Tune in for an insightful chat with Carolyn Maldonado, who has navigated the challenging terrain of industries where women are often outnumbered. Discover her practical approach to continuous learning, career shifts, and balancing the demands of being a single mom.
Carolyn’s experiences and thoughtful strategies provide a roadmap for anyone looking to strike a balance between professional growth and personal happiness.
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable wisdom from a woman who has truly walked the walk. Join us and be inspired to carve out your own path with confidence.
Show Highlights:
- What does a senior client-service manager in insurance do? [00:04:47]
- Get a fresh outlook on the benefit of a career in insurance. [00:06:01]
- Learn about the strengths of continuing education. [00:06:58]
- Is patience, even in the face of futility, always a virtue? [00:09:08]
- A pathfinder mantra to live by from this fearless female. [00:15:57]
- Dive into this honest look at fear as a female professional. [00:20:08]
- Explore the truth about mentorship among career women. [00:22:46]
- Discover the work–life challenges and triumphs of modern women. [00:25:56]
- Grab this sage advice for budding career women. [00:29:58]
For more information or to connect with Carolyn Maldonado, go to: www.linkedin.com/in/carolynmaldonado
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to http://fearless-females.com/.
00:02.39
loriejones7
Well welcome. We are here today with ah Carolyn Maldonado she's a senior client service manager at Arthur J Gallagher and company and I'm so excited that you decided to join us today. Carolyn thank you so much for doing this for us I'm excited.
00:19.41
Carolyn Maldonado
Errol thanks for the invitation.
00:20.85
loriejones7
So um, so I'm going to kind of get started the way I do with all of my podcasts and that is I've got a a stack of books about this big on my bedside table that I'm going to get to one day. Um I Love reading What is your favorite book or what are you reading right? now that I should. Add to my stack.
00:42.69
Carolyn Maldonado
So most of the time I read for pleasure I don't read. Um I don't read smartbooks very often just because I feel like I have to use my brain throughout the day. So but I will say one of my absolute favorites which is pleasure and maybe a smartbook is the 4 agreements. By Don Mcgellaris um he is ah it's about tol tech wisdom like native central american wisdom and the 4 agreements have. There's 4 tenets to the book. One of them is be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Ah, don't make assumptions and always do your best. So the the whole story is kind of woven in and around that thing but it just really resonated with me about how to try to be a better person I guess.
01:30.13
loriejones7
I love that I've never heard of that before. Um and I've known Carolyn a long time. So so that's great I'll put that on my list and my bedside tables.
01:31.50
Carolyn Maldonado
Yeah. I actually have all wo yeah I have all 4 in like on a little slip of paper and I have one pasted on my mirror and one in my wallet by my driver's license. So It's not to say I'm a perfect person. It's like what I strive for. And the day I guess.
01:58.44
loriejones7
But we all do huh I love that. So um, so tell me a little bit about your journey Carolyn how did you get where you are today. What makes what makes us. Um, what makes you so exciting and so cool.
02:13.77
Carolyn Maldonado
Well I don't know about exciting and cool. It's the journey is a little convoluted I was ah running a construction company in the middle of the ocean with three small children and found myself in the middle of a terrible recession. With no more work to do um, nothing like no way to make more money in one of the ah in the highest cost of living state in our entire country and I thought I can't I can't do this I was a single mom I had my 3 little boys I was far away from any sort of of family whatsoever. So. I moved back to the mainland I went from Hawaii to Chicago which was a terrible terrible ah climate change and um, ended up getting a job at an insurance company as like kind of an admin sort of a thing and then slowly over the past you know. Ten and a half 12 1415 years have worked my way to where I am now so it was very different I call them my my first and second lives because it just it was really different environment then to compared to to what I'm doing now. So.
03:22.76
loriejones7
And what are what is what do you do day to day explain just a little bit about your job like what do you.
