Coffee & Career Hour

Embracing Gratitude and Growth: Navigating Job Security, Empowerment, and Career Counseling

• Armine & Maria Jose • Episode 57

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Amidst the joyous chaos of the holiday season, we often forget to pause and appreciate the blessings right under our noses. On this episode of Coffee and Career Hour, we reflect on the blessings we have in our careers and what we appreciate most about the work that we do. We discuss the magic of witnessing growth in our clients and the beauty of working in a space where we can continue to explore, learn, and grow. We share personal stories of how childhood experiences shaped our views on stability and career paths, which has led us to the work that we do today.

We explore how stepping out of comfort zones can be a catalyst for growth, both personally and professionally. Fueled by supportive relationships, we've found inspiration in using modern tools like social media and podcasts to connect with and inspire diverse communities. It’s a celebration of character, resilience, and the transformative power of sharing knowledge and passion widely. Join us as we express gratitude for the wealth of opportunities available today that make such impactful connections possible.

This episode is an invitation to embrace gratitude, celebrate personal and professional achievements, and acknowledge the positive impacts we can make in our world. As the year draws to a close, we hope you'll join us in honoring the journey and the milestones along the way.

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Speaker 1:

Hi everybody, Welcome back to Coffee and Career Hour.

Speaker 2:

Happy November. It's the middle of November.

Speaker 1:

Yes, how insane is that? We were literally just talking about how it was the beginning of November yesterday.

Speaker 2:

And now it's like the middle of November by the time you're listening to this podcast and Thanksgiving is the next week. If you celebrate Thanksgiving here in the US, that is insane.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, truly so. Time is flying. The year is coming to an end, which is scary, yeah, scary, but with that being said, thanksgiving being around the corner and kind of starting off, kicking off the holidays. This is a very reflective time for a lot of folks and it's a time to kind of, you know, think about your past year, how things have evolved, and express gratitude for the blessings that we have in our lives absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I think we don't do this enough in our lives. I'm someone who you know, unfortunately does it when I have long periods of like silence in my life. I don't do it amidst the chaos, and I need to do it more often. So moments like this I really do take to heart to list out and always reflect independently on the things that I'm grateful for in my life, because there's so much, so much to be thankful for.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I know I wish it was something that was more natural to us as human beings to just think about the blessings we have. But I think it's a common experience that most folks don't. We were always running around from one thing to the next and don't have that much time to sit down and and reflect and appreciate. But I think it's so healthy to do that and at least you know this. This can be a space for us to maybe create that time to do that.

Speaker 2:

A hundred percent and in career development, self-assessment, knowing who you are reevaluating, assessing your goals, your values, your person, is such a huge part of the process as you're growing and becoming who you are and with that it really comes down to us looking at you know, like our gratitude, amongst our careers and how much we've grown, changed and evolved over time as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So today we want to really kind of reflect on that and the things that we're grateful for in our work.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

What are you?

Speaker 2:

grateful for MJ. Yeah, I for me, I'm such a practical person in this sense of I am so grateful for job security. I'm someone who kind of grew up, you know, my dad owned his own business for a time, for a long period of time, and my mom my mom has bounced around from family to family taking care of, you know, the children and things like that, and I was constantly around this like underlying stress of will, will one of my parents like not have work? Even though it wasn't said or spoken, I grew up always thinking that because I would hear conversations amongst them and job security. And my mom always told me when I was younger, pick something where you're going to have a job, no matter what's going on in the world, something where you're going to have a job, no matter what's going on in the world, something where you're going to have a job.

Speaker 2:

And the pandemic really was a testament to what type of opportunities, what type of work is available in like one of the worst times of humanity. So, job security, waking up every day and not having to think like am I going to work, where am I going to work, how am I going to make money, ends me all of that. All of that really for me brings a lot of peace, because I've always grown up with that type of anxiety. So in the practical sense I'm beyond just grateful to call the place we have work and then just so much more for what we do.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I so resonate with that because I too am a practical person and I actually got the same message as my parents of like, pick a job that is gonna be secure and that you're gonna be able to know that there is stability in your life.

