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You're listening to the Faithful Career Moves podcast

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. I'm your host , Shelley Hunter , and

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this is where we talk to people who have seen the

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hand of God in their lives and particularly

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in their careers . Thank

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you for joining me on episode 44

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of the Faithful Career Moves podcast

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. Today I'm interviewing Rebecca Greenhalgh

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. I'll let Rebecca explain what she does

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for a living , but a thought I want to share going

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into this interview is how important

0:28

it is to find work that you love but

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that also aligns with your preferred work

0:32

style and personality . I've

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mentioned before that I'm a Gallup Certified Strengths

0:36

Coach , and the reason I love the Gallup

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or Clifton Strengths approach is

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because it helps people identify their natural

0:43

talents and abilities . There are 34

0:46

strengths , and at the top are those

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things that you're just so naturally good

0:50

at . You can't help but do them , and

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you've been doing them your entire life . It's

0:55

easy to guess sometimes what those are

0:57

, because people tell you they point it out

1:00

to you all the time . A

1:02

nd the strengths at the of the list, well, they're

1:05

not there for you to see them as weaknesses

1:07

, but rather for you to realize they

1:09

just aren't your superpowers . And that's

1:11

important because , rather than spend time trying

1:13

to make yourself all around good at everything

1:16

and every work environment

1:18

and every style . You want to lean

1:20

into those things that you're naturally good

1:22

at . In fact , as you do that

1:25

, you'll find that life is much more enjoyable

1:27

, work is more successful and your

1:29

relationships can improve as well . So

1:32

what does this have to do with Rebecca ? Well

1:34

, as Rebecca shares the story of growing up

1:36

shy , I'm thinking some of you

1:39

might connect with this or have children

1:41

who are a bit shy themselves . But

1:43

, as you'll hear in this interview , Rebecca

1:45

not only learns how to deal with her shyness

1:48

, but eventually realizes

1:50

it's one of her gifts . So

1:52

let's get to the good part . I asked

1:54

Rebecca to start us off by sharing what it

1:56

is she does for a living .

2:00

Right now , I work for Harvard Business

2:02

School online , and that is

2:04

under the umbrella of Harvard Business

2:06

School , which is under the umbrella

2:09

of Harvard University , so everything that

2:11

we do at HBS online

2:13

aligns with what they

2:15

do over at the business school , and we

2:17

work with faculty members there

2:20

to create online

2:22

courses that align with their

2:25

in-person MBA classroom courses

2:27

, and the whole impetus behind

2:30

what we do at HBS online

2:32

is to make these world-class

2:35

faculty members available

2:37

to a worldwide

2:39

audience . Not very many people

2:42

get into Harvard Business School , as

2:44

you would imagine , but anyone can take our

2:46

courses , and so when I saw

2:48

this job posting during

2:50

the pandemic , I just knew in

2:52

my heart that that was something I

2:54

would love , and it's turned out to be

2:56

true in more ways

2:58

than I can imagine .

3:01

I love it . Take me back so we know how

3:03

you got to Harvard Business School .