03:29.27
Carolyn Maldonado
So I am a client service manager yeah I'm a senior client service manager I work for um, commercial property and casualty insurance which means for. Companies that you see as you drive down the freeway I'm in Salt Lake City so large companies as you see both in Salt Lake and across the us I ins ensure theirre buildings I ins ensure theirre cars I insure they're people I ins ensure they're cyber I ensure so any sort of ah a major insurance risk they have I'm the one who works with them to get the coverage. To make sure it's accurate. You know any sort of day-to-day issues on their insurance so doesn't sound very exciting. Um, but it's kind of what I do It's a lot of phone calls. It's a lot of emails. It's a lot of you know, um periods where I'm sitting around waiting for something to happen and then there's months at a time where I'm working. You know fifteen sixteen hours a day just depending on what my renewal book looks like so I enjoy it I have a good time. Um, it's a little crazy at times but it you know it keeps me busy.
04:30.81
loriejones7
Yeah, yeah, well, you're talking to someone who's in finance. So anytime I tell them I'm in finance, their face goes like oh so so insurance I get that we we work in the same. What? Um, what made you choose insurance.
04:36.30
Carolyn Maldonado
Um, yes.
04:41.86
Carolyn Maldonado
Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, trying to convince somebody white insurance say that again.
04:47.88
loriejones7
Um, out of construction.
04:51.39
loriejones7
I said why did you choose insurance out of construction like you that was 2 different, totally different ways of doing.
04:59.71
Carolyn Maldonado
I Yeah I wouldn't say I exactly chose insurance. Um, it was the best fastest job that I could find at the time I was a single mom with three boys I had just relocated you know halfway.
05:12.10
loriejones7
Okay.
05:16.38
Carolyn Maldonado
Across the world and so I I knew that it would provide a steady income I knew it would provide a good income I knew that it was an industry where you can basically find a job in any city in any state at any time and so I thought okay if I'm reinventing my life then this is. This is the way I need to go I can't do something you know real estate. Maybe you'll make a ton of money in one year and then no money the next year I couldn't do something like that I need something steady and Stable. So That's what drove me there.
05:46.12
loriejones7
Yeah, that makes sense. So um, what do you think is the best investment you've made in yourself. Um through your career is there something that you can kind of point to where you say oh I'm so glad I did that that totally made. Made me who I am today.
06:05.71
Carolyn Maldonado
Yeah, probably education and I'm I'm ah I'm a dork I'm total Geek everybody knows it and it's not just a college education. Although I believe in that as well. Um I have a couple of degrees.
06:10.19
loriejones7
Mission.
06:23.61
Carolyn Maldonado
I Have a lot of insurance designations I feel like and and throughout my life even before I came to insurance I went through little certifications for different things I feel like I want to know all the things and um for for college specifically it wasn't a. Fact that I needed to know the stuff that they were teaching In fact, a lot of time I felt like already knew this it was feeling like discovering myself and what I could do through the education if that makes sense so all of the papers that you had to write all of the the tests that you had to do it was more of a strengthening of myself and deciding. You know what? I'm good at what I'm not good at you know, um, and you know going from there. So I think really that has been the the driving factor in my life is that if I don't know something or if I'm bored or if I need to feel like I'm accomplishing something then I go. Back to School. So.
07:20.57
loriejones7
Get another so for um, for those of you who are listening Carolyn I I have known each other for a lot of years and we have an ongoing um, kind of friendly ah competition as to who has the most letters after their name and I got to tell you Carolyn wins.
07:36.63
Carolyn Maldonado
Um.
07:39.17
loriejones7
She's she's a lot more than I do after her name and and I I am always playing catchup there. So I Love that idea though of education and learning and not just ah, you know I like I said I've known you a long time and it's not just things that are. Business related a lot of times you like to learn all the things. So um, what's the ah but Business. What.
08:02.46
Carolyn Maldonado
Yeah, my next ah class is probably going to be business I just could say my next class is probably gonna be Spanish I have nothing to do with business. You know just Spanish like Conversational Spanish That's my next class. So.
08:14.19
loriejones7
Oh.
08:20.66
loriejones7
Yeah, well, that's great because then you can come to ah South America with me and interpret because I'm bad at languages. So um, what would you say is the worst advice someone ever gave you and.