Speaker 1:

And so I resonate with that. And also that was one of the reasons why I was always so afraid of entrepreneurship in the beginning stages of developing Career Rise. And I remember asking my brother when he started his architectural company, like how do you get clients and how do you not worry about like what if you don't have another client coming? And he kind of like was baffled because to him he's always been the entrepreneurial type and he was, you know, he's like opposite of me in that sense of like wanting that freedom and creativity, right, so not necessarily seeking the nine to five, and so for him he was baffled, Like you just do the work and you do it well, and people, word of mouth, it comes to you, and so forth. And I was like, OK, well, I am so uncomfortable with that, but I see it now as I become an entrepreneur and I understand that mentality too. But with the work that we do at UCLA, I'm very, very grateful for the job security.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, job security, and I think one of the things that comes with this is that that sense of you and I do do a job and have a career that we're passionate for, that we don't necessarily have to think like or put an extra thought of like, do I have to go into an industry or what type of industry do I have to go into that could lay me off right or could lack in some type of way, or currently one of the themes in our world is is AI going to take over our job? And you and I don't have to worry about that for now, right, like for now. So that, like practical sense, is something that I constantly think about, because I come from a very collectivist family. I come from a very collectivist family right and a culture where there's a lot of responsibility and taking care of others and all those types of things. So just knowing that I have something to wake up, to look forward to and, most importantly for me, like make a difference, is just huge.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that and the ability to be able to take care of the people that you love is so huge in a lot of first gen folks, right, both of us can resonate with that. Where you're like the first one in your family to get that stable job and get that like the one with the benefits and everything, and then you can like extend that to your family, is huge, it makes a difference and those are the types of experiences that allow us to kind of break those generational patterns of maybe being low income or being in poverty and not having the resources available to us, right? So being first gen and being the first one in your family to be able to provide that to the people that you love literally changes people's lives.

Speaker 2:

A hundred percent. I can't tell you how many people from my family, but like my partner's extended family and like people that I've known who are like what? Like you have like a full-time job and you have an office and you have all these different things and they're like well, well, can you help me in this way and you just get to really expand what is yours into so much more than you would have thought and that, like we we're in a career of service and service to others and that, for like for me that's my purpose is to serve um, it's just huge. So, like that sense is just amazing for me.

Speaker 1:

I agree. That is such a beautiful thing to feel about your career, right? What are some other things that you are grateful for, for our jobs.

Speaker 2:

Oh, if we think like the actual work. Something I'm not grateful for is emails, but something I am grateful for is, honestly, the independence and freedom that we. It sounds like very 4th of July, but it's true. I think in our role specifically as educators, we have the opportunity to educate the way we see fit for the topics and areas that we serve, right. So Armine and I have the opportunity to evaluate the student populations we work with and say, okay, we're noticing this need, we're going to go ahead and move forward with this initiative or this program or this content. You and I really do get a lot of space to be creative and strategic and be a leader for a lot of these students in ways where I don't think a lot of other places give that opportunity. And for me, as coming into this role specifically at UCLA as an early and new professional, I'm just so amazed at how much trust is put into our decisions and our strategic vision for who we serve, so that, for me, is just huge.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh. Yes, I mean. The space that we have to try new things and be creative, based on the needs and challenges we're seeing of the people that we serve is so important, because you know what it is. It allows us to be intentional about the work that we do and like to, to really be thoughtful about okay, this is what we're seeing how can we best support our student population and so that that allows us to utilize our skills, our knowledge, to get creative? I don't think I could ever work in a space where they don't allow space for creativity and trying new things, because I think that's such an important part of like learning and developing as a professional as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm thinking about like this is going to be my third year teaching and I am so grateful that the coordinator that I have, the person who hired me to teach she's like I trust you, you know what you're doing, right, like all of these different aspects, I am someone who really values trust.

Speaker 2:

So when someone trusts me and gives me that sense of responsibility, I take that like super seriously. So the fact that they like give me the space to educate these you know these grad students in the way that is going to benefit them for what they want to do, is just a beyond. Because I think if I were to have like a micromanager in different spaces or in different aspects, I don't know that I would do like the best type of work because I'd be so focused on making sure that this person is at peace, but it's like space to to be just awesome and be ourselves yeah, yeah, because a space like that can be very limiting, where you you can't even like try out different skills and figure out what you do well as a professional if you're not allowed that space to try right.

Speaker 1:

So I'm super, super grateful for that as well, in the spaces that we are in. Along with that same note, I really, really am grateful for the culture that we have at our center, at our office, because it is very much focusing on, like, personal development, not not only professional development, but personally as well. I think we grow so much.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean I'm so grateful at the person that I'm looking at right now. She has just been an amazing mentor, friend. Anything you can think of Arminie to me is like family. So it's my job has allowed me to get super close to certain people and really just create like, make them a priority in my life.

