Career Growth Advice from Ivannia Martinez, Career Development Leader | Career Tips for Women in Career Development

2B Bolder Podcast – Episode 65
Featuring Ivannia Martinez

Episode Title: #65 Career Podcast Featuring Ivannia Martinez, Best-Selling Author, Public Speaker, and Sr Strategic Software Planner – Women in Tech

Host: Mary Killelea
Guest: Ivannia Martinez



Mary Killelea (Host): Hi there. My name is Mary Killelea. Welcome to the To Be Bolder podcast, providing career insights for the next generation of women in business and tech. To Be Bolder was created out of my love for technology and marketing, my desire to bring together like-minded women, and my hope to be a great role model and source of inspiration for my two girls and other young women like you. Encouraging you guys to show up and to be bolder and to know that anything you guys dream of, it's totally possible. So sit back, relax and enjoy the conversation.

Thank you for tuning in. My guest just launched her new book, Surviving in a Man's World, and she knows this firsthand. So I'm so excited to talk to her about this. Ivannia Martinez is a keynote public speaker, business consultant, and electronic engineer who holds a master's degree in computer science. She has worked in technology and engineering for more than 25 years. Born in Costa Rica, Ivannia lives in Santa Clara, California with her husband, twin son and daughter and dog. She believes in working hard and celebrating harder. Ivannia enjoys building strong teams and coaching and mentoring others in their career progressions. She is dedicated to promoting more women into STEM careers by actively engaging in academic, government and industry groups that focus on this purpose. Ivannnia, thanks for being here. I love your book title, Surviving in a Man's World, a Career Woman's Toolkit to Thrive and Achieve Greatness.

Ivannia Martinez (Guest): Thank you, Mary, for having me. I'm very excited for being here in your program. Thank you very much.

Mary Killelea: Yeah. Yeah. So tell me what motivated you to write this book.

Ivannia Martinez: Actually, I tell the whole story in chapter one of the book. But in summary, I wanted to leave a legacy. I wanted to leave a documented way to help these younger females that came up in the man's world. And I wanted to, you know, document all my learnings in a book.

Mary Killelea: That's so worthwhile. And I can relate to that. That's kind of the essence of why I do this podcast. You talk about needing a survival kit. What's in a survival kit in your eyes?

Ivannia Martinez: Well, this is an analogy that I do in my book that I am telling the audience that I'm going into this journey. And in the journey, I need different elements for me to survive. For example, a GPS, right? And then I need a radio to communicate. And I need essentials like water or like a light. And each of these elements in the book I'm making a relationship of what does it mean in the career. Like the GPS, like mapping myself, knowing myself and radio communication. Why is it important to have good communication and good reception? And I keep doing this analogy throughout the book.

Mary Killelea: Do you wish you would have had this map or survival toolkit when you were younger?

Ivannia Martinez: Of course, of course. And I think that's the legacy that I want to leave, right? That women can have these tools that I learn with a lot of mistakes and a lot of struggle during my career. And that maybe this map can help them. And by the way, I'm even giving this map to my children that they are starting to their careers as well. So that's my ambitions. And that's why I think it's important to share this with younger generations.

Mary Killelea: Well, I love that analogy. So why is it so important to identify strengths and deliverables that connect business goals and define your next career step?

Ivannia Martinez: That's actually that's part of the mapping of yourself, knowing yourself, knowing your strength. Because if you think about this, like a soccer player, right, he has his skills and his strengths and he enjoys what he's doing. It's the same in your career, right? You have this strength. And if you put this strength into your career, you will enjoy it. It will be natural. It would be very, very easy for you. Like in my case, I am a really good planner. So, and I tell this analogy also in the book, I compensate my lack of orientation, for example, if I plan correctly, and I put this lack of orientation in my book, in my planning, then I can get to the destination in an easier way. So that's the same. I mean, if I use my planning skills for my career and where I wanted to do it and when I want to put these products out there, it's something that I can excel and I do it in a natural way, basically.

Mary Killelea: At what point in your career do you think you started to recognize your own strengths? Because I think as women, we don't recognize them until, I don't want to say we get to a certain age, but we've been doing work for so long and you figure out what works, what doesn't, and then, you know, secretly you're like, oh, that is a superpower of mine. I didn't realize it.