08:27.95
Carolyn Maldonado
See up.
08:36.37
loriejones7
Did you take it.
08:38.51
Carolyn Maldonado
I would say the worst advice I've ever received is to stick it Out. No matter what which sounds backwards from what you think I would say I think we all find a point within ourselves or we can't do it anymore. Whatever that may be and other people are telling you you know do your best Give it your all and yeah, give it your all to a certain point but but nobody else is living inside of you and feels the things that you feel and so when you realize that you've hit your point you hit your point.
09:14.47
loriejones7
Are you.
09:14.59
Carolyn Maldonado
And there's nothing else that you can do or you don't feel like there's anything or you just feel so um, terrible about. But what's going on stop change your life make it different because whoever else is telling you to just stick it Out. No matter what they're not inside there and they're not living that life and and they may not know all factors. So don't. Take it out.
09:39.15
loriejones7
That's do you? Um, How do you know when you've reached the point where you're you should stop trying and this is kind of ah a different question because it's probably a different point for every different person. But how do you know when you've reached the point where you're like okay. I've gave it my best effort now Now it's time to move on and try something different because this isn't working for me.
10:02.20
Carolyn Maldonado
I think the key to that is that you have given it your best effort if you have done everything you possibly can to become the best version of you that you possibly can without There's a caveat there without. Changing who you essentially are or bending over backwards but who you are as a decent kind and good human if you've done everything that you can and there's still no relief things aren't changing. There's no like there's nothing. You can do to change. You're waiting for somebody else to change or something else to change if you've done everything you can then walk away whether it's work or personal life. Whatever it is as long as you feel like you have been the best self that you can be and they're still it's still day after day of. You know if it's a work thing drudgery day after day after day drudgery and there's no um, bright spot to it. Life's too short There's there's a million other things that we could do in our lives to make it better and so I feel like as long as I've done I've been my best person then at that point I'll walk.
11:04.17
loriejones7
Um, yeah.
11:14.32
loriejones7
Yeah I love that I love that answer and that's so it's really interesting that I think that um you know we're speaking to young women kind of at the beginning of their career and I think that if you find that you're not in a place where you you. There are things you have to do when you start out where you don't necessarily love everything you do Um, but if you're not loving your career in your trajectory after you know 3 four or five years then then maybe find something else because 35 years worth of work is. Hard to do if you hate what you're doing right.
11:52.68
Carolyn Maldonado
Yep, yeah you you might be miserable 5 % there's 5 % of things that I do in my life at work that I don't want to do but the other 95% is amazing and so there's always going to be that portion of stuff. You know that a little task that you don't like but but we're talking about if you're at 99% you hate everything or 90% you hate everything change
12:15.52
loriejones7
Yeah, yeah, so regrets we all have them. Um, what is 1 situation in your career that you wish you'd handled differently and maybe why or what are the lessons you learned from that.
12:32.68
Carolyn Maldonado
Um, I feel like okay again going back to being a single mom and having to reinvent my life and start over like I was tired of being Hungry. You know both literally and metaphysically you know I wanted I felt like I worked hard. And I was smart like we can say it if we're smart like I worked hard I was smart I tried my best and I felt like I wanted all of it and that that was my goal is to get all of it and so I think sometimes we get ambitious to the point of we are doing things that just to be. The bestest. Greatest smartest richest but not exactly the happiest so there is a point a few years ago where I wanted to get bigger greater smarter and I thought well I'm going to go do something else because you know. Not appreciated or not making enough or I'm not going to be the biggest greatest smartest or whatever it is and um, really cause kind of a ah fear in my life I guess you would say and um and I realized after.
13:37.31
loriejones7
The sun.
13:40.40
Carolyn Maldonado
You know I worked through it. But after a few months of kind of working through it I realized why would I want to be the biggest greatest smartest x y z at the detriment to my own happiness like why would I change having ah a fancier title for having a more. Relaxed life right? like there comes a point where you have to figure out the balance and I regret that it took you know probably a year of angst for me to figure out where you know I could be great enough and smart enough and successful enough.
