instructor for their High Tech Law program’s titled How Engineers, Businesspeople and Lawyers Communicate With Each Other. Jen also serves on the Board of Aerie Africa, a U.S.-based non-profit, dedicated to providing a home for orphaned and vulnerable children in the southern region of Ethiopia. https://aerieafrica.org/

Connect with her on LinkedIn.

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