Episode 312
Career Conversations with Megan Bozzuto
On this episode of The Traveling Introvert, our guest shares their journey in leadership, from dealing with Impostor syndrome to networking as an introvert. They emphasize the importance of transparency in personal situations, building a supportive network, and creating space in a busy schedule for recharging. As an introvert, they value alone time but still make intentional efforts to network and lead their team. They also highlight the crucial support and resources provided by the International Association of Women for women struggling with confidence and asking for help. Join us to learn more about navigating leadership as an introvert and building a solid support network.
Megan Bozzuto is a woman who is always ready to take on opportunities that come her way. She was recently presented with a chance to help with a brand initiative and strategy for her parent company, and without hesitation, she raised her hand and took on the challenge. This move has resulted in an exciting career advancement for her while still being able to continue doing what she loves at IAW. Megan is a professional who is passionate about her work and is always eager to learn and grow.
Social media links
https://www.facebook.com/megbozz/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/megbozz/
https://www.instagram.com/megbozz/
Link to website
Episode: Leading, Networking, and Fostering Community as an Introverted Woman
- Importance of being transparent with colleagues and managers without oversharing
- Benefits of sharing personal information with team members
- Communication skills when declining opportunities
- Accepting oneself as a leader despite doubt and overcoming impostor syndrome
- Delegating tasks instead of saying "no" directly
- Building relationships and maintaining a supportive network for nonlinear career paths
- Managing time and creating space for alone time to recharge as an introverted woman
- Strategies for successful networking, including being intentional about who to meet and where to network
- Support for women's confidence and negotiation skills in the workplace from organizations such as the International Association of Women
Note: The topics are not in chronological order and are a general summary of the episode content.
Transcript
Computer.
Speaker:Hello, and welcome to another session with Career Conversations.
Speaker:Today I'm talking to Megan, and we are going to talk about
Speaker:surprise, surprise career Conversations. Megan, welcome to the show.
Speaker:Thank you, Janice, for having me. Can you just let us know
Speaker:a little bit about yourself before I dive in on the first question? So I
Speaker:guess when I say that, because that's such a loaded question, I would like name
Speaker:and what you currently do, and if you wish to tell us which company you
Speaker:currently work for. Sure. My name is Megan Bazuto. I currently
Speaker:serve as the president of the International Association of Women. I also
Speaker:just stepped into a new role that will kind of combine what
Speaker:I do at IAW with heading up marketing for our parent
Speaker:company professional diversity network,
Speaker:because I just, like, adding more on my plate.
Speaker:She's laughing because my face is like, what are you doing? What? I just spoke
Speaker:to you months ago. Okay. I saw you in person.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:we might talk about this. When opportunities
Speaker:present, I feel like you have to go for them. And there was an opportunity,
Speaker:and I raised my hand and said, yeah, I can help there.
Speaker:It has put me in a place where I will be leading more
Speaker:brand initiative and strategy for our parent company, but I will not be
Speaker:stepping away from what I love doing here at IAW. And so
Speaker:it's kind of the best of everything. Gives me a
Speaker:career advancement play while also still getting to do everything
Speaker:that just fills my soul. So it's good.
Speaker:Back to a previously scheduled programming.
Speaker:Are you an introvert? We're coming back to that. Don't you worry.
Speaker:Are you an introvert? So I
Speaker:like to say yes. Like, when I do all the online
Speaker:assessments, whatever, I score very introverted. But I'm
Speaker:also a people person. I do enjoy being social. I enjoy
Speaker:being in places where I'm surrounded by people. But I
Speaker:think a lot of it is energy levels. And when
Speaker:I'm out and about and mingling and constantly around
Speaker:other people that are loud and vocal, I have
Speaker:to come back to myself and spend time alone. I need quiet space, and I
Speaker:think that I'm refueled by the quiet space I'm refueled by
Speaker:when I can spend time alone. But I
Speaker:kind of like to say I'm kind of an extroverted introvert. Like, there's a little
Speaker:bit of both. Okay. And so the follow up question always
Speaker:is, so what does introversion or being an introvert mean to
Speaker:you? So that's a good question, because I
Speaker:think that a lot of people have some preconceived notions
Speaker:of what an introvert is. And to me, it's really
Speaker:the person who wants to spend time alone that needs that
Speaker:alone time, that needs the quiet time, that is not the loudest voice in the
Speaker:room, that isn't necessarily the one throwing the
Speaker:party all the time, being out and about all the time.
