Women at Domo Meet-Up: An intern’s thoughts

On Tuesday night, every woman at Domo—from the executives to the interns—was invited to the first ever “Women at Domo” event. The event was held in an effort to build community and provide mentoring opportunities across the company.

Women in the workforce face unique challenges, and it was helpful to hear the perspective of those who have weathered some of the challenges and taken part in some great successes.

With that in mind, I gathered a few thoughts from those who participated. Here are some of the insights that came out of Tuesday night’s meeting:

You can have it all.

I constantly agonize over making the right choices, especially where career and family are concerned. But as I listened to our executives, I was comforted by the advice to not worry so much, to ask for help, and to constantly be looking for opportunities to learn. I was also empowered by the message that you really can “have it all, just maybe not all at once.” A majority of the women are married, have children and have a rocking career. For perhaps the first time, I feel confident that I will one day be able to say the same.

Work quality shuts mouths and drops jaws.

Rebecca Ricks, one of my fellow co-workers in the marketing department, noted that she was particularly inspired by Catherine Wong’s story. Throughout her career, Catherine (SVP of engineering) has always been one of the few females in the engineering department. Her focus on delivering high-quality work has helped her make gender a non-issue.

Rebecca said, “If I’ve learned one lesson from yesterday’s panel, it’s that good work speaks more than words. If you consistently knock your assignments out of the park, people will start to notice and opportunities will present themselves to you.” Rebecca was initially drawn to Domo because she felt that she would be provided with great mentoring opportunities working directly for Heather Zynczak (CMO) and Julie Kehoe (VP of communications).

Ask. And say no.

Tayler Dennis, a member of the human resources team, noted that she was personally inspired by Julie Kehoe’s advice to ask for help and to learn to say no.

Tayler said, “This advice was especially pertinent to me because I often find myself in situations where I don’t know exactly how to get the result I’m looking for. The solution is so simple…I just need to ask! I think if I am more willing to do this, I’ll find people are more willing to help than I often times think. Also, I loved that Julie said we need to learn to say no. I want to do everything that’s asked of me but knowing my personal limits will help me be more valuable in the things I take on to do.”

Mentors are more available than you may think.

Caitlin Wright, an executive assistant in HR, mentioned that she appreciated Cathy Donahoe’s advice to find a mentor early on in your career. When Cathy was beginning her career, she connected with her executive VP of HR and sought her advice continually. Cathy mentioned that she was willing to learn and because of this attribute, her mentor was willing to invest in her.

Cathy even took a lateral step in her career to follow her mentor. That step ended up being one of the best moves Cathy made in her career. Caitlin noted, “I have learned so much from Cathy in the time that I have worked for her. There’s no doubt that she has been an instrumental part in my personal career development.”

Re-entry is tough, but women are tougher.

As women in the workforce, we face unique challenges when exiting or reentering the workforce for motherhood. Heather Zynczak has three little boys and has recently been faced with these important decisions. Eliza Newbold, a field marketing coordinator, said, “I like that Heather said in life you need to weigh out the pros and cons of life decisions and once you make a decision that is best suited for you, don’t feel guilty! Be proud of the choices you make.”

Cathy Donahoe also commented that we should be understanding and accepting of the choices that other women make, saying, “If a woman decides to not have kids, or to leave work completely for motherhood, that’s her choice and we should support her!”

It’s good to be a woman at Domo.

The very first Women at Domo Event was a huge success. I think I can take the liberty to say that all of the women were enriched in some way by the friendships made and advice shared. We are all looking forward to future events to continue to build community with the women at Domo!