3:05

No problem . So when I was

3:08

young I would probably

3:10

quantify myself as

3:12

the most shy

3:14

person on the planet , so

3:17

literally I would not look

3:19

people in the eye . I

3:21

remember being very , very young I don't

3:23

remember what caused this Like

3:25

my family was wonderful

3:27

, they were loving , they were included . When

3:30

somebody would knock on the door , I

3:32

would run and hide

3:34

in my toy box in the closet and

3:37

my mom would come up . She

3:39

knew exactly where to find me . She

3:41

would take me to the toy box in the closet

3:44

and take me downstairs to meet these wonderful

3:46

people that would come to visit Really

3:48

, really . One of those things that I couldn't

3:50

quantify . I just remember having such

3:53

a fear of people

3:55

in general . I loved to be myself , I loved

3:57

to be with my family and other people

3:59

outside of that bubble just made

4:02

me nervous and again , no good reason

4:04

for that , except that I was very , very

4:06

shy . So growing up shy , you

4:09

have to really push yourself

4:11

constantly to be in

4:13

social situations . So I'm an introvert

4:16

at heart and yet I still

4:18

had to go to school and I would go

4:20

to church and I had to put myself in these

4:22

situations that would take me out of that bubble

4:24

bit by bit and as I got

4:26

into high school , and

4:28

especially in a college , I started realizing

4:31

that no one was going to

4:33

take that journey for me . No

4:35

one was going to pull me out of that

4:37

introverted , super shy

4:40

bubble except myself

4:42

, and so I started putting myself

4:44

in situations where I would

4:46

have to practice being

4:49

an introverted extrovert and

4:52

that started making a difference

4:54

. So I got a job in college working

4:56

with collections at

4:58

the BYU bookstore , which was very

5:01

different than anything I ever saw

5:03

myself doing , and I became

5:05

really good at it . I became really good

5:07

not only talking with people

5:10

but working with people with difficulties

5:12

and whatnot , and I really enjoyed

5:14

that . And as I continued to go

5:17

through my college career

5:19

, I majored in international marketing

5:21

. I saw myself going into

5:24

an MBA program eventually

5:27

and I just really loved business . I

5:29

really loved accounting

5:31

. Interestingly , I really loved these

5:34

things that allowed me that opportunity

5:36

to work with people but also work

5:39

in kind of a space that

5:41

would give me just a layer again

5:43

, sort of that outside world . So

5:45

I had in mind that that's what I would

5:47

do . And at the very

5:50

end of college I ended up meeting my husband

5:52

and we got married , moved back

5:54

to Seattle where I grew up and

5:57

I got a job at a company working

5:59

internationally . We were

6:02

aiming to bring

6:04

Mongolian cashmere

6:06

to the United States and that was just

6:09

fraught with a number of difficulties

6:11

and I thought I'm really prepared

6:14

to do this and I was so excited . And

6:16

then my husband got accepted to

6:18

a program out in

6:20

Boston . Like oh

6:22

, wait , a second , I don't

6:25

know that that's a path that I want to take

6:27

. And yet I had this undeniable

6:29

sense that that's where we

6:31

were headed and that's what we were supposed to do . So I

6:33

ended up quitting my job , put my

6:35

MBA hopes on hold

6:38

while he went back to school and

6:40

got his master's program , and that's

6:43

what started my journey to Harvard

6:45

and Harvard Business School .

6:47

Wow , okay , I have a lot of questions

6:49

here . First of all , that

6:51

was very mature of you to realize

6:54

that you needed to have some extrovert

6:56

qualities .

6:57

Well , this was a lifetime of

7:00

living in shyness , and

7:02

for any of your listeners who

7:04

understand what that feels like , it

7:06

can be really debilitating to

7:08

be so shy that you literally don't want

7:10

to be around people . I would

7:13

look around me and see other people being

7:15

successful by being extroverted

7:17

and I thought I know what I want to achieve

7:20

, I know what I want to do , and

7:22

it just felt like that next step to

7:25

be able to take me to that place

7:27

and get there , I suppose . So I don't know that

7:29

I look at it and think I was overly mature . I think

7:32

I was highly immature when I

7:34

was in my school and college , but

7:36

I also have always been

7:38

very goals oriented , and so

7:40

I think I was just looking forward and saying where

7:42

do I want to get to and

7:44

how am I going to get there ? That's been something

7:47

that I've always been very good at .

7:49

Yeah , have you read that book Quiet

7:51

? No , I have not . I

7:53

read it and it's helped me to understand people . It's

7:55

called Quiet the power of introverts

7:57

in a world that can't stop talking . Oh

8:00

, I'm going to get it now , yeah you would

8:02

love it , but I think we know so much

8:04

more now than we used to in terms of

8:06

you know somebody shy and you're just like come on

8:09

, get over it . And now we're recognizing

8:11

, oh , they're anxious or

8:13

they're nervous , and it really doesn't

8:15

help to force them into a situation

8:18

that really makes them feel uncomfortable .

8:20

Absolutely true . And what you learn over

8:22

time too is I've really

8:24

learned to lean into my understanding

8:26

of what my strengths are being

8:29

an introvert , and where

8:31

I really do need to come

8:34

outside of that and be extroverted

8:36

, and then recognizing it's

8:38

okay to go outside of that introvert

8:40

bubble for a minute and being

8:42

in that place it's maybe not my most

8:45

comfortable to achieve something , because

8:47

there's a lot of superpower in

8:49

my introvertedness that allows me

8:51

to connect with people on a deeper

8:53

level , and I've really appreciated that . So

8:56

I feel like I've had the opportunity

8:58

to lean in to my strengths

9:00

as an introvert , which I didn't really have

9:03

when I was young . I just didn't have those

9:05

tools and those skills when I was a

9:07

young child . I still had a wonderful

9:09

childhood . I just loved

9:11

being by myself .

9:13

But I hear what you're saying , because it takes

9:15

time for us to understand . This

9:18

isn't a negative thing about me . It's

9:20

actually my superpower , but I have to

9:22

learn how to use it as a superpower 100%

9:26

. Yeah , but I also really love

9:28

that strategy you came up with and the way

9:30

you said it , that you looked for jobs that put

9:32

a layer between you and an environment

9:34

that , like an extrovert , would love , so

9:37

you could work deeply on your own or

9:39

with just a few people .