Speaker:And I think that for me, it's sometimes
Speaker:feeling like I need that space to just be alone.
Speaker:If I don't find time to recharge by
Speaker:spending some time, whether it's outside on a walk or just
Speaker:a day at home in my office with no meetings, I'm very particular about
Speaker:buffering my schedule so that I get that time to recharge.
Speaker:All right, so I'm going to just dive straight into that. So as part of
Speaker:buffering your meetings, tell me what your calendar average calendar day might
Speaker:look like all week? Yeah, I mean, it really
Speaker:varies depending on the week. I used
Speaker:to be really good about blocking Monday morning and Friday afternoon
Speaker:so that I had space so that I wasn't.
Speaker:I find if I show up in my office at 830 Monday
Speaker:morning and I have a call at 09:00 A.m., that overwhelms
Speaker:me. So I have blocks of
Speaker:space that allow me
Speaker:I i do a number of things through IAW, where I have to
Speaker:be on camera doing interviews or hosting webinars.
Speaker:So those I always have buffer before and after. So if I have
Speaker:to be on and being super polished
Speaker:and super professional, I buffer my space around that so that I have breaks
Speaker:before and after. So I'm not just run from one meeting to one meeting to
Speaker:one meeting. I also with my team calls.
Speaker:I tend to stage them in one day so that I can kind of knock
Speaker:everything out one by one. But then I
Speaker:guess week to week, it's not always
Speaker:predictable. And so some days I get to the
Speaker:end of the day and I think, oh, that was a bad day. I didn't
Speaker:protect my schedule, but I'm
Speaker:way more intentional usually, about making sure there's
Speaker:time blocks that give me space to get outside for a walk,
Speaker:to give me space to prep for a meeting, to give me space to actually
Speaker:get tasks done, because if you're on calls all day long, you're not getting things
Speaker:done. And so you said you used
Speaker:to be really good about blocking off Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.
Speaker:What changed? I took on more responsibility,
Speaker:and I traveling. So the month of April,
Speaker:I traveled with my kids. I'm currently going through a divorce, so there's
Speaker:been lots of crazy stuff with that and just having to be places I don't
Speaker:usually have to be. One of my friends got married,
Speaker:so I was away for that and helping with that. And so I find that
Speaker:during the week, if I'm out of the office for other things,
Speaker:I open that space on Monday and Friday so I can accommodate the
Speaker:people who need me, so I can accommodate getting the work done. And so now
Speaker:I just finished a season of, like, April to early
Speaker:May, was crazy busy with family obligations, and that the
Speaker:last event was this past weekend. And now I'm right back to, okay,
Speaker:what's my calendar going to look like, for the next six weeks because I'm realizing
Speaker:that I've overdone it and I need to make sure I have that space back.
Speaker:Yes. Okay. That is great. So with
Speaker:the work that you do and the business that you work with,
Speaker:can you tell me some misconceptions about your
Speaker:industry, if there are any?
Speaker:Yeah, it's interesting
Speaker:because the International Association of Women, we support women,
Speaker:so we're a membership organization where we provide resources and
Speaker:benefits and tools and programming to women all around the world.
Speaker:And I think when I tell
Speaker:a lot of people what I do,
Speaker:there's two things. There's one like, oh, people,
Speaker:how does that work? Do people actually show up? I think they think
Speaker:that women just kind of hide in the corner, and they don't ask. They don't
Speaker:raise their hand and ask for help. And we coach a lot of women on
Speaker:how to do this because women are notoriously bad at raising their hand and asking
Speaker:for help. And so I
Speaker:think a lot of people think, oh, well, do women really need the help
Speaker:and support? And I think if you look at statistics,
Speaker:women are more likely to have confidence issues. They're more likely not to ask for
Speaker:what they want from a salary. They're more likely not to negotiate things. And so
Speaker:I say yes, women really do need the support, and we're here to provide that
Speaker:support. And so it's funny conversations sometimes
Speaker:with people who question, well,
Speaker:do you find that women show up authentically? Do they actually show up and ask?
