5 Women of Wonsulting Who Are Paving the Way for the Next Generation

Culture

March 31, 2021

Jonathan Javier

As March comes to a close, I'm thankful for all of the women leaders who have helped Wonsulting grow to what it is today. What started off as just an idea of Wonsulting became a reality which goal is to turn all underdogs into winners.

There have been many women leaders who have helped Wonsulting grow from its first few followers to now hundreds of thousands; for Women's History Month, we showcased 5 Women of Wonsulting who have achieved amazing aspirations and have empowered thousands of others to also share their stories.

In this article, I talk about how these 5 female leaders are changing the world, one underdog at a time.

If you want to learn from a Marketing Executive who provides amazing insights through her LinkedIn content and new book, connect with Maya Grossman.

Maya Grossman’s insights are one of a kind and can be found through her LinkedIn. Maya and I met through one of my friends Linh T. Tran; I knew I had to connect with her after seeing her extensive experience and amazing insights. Maya previously worked in companies such as Google, Microsoft, and had her own company before taking on the position as Vice President of Marketing at Jumpstart. She also has her own book called Invaluable: Master the 10 Skills You Need to Skyrocket Your Career which is a best-seller on Amazon.

Maya’s underdog turned winner story comes from her empathy to help fellow underdogs land into their dream careers. Everyday, she provides an insightful post with either resources or insights from a executive-level lens to provide insights for her audiences.

We asked Maya the following questions, and this is what she answered:

What does turning underdogs into winners mean to you? It means everything is figureoutable and the only thing that stands between you and your dreams is your mindset. No matter where you came from, what you look like or what your circumstances are, anything is possible.

What would you have told your younger self? Don’t downgrade your dreams, upgrade your reality!

How do you empower women in the workplace? I make sure we have a safe space to engage and empower one another.

Lastly, one thing that stands out to me about Maya is her willingness to give back to others; she continues to provide value to others despite a busy schedule, and it’s always a pleasure catching up with her every few months. Find more of what she has to say about Women’s History Month in her recent video with Jumpstart!

If you don’t want to blend in and instead stand out, connect with Harpreet Kaur.

You’ve probably seen her on many of our videos/content, but Harpreet Kaur is the female leader who continues to inspire and empower future generations to stand out in whatever they do. Harpreet and I met on LinkedIn when we were both chatting after a LinkedIn Live with another amazing female leader Miri Rodriguez; I knew after our conversation that she truly wanted to see others succeed in their careers. Harpreet is currently a Sr. PM Lead at Microsoft and is frequent public speaker for Women in Tech conferences, STEM, career branding, and more! She’s also an avid painter who makes abstract art on her Instagram and also has her own leadership coaching website.

Harpreet’s underdog turned winner story comes from her mission: why blend in when you can stand out? It’s something I personally take to heart as well; in life, we’re meant to be better versions of ourselves not only for our own good but to help other people. Harpreet’s willingness to give back to the Wonsulting community and others everyday is something all should be inspired by.

We asked Harpreet the following questions, and this is what she answered:

What does turning underdogs into winners mean to you? I love this quote from our Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates - “If there’s one cultural quality we have, it’s that we always see ourselves as an underdog.”. I believe we all have it in us to get out there, win and reach out true potential and sometimes, you just need that sponsor/mentor/coach to softly nudge you to get out of your shell, show you that you got that superpower to stand out, doesn’t matter of your background, gender, race. You can achieve anything you set your mind to.

What would you have told your younger self? Stop covering! Be you! You are enough! You always have a choice, Queen!

How do you empower women in the workplace? By being open and vulnerable about my stories! I don’t want anyone to spend 30 or more years hiding in their shell like me! I tell them your time is now and if I can be in tech, you can too! You are not behind or in front, you are exactly where you need to be! And frankly, I ask them to be the force multipliers, take more under their wings and keep mentoring.

Keep mentoring; Something Harpreet advocates for everyday on LinkedIn. She continues to inspire and is an advocate for others to break out of the shell called Imposter Syndrome. We’re not meant to blend in with her by our side; we’re meant to be something much more.

If you want to be bold, be brave, and most of all, be you, connect with Pooja Sund.

Pooja Sund is a strong advocate for helping others and is all about the 3P: Passion, Power, and People. She exemplifies each one in her unique way by having passion for giving back to her community, instilling power in future leaders, and being a leader for the people. Pooja and I connected on LinkedIn when she spoke on one of our panels at University of Michigan. She’s currently a Director of Engineering Finance at Microsoft and is all about turning underdogs into winners.

Pooja’s underdog turned winner story comes from her purpose: she says that turning underdogs into winners “means being the CEO of your own career and getting into your dream role by highlighting your strengths and capitalizing on them”. Pooja wants other underdogs to step up and be brave to live up to their potentials and become the person they’re meant to be.

We asked Pooja the following questions, and this is what she answered:

What does turning underdogs into winners mean to you? Bringing the best out of everyone. Let people be the best version of themselves. Be bold, Be Brave, and Be You. To me, it means be the CEO of your own career and get into your dream role by highlighting your strengths and capitalizing on them.