9:40

Exactly true , and in my

9:42

current position now , it literally

9:45

is the perfect mix of that . I'm a

9:47

content developer , and so what that looks

9:49

like is I literally partner

9:52

with HBS faculty and

9:54

work through their MBA classroom

9:56

course materials with them , but

9:58

then have to bring that

10:00

to life in our course platform . So I am

10:02

writing a lot , I'm researching

10:05

a lot . That is absolutely

10:07

my happy place . I love doing it , but

10:09

I also have to meet with the

10:11

faculty on a regular basis . I have to meet

10:13

with my internal teammates on a regular

10:16

basis , and I have to go out

10:18

. You know we're often traveling to

10:20

do protagonist and

10:22

expert interviews as well , and

10:24

that could look like interviewing a CEO

10:27

or a brand marketing manager or

10:29

a VP of strategy

10:32

or what have you . So I really have those opportunities

10:34

to push myself . But then

10:37

I also have that ability

10:39

to really lean into my strengths , which is

10:41

, like I said , writing or that quiet work

10:43

I have a chance to do as well .

10:46

Yeah , I love it so okay . So you

10:48

get to Boston and you're

10:50

newly married . So what happens ?

10:52

So that was a super

10:54

interesting journey . So , going over

10:56

to Boston , we had a Bronco

10:59

at the time and we rented

11:01

a travel behind U-Haul

11:04

, put in all our possessions

11:06

and off we go , and three days later

11:08

we ended up in Boston and , if I'm

11:10

not mistaken in the timeline , I think it was a

11:13

day or two before my husband started

11:15

school , and so he has this

11:17

automatic community that's

11:19

framework of people . He has a schedule

11:21

, he knows what he's going to be doing

11:24

, and we didn't even have an apartment yet . And so

11:26

the first day we went

11:28

straight out and we started looking

11:30

for an apartment . And so

11:32

in Boston traffic lights are very

11:34

different than the West Coast or anywhere I had

11:36

been , so all the lights are on the

11:38

side as if it were

11:40

a stop sign . So it's super easy If

11:43

you're not paying excellent attention to

11:45

this stoplight , which we did

11:47

. Oh no , through an intersection and

11:49

got in an accident . This

11:52

was , I need to remind you , the very

11:54

first day that we were in Boston .

11:56

And you're young , right ? You've just graduated college

11:58

. Oh my goodness .

11:59

We were both young , 3000

12:02

miles away from home Ever . So

12:04

luckily we did have a friend out in Boston

12:07

that we knew from BYU . He was letting

12:09

us crash at his place for a couple of days

12:11

and the car was totaled

12:13

. And now we have this U-Haul

12:16

parked at a home

12:18

and we've totaled the car . It's our

12:20

first day in Boston and my

12:22

husband has to start school the next day and so

12:25

the car gets towed

12:27

. Bryce's brother came down from Maine

12:29

and he just sort of scooped

12:31

us up and helped us that whole next

12:33

day . We looked for apartments . We

12:36

found nothing and we ended up staying

12:38

with a member who happened

12:40

to be the branch president of the Boston branch

12:42

at that time and he

12:45

was so lovely

12:47

and his wife was so lovely and I don't

12:49

know how to explain it more than I

12:51

just felt like they put their arms around

12:54

us and they just didn't let go until

12:56

we had our feet on the ground again and

12:59

they just had a guest room . They

13:01

allowed us to stay there . It was out

13:03

in a place called Newton which

13:05

was a little bit of a jaunt back into

13:07

Boston University . We didn't have a car , so

13:10

we take the train , the bus

13:12

and whatnot to get in there and every

13:14

day I would go in with

13:17

Bryce to school and

13:19

from there I would grab a paper

13:21

and I would go look at apartments . And

13:23

I just remember thinking , oh my gosh

13:25

, I cannot believe this is my life right now

13:28

. But here we are , and

13:30

so that's what started our journey

13:32

into Boston . It was not an

13:34

easy end into Boston . It was super

13:36

challenging , yeah .

13:38

And here you are , this little introvert

13:40

, and you're the one having to do all this by

13:42

yourself .

13:44

Exactly true . And Heavenly Father knew

13:46

exactly what he was doing . He knows

13:48

our lives in ways that we cannot see

13:50

and we cannot imagine . And I

13:53

know he knew I

13:55

had more to give , that there

13:57

was more inside that I

13:59

could continue to develop . Now I

14:01

can look back at that and say

14:03

, wow , I'm thankful . In the moment I

14:05

was everything but thankful

14:07

, yeah , experience because

14:10

there was such a hard entry in , like

14:12

I said , my husband had all the

14:14

support around him and just

14:16

felt like I had no

14:19

support there , right ?

