This is the continuation of our Q&A from our LinkedIn Women's History Month spotlight series with Robin Koval of The Truth Initiative, Maggie Kavalaris of Terviva, and Emily Skor of Growth Energy.
Q: What made you decide to be whatever it is you are today?
A: (Robin) I have a circuitous path so I always advise young people to have a plan but be open to the universe coming to meet you. I graduated with a BFA to be a painter but as a fallback I got a job as an admin at an advertising agency because it sounded cool. My boss overlooked my bad typing and I found myself loving the world of advertising. After a long career there, I redirected my life and became part of the nonprofit world bringing my advertising/communications expertise to the Truth Initiative.
(Emily) A consistent intellectual thread has been driving my career selections back to my first internship in Washington at a think tank, the exercise of taking a complex topic and distilling it to inform someone, have them retain the info, and ideally act on it. This has driven everything I have done from crisis communications to public affairs to renewable fuel space.
(Maggie) My path is straightforward. I followed the path of my older brother, a famous trial lawyer, and went into law. Later I decided I didn't want to take things apart but build something so I began to advise start-up companies. In Silicon Valley in 1981, to practice law you needed enthusiasm, curiosity, intellectual acumen, and energy to advise an entrepreneur. I got tired of picking up the crumbs off the cakes that other people baked, I wanted to bake my own cake so I started investing in my own companies, including Terviva – now my raison d’etre. There was a natural transition, inspired by my brother, from litigator to transactional lawyer to entrepreneur.
Q: Do you have any last thoughts to share?
A: (Maggie) Have some fun and be kind to yourself! Life and professionalism is a long game, my winners were 10-15 years in the making.
(Emily) Celebrate the small victories! It’s a good way to do team building.
(Robin) Sometimes the expectation of leaders to focus on the big picture can be paralyzing, do one thing today – say something nice to someone, reflect something that went right, this helps you play the long game. Be yourself, celebrate the small things, and focus on the details – because they do matter.