Ivannia Martinez: Actually, you're right. I think you have to make the effort, right? And honestly, I learned this very early in my career and I have to thank one of my colleagues at that time. She told me that the way that she learned about herself was asking feedback to others about herself. And then I start putting that in practice. And first, you need a lot of, you need to be humble, right? To hear the feedback. But it really helps you, right? Because then you start understanding what are you good at and what are you not good at, right? And then what I did is that I start using my strengths to excel and not focus too much on my weaknesses, let's say that way.

Mary Killelea: Yeah, you know, it's wonderful. I actually in the last year or so, I have had a couple different women that I have worked together with ask me for feedback. Like, I just want to grow and I love any feedback that how I gave that presentation or how I could have handled this meeting differently. And I just thought, wow, that's just so wonderful to see them take that initiative. And of course there wasn't much I could say because I think they were harder on themselves. Yes, but yeah. So let's talk about your career risk you've taken that were scary and paid off.

Ivannia Martinez: Well, honestly, when you make that question, it comes to my mind immediately, the risk to move from my country and come to the United States, because it was not only me taking the risk, I dragged my husband, he changed his career, he dropped his business, and I dragged my kids as well, which my children are the only kids in the family. So, I was also affecting my mom and my sister and my dad. Right. And the problem was that when I came to this new position, I found out that, oh, my God, I don't like it. Right. And then what am I going to do? I drag all my family and we move make all this move, we even bring the dog with us. Right. So and then I realized that, well, I had to just do it. That's it. Right? And out of it, it came so many other learnings and so many other things, for example, even writing the book, because in probably my country, I will not have written this book. And if you see some English, too, by the way, right, which make it something even harder, but very, very satisfactory, by the way.

Mary Killelea: Absolutely. No, very, very. I'm an aspiring author, so I always admire authors.

Ivannia Martinez: Good.

Mary Killelea: In your book, you talk about knowing the most appropriate method of communication style for different scenarios. What are some different approaches and why is it so important to apply those to be effective?

Ivannia Martinez: Yeah. And that's actually very interesting. It's a whole chapter in my book, because when I was growing in my career, I was the only female in the teams. And I started noticing that when I was speaking, sometimes they were like, what are you trying to tell? Right. Nobody was understanding me. Right. And I thought it was me that I was not technically enough, that I was not good enough, you know, all these things. And then I noticed that it was just my communication style, which was different. I used to say different concepts in a very simple way and with a lot of analogies. And sometimes people don't like that. Right. Or I give analogies of things that people don't really relate to, of course, being the only female in the team, I was talking about, I don't know, needing or cross-teaching or cooking. And they were like, oh my God, what she's talking about. Right. So then I realized that I have to understand my audience. And adjust to my audience in order to make the message go through. And like what I say in my book is like, you are lost in this jungle and you are expecting somebody to come and rescue you, but you don't have a radio, you don't have anything to send that signal. Right? And being in sync with your manager is super important because your manager is the first antenna to that world. And he tuned you to that and making sure that you get this opportunity that you need. That's why it's such an important communication style and adjusting this communication style to your audience, honestly.

Mary Killelea: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. You talk about networking and say, build your professional network based on your needs. What do you mean by that?

Ivannia Martinez: I mentioned this because I had a really interesting experience during my, I really wanted to have this authority. Right. Because if you compare with men, men its so easy for them, right. To click and to work together and ask women, first of all, it's very few women in engineering. Second, it's so difficult to click, come on ourselves. Right. So I was always wondering to create this network and to have this sorority. Right. And I was not really very successful, let's say it that way. Then I realized that it's about having that upward network, which I said, and downward network as well, and making sure that you drag the rest with you. Right. And that's what I call the real network. And not only you trying to survive, but also making sure that you connect with other females. For example, maybe my lawyer should be a female. Maybe my doctor should be a female. Maybe I should be reading books about females. That's really your real network. You're building this sorority and supporting others in their careers.

Mary Killelea: Yeah. You write in the book about our model, ARE. Can you explain that?

Ivannia Martinez: Yeah, actually, this model I created in order to explain others, because when I was coaching females about how to survive in hostile environments, I was given examples. And this model is that, is how I explain others, how you approach hostile environments. Again, like animals in the wild, that they have their predators and all that. We will have these things right around us. And ARE talks about the A is about Act. When you have this microaggressions, for example, when you are interrupted in the meetings, how you address that. And you have to act immediately. And the R is about Report. There are things that you should never let go, like sexual harassment, for example, or hostile environments. And the E about Education, because there's a lot of, there's a lot of unconscious biases. And sometimes it's a matter of educating the others in your culture, in the biases that these people have, and educate yourself too. That's the ARE model. And it explains how you deal with this hostile environments.