14:20

This happens a lot . When a young couple

14:22

gets married , they go off

14:24

to one of their job it's more

14:26

frequently the husband and

14:29

they have a life suddenly . They have a schedule

14:31

and they have goals and they know when they

14:33

have to be places . And the other person is I

14:35

support this , but now I'm not sure what to

14:37

do with myself 100%

14:40

, and there was never a time when I

14:42

thought this was the wrong path .

14:43

Yeah , that is something that kept me really grounded

14:46

during that time is feeling like I

14:48

knew that I had an answer in

14:50

my heart that this was right thing . It

14:52

just took a while for that to

14:55

manifest itself . So we finally

14:57

found an apartment . It ended up being

14:59

literally the perfect

15:02

place . It had parking . We eventually

15:04

got another car , and the reason

15:06

, I add , and it had parking is

15:08

to find in Boston parking

15:11

Also . It is just

15:14

an unreal thing , but I was still without

15:16

a job , yeah , so my first thing

15:18

that I decided to do was work for

15:20

a temp agency until I could find something

15:22

. We've got to be bringing in money . So

15:25

a temp agency that'll give me an idea of

15:27

what kind of companies are in Boston

15:29

, what seems interesting . And I'd

15:32

worked for a number of different companies and then I

15:34

landed at this one company that was

15:36

a biomedical company over in Cambridge

15:38

, and I remember going there

15:40

and immediately I just did not

15:42

like it and it didn't make sense at all

15:44

because I thought , well , I need a job , they're offering

15:47

me a temp job and I'll

15:49

take it whatever , I just need a paycheck . And

15:51

there was one day I think it was the second

15:53

day I was there my supervisor

15:56

came up to me and said so I need

15:58

you to file this pile of paperwork

16:00

. And she said do you know how to alphabetize

16:03

? And we're just going

16:06

. Oh my gosh . Honestly , that was my rock

16:08

bottom moment because I thought I

16:10

don't think I can do this . I don't , and

16:13

no job is too small . I absolutely

16:15

will file things if I need to file things , but I

16:17

just think this isn't a fit . I know this

16:19

isn't a fit . I need to stop doing this

16:22

. And I ended up

16:24

quitting that temp position and

16:26

going and finding a temper

16:28

agency that actually worked through Harvard

16:30

Business School and I thought

16:32

you know , it's closer to where I am . Anyway , it

16:34

was a very , very short commute to

16:37

get to HBS and I got a

16:39

temp position and every week

16:41

at Harvard they would print this newsletter

16:43

that had openings around

16:46

the campus and Harvard Business Publishing

16:48

is part of the umbrella , and I remember

16:51

seeing this job for a part-time editorial

16:53

coordinator and it was

16:55

that same feeling I felt with coming to

16:57

Boston . I was like I think that's

16:59

my job and everything inside

17:01

me screamed no , that can't be your job because

17:04

, remember , you need to be working

17:06

full time . We need

17:08

the money . That's really what we need to

17:10

be doing right now . And not only that . I

17:12

really wanted to build my career . I wanted to build

17:14

what I wanted to do , but I just

17:16

felt this undeniable sense of

17:18

no , that's exactly the right job

17:21

for you . So , against all

17:23

odds , I applied for that job

17:25

. I got that job and

17:27

the whole journey and this is where I felt

17:30

like Heavenly Father came

17:32

in so big for

17:34

me here because that entire process

17:37

I felt so calm . I

17:39

felt so at peace . I even didn't

17:41

worry about the part-time , I just knew

17:43

that that's where I was supposed to be at that

17:45

time .

17:46

I love that . I love that you saw it so early

17:48

, and those not making sense

17:50

moments are just a little bit easier to

17:52

take when you definitely feel like

17:55

there was some sort of inspiration . Absolutely

17:57

All right . So what happens next

17:59

In the not too

18:02

far future .