14:02.20
loriejones7
Um I am the.
14:15.66
Carolyn Maldonado
But still be able to have that kind of ah a happiness in my life where I was content with where I was where I was happy doing what I was doing that I was happy with my surroundings and so it you know I could have cut out a year of that if I just I guess had a little bit more introspection beforehand.
14:36.32
loriejones7
Yeah I like that idea like you're enough and what you're doing is enough and it's fulfilling and it it feels right? Yeah I think that um a lot of times we're we.
14:44.77
Carolyn Maldonado
Yeah, yeah, it's not going to impress somebody go ahead. Oh I'm going to say it's not going to impress somebody with yeah, it's not going to impress somebody if I have a fancier title. Maybe it will.
14:52.77
loriejones7
Go ahead, You said it's not going to impress somebody.
15:04.75
Carolyn Maldonado
But it doesn't make like at the end of the day when I lay my head down on my pillow. Do I feel better about having a fancier title or do I feel better about having you know an extra hour of you know doing the things that I love the most with people I love the most. So.
15:21.15
loriejones7
Yeah, yeah I think and I think as women too That's kind of ah a place we have to get to because um we have a lot of things competing for our time.
15:32.84
loriejones7
We are primary caregivers in a lot of cases and as a single mom you were the only caregiver in a lot of ways and so I think that um making that choice is to what is. The most important where do we spend our time and and letting the rest go.
15:53.28
Carolyn Maldonado
Yeah, sometimes you just have to let it go.
16:00.30
loriejones7
So what? if you could go back and talk to your 20 year old self and I think with with you since you've had like 2 different careers and 2 different career tracks. You might go back to like the beginning of this particular career track but you can.
16:12.67
Carolyn Maldonado
Um.
16:18.71
loriejones7
Answer however, you want if you were to go back and talk to your younger self at the beginning of your career. What would you? What's 1 thing you would say.
16:21.11
Carolyn Maldonado
Um.
16:29.40
Carolyn Maldonado
I I would say that that answer is valid for both my first life and my second life and that answer is do not make a decision about your life based on anyone else, don't like I said like bend yourself over backwards or or. Have this analogy I use with my kids like if if you're like trees when they grow up if they grow up too close to another tree they start to kind of twist around each other and that they should be their own straight tree before they find another tree to be close to I know it's a weird analogy but it works for me I feel like figure out what you want to do figure out what you enjoy. Figure out where you want to be in life and go for it and at some point you will probably find somebody who will go on that path with you and help you without altering you off of that path but before you take anybody else into consideration figure out what you want to do and head there. And you know, maybe you'll be accompanied by somebody else for a short time and maybe it'll be a long time or maybe you'll you'll you know, do it on your own but your path to happiness is your path not somebody else's path. So just do figure out what you want to do and get there and pick up. You know. Friends and events and occurrences and memories along the way but don't create your path based on what somebody else wants or says what requires.
18:00.90
loriejones7
Oh I like that? Um, what? how do you? How should they find their path any suggestions there.
18:09.50
Carolyn Maldonado
That's actually part of what I like about going to school that we all know that college isn't for everybody so I'm not saying everybody go get a 2 year or 40year or master's degree or anything take some classes learn a language go traveling figure out what you enjoy doing in life. When I was ah a senior in high school I wanted to be a doctor for reasons I did not become a doctor like kind of wish I had because I loved doing well I really wanted to but figure out what you like because we're all going to have jobs and some of us may like our job and some of us may not like our job.
18:34.11
loriejones7
Are.
18:43.77
Carolyn Maldonado
But if you find the things that you like to do and start to make your life built out of it then a lot of times that will help lead you to a career a relationship a a lifestyle that is wrapped up in the things that you love to do so start out that path by Figuring. What do I like what do I Enjoy What do I not like and then start moving your path towards doing those things that you like.