Speaker:And I'm like they do. Once we've created an environment that
Speaker:fosters that community and comfort, where we're
Speaker:here to do exactly what we say we're going to do.
Speaker:Also, the idea that we're very much a circle,
Speaker:that anyone is welcoming, that we
Speaker:foster that environment where no matter who's coming into the room, whether it's a virtual
Speaker:room or in person room, they're going to feel welcome. They're going to be supported.
Speaker:They're going to find people who will help them get to the next level.
Speaker:Okay. And so with those misconceptions
Speaker:and things that you think about, and you mentioned with your calendar
Speaker:that you try and put buffers, but you also mentioned you got a new job,
Speaker:and when opportunities arise, you say yes. Is there anything you say no to?
Speaker:Yes, there is.
Speaker:This is something I've struggled with my entire life because I'm a people pleaser,
Speaker:and I have a really hard time saying no.
Speaker:I've gotten really good about using my team at work to do
Speaker:things that so I used to think emails would come through,
Speaker:and I'd just respond. There's a perfect example. You sent one the other day,
Speaker:and instead of responding, I forwarded it on to Tracy, who could help you more
Speaker:directly. And so it's not that I'm saying no to you.
Speaker:I'm just reallocating the work somewhere else because I hate
Speaker:saying no. Right. I do say no socially
Speaker:from time to time, if everyone's like, hey, let's go out on Friday night,
Speaker:and I need time to
Speaker:refresh myself. And if I go out and have dinner and drinks and social,
Speaker:I know that my energy isn't going to it's just going
Speaker:to drain me more. Whereas I have a group of friends who thrive on
Speaker:going out and catching up and sometimes I really need that, but sometimes I
Speaker:don't. So I say no. There's been
Speaker:times throughout my career where things have come across my plate, opportunities have
Speaker:come across my plate. There was an opportunity a few years ago
Speaker:and I had to say no because things within my personal life just
Speaker:weren't at a place where I could take on more from a career perspective.
Speaker:I just knew that I wanted to say yes. I wanted to
Speaker:say, yeah, give me a new role, give me more responsibility. But my husband
Speaker:at the time was very ill. We were having a lot of changes in our
Speaker:house, and I said, you know what? If I do that, it's going to overwhelm
Speaker:me and I have to do what's right for me. And at that
Speaker:point in time, it was prioritizing my family and my kids and making
Speaker:sure everything in my house was operating efficiently, even though I had to
Speaker:say no to the really cool opportunity.
Speaker:And so follow up question to that, how did you let the organization
Speaker:know that it wasn't them and it wasn't the right time to
Speaker:say yes? Yeah.
Speaker:I'm usually pretty transparent with the people I work with and the people
Speaker:I work for without being overly
Speaker:sharing too much, but being pretty open
Speaker:about what's going on personally. And I encourage this with my
Speaker:team as well, the people I manage. I think that in order for
Speaker:us to show up at work as our best selves, we have
Speaker:to know what's going on personally as well. You don't have to
Speaker:know every single detail. You don't have to know every little story, but if
Speaker:there's big themes that are emerging, it's important information.
Speaker:At that point in time, it really was, hey, I love this
Speaker:idea. I want to support as much as I can, but I don't have the
Speaker:capacity to give that role the attention it needs right now.
Speaker:Let's revisit this in a year or so.
Speaker:I'm respected at work. I do a great job, and I think that's
Speaker:a big part of it is that if they know the reason
Speaker:behind it, I realize, hey, there's a role that needs
Speaker:to be filled and you're probably going to go find somebody else and I'm okay
Speaker:with that. But just so you know, I'm not saying no to
Speaker:this entirely. I'm just saying no right now. Okay? Yeah.
Speaker:And you were lucky enough to have the option to do that because I feel
Speaker:some people might feel that if they say no, that opportunity will never come by
Speaker:again. And the what if the different things. That people might think
Speaker:about it? Right? And so
Speaker:what is something that you have done regularly
Speaker:that has improved your career?