18:04

I started working full-time , loved it

18:06

the company Morphed and Grew , the project

18:08

Morphed and Grew and I just

18:10

thought I could really see myself in

18:12

business publishing . I felt really

18:15

grounded at that point in what I was doing

18:17

and the trajectory of where I was going . And

18:20

Bryce ended up finishing school and

18:23

I ended up pregnant with my first

18:25

son and I

18:27

really was planning on juggling kind

18:29

of being a full-time mom with being a

18:31

at least full-time or part-time worker

18:34

until he was born

18:36

. And when my son

18:38

was born , I remember

18:40

looking around and hearing the stories

18:43

of other people's baby

18:45

experiences . I'm like this isn't the

18:47

same as other people's and

18:49

I couldn't quite figure out myself

18:52

. I couldn't figure out him . He

18:55

cried constantly . He

18:57

has turned into since the loveliest of adults

18:59

, but he was a super

19:01

, super challenging baby and I just thought

19:04

, oh my goodness , I am so tired

19:06

I can barely think and be

19:08

a mom . I don't know how I'm going to do

19:10

this going forward . And

19:13

not only that , I didn't have any family support

19:15

out there . So we really thought and prayed about this pretty

19:17

seriously . My husband ended

19:19

up getting a job out in Seattle and we

19:21

decided at that time that we would take

19:24

off and go to Seattle and then

19:26

I could focus on this baby

19:28

for a while and sort of let things

19:31

unfold . So I was home

19:33

with him , solely

19:35

doing just full-time mom for

19:37

about three years . My

19:40

daughter was born at that time and

19:42

my good friend who now worked

19:44

at HBS she reached out

19:47

to me and she said we have a project that we're

19:49

working on . You would be a perfect

19:51

part of the team . Are you interested ? And

19:54

it was that same feeling I

19:56

thought my son's a little older . I

19:58

absolutely feel like I can juggle this

20:00

. I would really love to be back in the workforce

20:02

. And I just jumped in with both

20:04

feet . And that's when I started working

20:07

contract for Harvard Business School and

20:09

literally did that all the way

20:11

up until the pandemic . Wow

20:13

, when the pandemic hit , everybody

20:16

that was a contract employee that

20:18

wasn't deemed absolutely necessary was let go

20:20

. And I was one of those people and I remember

20:23

thinking , oh my gosh , this is

20:25

my problem . I've done it forever . I

20:28

saw myself doing this forever . The

20:30

pandemic was hard on everybody , but

20:32

it just felt like a double blow and I didn't

20:34

quite know how to handle that

20:37

. So I stepped

20:39

back . I did an awful lot of yard work

20:41

during that that

20:43

side I'm like I just need the sunshine , I need

20:45

to just breathe and

20:47

just recognize that there's always been a path

20:50

, that will continue to be a path

20:52

. I just need to dig in and find what

20:54

that path is going to look like . And

20:56

I remember seeing the job for HBS

20:58

online and , as

21:00

I think we tend to do

21:02

as women I shouldn't speak for other women

21:05

For me for sure , I have friends

21:07

that do the same thing I looked at

21:09

the job description and I thought I don't

21:11

fit every single one

21:13

of these things and so

21:16

maybe I shouldn't apply . I

21:18

don't know if I would

21:20

make it and maybe I shouldn't . And I

21:22

went back and forth for a couple of days but

21:24

I just thought , wow , that job looks so great

21:27

. I didn't have to apply , but

21:29

I didn't hear back from them for like two

21:31

months and I just remember feeling so deflated

21:33

. It sort of re-emphasized

21:36

see , I knew I wasn't a fit you know all those things that

21:38

you do to yourself . I just

21:40

wasn't a fit . But , wow , I really wanted

21:42

that job and I was applying to

21:44

others and whatnot as well . And

21:46

then they called me and I got

21:49

the job .

21:50

Amazing , from the way you explained it

21:52

, you and your husband seemed to partner really

21:54

well because you went with him to Boston

21:56

. But when you had a child he recognized

21:59

that if you were going to be home with the

22:01

kids you needed more support

22:03

and he was willing to shift his career

22:05

to accommodate that . Am I

22:07

right ?

