75 | Finding A Mentor And Inspiration To Help You In Your Career With Kris Senior

In this week's episode, I spoke with Kris Senior about finding a mentor and finding what truly inspires you as a whole human.  Kris decided a few credits short of a forensic psychology degree that maybe it just wasn't for them.  After having a random conversation with someone in a grocery store, they became a receptionist at a construction company in NYC.  While there, Kris decided to check out other departments within the company and just ask what they could help with.  In doing that, Kris found a mentor that was the CFO of the company and she took Kris under her wing and the rest, as they say, is history.  Kris shares their journey from “college dropout” to finding someone who became their mentor, not only mentally but emotionally supporting them to become successful and fulfilled as well as how to be a mentor.

In this episode, you will specifically learn how to:

• Find a mentor that inspires you  - someone who will push you, give you the hard facts but encourage you to find your own space and who you are and allow you to be vulnerable and authentic
• When you find something new, where are the gaps and opportunities - is it through going to school, is it on the job training or a networking group?
• How to become a mentor - Is there a place in your community that lacks resources, does your company sponsor a mentorship program?  

More About Kris…

Kris’s career began in the NYC construction industry as a receptionist after leaving college a few credits shy of a forensic psychology degree. Quickly, they began to take on responsibilities from all departments not knowing at all what they wanted to focus their career on. Kris's first promotion was into the accounting department as a project accountant after spending a lot of personal time digging through the department to find any shortcomings. After a couple of great catches, they were running the accounting department just shy of an accounting degree and then moved onto multiple small companies looking to make extreme growth moves. Currently, Kris is the financial controller for an exterior home remodeling firm that is rapidly growing in a very odd economy. 

How to connect with Kris…

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I’m Karen Weeks, the CEO & Chief Shine Officer (aka transformation coach) at KDW Coaching, the host of the Shine at Work podcast, award winning culture leader (currently leading the People team at Ordergroove), a speaker and published author. My purpose is to help career-oriented humans get un

Welcome to the Shine at Work Podcast! On this show, your co-hosts Karen and Dan will shine a light on your job search so you can land a role that lets you flex your strengths and progress your career in an environment you actually look forward to working in each day. From creating a stand-out resume, to confidently negotiating your salary, to finding your footing as a new manager, you can expect to hear actionable advice to help you shine your brightest in your role.

Karen D. Weeks is the CEO and Chief Career Coach of Shine at Work Coaching. She has over twenty years of HR experience, including as CPO at Ordergroove.

Dan Carr is a Shine at Work Career Coach with over a decade of recruiting experience helping high-growth startups expand with top talent.

Connect with Us!

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• Karen Weeks on LinkedIn
• Dan Carr on LinkedIn

Transcript

Karen Weeks: 0:02

Hello my friends welcome to the shine at work podcast. I'm your host Karen weeks. As a transformation career coach and culture and people leader. My goal is to help career oriented humans get unstuck, so that they can shine brighter in business and in life. I believe that you deserve a career that lights you up. Because spoiler alert, it also impacts how bright you shine in your life. This season. Each week, we will focus on a key skill that you need to shine at work, and inspirational stories on ways to navigate your career. Because I know what it feels like when your light is dim. I made a career change from theater to HR, and now expanded to coaching. And at times in my life, I had to take a look deep inside to see what was most important, what made me shine bright, and make adjustments along the way. It's possible. I did it, my guest did it. And I help others do it every day. I hope you walk away from each episode not just inspired, but with some actionable advice. And I hope that you find it so valuable that you subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and tell your friends because we all deserve to shine bright in our lives, specifically at work. Okay, let's jump in into this week's episode. Hi, everyone, welcome back to the shine network Podcast. I'm so excited to have Chris with me today. And this is one of those moments where you meet someone, you then keep talking for a while things happen, things don't happen. And then finally, like a year later, or whatever it's been, you finally get to do this. So I am so excited to have you on the show. Welcome, Chris would love to give you a chance to first say hi and kind of give a high level overview. And then we'll kind of go dive deeper into your career journey.