19:11.29
loriejones7
I like that I like that idea because we do have um influence over our relationship as you're talking about starting your own journey and and making your own path in your own way. We do have a lot of influence over the trajectory that our career takes. And if we um work hard at gaining skills in areas that we excel at and things that we do really well at and we enjoy then our our career will take us down that path and if we get skills and. And make decisions that take us down things that we don't really enjoy then our career is going to go that direction too and and it's better if it goes in a again, you're doing this for 35 years you might as well do something you like.
19:48.99
Carolyn Maldonado
M. Yeah, and it's hard I think because for years even when I was growing up. There was a certain path that girls could go on and there's a certain path that boys could go on and so at this point in our culture. Think we all can realize that girls and boys can go on whichever path. They want to go on but it's just the giving getting the opportunity to figure out what that path is for you and that's I Really truly think that you first you find out what you like to do and then you can figure out a path.
20:27.11
loriejones7
Yeah I I think that's really interesting and they say that Carolyn when I started in in this career and when I started in a career. Basically I heard girls don't do finance you know that's a boy thing boys do money and they deal with money and girls. Don't and um and that's part of you know, part of the reason I'm doing this is because girls can do anything they want to do so what scared you the most when you started your career.
20:49.91
Carolyn Maldonado
Um.
20:57.77
Carolyn Maldonado
Yep, agreed.
21:03.37
loriejones7
Does it still scare you.
21:07.47
Carolyn Maldonado
Um, it doesn't really scare me. It's funny because I was thinking about um the name of the podcast is fearless females and I would be a liar if I said that I'd I've always been fearless I'm pretty fearless now. Um I think when I was starting out. I was always scared because I felt like I didn't know what I was doing I didn't know. Um what I was supposed to be doing I didn't know what the path was in this particular industry and what the path was for me and so it was scary to feel like here I am every day sitting at this desk like taking down notes. And have my fake face on like ah huh and in the back of my mind i' thinking I don't know what that means I don't know what that is I don't know what that does because it was a new I mean when I moved to insurance. It was a completely new industry for me I had 2 notepads one notepad of a list of things to do and 1 notepad of words or phrases that I didn't understand. And I would I've had a few people that I trusted but I also love google and so in my spare time I would go like Google what does d know mean so I could figure out that d was directors and officers and what exactly that coverage because in most industries. And mine specifically we use a lot of acronyms and short names and nicknames and so I had no idea what was going on and I was like terrified that somebody was going to figure out. She has no idea what she's doing I'm sure they figured that out but they also knew that I was working hard to try to catch up.
22:33.88
Carolyn Maldonado
Think at this point in my life. There's still lots and lots of things that I don't know but I'm perfectly capable and I do say let me look at that I'm not sure and there are some things where I'm just like hey that's not my. That's not my expertise I'm going to find somebody who knows that. It would be foolish for me to pretend I know everything. But I think the confidence of being able to say I don't know but I'll find out for you makes a big difference and so it's not scary anymore. It's just like yeah I don't you know you don't have to pretend that you know all the things as long as you are aware that you can go Google it. I guess.
23:13.12
loriejones7
Yeah, yeah, yeah I I that so sounds so familiar as I started out in finance. It was the same thing where I was like I don't really know what I don't know and again I've been told my whole life girls. Don't do finance so I never bothered to find out and um.
23:25.67
Carolyn Maldonado
Um, Race. Ah.
23:30.89
loriejones7
And I think it's a it's yeah, what are those things where you're kind of trying to to figure out what you don't know and you don't want to look stupid I think a ah mentor comes in hand handy around that point was there anyone in your life that you could um, ask those questions to you know other than Google which is. Pretty good to tell you the truth.
23:53.51
Carolyn Maldonado
That's a little tricky and here's why I think again as women specifically we have had to play catch up in a lot of ways and we've had to prove over and over again. That we are capable of being financial advisors or insurance brokers or doctors or whatever it is and that we are just as good as our counterparts I think especially in my ah you know ten twenty years ago when other women would see. A woman they would consider potentially competition. It was hard for them to be like I'm going to help you without feeling like your competition and so trying to find a female mentor who didn't feel threatened. It actually was a little difficult. And so I'd ask questions a few different people. There's probably 4 or 5 different people that I would kind of go to for this or that but I tried really hard not to focus on 1 particular person and there are some people you know that were.