Speaker:Networking, really building
Speaker:relationships and spending time getting to know people and understanding
Speaker:what other people need, adding value to other people's career stories,
Speaker:even if it doesn't directly benefit me, but keeping my network really
Speaker:tight and close. I think that there's people
Speaker:I worked with when I started my career has gone.
Speaker:You talk about nonlinear career plans. My career has been this wavy
Speaker:line all around. I started in accounting and finance with a piece
Speaker:of technology. I went from working at IBM to working at a video
Speaker:game company. I then pivoted into marketing.
Speaker:I was a freelancer for a period of time. I had my own business and
Speaker:then ended up at IAW. And there's themes like I still stay in
Speaker:touch with people I worked with 20 years ago when I started my career,
Speaker:and I still support them in ways and they still support me in ways.
Speaker:And by regularly showing up and just checking
Speaker:in, it doesn't have to be every week. You're investing hours
Speaker:and hours in networking. But we stay connected on
Speaker:LinkedIn, we comment on posts, we check in from time to time.
Speaker:And the job I started
Speaker:at IAW like eight, nine years ago,
Speaker:and that opportunity presented itself
Speaker:because of my network. And I was in New York City
Speaker:visiting with friends. I mentioned what I was doing to somebody.
Speaker:She said, oh, I think I might have a role for you.
Speaker:She brought me in part time as a consultant and that's how
Speaker:it happened. And so I think about that one moment
Speaker:where I just mentioned what I was doing and she
Speaker:gave the opportunity. And that has expanded into more and more
Speaker:and more. But really networking is something
Speaker:I've done consistently. And so would you say
Speaker:that your network is broad or
Speaker:very specific and niche? Broad? My network
Speaker:is so broad and sometimes I wonder, sometimes I think,
Speaker:oh, maybe it's too broad. But because I've worked so many
Speaker:different places and I spent five years living
Speaker:overseas in Shanghai and Dubai, and so my network
Speaker:spans global, but it's also people from all different industries
Speaker:and all different jobs. And in some ways that's really great
Speaker:because I can find anybody to do anything. But when
Speaker:I think about kind of like the, well,
Speaker:do I have the specific enough network to actually benefit my
Speaker:day to day job right now that needs improvement?
Speaker:I would definitely say my network is broad at this point.
Speaker:And so a lot of people might think that introvert
Speaker:can't have networks and don't like networking because
Speaker:people ill people and
Speaker:some people might find it overwhelming because you said your network is broad,
Speaker:which implies that there might be hundreds or maybe thousands of people that
Speaker:you know. So what is one thing you do? At least once a month that
Speaker:helps you grow and or nurture your network. And can you be
Speaker:really specific about it? Yeah.
Speaker:So one thing I do every month, and we've done some
Speaker:content around networking for introverts because it's not impossible. I know
Speaker:it's overwhelming and I know it's hard. So one thing I've started doing
Speaker:every month, and I do this as part of an accountability thing I run through
Speaker:IAW is I'm very intentional about
Speaker:identifying five places I can network and
Speaker:it doesn't have to be. So maybe we'll attend one in person
Speaker:event during the month. I will find a Facebook group. I can go
Speaker:engage in a LinkedIn group. I'll find a virtual event.
Speaker:I the also make a list of at least five people I
Speaker:want to have a touch point with. And a touch point doesn't necessarily mean we're
Speaker:going out and having coffee, but it might be go look at their LinkedIn and
Speaker:see what they've been up to and see if I can just drop a message
Speaker:or if I've read a good book recently, I might
Speaker:recommend they read the book. Just little touch points like that.
Speaker:And then I look to add at
Speaker:least ten people to my network every month. So I'll go
Speaker:through and find opportunities at the events I'm attending.
Speaker:I try to walk away going, okay, I'm not just showing
Speaker:up to have a cocktail and mingle, but who can
Speaker:I actually meet and walk away feeling like I have a relationship where
Speaker:we could follow up and collaborate in the future?