Kris Senior: 1:42

Thank you. It has been wild, you know, the world is just different navigating it, it feels like maybe we started talking about five minutes ago, but 10 years ago, so I can fully understand. No, I loved reading about you and everything that you were doing and the words you're getting out there. So felt like it was really close to home on a lot of my own journey. You know, self grace and my career and my personal life. So super excited to you know, get my input on.

Karen Weeks: 2:15

Awesome, thank you so much well, and I love how you're already saying, this is about your career, obviously, it is tied to life stuff as well. And sometimes we make decisions about our careers based on what's going on in life, I think more so than ever the last couple of years. But I think that's just true in general. So we're gonna do a little rewind, and we're gonna go back to the day when you're first starting out in adulting world and you're like, I'm going to be this What did you think you were going to do in your career?

Kris Senior: 2:45

Oh, man, what a loaded, I'm going to be 31. So what are the what a loaded years of life we're talking about. But it's funny, I always said to myself, you know, I grew up in a very struggling environment, so to speak. So my main goal in life was to just do better, be better, and be able to pass that along. And, you know, I was raised by a very, very strong single mom. So that was definitely just hammered into my brain. So I went to school, actually, originally for forensic psychology. And I was, yeah, it was an interestingly short amount of credits shy to that degree when I decided to abandon it completely. And it's funny, because I banded and I think it was, it was 2223. And I had no idea I literally, I wish I had an idea of where I was going to be, because maybe it would have been done a lot quicker. But I learned a lot. So I was actually just grocery shopping one day when I was talking to this, this, this guy in the grocery store, and he's like, you know, I need some office help. I was like, alright, nothing close to what I've been doing. And there kickstarts the next, you know, 12 years of my life. That is, it's wild. Because if he would have told me, you know, back then 1011 years ago, I would be in the realm of Accounting and Finance and HR and business I would have, I would have, my mind would have exploded, it would have never been something realistic to me. But here I am, and loving every second of it. Definitely, definitely took a gamble on that. But uh, you know, like, you see to personal growth. Yeah, well, and

Karen Weeks: 4:32

it's so interesting, because I truly believe and you know, some people think this is a little too like woowoo or whatever. And I don't necessarily mean it to that extreme. But I do believe that sometimes when you put things out in the universe, the opportunity start to present themselves differently. So if you are more open to things, things start to walk in. And so that conversation in the grocery store who would have thought that talking to someone in a grocery store would lead to a whole career but sometimes that's how it happens just because you're putting it out there that Add, when someone says, How's your day? What are you doing? What do you what's going on this week, if you're open and actually talk about the things that you're trying to figure out, you never know who's going to help you.

Kris Senior: 5:09

That's true. It's, you know, networking is a strong word that's not used, I think, to its full extent. I mean, I literally am sitting where I'm sitting, because I opened up a conversation with somebody standing next to me, you know, 10 years ago, and it went on to an incredible journey for me. It's just, it's, it's inspiring, because it was, like I said, I grew up in a very specific type of atmosphere. And I was very headstrong, on do this by 22, by this by 25, this by 30. So even though I knew that, you know, the degree I was going for that career path wasn't for me, long before I, you know, jumped out of it, I was just afraid of not being on those tracks at specific times. So it wasn't really until I suddenly, like kind of, like you said, just kind of letting that energy out into the world of, you know, I'm going to just find myself and or let the world find me, where it actually found being able to place

Karen Weeks: 6:11

it also gives us the opportunity to say yes to some things that maybe we wouldn't have normally. So, you know, especially when we are trying to figure out something new or not sure what the path is in front of us. You know, it obviously has to have some sort of sense or feel right. But being willing to say yes to something that maybe wasn't on the expected path is actually what opens all the new doors. And especially when we put so much pressure on ourselves to be at certain places, or we take the burden of others that we think we're supposed to be at certain places by certain times.

