What does "being strong" mean to you? To me, being strong means being open to new experiences. To be confident in yourself to take on challenges, however large or small they may be, and to embrace the outcomes. It means that in the face of rejection, you have the strength and grit to continue with the re-direction. There are times when I get in my head and build up all the ways something could go wrong and how much I don’t want to do it. When I start to spiral, I take a step back and work on quieting my mind and allowing myself to feel for a bit, but then to remind myself that I am strong enough to continue on the path. An example of this would be the trepidation I felt when moving to Seattle. It was something I wanted while also being something that scared me - the idea of starting over far away from family and needing to find new friends made me extremely anxious in the weeks leading up to the move and even more so when Cory started his MBA program. It took time, and I felt lost for a few months (re-direction!) but I eventually found a wonderful community with incredible friends who love and accept me - flaws and all.
How does family shape your perception of strength? All my life, I have been surrounded by strong women. I was taught that if you want to achieve a goal, you are the one who holds the tools to get there. Only you are able to shape your strength in yourself. My mom found a better life for herself when she immigrated from the Philippines and so did my godmothers - they worked hard and were able to come to the US through jobs and careers. I’ve learned that strength comes from within yourself and community. Yourself through true grit and a determination to survive trials and errors, and your community through finding friends, family and mentors who support and push you to your goals.
Who is a female role model in your life and why? My female role model is my best friend, Dr. Anissa Cervantes. As the eldest daughter and first-generation graduate from her family, Anissa has constantly impressed me with the strength, tenacity and love she posses. Anissa grew up bilingual and has constantly used this skill as her family’s translator and, more recently, uses this to connect with and help Spanish-speaking patients in underserved communities during her OBGYN residency. I first met Anissa my sophomore year of high school when we had 5/7 classes together and ended up being lab partners for 3 of those classes (shoutout alphabetical order, haha) and I have been her #1 supporter ever since. Anissa has had her fair share of hurdles as she went through med school such as moving away from her family and taking on a heavy course load, which requires strength in itself. But what sets her apart from others is the way she makes time for the people she loves. Even under the demanding load of her career, she takes time to check in with friends and is there to support her family. She prioritizes the things that matter most to her through grit, compassion and strength. At her core, Anissa is a true and constant friend.
How can you be strong and vulnerable? I believe that strength and vulnerability are 2 sides of the same coin. I think you can be strong through vulnerability by growing self-confidence in yourself and being strong enough to open yourself to others. It means to have faith in your stance and who you are and yet be able to open yourself to criticism and embrace it. To wear your heart on your sleeve and be able to face the trial head on. One of the most interesting things I learned while in consulting is a lesson that can be applied to life: embracing the ambiguity. I think being strong and vulnerable can fit into this idea that you are strong enough to embrace the unknown.
When has your strength been personally challenged and how did you respond? Early in 2020, I was a burnt-out consultant and it was affecting my life outside work - I was unhappy and anxious all the time. In my unhappiness, I decided to make a career change to UX design. I wanted to get back to my roots of creating something worthwhile and designing for others. I built up a design portfolio (a first for me), started applying like crazy…and was faced with a solid wall of rejection. Weeks turned into months, and I was nowhere close to finding a way out. By 2021, I was mentally exhausted and had several times when I wanted to give up, but I felt like I couldn’t. I couldn’t just accept the situation I was in, so doubled down on applications. Then, I got an interview for a small biotech startup for a product manager position - I didn’t get the position, but asked the woman interviewing me for feedback on my application - and she did! She was the shining star that pushed me to continue. Just a simple conversation helped me feel much better about the path I was on. She inspired me to continue to ask more women in the tech industry for advice and after a few months, I was able to be successful in my transition to UX design.
Leanna’s Intentional Act of Kindness
How did you use the $100? I used a portion of the money to build a care basket for my friend who is having a rough time in med school. She's stressed and has been spending long hours at the hospital, and I bought some of her favorite things to let her know I was thinking about her! The 2nd portion went to my friend, Kelsey, who is a 1st grade teacher in the greater Seattle area. Kelsey is an inspiration for being so strong and gracious despite all the curveballs thrown her way as an educator. She is a wonderful teacher and I wanted to help her and her kids by buying some classroom supplies!
The reminder went to Food Finders in West Lafayette, IN. Food Finders has a program called the Mobile Pantry which brings fresh food to food desert communities around Lafayette, IN. While I was at Purdue, my senior capstone project team designed our project to help Food Finders improve their Mobile Pantry program. I wanted to continue to give back to that specific community because it's so uniquely special to me.
I knew right away I wanted to use it to impact multiple groups of people, but wasn't sure how. Thinking more deeply about it, I wanted to help uplift communities that are special to me. Donating to Food Finders was especially exciting to me because while I'm no longer physically there in West Lafayette, IN, the community is still very special to me.
What was the 'Intentional Act of Kindness' process like for you? Participating in this process was very thought-provoking and took me a long time to decide what I wanted to do. I felt a great deal of pressure to make a good choice. Thinking of Kelsey's classroom came so easily, but being (still) relatively new to Seattle, I struggled a little to decide on the rest. It forced me to look introspectively and I thought back to previous communities I love and have lived in. West Lafayette is so important to the person I am and have become, that Food Finders was the clear and natural choice! I'm very happy with how this process ended, and feel inspired to be more active in my community in Seattle.