Speaker 2:

Something that I'll take like a spin on is how this experience of like developing and creating my own brand in the sense of who I am as a student affairs educator, but also like on social media and in the community, the communities that we've been able to build through the impact of our work outside of our jobs has been something that I have always wanted and never knew I could do until I met you, never felt capable of doing until I met you, until, like you, you sparked whatever what was inside of me to do it and you truly like inspired me to, to have faith in myself and the confidence to build career confident Latina and me that on its own, I like owe so much to you. But to do that through this lens of career development is just truly amazing to see how many people have grown, how many people have been impacted, how many people have been empowered just by, like me, posting random things about my life and my everyday career.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. First of all, you continue to inspire me every day, literally seeing you I actually was telling my husband this the other day I was like MJ is naturally the type of person who goes above and beyond for everything. I'm thinking of a particular situation that recently happened that we won't get into in this session, that is, is not necessarily work-related, but around our work setting, and literally you went above and beyond and you didn't have to. It was not something where anybody was gonna see it or give you credit to it or anything like that, but it was out of the goodness of your heart and it just shows character in you that you want to do things really well and you want to do it because you care about the people that you're doing it for and that inspires so many people around you. You don't even realize that, and me included, because every day I'm like I want to be the best version of myself because of MJ, because she yeah, it's true, and so I owe that gratitude to you, my dear. But with that being said, and like developing Career Rise as well, I'm so glad to know that it inspired at least one person you know to go out and like do the things that they want to do and get out of their comfort zone. Because, ultimately, career development is about trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone, and so it sounds like just with you and trying your own business.

Speaker 1:

Career Rise was able to inspire you to do that.

Speaker 1:

So I'm really grateful to be able to have that reach and like bring in all that career knowledge and share it with the general population, with anybody who wants and needs this kind of content, because it's great to do it in a work setting with the targeted population, because it's great to do it in a work setting with the targeted population that's amazing in and of itself already. But to have the tools and resources and actually really to be living in a time where we can do a podcast and talk about whatever we want to talk about. I think about this a lot sometimes when I'm seeing more and more people come out with podcasts and people come out with businesses, and I'm like it's amazing the way the world of work is evolving in that sense, because it gives people that freedom and ability to actually do good for the world in these ways when we didn't have these resources 20, 30 years ago. So I'm grateful to be living in this time and have those tools and resources to actually share that knowledge and passion with the general population.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I, I, I honestly I don't know how hard I can second that, but like the ability that the way the world is now and how people receive information and resource, it's at the, it's at the touch of their fingertips, and this, like the ability to speak here and it can go across countries, like countries and, and and and people will take whatever we say.

Speaker 2:

And you know like we do this for real, like we're not just like two random people who just give career advice, but like take this and create actual change and purpose in their life is just beyond beyond me, and and something that I think our listeners can take from this too, is, if you've ever had the feeling of wanting to do something and you're like, oh, I don't, you know, like it's silly, or it's going to take too much time, or I don't have whatever excuse, don't let that stop you. Go for it. You're, you're giving, you're forcing yourself, like Armani said earlier, to be limited in that aspect. If you're learning anything from what we're saying now, just go for it. See where it takes you and, at the end of the day, you're going to grow and learn from whatever lessons happen 100%.

Speaker 1:

I mean that's what career development is all about, right? We talk a lot about the career development cycle. We've talked about it on the pod, we've talked about it in our presentations before, whether it's at UCLA or it's through our like businesses. When we present, we talk about the career development cycle and we always say it's a lifelong cycle, that we're continuously going to go through this cycle where we reevaluate every few years Like where am I now? What are my values now? What is my lifestyle now? And things are going to evolve Like you don't want to be in the same place for 30 years. I mean that's probably not ideal, right? As a human being, you want to develop, you want to grow. We are dynamic. So going through that cycle and allowing yourself the space to try and learn and fail and grow is really what life is all about right.

Speaker 2:

It's funny you say that as weirdly, as weird as this can sound, I have. A lot of interesting things have happened to me this year, in 2024. And the opportunity to make a mistake fall, learn from it or not make a mistake, be blamed for it. It learn from that experience, like all of that combined and so many other things that I've just been like I don't know, I don't. I know this.

Speaker 2:

This stuff is happening for a reason and there's a purpose behind it. But the opportunity really to learn so much this year and grow, I feel it in bones, but I feel it in, like my career heart even more because I've changed a lot in the last, in the last year, where I I don't, like someone said just yesterday, like where's the old MJ, like where did she go and who is this new person. And that's just because I've grown so much from how I've developed throughout my early years of my career and I'm now moving in a different direction, same path up, but just as a different human. I think, with so much that I so much baggage in a positive way, not baggage in a negative way that I can carry in and pull and use at any moment in time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we were literally talking about how much you've changed and the way you do your work has evolved in the past year, and we were reflecting on when you first started your job at UCLA and how things have shifted. So it's just amazing, amazing, how much one year can change.

Speaker 2:

Truly.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So, with that being said, some other things that we are grateful for, like we're talking a lot about. You know our own growth and seeing our own growth right and through our perspectives as friends, as colleagues. But another big piece of the work that we do is actually witnessing other people's work and, oh my gosh, that's probably also in interviews, too, when people ask, like, what is your favorite thing about the work that you do?