Kris Senior: 6:44

Oh, right. I just, I remember the number 30 Being in the back of my mind, my whole life, and I'm approaching 31. And I'm like, whatever it is, it is what it is and where I am is where I am. And it's not anywhere near what I thought I would be that but I'm so happy that I took those those little Gamble's in life and made those two choices. Because domino effect from forwards. Yeah,

Karen Weeks: 7:10

yeah, absolutely. Well, and that's what I think is so interesting by having kids decide what they're going to do with the rest of their life in college. I mean, I love theater, and I miss parts of it. But at 18 and 19. I don't know what a life in theater actually looks like, I don't know how I'm gonna pay the bills. I just know I love it. So therefore, it could be a career. And then when you're actually living it, you go, Oh, wait a minute, there's a lot more to this that I didn't think about. Of course, you didn't think about that at 19 and 20, or whatever. It's only until you actually get out in the world that you start figuring some of this stuff out.

Kris Senior: 7:44

Oh, yeah, I, I'm almost 31. And I would say that I completely figured it out at 20. I'm like, this is right. This is where I want to be. And who knows, you know, maybe at 14, I'll be saying something totally different. And I'm ready for that,

Karen Weeks: 8:00

as well. And I think that speaks to you, right can be redefined at different points. You know, when I when I found my life in HR, I was like, Oh, this feels right. But then in like my mid to late 30s. I had to make some adjustments not to my career, but more about how my life was designed as like, oh, wait a minute, this doesn't feel right. And then now approaching 45 At the end of a pit, not the end of the pandemic, but like throughout a pandemic. Oh, actually, now, there's a little thing I want to teach here. And so. So I think there's also this ongoing journey and self reflection that right at different times may feel different. And that's okay, too.

Kris Senior: 8:33

Yeah, absolutely. It's a it's the the jumping for it. And just being prepared to fail sometimes and succeed a lot more. That's really all it is for me.

Karen Weeks: 8:43

Yeah. All right, my friends, we're getting towards the mid part of the year. How are you doing against your career goals? Are you feeling a little stuck? Where are you hoping to make more progress than you have? Have you talked to your manager about hoping to get a promotion or make an internal move or take on new projects, and you haven't seen that quite come to fruition yet. Or maybe you're approaching the middle of the year and you're going, oh my god, I still have no idea what I want to do, or I don't know what I want my goals to be over the next couple of years, or for the rest of this year even? Well, let me tell you how I can help you. We talk a lot about career changers on this podcast. And that's true. A lot of folks that I work with are trying to make some sort of career change. But I also work a lot with people who are just trying to identify their career goals, and figure out where they want to go in their career. And it's very possible that there are lots of opportunities at your current role. Or maybe you just found that new opportunity and you're trying to set yourself up for success in your new company. Either way, I can help you identify what your goals need to be, how to talk to your manager about them, and then really identify a path forward to really help you achieve all those things. means that you're looking to achieve in your career. So if you're trying to figure out how to be successful this year, or in the future years, and you need a little help, let's connect, I can help you figure out a path forward and really make sure that you are shining at work for the rest of this year and in future years. So okay, so how do you go from grocery store conversation, as an office manager to where you are today?

Kris Senior: 10:27

Not smoothly, I'll tell you that. I, I was sitting there answering phones most of the day, completely bored out of my mind. And so I would jump into, you know, other departments I was in my world is construction, and it has been for the past decade. So I would go into other departments and just, you know, is there any random stuff you need done. And shockingly, not shockingly, there's always something to be done. So I, I dabbled in project management and estimating and kind of threw myself into different departments. And there was a CFO at the time, thankfully enough, she kind of sort of took me under her wing, and I ended up again, Ira, ironically enough loving accounting and finance and all the fun that comes with that. This probably the first time you've ever heard that. But I loved it. And I also I love seeing, you know, a woman come into a room and, and be heard and be listened to and have amazing thoughts. And, you know, I kind of sat there and I was like, Yeah, I kind of want to be that person. That sounds like an intriguing place to be. And, you know, I was lucky, because she really did propel my knowledge, I would say, so, shortly after working there, I jumped into the accounting department, you know, under supervision. And she pushed me to go back to school, which I did. And, you know, it's why I have a Master's today. So yeah, it was, I was very, very worried about the views of other people, right, getting to college drove out sort of thing, and then going back to school, and there's something so different. And she calmed my my fears and push me along. And the things that I learned, you know, just hands on with her, was really just so so much deeper, more defined than I would learn in music, and university, or maybe even another opportunity. Yeah.