22:08

Yep , exactly true . In our marriage

22:10

we are really different people

22:13

. He is calm

22:15

and cool and collected

22:17

. I'm that five years into

22:19

the future forward thinker and

22:21

I tend to worry more and I tend

22:24

to be more go , go , go and

22:26

in that moment he

22:28

really did lean into

22:30

what's going to be the best thing for

22:33

the family at large , which

22:35

I appreciated . There are times I'm

22:37

thinking it would have been really lovely to stay

22:39

in Boston . But I look at that

22:41

and I look at the journey that we took and I

22:43

especially look at my oldest son , flash

22:46

forward a number of years . He

22:48

has high functioning autism and

22:51

I think had we not been around family

22:53

, had my husband not seen that

22:55

that's something that we really do need at

22:57

that time , I think he would have

22:59

suffered . So , as a family , it was for

23:01

sure the right thing to do at the right time

23:04

, at least for

23:06

me . I always wanted to

23:08

do it all and in those

23:10

moments I realized there's

23:12

going to be a time when I can

23:14

do more , and that's my now

23:16

that I'm doing that . Back

23:18

then . There was that time

23:20

I needed to stop and

23:23

put everything on hold that I wanted

23:25

to do professionally , educationally and whatnot

23:27

, so that I could focus in a different direction

23:30

and I look back at the time that I was

23:32

able . Even though I was working

23:34

as a contractor in a part time capacity

23:37

, my number one focus was

23:39

supporting my kids and that

23:41

journey , and especially him . I

23:43

ended up homeschooling a couple

23:45

of my kids at different times , him

23:47

kind of from third grade all the way

23:49

through until he went to running start

23:51

, and it was that

23:54

at that time was also exactly

23:56

what I needed to do and I'm so

23:58

thankful that Heavenly Father sort of guided

24:00

that journey all the way along . Not

24:03

that it didn't take work I don't want to make it something

24:05

like this dreamy no , it

24:07

was a lot of hard work , a

24:09

lot of days and nights on my knees

24:11

saying I don't know what I'm doing . But

24:14

I look back and I look where I am

24:16

and what I'm able to do professionally

24:18

now and I just look up and I say thanks

24:20

, heavenly Father , because I didn't

24:22

see this coming .

24:23

Yeah , yeah , I love it . What

24:25

advice would you have for somebody who's listening

24:28

to this and they have , I

24:30

don't know , similar aspirations or just

24:32

anything that you learned about that process

24:35

. What advice would you give to somebody

24:37

?

24:37

That is such a good question . My

24:39

older self would

24:41

tell anybody , and including my

24:44

younger self , just to take a deep

24:46

breath , especially

24:48

somebody like me that has those

24:50

forward looking tendencies . I

24:52

want to plan , I want to think forward , I want

24:54

to see the future of me . I

24:56

am the type of person that literally

25:00

when a book gets too stressful , I

25:02

will read the end of it . So I can . I

25:05

am not even kidding . And so this thing

25:07

called life is really

25:09

really challenging , and there are some decisions

25:12

that you make that are

25:14

really linear . You

25:16

gather the variables , you

25:18

make a decision and you move forward

25:20

. But 90%

25:22

of the other decisions that you will

25:24

make it's not a

25:27

subset of the variables that

25:29

are going to lead you to that conclusion or

25:31

lead you to a satisfying

25:33

decision , and what I found in

25:35

my own life that I really have to

25:38

lean into is just

25:40

having faith in that next step . So

25:42

one of the things I

25:44

do in my outside work life is

25:46

I also teach seminary , and so

25:49

it gives me an opportunity to really deep

25:51

dive into the scriptures all the

25:53

time , just because I'm

25:55

a good teacher . I want to be on . I want to be a good teacher . I want to really know

25:57

what hand the father wants me to teach

25:59

, but I also want to know for myself , so I teach

26:01

well , and a couple of videos that

26:03

I came upon a few

26:05

years ago were videos through a three

26:08

set video by elder bednar called patterns

26:10

of light , and I

26:12

love them so much because

26:15

there's a point in this videos where

26:17

he says I don't know about anybody

26:19

else , but for me , I literally

26:21

have enough light to see that next

26:24

step that I need to take . And

26:26

as I take that step , the

26:29

light unfolds and I see the

26:31

next step . And so

26:33

if there were advice I was giving

26:35

to somebody or my younger self , it would

26:37

be continue stepping

26:40

and the light will unfold

26:42

as you go . I was reading

26:44

in my scriptures the other day and I don't ever

26:47

do this where I'll just open

26:49

the scriptures because this never has worked for

26:51

me before but I thought it was interesting

26:54

this week that when I opened my scriptures

26:56

I turned to scripture in

26:58

1 Nephi . I think it was in

27:00

the middle of the chapter 15 or

27:02

16 , where Lehi is

27:04

talking about the Leohona and his father

27:07

had just gotten that . They were trying to figure

27:09

out how to use their faith

27:11

to move forward . And there's a part where it says

27:13

that only way the Leohona

27:16

worked was according to their faith and diligence

27:18

. And when something

27:20

is repeated in the scriptures I always

27:23

take notice and he says it twice and

27:25

it just hit me so powerfully . That

27:27

is exactly what Heavenly Father is looking us

27:29

to do on our own lives , whether it's

27:31

professionally , or whether I decide

27:34

to have kids or not have kids , or whether

27:36

I decide to work or not work . All

27:39

those things are going to come to you , but

27:41

we have to step forward into that face space

27:43

to get those answers .

27:46

I love it . You've almost answered

27:48

my three final questions

27:50

, but I'm going to ask them anyway . Tell

27:53

me about a leap of faith you had to take to

27:55

get where you are now .