Speaker:So I try to be intentional about instead
Speaker:of just kind of showing up and seeing who falls into my LinkedIn.
Speaker:More intentional about where I'm showing up, when I'm showing up,
Speaker:and how I'm gathering those contacts and nurturing them.
Speaker:So a slightly different question. You mentioned the non linear
Speaker:path that your career has had. Would you
Speaker:consider yourself to be a leader?
Speaker:Yes, I would.
Speaker:This is a loaded question and you're laughing. I love
Speaker:the pause. It was like yeah, because I've
Speaker:struggled. So I've struggled with Impostor syndrome
Speaker:because I took time. When we lived overseas, I did not work. So I
Speaker:found out I was pregnant. My husband was offered a job in Shanghai and I
Speaker:said, Great, let's go. I can take some time. I can have the baby.
Speaker:I can figure out this being a mom, I can step away from my career.
Speaker:It was supposed to be 18 months overseas, so I could take
Speaker:that time to figure out mom and what am I doing from a career perspective.
Speaker:So 18 months turned into five years total
Speaker:overseas. Another kid, we moved home, we had another baby.
Speaker:I'm still not back to work. So I ended up with this eight ish
Speaker:year gap on my resume. And I really
Speaker:struggled to come back and feel like a leader because I felt like I had
Speaker:this gap and I hadn't stepped up in the
Speaker:same way that other people around me had.
Speaker:And when I reflect now,
Speaker:I've earned the respect of others around me. Some people I
Speaker:work with don't even know I have a gap on my resume, which I find
Speaker:hilarious. Why would I? Right?
Speaker:It's in my head. Right? It's in my head. And so I struggled
Speaker:with the am I truly a leader? And I believe I am.
Speaker:I believe I lead the community of IAW. I lead my
Speaker:team at IAW. I lead others around me.
Speaker:And I try to lead by showing good
Speaker:examples. Right. I try to foster environments where people can
Speaker:trust me and people know my decision making process.
Speaker:I would say, yes, I'm a leader. But I struggle with that question
Speaker:because my path to being a leader,
Speaker:I've doubted myself. And so I
Speaker:sometimes sit here and question, like, do I deserve to be here?
Speaker:And I've come to accept that I do. And I've done
Speaker:a lot of work in this area,
Speaker:but I think
Speaker:we can lead without a title. We can lead with a title. And so I
Speaker:do believe I'm a leader. I've just sometimes
Speaker:struggled to accept that along the way.
Speaker:All right, thank you so very much. This has been an interesting conversation.
Speaker:I have one final question for you before
Speaker:you let the people know where to find you, and that is is
Speaker:a hot dog a sandwich,
Speaker:in your humble opinion?
Speaker:No. And could you walk us through your thought
Speaker:process? I mean, technically,
Speaker:if I say a sandwich is something between bread, I guess, yes. But I just
Speaker:look at a hot dog, and I don't think sandwich.
Speaker:I suppose you could call it a sandwich, but I call a hot dog
Speaker:a hot dog. To me, a sandwich is two separate pieces of bread, and a
Speaker:hot dog bun is connected. All right,
Speaker:thank you very much for that. I appreciate it. Everyone has a different viewpoint,
Speaker:so it's wonderful to be like, wait, and the walk through it.
Speaker:Yeah, that's a great question.
Speaker:It has sparked debate over the years. I've led a lot of online
Speaker:co working, and that question has stopped
Speaker:anything work related, especially it's been, like, engineers or UX designers or
Speaker:anything. Just, of course, the whole rate.
Speaker:Oh, that must be fascinating.
Speaker:Thank you for joining us today. Please let the people know
Speaker:where they can find you should they wish to connect and be part of your
Speaker:growing, expanding network. Absolutely.
Speaker:So LinkedIn is the best place to find megan bazuto. It's B-O-Z-Z-U-T-O.
Speaker:If you just search that, it should show up. I'm also on instagram
Speaker:and facebook, but not quite as active in those places,
Speaker:so LinkedIn is best. All right, thank you so
Speaker:much. I really appreciate you being here today. This is janice
Speaker:at the career introvert, helping you build your brand and get hard. Have a great