Karen Weeks: 12:29

Oh, that's amazing. Well, I think that also speaks to, you know, where are the when you do find something new? Where are the gaps or opportunities? And how do you feel them, and there's so many different ways you can do that it could be through school, if there's like, literal knowledge that you need to gain, it could be through mentorship, it could be through on the job, it could just be reading books, and just getting exposure to things or networking groups where it's a little more informal learning. So really, sort of identifying what are the gaps? And then how do I fill them in order to now propel this new career that I've been?

Kris Senior: 13:03

Right, and, you know, I was, I was at a weird place in my career, and it was still even sitting there, I was thinking, Oh, maybe still project management, maybe, maybe maybe still something entirely different. But um, you know, I was, I was hungry for something, I didn't know what it was. And, and having, honestly, I think having someone who took on that mentor position in my life was just there to maybe even just in a mentally or emotionally kind of space to you know, say this is okay, you can, you can spend your energy on this, you can dive into it, you don't have to be afraid of what's going to happen, because you can end up walking away with, with something amazing. And inevitably, that's what I did. And I think because of the industry I was in at the time to construction in New York City is a it's an it's an interesting world for you know, a younger person, especially a woman or an LGBT person. So, and we're talking 10 years ago, so very different. So having someone you can relate to someone, maybe in your community that you can relate to and who has been in the industry for so long before you they kind of help you jump over that first initial like, climb, right? So that first, you know, what's, what are the shock values here? Like, what am I going to learn the hard way here, and they kind of walk you through that and then make it a lot easier, you know, remember certain instances of just flat out not feeling comfortable as a woman in a space and her walking me through her experiences and, and her giving me amazing, you know, ideas on how to walk through and navigate them better. And if it wasn't for someone in that position, you know, maybe I could have made it maybe I wouldn't have made it out so strong. Or maybe it would have potentially stopped me from taking that that challenge on.

Karen Weeks: 14:59

That's amazing. Well And I think also having someone that you can be vulnerable with and ask questions of, and they are willing to, to to do the same back. I think that's one of the biggest keys of a mentor that is really impactful is that they listen, and they share their own vulnerabilities, not just tell you what to do based on their own experiences.

Kris Senior: 15:18

Oh, absolutely. I take being a manager extremely seriously. Right. But there's that there's that level of, I guess, professionalism, that I think should the traditional professionalism, there's a line that I think needs to be crossed in that right there's, there's a line of vulnerability and connection that I think in on a traditional scale has been ignored, that we really need to be re, we need to be introducing that back into the workplace. There's absolutely zero reason why a person who's working for you or with you can't come to you and connect to on these sorts of levels and death. And it's st you can't compartmentalizing your, your career and your education and your home life. It's impossible. I think in order to really gain the momentum and in your career, you have to be you have to be engaging those aspects of your life together. So it's it's important that you're able to be vulnerable with certain people that you work with, and also receive that back even from someone who is say, in a higher level than you. Yeah,

Karen Weeks: 16:25

well, and I think that, well, I've always felt that it's even more true the last couple of years, I mean, you are literally in my home with me right now. So you're going to see things that are happening, or even if it's off camera, my my work life separation is like totally out the window. Because if my partner and I just had a fight, or my kids screaming or whatever's going on, it's all around me. Now I don't have that escape. And so as my manager, you have to tap into that a little bit. Because I'm that's how I'm presenting now at work as well, because it's literally right here. I can't ignore it.