27:57

In probably 2015,

28:00

. I was working my max . I

28:02

was homeschooling the kids Two

28:04

of my kids were in competitive jump rope . I

28:07

just felt like I was completely maxed

28:09

. And I got an email

28:11

from somebody at Harvard Business School Executive

28:13

Education asking me if I

28:16

had the bandwidth to add maybe another

28:18

10 to 15 to

28:20

20 hours , depending on the week of work

28:22

each week , and I sat

28:24

back and I thought , oh , not a chance

28:27

. But at the same time I

28:29

had always made it a

28:31

matter of course that if Harvard came

28:33

to me with a project that I would say yes , that's

28:36

what I went into it thinking

28:38

and I always tried to make that work

28:40

, even if I was working kind of late at

28:42

night when the kids went to bed . And

28:44

I stepped back from that one and I thought I

28:47

just don't think I can do this , I

28:49

don't have the capacity , there's

28:51

no way . And

28:54

I decided to just lean into what I had always

28:56

felt . Nope , remember

28:58

. I say yes to opportunities , so I'm just

29:00

going to see yes and dive in and see what

29:02

happens . And I did that and

29:05

two months later my husband lost

29:07

his job . And I

29:09

look at that and even now

29:12

it just makes me go whoosh . I

29:14

am so thankful that I took

29:16

that opportunity when it did , because it allowed

29:19

us the chance to

29:21

let him get back on his feet without

29:23

the panic . And

29:26

that experience that I got at

29:28

exec ed I think was

29:30

fairly pivotal in me getting

29:32

my position now , and so it

29:34

gives me a moment where I think I need

29:36

to remember to trust father's

29:39

timing and if

29:41

an opportunity comes my way and I feel

29:43

OK about it , I need to jump in

29:45

and take it .

29:46

Yeah , yeah , that's important

29:48

. What is an unexpected blessing and you just couldn't

29:50

see for yourself in doing all of this ?

29:53

Oh , there's so many . I

29:56

think probably something unexpected

29:58

is just how much I'm enjoying

30:00

crafting relationships with the many

30:02

people that I get to work with . Recently

30:05

, probably around two , three weeks ago , I

30:07

had the opportunity to travel to

30:09

Istanbul to conduct

30:12

a couple of interviews that we had with

30:14

a company out there called Mavi , and

30:17

it was the first time

30:19

I had traveled solo

30:22

on that kind of adventure , probably

30:25

since I was in college , and

30:27

I was really really nervous . I

30:29

remember getting to the airport that morning and thinking

30:31

, oh my gosh , I am in way

30:33

over my head here and this is me now

30:35

. This isn't even me in college

30:38

and I just had to regroup

30:40

. And luckily the plane ride over there

30:42

is super long . And I got there

30:44

and I just thought , all right , I've got to bring my car and

30:46

that same tenacity that I bring to

30:49

my work , that

30:51

I bring to this adventure , and

30:53

it ended up being just

30:55

so fulfilling in so many

30:57

ways . And there's

30:59

times where I think I can't believe I get

31:01

to do what I get to do and

31:04

the people I get to meet . I feel so

31:06

blessed and so lucky and

31:08

that also helps motivate me to do the

31:10

best job that I can .

31:12

I love that . So how have you

31:14

seen the hand of God in your career ?

31:18

Oh goodness , I have

31:20

seen him so often

31:22

in my career and I think for

31:24

me personally , I

31:27

usually see him looking backward

31:30

and I'm hoping that I get

31:32

better at seeing his hand

31:34

in my career in

31:36

the exact moment , like I'm really striving

31:39

to do that One decision

31:41

I'm grappling with

31:43

right now . I've felt for a while probably

31:45

for the last , maybe year that

31:48

I need to go back to school

31:50

, and I'm not exactly sure

31:52

what that is going to look like . But

31:55

I'm really trying to lean on

31:58

my experiences with Heavenly Father in

32:00

the past to propel

32:02

me forwards and allow

32:04

him to guide that path , but also

32:06

be strong enough to make

32:08

the choices that I need to make and

32:10

not be afraid of the work that that will

32:13

entail , but really recognize if

32:15

he put something in my path , it's

32:17

something that I've had the capacity to do

32:19

, and so I'm trying to do

32:21

that , looking forward . But I certainly

32:23

see him through not only

32:26

my work journey but , as I said , with

32:28

my children's journey as well , and

32:30

that's been something I so appreciated and

32:32

so loved about that as

32:34

well .

32:36

Yeah , I've been on a quest to see God's

32:38

hand in the moment too . More often

32:40

, it's later , after the kicking

32:43

and screaming and crying , do we see

32:45

his masterful plan unfold , and

32:48

then we say thank you .