24:45.70
loriejones7
Where.
24:59.60
Carolyn Maldonado
Better at interpersonal skills and so I would talk to them about that. But you know so you have to find different people for different things. But I think as a younger woman it was hard to find that female mentor who I felt like supported me and what I was trying to do 100% without feeling. Threatened or you know feeling bad about herself and I will say you haven't asked me the question but I'm just going to say I've taken that to heart and I am wholeheartedly 100% for I Tell The. Call them the kids but I tell the the younger women at work like if I could pour what's in my brain into your brain I would so I'm I'm always happy to help I'm always happy to answer questions I feel like there's more than enough work to go around for all of us and the smarter we all are the better we are and so. I Feel like I don't know if I'm anyone's particular mentor but I try to mentor everyone I come across for that reason I don't want them to feel like they can't approach me like I feel like they're competition like I compete against myself I don't compete against anyone else. So.
26:11.30
loriejones7
Yeah, yeah I found that I found that in the lost little while too I never had the experience of having um women feel threatened because I didn't start young. You know it. It took me after I raised my kids before I came in so so they. Tended to feel like I knew what I was talking about. Even though I had no idea because I was brand new but but I have found that Collaboration. You know that the the women are are getting to the point where they're like let's stop competing and let's start supporting each other.
26:34.20
Carolyn Maldonado
If ah.
26:39.21
Carolyn Maldonado
Will.
26:45.20
loriejones7
As we're on this journey together I love that you do that. It's it's so exciting. Did you face any unique challenges Carolyn because you were a woman.
26:46.90
Carolyn Maldonado
Oh thanks. Yeah I've had a couple of interesting jobs in my life I managed a radio shack when I was nineteen years old and I'll tell you what the. Ah, 65 year old men that would come in and want a resistor or piso would not listen to anything I said because I'm a girl and they want to know where the manager is and I am the manager. No, we want to know where the man is okay fine I think as women we have for the most part this is. Ah, generalization and I know there are always exceptions but we do carry the brunt of working most of child care most of maintaining a home for our family whether it's just 1 other person or ourselves or. Just animals or kids or older kids. Whatever it is like we carry things on our plate all day every day there's not normally a time that we are like okay well I get off at 5 and then I'm you know I going to sit around and watch. Yeah Espn for the rest of the night so I feel like.
28:04.19
Carolyn Maldonado
As women we are required to show up and be there and you know be around and be cheerful and be great and be you know, perfect in so many ways and and I felt that um, especially you know as ah as a young mom with young kids and trying to do it on my own like you have to be everything. And it's it's incredibly difficult and it feels like like if I um had been a different gender I could just been like long going to work and after I get home from work I Hope somebody else has figured out what dinner was or somebody else takes care with kids kind of a thing. Um, and then again you get the the um.
28:43.64
Carolyn Maldonado
Perception from other people where I'm like I have to leave early I have to go take care of my kids and it was like well great here. She is taking off work again. Okay, but you know you didn't see that I'm I'm coming in early or I'm working in the evening or doing whatever else. So I feel like that's something that we run up against I think we still run up against it that perhaps are.
28:52.30
loriejones7
And then.
29:03.14
Carolyn Maldonado
Male friends do not because they aren't expected that they're in charge of the rest of the house. You know they do their job and and good for them. So it's it's hard. It's hard but it's worth it I think.
29:14.13
loriejones7
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that balancing act between and you know women as primary caregivers and making an environment that's women friendly because we do have specific like just to biology like. If we're having kids we can have the kids you know and taking the time off in order to to recover from that and that sort of thing so we do have very specific challenges and our primary caregivers. Whether to like you said pets or to.
29:33.81
Carolyn Maldonado
Um, yeah.
29:47.61
loriejones7
Um, parents or to kids a lot of times we take on the burdens of those roles too I love that I love the the way you phrase that so Carolyn what is the thing you are most proud of.