Kris Senior: 17:02

No, and I think it's fantastic. I think that ignoring the fact that the people who work for us are the people who work with us, you know, they don't have lights, like they don't have lives outside of the business is just key mistake number one, and I'm, I'm happy, I am not happy about a pandemic, but I'm happy to see something propelled that idea forward. I mean, we have been secluded, we've been, you know, changing pretty much every aspect of our life and changing every aspect of communication. And we're also seeing the mental and emotional effects it's having on people. And I think for the first time, we're responding to them openly. And like I always, I always say, you know, we are in a pandemic, you know, we are dealing with political issues, economic issues, and every single person I'm sitting next to all day, every day are, they're affected by it. Yeah. And, you know, even if you want to think about the work, it's going to fit their work too. But on top of that, it's going to affect their relationship with you and their relationships at home, and adding work stress onto it just simply because you're not communicating properly with, you know, an employee, it's not gonna help anybody. So, you know, and like, just recently, actually, the company, I worked for New York construction, we instituted Mental Health Day. And, yeah, it's fantastic. I just, I think that, you know, it's one thing to institute things like that we hear about these, especially larger companies, instituting and being more aware of it, but it's a second thing that, you know, as managers, we have to be at the forefront of that, you know, mental health still has a huge stigma against, you know, against it, saying that I can't come to work today, because I'm not mentally, you know, strong enough to do so. It's still seen as a weakness, and we have to be able to, to as managers say, that's the strongest thing you could do for me right now, you know, is take care of yourself, you know, and I think it's, you know, it was a long time stigma, just taking a personal day, or, you know, people coming in with the flu, or, you know, selling virus, like stay away. So, I just remember recently, just posting in an accompany group chat about the mental health needs and just reminding everybody, you know, their mental health is super important. And it's important to me on a personal level, I'm personally affected by the mental health of those around me. I'm, which includes my coworkers. Yeah,

Karen Weeks: 19:38

well, and I think creating the space to have those conversations and saying, when we talk about a mental health day, if that's what your company does, explaining the why or why, you know, personally, I might need days like that or, you know, creating the space for those conversations. And as you said, as a manager showing your own vulnerability, so that people know it's okay to talk to you about it because it's great to check them Access, say we offer this but to then make it more personal, I think is huge. And, and I think that has been something that people have started to find a little bit of a voice over the last couple of years. But I think to your point it folks that have been in, you know, potentially working for a while, remember back, we're like, we don't talk about that stuff at work. And managers don't talk about that. And I mean, I led those trainings as an HR person 10 years ago, like, oh, that's the line don't cross that line. And so it's going to take some time to break those old patterns. But I think more and more that we can do that the healthier literally, but also, the better we will be as an organization, as a team, as individuals, which is the entity what we actually are working is just part of what we do, we're actually holding humans that are living life.

Kris Senior: 20:50

Imagine that. They sometimes do personal stuff. No, I couldn't agree more. And I think, if that's the beauty sort of mentorship to kind of sort of circle back on that my mentor was a woman, and she's a strong woman. And a lot of her models and her stories led back to ignoring and, and dealing with certain situations with sort of stepping back from it, and knowing when to raise your voice and knowing when not to knowing that there's bias in people's minds that are going to twist your words, and you have to be hyper focused on how you're seeing. So as strong as she made me, I'm thinking when, you know, when I take on that mentorship role, I'm thinking differently. And it's because of, you know, women like her that I'm able to do that. And I'm able to take that even further and say, Absolutely not, you know, what, as a, as an LGBT person, or as an LGBT person, as a woman, as these these types of people who are seen just maybe, by honestly as weak, maybe we can take over these positions and say, you know, what, you view it as weak, I view it as one of the strongest aspects of who I am as a person, you know, and we can help make these strides where, you know, stereotypically other human beings would not so, you know, I'm not afraid, you know, I may, they may make me weaker in the minds of a more stereotypical stigmatized way of thinking. But I think taking that step forward, is going to help the next person take it even further. And hopefully, by the time I have great grandchildren, it's just, everyone's world is rocked.

Karen Weeks: 22:39

And I think that goes back to why mentorship can be so impactful is because it is people sort of helping you along that journey. And so I know some folks try to figure out well, how do I find a mentor? How do I ask a mentor, it feels like asking someone to prom? Like, how do I actually do this? So? So was this a formal thing that that you found in sort of set up with this person was at war just sort of naturally happened? And it just evolved to this? How did you sort of come to this mentor relationship?