Mary Killelea: That's such an important topic. Another topic that you touched on, which I don't think we hear a lot about anymore, or maybe we do, I just haven't dealt with it personally, is the Queen Bee Syndrome. What does it mean and how would you handle a situation?

Ivannia Martinez: Well, actually, the Queen Bee Syndrome, yes, I think we should talk more about that, right? It was first mentioned in 1973. And I think the problem was that it was stigmatized only for women, right? And this movie is that you watch like the Devil Wears Prada or Mean Girls, right? But it's not only among females, it's also minorities in general, right? And actually, it should be called self-distancing syndrome. Because what happened is that these people, let's talk about women, these women that are super, super successful, they start distancing from the others. So, they will not be correlated to the other women, right? And the problem is that you see all these very successful women that are not helping other women. And they are really even trying to get the traits of the other group, in this case, men, right? And I think that if we educate on this concept, and what I call, we apply pest control to these queens, I make sure that these queens help the others or they don't exist at all, then we will have a better sorority. I think the same way that we educate on sexual harassment and how to avoid harassment, we should educate on queen bee syndrome and how to avoid that and how to apply pest control.

Mary Killelea: Yeah, I think I've had a queen bee in my career. Yes, I'll leave it at that.

Ivannia Martinez: You have the scars and everything.

Mary Killelea: So we haven't really touched on your career. We focused on your book. Talk to me about your career, what you do and how you chose this path.

Ivannia Martinez: Well, actually, I would say I would summarize my career in four big groups. First, and the most important is I love to manage people. So, I've been a people manager, like 24 out of 25 years of my career, something like that. And I love to be around people. I do believe the most difficult problems to solve are people problems, right? Because technical problems, in my case, I believe, is a matter of just studying and just applying the right math and applying the right physics, and you will solve it. But managing people problems is very, very complex, right? And that's why I have a lot of passion about that. Then managing products in my career, I have been pushing a lot of products out of the door and shipping a lot of products, working with different technologies. Also, managing these products from not only product level, but also the program level. A lot of operations, most of my career has been on that area, operations. And the fourth, I would say, is inclusiveness. And I always drive inclusiveness programs and initiatives. I started a lot of networks of women a long time back, and I have connected a lot with governments in order to really promote more females into STEM government and also universities and colleges, and making sure that we have more females in the STEM.

Mary Killelea: That's fantastic. When you talk about the roles in tech that you've done, how do you maintain or stay up or keep current with tech acumen?

Ivannia Martinez: Well, I love to study. And this part of my life, I like two big parts, studying and math. I love math. So I think that's very important when you have that passion about studying. For me, it's very easy to study a new technology, study a new software, study a new hardware, because I have that passion, and I go to the detail, to the next level all the time. And I think that's important if you are in technology, because technology always change. It's the same as doctors. They have to keep studying. We have to do the same in technology. And while it's hard, because you have to keep up the speed. But well, if you love to do it, that's no problem, right?

Mary Killelea: What advice do you give people on when you mentor them on transitioning from one part of the business to another? Does that come up? Because I mean, I think there's a lot of great opportunities within corporations to try new roles, but sometimes it's hard to pivot or see how you can leverage your skills in a new role.

Ivannia Martinez: Yeah, totally agree, because there is a lot of unconscious biases, right? And people want to estimate as you, okay, this person comes from design, and they can only do design, or this person comes from operations and can only do operations. I think you have to be brave, but I think that's part of our scheme. We men, we are always very brave, especially in technology, right? So, you have to be brave. And I think you have to have that passion for learning. And I'm going through getting out of your comfort zone, right? If you are that type of person, it's no problem. And then you have such a big opportunity to rotate and go to different jobs. It's funny because my husband keeps telling me, well, it's in corporate so easy, you get more in something, and then you're just moving to another one, which is okay. Yeah, you should do that, by the way.

Mary Killelea: What would you tell your 20 year old self?

Ivannia Martinez: Well, keep being brave and stubborn. I think I said that in my book, you have to have this stubbornness to survive. Right? Because at my 20 years, I have already gone through a lot of no's. Why you decide to study electronic engineering, why you decide to pick this career and a lot of no, no, no's, right? So at that time, I already have like half of the no's that I have now.

Mary Killelea: Well, you touched on a kind of a point for my next question, and that's career resilience. Because to me, career resilience is taking those no's, but not letting those no's stop you and continuing to drive forward. So how have you been able to develop that career resilience? And what advice would you have for others on building that?