What would you have told your younger self? Be bold, be brave, and be you. Limitations exist in your mind and they are not outside.

How do you empower women in the workplace? I am co-leading Women at Microsoft employee resource group (24K members) and create programs to amplify, connect, and inspire women across STEM community..

As we said before: be bold, be brave, and most of all, be you. This is what Pooja advocates for everyday; you’re meant to be someone special and to make an impact in the world.

If you want to learn insights from a Recruit[in]g Ninja and rock your LinkedIn profile, connect with Megan O’Meara.

Megan “Mo” O'‘Meara is one of Wonsulting’s strongest supporters since Day 1. A San Francisco Native, 4th generation, Mo is extremely passionate about people and finding great talent. You’ve probably seen her multiple times in our Lives, as she was also the first speaker for The20, a Wonsulting Company with our cohort of job-seekers. She currently is a Recruiter, Insights and Sales Readiness (GSO) at LinkedIn, finding the best talent for #LinkedInLife and also is a Rock Your Profile (RYP) Ambassador.

Mo’s underdog story comes from when she first graduated from Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and graduated with her Business Degree at LMU’s Business School. She first started her career at Apple in the Apple Store Leadership Program (ASLP), becoming a Leader/Manager at the company in only 1.5 years. After being at Apple for 3.5 years, she found her passion for Recruiting where she transitioned to working at Linkedin in Human Resources.

We asked Mo the following questions, and this is what she answered:

What does turning underdogs into winners mean to you? It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. – Mark Twain Nothing is impossible. Work hard. Have a good attitude. Stay hungry, positive, and motivated - and anything is possible.

What would you have told your younger self? You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room to be the most successful.

How do you empower women in the workplace? Who run the world? GIRLS. Encouragement of one another and recognition is key to lift one another up. Stay positive and approachable. Encourage women to speak up, and have a voice and seat at the table. Finally, be vulnerable. It's okay to talk to be vulnerable. Don't forget that.

Mo always puts the fun in recruiting and is a perfect example of what a female leader exemplifies. She wants to help folks get into leadership positions and wants to bridge the gap of women in early careers to reach the executive level such as in this LinkedIn article. This is what Pooja advocates for everyday; you’re meant to be someone special and to make an impact in the world.

If you want to hear words of wisdom from one of the most charismatic women in tech advocates we know, connect with Lizzie Ann Jones.

Also known as #HeyLizzieAnn in reference to her own company Hey Lizzie Ann, Lizzie has been one of our really good friends since Day 1 . She’s been on both Jerry Lee and my LinkedIn Lives numerous times, as she offers expert and holistic coaching to help women cultivate confidence and authenticity in their careers. Prior to running her own career-coaching organization for ambitious early-career women in tech, Lizzie spent 4 years in corporate recruiting and HR at Amazon and Expedia Group and is now attending her MBA at Rice University.

Lizzie’s underdog story comes from her passion in bridging the gap between women in tech and their dream jobs. Her career story shows her obsession over driving results to keep customers happy and making a difference in the world for every person who feels like they’re an underdog. She does this by not only providing amazing LinkedIn content but also her own resources to help job-seekers.

We asked Lizzie the following questions, and this is what she answered:

What does turning underdogs into winners mean to you? Turning underdogs into winners means helping folks who have had the cards stacked against them. It means showing underdogs that they were winners all along.

What would you have told your younger self? Little Lizzie: you are so worthy of everything you achieve. Even when you're the only person at the table who looks like you -- you deserve to be there.

How do you empower women in the workplace? I prioritize mentoring women who are more junior to me in their careers. There's room for us all to succeed, and I am passionate about helping women who are just starting out in corporate.

Lizzie continues to inspire folks everyday to share their stories; we’re thankful she’s shared her own with us to inspire future generations of leaders.

In conclusion, these 5 Women of Wonsulting are folks you should connect with.

Maya, Harpreet, Pooja, Mo, and Lizzie are examples of amazing female leaders that you should all connect with in 2021; they each share words of wisdom in a unique way to help others during these times. We’re thankful for all they do for others, especially our Wonsulting Community and can’t wait for what’s in store next for each of them.

All I know is this: there are going to be more women in the workplace in leadership roles just like them, and this is just the start of it. Find in our next article more female leaders / content creators who are making a difference in the world, one underdog at a time.

To more queens taking their crowns in the future,

#JWoW

Jonathan Javier is the CEO/Founder of Wonsulting, which mission is to “turn underdogs into winners”. He’s also worked in Operations at Snap, Google, and Cisco coming from a non-target school/non-traditional background. He works on many initiatives, providing advice and words of wisdom on LinkedIn and through speaking engagements. In total, he has led 210+ workshops in 9 different countries including the Mena ICT Forum in Jordan, Resume/Personal Branding at Cisco, LinkedIn Strategy & Operations Offsite, Great Place To Work, Talks at Google, TEDx, and more. He’s also been featured as a Top Job Search Expert in articles from Forbes, Business Insider, Yahoo News, LinkedIn News, Jobscan, Brainz Magazine, and more. He’s amassed 600K+ followers on LinkedIn, Instagram,& TikTok as well as 30+ million impressions monthly on his content.

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