Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview
Jennifer L. Marvin is an engineer, and a career and leadership coach passionate about helping others grow their careers. After more than 30 years in engineering and leadership, and as a female engineer herself, she understands the intricacies of navigating the workforce and planning a career centered on each individual. Her experience as an engineer and leader gives her a unique background that sets her up to be an inspiring coach who empowers other women to advance their careers. Jennifer is located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where she enjoys hiking, yoga, and spending time with her two adult daughters.
What inspired you to become a career coach, and how has your own career journey influenced your coaching style?
I was inspired by several experiences:
Through my current employer Boeing, the Society of Women Engineers internal group coordinates mentor/mentee matching and through that program I’ve mentored 10 women for at least six months each, meeting every other week, since 2019. Then, in January 2021, I connected with the Career Accelerator Program and began coaching using the curated material and business model created by its founder Luke Feldmeier. I had answered a LinkedIn email curious about the program and when I met with our sales director Earl, he said I’d be a great coach!
In February of this year 2023, one of my mentees mentioned that he was taking a coaching class through an organization called InviteChange: www.invitechange.com. It’s a 60-hour program and after 100 hours of coaching, I will be certified by the International Coaching Foundation as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Finally, my own career journey influenced my coaching style by managing teams from 10-300 for over 10 years. One of the favorite parts of my job was employee development. As a Skill Team Leader, I also fostered the career development of over 700 Environment, Health, and Safety employees during a one-year assignment. I was selected by the Vice President for this role.
Can you share any specific examples of how you've helped a female client overcome a professional obstacle or achieve a significant career milestone?
Yes, here are a few. One client really liked her role but she felt she was underpaid and her requests for promotion fell on deaf ears, I helped her with her resume and interview preparation. She obtained another offer from a different company. I then helped her present that offer to her current employer which they matched plus adding to it resulting in almost a 25% increase for her. Then I leveraged my network of 10,000 female engineer contacts to post her backfill position which resulted in a diverse slate for that role. My most recent client secured a 60% pay increase and a management position with a national lab. Women supporting women to help close the gender pay gap which has been calculated to be 20%.
Another example was when a woman was having a conflict with a co-worker and her manager was out of town. I encouraged her to reach out to a senior woman in management that I had worked with in the past and knew would be supportive to help her. The result was that the woman resolved the conflict and continues to do well in her role. A peer mentor of mine struggled with gravitas. Her clothing style was too casual to be considered for the upper-level management positions she desired. She wasn’t too happy when I told her to drop the jean jackets, but she ended up retiring as a Vice President.
How has your background in engineering and leadership informed your approach to career coaching, particularly in helping women navigate their careers?
Engineering and management can be demanding careers. For women that choose to raise children, it’s important to also recognize the different demands of pregnancy, newborns, infants, toddlers, elementary children, teens, twenties, and beyond. The trick is “speed match” so to speak, the flexibility and predictability between your parenting demands and job demands.
For example, newborns, create a situation with little flexibility and predictability (and sleep!). During that season of your career, it would help women and men to consider jobs that might offer higher flexibility and predictability. Support systems like good partners, childcare, nannies, and cleaners can be engaged to help take the load off as well. With my clients, we talk about their specific situations and find jobs that are a match for them to raise amazing children while having an amazing career, knowing that one’s self-care and mental health is key to success at both.
You mentioned enjoying hiking and yoga in your spare time. How do you incorporate self-care practices into your coaching and advise clients on maintaining a work-life balance?
Living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest I love to walk outside and hike—I have a TikTok: TikTokinJen, of waterfalls from my hikes. In addition to being a student of yoga for over 20 years, I completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and plan to open a yoga studio called BossBabe Yoga and Wellness on my property, IG: @bossbabe.yoga. As someone who lives with a couple of chronic health issues, for me it is also critical to focus on sleep, regular medical care, nutrition, movement, social connection, pampering, meditation, and breathwork.
Sleep
My self-care routine starts with good sleep. One of the few rules in the house, while the kids were growing up, was to let sleeping people sleep! Sleep when the little sleeps is a similar concept. I don’t need naps often these days but have a set bedtime and wind-down routine. I have a list of 20 things I do before bed. I use an Oura Ring to track my sleep and know how much I need to function well. If my clients aren´t sleeping well that´s a red flag that something needs to change. Regular Medical Care
I make sure to keep up with my regular health checks and tests, supplementing when I am low. As a post-menopausal woman, I also find benefits from Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy. While I still had my cycle, I tuned into how my body felt and considered that into the rest of my plans and made time for rest and stress relief.
Nutrition
After actually losing weight during COVID through Intermittent Fasting and keto, I ended up having to have my gallbladder removed from the impact these techniques had on my body. The truth is 95% of diets fail. Since the fall of 2021, I’ve practiced Intuitive Eating by the book of the same name. After years of yo-yo dieting, I’ve made peace with food and respect my body through gentle nutrition and joyful movement. This allows me so much additional headspace not spent counting macros or points, I haven’t seen research on this but anecdotally, I've noticed women who are also engineers are prone to orthorexia, an addiction to “healthy” eating and extreme exercise. I recently found an old Weight Watchers spreadsheet that tracked my weight and 15(!) body measurements each month for 5 years! Talk about micromanagement and a waste of time.
In my life coaching practice, I coach women to consider Intuitive Eating, enjoy what they eat, get in touch with their body’s needs and accept their body. In the US especially, there is a huge pressure for women to be smaller, and at 5’-10” I will never be small. My joke is that I am a German Shepard, trying to look like a Chihuahua, and often ended up looking like a Schnauzer. I would love to hear from other women engineers around the world, especially the French on how they approach what they eat and how they exercise. I don’t assign moral value to food and eat convenience foods such as protein drinks and fast food as well as large colorful salads with many ingredients like chicken, nuts, seeds and berries. I eat snacks and desserts and enjoy the social aspects of eating with loved ones.