Ivannia Martinez: Yeah, I think I go back to this concept of a stubbornness to survive, right? I think that I come from a family of very strong women, right? And my mom being so strong, I tell the story very funny that she keeps telling my sister and I, she is 16 years younger than my dad. And she keeps telling us, you know, when your dad is kind of old, so you should study, right? And become independent. And because you don't know, maybe your dad and you have to be independent. And it's funny, because my sister said, well, my sister is a doctor in science, and she has a microbiology title, and she has a master's degree in business administration, and my dad is still very much alive. That was the way that my mom taught us to get all these opportunities that she didn't have, right? And a lot of notes that she had in her life and her career. And she makes us strong to really achieve what we wanted without hearing what other people say, right? Basically.

Mary Killelea: Yeah. And how have you applied that to your children?

Ivannia Martinez: The same way. But not with example of the dad. I tell my children, look, there's so many opportunities, right? A lot of people, and I tell them, look, there's a lot of children, especially women, that they want to study, right? And they don't have the opportunity, right? And here we are with all this opportunity. You are whole, you have your everything, right? You just need to apply yourself, right? And follow your passion. I think I always tell children in general that, and I have given a lot of workshops to parents, and one of the things that I say in order to motivate more kids into STEM is that you really need to let them follow their passion. Like again, like a soccer player, right? Because then it will not be a job, right? It will be your life, right?

Mary Killelea: What does to be bolder mean to you?

Ivannia Martinez: By the way, I love that concept. Oh my God, it's a wow when I read it. It definitely summarizes what women have to be. We have to be brave. That's what I believe, right? Because we have to deal with so many things in our career, right? So many biases and so many social pressure, right? And it's very hard, right? When I was looking into other females that they just leave their career and their passions when they have children, I was thinking this will not happen to me, right? But then when I have my children, oh my God, I was so wrong because the guilt, right? And the social pressure, and it's so hard, right? And I have twins. And it was so hard because I wanted to keep being in my career, but then I have all these other responsibilities, right? And the only way is being brave, being bold, right?

Mary Killelea: I love it. Many women struggle with finding their voice. How have you found your voice and what advice do you have for others in finding their voice, especially in a man's world?

Ivannia Martinez: Actually, that's a really good question. For me, I would say I just had it in my DNA the same because my mom is so strong, right? She wanted to have us boys, right? And then she educated us like that. When I see other younger females not being able to speak from above themselves or put their projects and their voice there in their activities, what I do is amplify what they are saying. And this is a concept that in Obama's administration, he bring it up and he said, okay, if one female said one thing, another female has to amplify it. I was doing that before the concept existed. Anyway, I think we just think for the things of being a sorority, right? Being next to that coach or mentor that can help you and amplify you or your manager. Sometimes I ask my manager, look, I'm going to save this, but you have to back me up, right? And that's how you are being heard. Not only one voice, it has to be several voices trying the same concept.

Mary Killelea: What do you see most often come up when you coach and mentor others in their career progression?

Ivannia Martinez: I think it's the lack of having this map that I mentioned in chapter one and not knowing themselves, not knowing their strengths, mapping themselves is super important and communicating that map in a very natural way to others. Because if you do that and your manager can sync with you, then you will find more opportunities and you can connect the thoughts easily. I think that's what comes out more.

Mary Killelea: Absolutely. I think that's one of the challenges that we face is knowing where we want to go to because people can't help us get there if they don't know, if we don't even know where we're going to go to.

Ivannia Martinez: If you get lost, how come where do you have to go?

Mary Killelea: Well, it has been a joy to talk to you. Is there anything else that you'd like to cover or share with the audience before we wrap it up?

Ivannia Martinez: Well, no, just the importance of really, really being perseverant, being stubborn, as I said. But the most important thing is be a community. I think that being a community and helping others. As I said in my book, if you learn your path, showing the path to others, if you learn how to communicate, help others transfer their message, if you were able to build your network, be the network for somebody else. And most important, apply pest control. Not let those people monopolize the world and be able to be a sorority.

Mary Killelea: I will include your LinkedIn bio and URL and then also your book and where people can get it. So thank you so, so much for being on here today.

Ivannia Martinez: Thank you very much.

Mary Killelea: Thanks for listening to the episode today. It was really fun chatting with my guests. If you liked our show, please like it and share it with your friends. If you want to learn what we're up to, please go check out our website at 2bbolder.com. That's the number two, little b bolder.com.