Overcoming Workplace Challenges for Multi-Generational Teams
with Helen Sanchez
How to Handle Career Transitions with Grace & Resilience
Mini Thangaswamy, Mary Pearce, Monica Galatanu
As we achieve and adapt in our personal and professional lives, transitions are inevitable. Whether it’s taking a break from work, returning to work as a mom, or moving into an unfamiliar professional role, change brings with it new challenges.
All three of us started our careers in...
As we achieve and adapt in our personal and professional lives, transitions are inevitable. Whether it’s taking a break from work, returning to work as a mom, or moving into an unfamiliar professional role, change brings with it new challenges.
All three of us started our careers in male-dominated fields. We had no idea the road ahead was about to get even lonelier at times. Being the first one on your team to pump milk at work for your infant child, or the only one in a dual working household to drive your kids to practice, can feel lonely and exhausting at times. We were all there, in the deep throws of worry. Until we flipped the perspective, and we decided to focus on our strengths, and the power of our advocacy for a more inclusive mindset.
By the end of this chat you will learn:
- Tips for responding to change without panic
- How to gain confidence when you’re an ‘only’
- The importance of honest conversations with your manager and team
Meet The Speakers
Mini Thangaswamy
Mini is a mother to two young girls and managed getting through a graduate program during both her pregnancies and while breastfeeding for her (then) babies. Being the only one in the office to take pumping breaks and still not miss a beat at work helped her develop razor sharp focus. Traveling for work with icebags, breast pump and constantly scanning for clean, private places to pump made her a planning ninja. She continues to learn to balance motherhood with her passion to develop world class payment products. Mini currently leads Merchant Card processing and Fraud solution product teams at PayPal and is a Chapter Lead at Women in Product.
Mary Pearce
Mary has successfully jump-started her career several times as a technology professional. Starting as a defense industry software engineer out of college, she took time off to raise two sons to school age. She resumed her career by starting and running a technology consulting firm for over a decade. Taking a leap of faith in 2007, Mary moved to Seattle and began developing software while earning an MBA and running a horse farm. She transitioned into project management, leading complex teams across a large hospital enterprise. When her desire arose to enjoy travel while working, she re-honed her software development skills, then joined a fast-paced online payments company as an engineer. Today she specializes in online credit card authentication and fraud detection, growing daily in technical knowledge and expanding her skillset.
Monica Galatanu
Monica is used to being one of the very few women in the room ever since her university days studying computer science. She had been working for 10 years when she put her career on hold and took time off to focus on her family for a few years. Kids in school and eager to return to work meant she cornered herself into an even smaller niche. Good luck finding much support for the hashtag #stay-at-home-engineer-moms-that-returned-to-work. She found an incredibly supporting environment at PayPal 3 years ago, where she is now a senior software engineer. Monica works on crafting reliable payment services and has a soft spot for optimizing systems.