Speaker 1:

Anytime anyone does like an informational interview with me or somebody in an actual interview setting asks me that is my answer is witnessing the growth and development of the people that I am working with, like students, whether it's student staff or students who come into the Center for Services, because when you see the light bulb go off, you see them coming to realizations, you see them evolving and gaining more clarity over time. It's just the best feeling where they come back to you and they tell you I got the job or I got into graduate school. It's like you have been there with them from step one and your heart has been there with them. You literally think about them after work hours too, like, did they submit their application, what happened? So hearing them come back and tell you the next steps and that they've reached that next milestone is just like beyond. It's so amazing.

Speaker 2:

It's one of those things where it warms my heart and we see thousands of clients like I. We've seen over the collective years that we just blossom into who they're meant to be through college after college and where they're. Where they are now is just something where I'm like, oh my gosh, like I, I was a small part of that person's journey, right like like a small part who said something or helped them with whatever question they had. And now like look where they are. And it's something I'm realizing this year, specifically when I started my job at UCLA, all my second years are now seniors and they're graduating. And they were babies when I met them and we talk all the time about how I was, like do you remember our first appointment and all these different things and where they are now. But I think that's just human development and it's it's a beautiful, beautiful part of our job because, yes, the technical things of career, but just life and and growth overall is is one of the best things. I think I agree with you from this job too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, it's truly magical. I think that's the magic and the appeal for why many, many people actually become counselors and work specifically in higher ed, but also maybe in other healthy professions too, is really helping and seeing that growth in the clients that they work with. And yeah, it's like sometimes when they come back as a senior and they're like laughing at themselves like two years ago and the issues that they were facing and now they were freaking out so much about the smallest thing, but it felt so big for them at that time, and then they come back to you and they're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe, like that's how I was thinking back then, and like they laugh at themselves. Those are like I love those kinds of conversations because I'm like, you see, like it's be okay, we've had, we've talked about that, and now they've realized and it all has worked out in one way or another and they're seeing the bigger picture and things and that's just beautiful.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, recently. So my first, my first ever career career confidence client was looking to apply to grad school. I met with them over a series of time and I remember like they were coming from a space where they were nervous about applying and were completely unsure. And the first time we met it was more like informational interviewee. And then they started grad school this fall and I remember texting them on their first day being like you know, like good luck, I'm excited for you, I'm so proud of you all these different things. And recently I got a message being like MJ.

Speaker 2:

I just want to tell you like I love my program and I wouldn't be here without you and I've grown so much and all these different things, and I was like, oh, a year ago this person was doubting, right, like was hesitant to even do this or was thinking about it, and now here they are, like so different and in a program that suits them and in meeting new people and just growing in all sorts of different ways. It's just beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it truly is. And you know what else? It's also really inspiring. So I think about this a lot too. It's, yes, it's amazing to see the growth, but also there have been so many times I've been inspired by my students and clients, specifically when I hear their life stories and the challenges that some folks have faced. I've read personal statements that have made me cry. I've sat in a session with a student and started crying with them because of the challenges and the experiences they've had and they've still persevered. They're still doing the best to move on, like, to the next step in advance in their career.

Speaker 1:

There's one particular student that you and I have both worked with. Literally every time I meet with this person, I want to like, I get inspired and I'm moved. I'm moved by how much how resilient they are and how much they're persevering despite so many challenges they face and I have many different experiences with other students like that too, and it only is so humbling for me as a counselor to see time literally anytime someone in my personal life talks about not being grateful or like things being not ideal in their life, I will tell them do you have any idea the challenges my clients have faced and the amount of perseverance they have. So you know, like looking at life and in that capacity, like the bigger picture of things and and seeing how other people can persevere, and it's inspiring really.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't agree more, and I'm thinking about how you know, in our roles, like, if we think about it traditionally, we should be the ones who are inspiring and helping them and doing all these things. But in reality, when you're in this profession, you're learning more. You learn so much more every time you meet with someone new and the clients, the experiences that we've heard, the stories we've heard I just stand in awe and I'm like I am so privileged I sit in such a privileged seat at so many different tables, just to be the person that serves this community and is responsible for educating them, for them to get to their next step right. So it's just. It really is an honor and a privilege to be on their side, always cheering for them and just witnessing their achievements, right From where they come from, where they are and where they end up being where they end up being.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it is. It's magical. So we are super grateful for the work that we do and, with Thanksgiving around the corner and just the holidays overall around the corner, we wanted to really just reflect on the amazing things about the work that we do and why we're so thankful and happy to be doing this work.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, If you are out there feeling any types of ways, we invite you to reflect on a moment of gratitude, whether that's in your career, in your job, in your life, whether you're doing what you want to do or maybe not yet. Whatever that looks like for you, take a moment to kind of reflect, let us know how, what you're thinking about, what you're grateful for. You can DM us, you can message us, you can find us on all different platforms, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts on your gratefulness in this month.