All tagged work

The Only Ones

Nicole Cuellar
work

On the last day of our leadership summit, I was at a happy hour that my company was throwing, and this woman from our European operations rushed up to me. She said, 'You know, we're the only women here in management roles? We have to stick together.'

My first reaction was to push her away. I hardly know this woman and she's got her arm around me, piling the Girl Power schtick on thick. I worked hard to get where I am in my career. I earned my spot here. My professional success doesn't have anything to do with my gender and to make some kind of alliance based on that now just seems regressive.

And then I looked around the room.

Taboos

Nicole Cuellar
work

I’ve been pushing back lately on the notion that certain things are too taboo to talk about at work. No one wants to be the one on the team always bringing up “women’s” issues. However, if we see, feel, experience, know that there are issues in our workplaces that impact women more than men, but have the perception that we can’t talk about them — how do we even begin to make positive changes?

The First Post

Nicole Cuellar
work

I'm Nicole, but I go by Nikki at work. 

If you're someone who knows me personally, that might cause you to chuckle because you probably know how many years I spent resisting that nickname. When I went to college, I used to introduce myself as "Nicole, never Nikki." Just to make sure my preference was clear.