32:49

It's exactly true . And then having

32:52

that moment of gratitude

32:54

to say , oh , thank you so much

32:56

. I didn't know what I didn't know , and

32:58

I think that's exactly one of the things I

33:01

know that Heavenly Father is at least trying to teach

33:03

me . I've said this a number of times

33:05

, but I am a person that looks forward . That's

33:08

good , and it's not good , because

33:11

I think that what he's trying to teach me

33:13

is live in the moment as well

33:15

. Yes , it's important to have goals . I

33:17

am a hundred percent a fan of goals . Yes

33:20

, it's important to look forward

33:22

and realize where you might be going , but

33:24

also really recognize

33:26

that now is where you're going to have

33:28

the most power . Now

33:30

is where I'm going to get the most traction

33:32

going forward , and so really make sure

33:34

that I have quite a bit of energy

33:37

that lives now as well

33:39

.

33:40

So good . Rebecca , thank you for being on this

33:42

show with me .

33:44

Thank you so much , Shelley . Like I said , I'm such

33:46

a fan of your work . I love what you're doing

33:48

and I'm so honored

33:50

and feel so thankful that you chose

33:53

me to be part of this podcast .

33:55

I love it , thank you .

33:57

Thank you .

33:59

That's such a good story . Let's talk

34:01

about God's timing for a minute . Rebecca

34:03

mentioned a couple times how she sometimes

34:06

had to wait for something she wanted

34:08

, or an opportunity came

34:10

earlier than she wanted the

34:13

job she applied for but didn't hear back

34:15

for two months . Or when she got asked

34:17

to do a project when she didn't think she could

34:19

handle any more work , and

34:21

yet she felt prompted . Both

34:23

times I thought

34:25

about this . Today I'm working on a project

34:28

and we interviewed an applicant a couple of days ago

34:30

. She did great actually , but

34:33

then the next day I needed to check her references

34:35

and I was so swamped with other projects

34:37

that I didn't have time to do it . Then

34:40

I also got a couple of other applicants

34:43

and I needed to review their resumes

34:45

, but again I was so busy I didn't

34:47

get to any of it , and I thought that

34:49

first woman who applied is perhaps

34:51

thinking she should have heard back

34:54

by now , and now her mind

34:56

is racing with things she should have said . Or

34:58

maybe they didn't like me , but I've

35:00

literally been too busy to

35:02

continue with her application process

35:04

and I'll go get there . That

35:07

one just had to wait . So

35:09

when you apply for a job or something you

35:11

really want , it's often your

35:13

number one priority . It's all you can think

35:15

about , but the person who needs

35:17

to get back to you has

35:19

a bunch of stuff to do . As

35:22

my boy on a mission would say , you

35:24

gotta trust the process . Or

35:27

, as the note on my mirror says , be

35:30

happy in the waiting Rather

35:32

than be stressing and wondering

35:34

about why you didn't hear back . Believe

35:37

that the right thing will happen for you in

35:39

the right time . And if you

35:41

do get an opportunity and feel compelled

35:43

to take it like the one Rebecca got

35:45

, that really saved their family financially

35:48

when her husband lost his job have

35:50

the courage to trust that process

35:53

too . God knows the

35:55

puzzle pieces that are being put in place

35:57

, so trust it . And if

35:59

you do feel nervous , then say a prayer

36:01

of thanks or ask for a bit of comfort

36:03

and then put your head down and get

36:06

to work or go serve someone

36:08

or just try to be happy in

36:10

the waiting . I'm so thankful

36:12

that Rebecca shared her journey with us and

36:14

the example of learning to understand her

36:16

shyness as being introverted

36:18

. Remember there was nothing wrong with her

36:21

. She said it herself . There was nothing

36:23

wrong with her childhood . She's just an

36:25

introvert . Many people

36:27

are and she learned

36:29

how to embrace that quality and see

36:31

the gift that it is in her life , and

36:33

I'm guessing those people she connects with deeply

36:35

also appreciate her

36:38

ability to do so . Alright

36:40

, that's it for me . Thank you again to

36:42

Rebecca , and thank you for listening . Thank

36:46

you for spending time with me on the Faithful Career Moves

36:49

podcast . I hope you will discover

36:51

one story at a time , that God cares

36:53

deeply about the details of our lives

36:55

, especially something as important

36:57

as using our talents and abilities to support

36:59

our families , serve others and

37:01

build up his kingdom on this earth . And

37:04

if you are a stay at home mom who feels inspired

37:06

to stretch yourself professionally , visit

37:09

FaithfulCareerMovescom to learn

37:11

more .