Kris Senior: 23:07

I think that's a great question. For a lot of reasons. It was natural, I kind of made a natural connection with her. And I think she naturally had a very, you know, mentor, personality and vibe to her. But I think that we, I think, especially as people in management and leadership positions, we need to be making strides to create those those connections, I think that relying on them just forming naturally, is setting us just, it's holding us back. And I think that, you know, more people, like myself, are able to be watched as mentors, you know, how much further progressively would we be, you know, what would these industries be? Would we be in HR, or business management or, you know, when we talk, we talk about PTO, or we'll be talking about, you know, paternity leave and parental leave even more. So, I think that my personal belief, I think that mentorship has so much to do with it, because, like I said earlier, it takes out that huge chunk of wall in the very beginning of your career and, and kind of It's like someone pepping you up, it's not, it's not something holding your hand but like pepping you up through those really hard walks uphill, so that you can do it quicker. And while you're doing it, you're gaining the confidence or gaining the knowledge, and it sort of sets the foundation instead of you working on overdrive to get what somebody else already worked for and to pass on to you. So that you know what you work for. You can pass on to someone else and you know if one domino falls 100 dominoes away someone's getting an effect from it. So I honestly think that um, it's sort of like a lineage like your own little family tree in your in your career. So, I hope I hope to one You know, have given my mentor some great great grandchildren, your family tree, right?

Karen Weeks: 25:08

I love that image of like, paying it forward is an easy way to phrase it. But I love sort of watching it almost like the roots of a tree and like really seeing the effect one person can have on so many other people, even if it's not that direct mentor relationship. And I think you call that something really important too, as well. You know, folks may be listening to this episode thinking about how do I find a mentor to help me navigate my career, especially if I'm thinking about a career change? I would challenge them back to say, how can you now mentor someone else? Or how can you step into that role for someone else, because you have your own career journey, your own career story that you could share with others? And you can be both mentee with someone and mentor to someone else.

Kris Senior: 25:49

Yeah, and I think that that's, that's a challenge that we're asking, you know, people entering industries and entering that it's, I don't think the challenge is on them, I think it's us as, as leaders to reach out to make sure that these these little startups are, are no, you know, they're, they're there, knowing that that type of guidance is out there, just as much as knowing going back to school as an option. You know, there's tons of websites for education that send tons and tons and tons of outlets, and social media platforms that can help you with going to school or helped me with finding an entry level job. And I think that, you know, places like LinkedIn, are fantastic. And they're not used enough in this, you know, mentor kind of way, where we, as leaders, as people who have been in certain industries for so long and have that knowledge, you know, made those strides, we can be reaching out to them, and we could be opening those doors, you know, and if you just remember back to when your career was teeny, tiny and beginning and how big everything felt in front of you. And you get into their headspace asking someone or reaching out to someone who's worked really hard to get where they are, it's intimidating. And it's just like, you know, college applications are super intimidating. And, you know, applying for entry level jobs is really intimidating. So, I think that, I think that the leaders, especially leaders of certain communities, you know, I know, as LGBT person, I feel, really, really just, I feel like the need for me to reach out to other members of my community is, you know, it's part of my job, I think that's what we should be thinking about. It's like those ad hoc opportunities, a ad hoc duties that everybody gets put into the job descriptions, you know, that like black hole where they asked a million different fans, I think that's what we should be considering, I think that companies can really expand their mentorship programs and, and match people because, you know, as someone who has done both, mentoring is fantastic. It's so rewarding. It's, it's like, the best free thing I've ever done in my life. It's amazing. And, you know, you keep track with them. And, yeah, you see their growth and, you know, it's your growth is, you know, it's, it's yours, too. And, you know, it's like, yeah, I got my college degree, and I got a promotion. But I also helped someone do those things. Yes. So it's an amazing, amazing accomplishment. And I think that's our job is like, it should be one of our main main main goals in our career, like how many how many people can we mentor

Karen Weeks: 28:38

especially because everybody sort of is, is more or less comfortable, you know, finding people and reaching out to them and doing all the things that you just talked about from the other direction. So as a mentor, you can also just start to put things on LinkedIn and share some of your experiences or share some thought leadership or he'll even say, you know, I've had these amazing stories would love to share them if that resonates with you. And you're just kind of putting it out there even if you aren't sure, like could exactly message because it will also come in that way as well.