Movement
On days I start at 8 AM or 9 AM instead of 7 AM, I use the time to exercise. My preference is 15-30 minutes of yoga, followed by 20-30 minutes of meditation and a 15-60-minute walk outside in the sunshine (when we have it in rainy Seattle!) I often use the walking time to listen to affirmations, I like the “I Am” app for this. I work from home a lot and I also have a walking pad under my desk and will walk slowly for an hour during mentoring discussions a few times a week. I have the Lululemon Mirror and can’t say enough about it. Every Sunday night I check to see what live classes I could attend considering my work schedule and then also sprinkle AM & PM yoga recorded classes whenever I can. On the Lululemon Mirror, there are 16 genres of workouts from Chair Exercises and Tai Chi to Kick-Boxing and Step Cardio.
Social Connection
There’s a title of a book I love called, “Stop Screaming at the Microwave!” One of the concepts in the book concerns how important social connection is to the health of women and work-life balance. Like Jane Fonda said, “I don’t know where I’d be without my women friends.” I talk to my mother who is 91 and who lives 2,000 miles away daily, my daughters daily, and my two sisters weekly and regularly coordinate hiking or happy hours with friends. When you’re home raising children, consider starting a working mom’s play group. This is where I’d also like to put a plug-in for nursing. Reconnecting with your baby after a long day at work in this special way can be an antidote to stress due to the oxytocin that is released.
Pampering
I consider beauty an aspect of self-care as well. At different seasons these may be some of the things that go on the back burner but I take time for skin care, manicures and pedicures, regular haircuts and styling as well as lashes and self-tanners. And the old commercial “Calgon, take me away,” was so successful because sometimes you just need a warm bath and a cup of tea.
Medication & Breathwork
For meditation and breath work I follow an influencer on TikTok named Daniel Tyack who leads a meditation from his home in Encinitas, California every morning at 6:30 AM PST. I also practice cold water in the shower and lengthen my exhales using a Shift from Komuso.
Can you tell me about your experience with leadership training? How has it impacted your career?
I’ve been a student of leadership since High School, in Brookfield, Wisconsin when I flew to New Jersey to attend the Stevens Institute of Technology’s Careers for Women in Engineering and Management, a week-long program in the summer of 1987. Since then I’ve read and taken countless classes in leadership and management. My focus on leadership knowledge set me up to obtain my first management position before I was 30 and led me to be selected for important factory operations jobs both at Kimberly-Clark and Boeing. It now also helps me to coach other leaders because I've experienced the highs and lows of those experiences.
What are the benefits of the Leadership Training program?
The Leadership Training program helps individuals and groups work through expertly curated modules on the key aspects of leadership with a coach and cohort. It allows for dialog and sharing over a period of months, which is often a great way for adult learners to learn as opposed to trying to fit it all into a one-week classroom event. Our Leadership Training program stands out from others by offering a unique combination of mobile modules and personalized coaching. We have distilled the program to focus on the critical elements that drive leadership success. From establishing a clear career path to mastering communication skills, our modules cover essential topics such as resume development, interview guidance, networking, and handling difficult conversations. With our program, you will receive expert guidance and support to overcome challenges and build the necessary skills for effective leadership.
How does The Leadership Training program differ from other leadership training programs you've encountered?
The Leadership Training program is different in that it offers a combination of modules available on a computer, tablet, or smartphone with the personal coaching experience. Everything has been distilled to the critical elements. The modules include: establishing a career path, resume development, interview guidance/practice, marketability, online career profile optimization, finding a new job, advice for compensation, getting off to a great start in a new job, identifying and working through any roadblocks or challenges, networking in your company, getting recognized and building rapport, building relationships, handling difficult conversations, managing stress and organizational skills, communication skills, prioritizing, setting goals, and managing work-life balance. Two new modules I’m working on developing are women supporting women and male allies.
In your opinion, what are the most important skills or traits for effective leadership?
The most important thing is managing yourself and then the people. Their engagement and connection with the mission, their support for safety and quality, and their determination and resilience make or break an organization. If a leader can instill those principles and the business model is solid, you can’t help but succeed.
Here are my top twelve concepts to do this and which can work for your own personal career plan:
1. Create balance daily
2. Bloom where you are planted
3. Play to your strengths
4. Set the Vision
5. Strive for excellence (NOT Perfection)
6. Adapt to connect (Know your style and others)
7. Make their Day (Customer service)
8. Serve to lead
9. Stay humble
10. Practice gratitude
11. Give back
12. Have fun!
What sets you apart as a career coach?
What sets me apart, as a female engineer and leader myself, is my extensive firsthand experience as a successful engineer, which allows me to deeply understand the unique challenges and opportunities that women engineers face in their careers. I have walked the same path, navigated through biases, and overcome obstacles to achieve remarkable results. This personal journey has equipped me with invaluable insights and strategies that I am passionate about sharing with my clients. Furthermore, my approach extends beyond gender-specific coaching. While I am dedicated to empowering women engineers, I firmly believe that everyone deserves to live an extraordinary life and enjoy fulfilling careers. By leveraging my expertise and coaching methodologies, I work with both women and men to help them uncover their true potential, develop key skills, and create meaningful career paths. My commitment to cultivating a supportive community and mentoring the next generation of engineers sets me apart, as I believe in fostering an environment of growth and success for all.
Jennifer is available for speaking engagements and she´s also the co-author of the book "Moms in STEM".
Are you an engineer or technical professional, looking to take your career to the next level? Or are you a loved one of an engineer that could benefit from career guidance or life coaching?
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