Women of Jobble: Our Own Real Career Experiences and Lessons

Women in any industry across the United States have their own unique successes and challenges when growing in their field. Advocacy for equality for women in the workplace is helping bring gender discrimination to light. We encourage everyone to be an advocate and ally. Your experiences are unique, but there are often shared feelings or lessons that we can all grow from together. In celebration of Women’s History Month, some of the women of Jobble wanted to share their insights and experiences. Our hope is to help other women in similar situations or backgrounds to feel heard, supported and understood.

Being a Leader Doesn’t Mean Being Bossy

At prior jobs, I felt like I had opportunities to lead but felt too nervous or lacked the confidence to assert myself. One of my most pivotal moments early in my career was when my manager told me while I was the smartest one on the team. But, they said I needed to work on my confidence. Hearing validation from a someone I greatly respected reassured me that I was on the right path. It made me feel ready to take on the next exciting challenge in my career.

I went on to rebuild a struggling product that ended up being the most successful department in the company.  By harnessing my own talents, I pushed my team toward its goals. I worked and led alongside them, not by yelling from the sidelines. My colleagues will respect me for my work and dedication and that’s most important to me.

– Lauren Kurkul

Lauren Kurkul is currently the Vice President of Marketing at Jobble. Lyrics to Beyonce’s, “Who Run the World” are well-known by her young daughters. Raising daughters is not only the greatest privilege but also the greatest challenge. Lauren aims to raise them by example – with empathy, understanding and patience. She practices both at work and at home.

Life’s Too Short To Spend on Comparisons

I used to compare myself to my peers a lot – especially when I was a recruiter at a big company. There, it seemed like all that seemed to matter were your numbers. The moment I stopped worrying about what others were doing was the moment I started to understand my strengths. I stopped comparing my own failures to their successes. Then, I was able to focus on my own self-worth and rose to the top.

– Allie Hagerty

Allie is currently the Director of Human Resources at Jobble. Growing up, Allie wanted to be a lawyer, but is very happy with her career in Human Resources. In her free time, Allie enjoys playing with her dog, Goose, and working on her food blog, Seasoned and Salted. 

We Should Build Each Other Up, Not Compete Against Each Other

The way you make people feel is how you will be remembered. Supporting your female colleagues and friends is so simple but it has a large ripple effect. It also extends to people you meet in your day-to-day. I’ve found that I get further in everything I do when I focus on supporting other people. I try to learn what they are interested in or working on and help them in those areas, instead of focusing on how their actions reflect on me.

We are an asset to each other. I wouldn’t want to be on this journey alone. 

– Sara Avellar

Sara is currently the Customer Success Manager at Jobble. Her first job was at a sailing camp. She still doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up. Her hobby of the moment is making miniature houses. 

Never Downplay Your Accomplishments

There’s a difference between being humble and putting yourself down. At the beginning of my career, I used to downplay my accomplishments for fear of being too boastful. I thought humility meant resisting the temptation to differentiate myself from my peers. Over time, I realized that this hurt my self-confidence and prevented me from fully feeling pride in my own work. Now, when I accomplish something, I celebrate it. I don’t need to seek validation and acknowledgement from others when I can internally reflect and say: Yes. I did my best and this work reflects that and this accomplishment is a result of it.

– Jesi Bolandrina

Jesi is the Content Marketing Manager at Jobble. She’s spent her career learning a little about a lot of different things. She loves staying busy outside of Jobble by working gigs to experience new places with a lot of interesting people.