Kris Senior: 29:08

And I you know, I remember being super young, and dealing with you know, obvious sexism and obvious ageism, and, and seeing it and experiencing it, and feeling very lonely in that mix of things. And, like, I didn't have a voice. And so just reading a post now where it's like, I had this crazy experience, it was terrible. And you see all the the comments on it, and it's like, super cheerful and it makes you think, like, Okay, I'm not alone. This is, you know, it's it's my first rodeo with the rodeo has been there a million times over. So it's fantastic. And I think it was age of social media where we have these platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter. You know, we can post about our more vulnerable stories, you know, because everybody has those, those things that you know, for so long it would have been don't don't talk about that. Now it's like, talk about it, make it part of who you are, make it part of, you know, your, your, your conversation, like, I can't talk about my journey without including all of the negative things that propelled me to where I am right now. And if I can help another person by showing them, Hey, you, it's gonna happen, you know, these things are gonna happen, like it or not. And we can not only connect on this, but we can help each other make it better, I can help you make it better in your space. And you can help me make you better on MySpace.

Karen Weeks: 30:42

Yeah, absolutely. Well, and it goes back to what we were talking about, even with mental health, like just showing that vulnerability and creating that space for those conversations. That's what that leads to more conversations and building those relationships and finding that connection. And now you have a mentor, and you know, all of the things just sort of start to roll so. So you've shared so many personal stories, and so many helpful pieces of advice, based on your own journey, but both as the person figuring out their career, but now also as a manager and a leader and how you're helping others. If I'm listening to this podcast, and I'm trying to think about how to navigate my career, and I think about, you know, trying to think about where I can find a mentor or mentor from an informal standpoint, just how can I learn from other people? What piece of advice would you have for folks that if you remember nothing else, like walk away with this,

Kris Senior: 31:32

walk away knowing that no matter what you're going through, there's millions going through at the same time. And we are so lucky to be in an age where technology is just booming the network world. And to not not think small to think super large go. I mean, I can talk to somebody across the globe right now. And we can talk about the exact same issue we're having in two entirely different parts of the world. You know, get out there. You know, people are falling in love online, they can surely find a mentor there. And, you know, my, my guess when it boils down to it is you can't be afraid, you know, you sent out their college application. You went on that interview, right? That person a message if you find it a message that kind of Pollstar, if you overhear someone saying something that intrigues you, or that you connect to start the conversation, it's, you know, starting a conversation in any context is never going to steer you the wrong way. If it's just not starting a conversation is is just necessary. Yeah, that's what I would leave you with. That's perfect.

Karen Weeks: 32:42

Well, and also, too, if you put it out there, if you don't start that conversation, it's definitely a no, but if you started the conversation, it could be a yes. And you never know what's gonna take you as you've seen it with your own career. So thank you so much for sharing everything. I'm so glad we finally figured this out. And we're able to do this. And we will make sure to share your contact information and waste people connect with you if they want to continue the conversation.

Kris Senior: 33:04

Definitely. Yeah. And you know what, I'm a free agent. I'm ready to manager whoever needs so you know, and I hope I can put my own words to action.

Karen Weeks: 33:14

I love it. Yeah, reach out to Chris ready to do it. Thank you again,

Kris Senior: 33:20

thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Karen Weeks: 33:27

Thank you so much for listening to the shine network podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a review. Leaving a review takes just a few minutes and truly helps other people find the podcast. If you want to learn more about how I work with people to help transform their careers, and shine brightly in their lives. Let's connect. I work with amazing humans one on one to help them make a career change, go for that promotion, set career goals, and build a plan for success for a new job. I also lead group programs for new managers that are navigating this huge change in their careers, and entrepreneurs who are building their teams for the first time. If any of that sounds like it could be helpful for you. You can email me directly at Karen at guarantee weeks.com or message me through Instagram, LinkedIn or my website. I just want to give a final shout out as always to astronaut go home for our music and novice studios for making the podcast come to life. Until next time, remember that you can and deserve to shine at work