29:53.12
Carolyn Maldonado
Yes, yeah.
30:07.87
Carolyn Maldonado
Um, there is a point of time in my life where I was sorry of single mom at 3 little boys I worked full time and I worked full time in Chicago but I did not live in Chicago so I had like.
30:25.80
Carolyn Maldonado
At least in our community each way I was going to school full time trying to finish my degree and trying to like still be a mom and show up and go to scouts or you know take the kids to soccer practice and and not be exhausted all the time. And I look back at those years now and I think I don't know how I made through those years I don't know how I got to where I am now except for hard work and I think you hear of people who just give up or say you know what? I'll get my degree when I'm 50 or they just you know that. I don't know but I felt like I worked hard for a long time to raise my kids the best I could with the time I had with them and to also try to be the best person that I could be at the same time and it was exhausting but it was a short. Finite period of time and then I got through it and I feel like I got through that I can get through just about anything. So I think I'm proud of myself for getting through that and still being a relatively well-balanced cheerful. Um happy go like kind of person you know.
31:41.50
loriejones7
Yeah, yeah, well I'm proud of you for that too.
31:46.80
Carolyn Maldonado
Thanks.
31:50.84
loriejones7
So um, any advice for a young woman who's just starting down her path that can help her end up successful like you are.
32:04.37
Carolyn Maldonado
I think I'll just recap what I said earlier and that is start doing the things that you enjoy the things that make you happy the things that are interesting to you. The thing that make your life more interesting. Be it. Travel be it cooking be it. You know karaoke like whatever it is go figure out those things that you like to do and start saying how do I involve those in my life and where do I want to be in my life. Um, figure out what you want your. What you want to be in 10 years or 20 years or 30 years my life will be happy if in 10 years I am here and then start adding the things that you like in there and then make your path to get to that place that you want to be in 10 years and as I said there's going to be other people that come and go during that ten year time and as long as they're happy traveling that path with you. Um, and they're probably traveling on their own path at the same time which is great but don't deviate from your path because of another person especially if it's a deviation that you that's not going to ultimately lead you to where you want to be in and 10 years so just set your path and start going and welcome. The people who join you along the way but still remember that it is your path and is up to you to make it come true.
33:29.49
loriejones7
Yeah I think that's really interesting I just had I just talked to another um lady who had recently gotten a promotion to a Ceo and they had spent probably and 1015 years following her husband's career path and moving for his job. And and they were just switching now to moving for her job and and staying put because her job required her to live there and so they were no longer. Um, it was her turn is what is you know the way she put it and I find that really interesting that there are those you know she she had kind of a.
33:58.80
Carolyn Maldonado
In.
34:05.84
loriejones7
Ah, plan or somewhere that she wanted to be somewhere. She wanted to end up and and she found someone to walk that path with her that was you know she supported him while well you know during the early years but They've changed and flipped and now he is supporting her trajectory so that they can both be fulfilled.
34:19.44
Carolyn Maldonado
Yeah. Yeah, and I'm I'm glad you said that because I don't want it to think that every path has to be a career woman path I think like I said I'm in my second life I think there are times where you're like okay for the first ten years my path is going to be. You know. Building a home or or building a family or you know just traveling like making enough to live by while I just travel and then 10 years after that my path will alter into you know, something different. That's great. That's like whatever your path is whether it's work school play travel like. Make that your path and and it will always change it and it should always change. You shouldn't be the same person in your twenty s as you are in your 30 s or 40 s.
35:07.50
loriejones7
yeah yeah I like that I like that there's room to grow and room to really become who we her were meant to be Carolyn. Thank you so much for your time today I really appreciate your sharing and your being so.
35:17.61
Carolyn Maldonado
Um, and yeah.
35:25.15
loriejones7
So open with us and and thank you for sharing your success and um to those that are listening I can guarantee you that Carolyn is super successful I'm really proud of her and she has been shown the idea of being fearless and just about everything she does. So thank you Carolyn.
35:43.00
Carolyn Maldonado
Thanks Loy have a great day.