Betting on yourself can be the key to unlocking your full potential, and Jennifer Williams is a shining example of what that can look like. She joins Dr. Sylvia Morris and Dr. Angela Walker for an inspiring conversation about mentorship, community, and the power of betting on yourself. Jennifer shares how the incredible women in her life instilled a deep sense of self-reliance and resourcefulness, igniting her entrepreneurial spirit and helping her navigate the beautiful chaos of motherhood. Tune in to discover how Jennifer’s journey of personal growth and her commitment to building a supportive network have shaped her into the successful leader she is today.
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Watch the episode here
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How Betting On Yourself Can Make A Difference With Jennifer Williams
In this episode, we had an awesome conversation with Jennifer Williams. She talked about her game plan on how she knows how to take the leap from one opportunity to the next. She gave us a four-step process, which I thought was fantastic. She also shouted out her ancestors and spent some time talking about the importance of fun, as well as agency. Angela, share with our readers what agency is and how you find agency.
Such an interesting topic because I think we’re hearing a lot more about agency these days, and it’s like, “What does that mean to me?” Looking at definitions of agency, it’s taking control of a situation and accepting the consequences. I think it’s so pertinent in this day and age for women to understand that you and I have the power to make change. There are certain systems that we have to succumb to that we’re in. For me, agency in true form is just recent changes that I’ve made career-wise and knowing that I love women’s health.
I love all things empowering and inspiring women, but I wanted to go beyond that fifteen minutes. You know what I mean by fifteen minutes. It’s what we typically have. For a year’s worth of activity in a woman’s life, I have about 15 or 20 minutes for a well-woman exam. We’re talking about all things health, mental health, physical health, even sometimes for women, your spiritual health. I wanted to do more. I’ve always felt like I have more to say, more to give.
I also wanted to do more things for myself. One of those is sleep and sleep all night. The agency that I realized I had was that I didn’t have to conform to what I was supposed to do as a physician. I am a physician, no matter where I am. I can be behind the microphone. I can be on the stage speaking to a lot of women and spend a lot more time talking about health and wellness. I can do more than just OBGYN. I got my certification in lifestyle medicine, which is a passion of mine.
Congratulations.
Thank you. For me, that’s what agency means. Also, giving my girls, Jennifer mentioned trying to instill that in my girls, that you have the power. It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing or what you think the limitations are. If you can dream it, you can do it, but you have to put the work in. It’s not going to fall in your lap. It’s not as easy as social media makes it look. You’ve got to do the research and put the work in, which is, I think, part of agency. How about for you?
Agency is one of those terms that’s being thrown around a lot. Initially, I was thinking about the song Independent Woman. I know my singing is not great. It is because certainly my mom was very big on it, and you have to know how to take care of yourself, whether it’s financially or living with the decisions that you make. I think now, for me, it’s more metaphysical. I am the thinker who thinks the thoughts that bring the things. ,
What that says is I am able to co-create the life that I envision. There’s power in that. I think, oftentimes, I know in the past, I’ve given away my power. I’m like, “That can’t happen because I’m not born into this particular family or I don’t look like this,” whatever, but now I am much more like, “How can I create the life that I want to enjoy so that it finds more meaning?” I am grateful for that. I know in our conversation with Jennifer Williams, we talk about what she’s grateful for, and we talk about agency. Let’s welcome Jennifer Williams.
Growing Up: Jennifer Williams’ Early Life And Aspirations
We are with Jennifer Williams, and we’re just going to get into our conversation. Jen, tell us and our audience, where did you grow up?
I’m from Atlanta.
A true Atlantean.
I am from Decatur. Shout out to Decatur. My parents came here from FAMU. They met at FAMU and came here for my mom to go to graduate school at the AU Center. I was born right there in some apartment. I wasn’t born in the apartment complex, but we lived right outside of the AU campus so my mom could go to graduate school.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Initially, I wanted to be an anesthesiologist. It was because my uncle was one. He made good money. They had a nice lifestyle. I wanted that.
They still do.
They do. That’s right. I wanted that. One day, my mom said to me, “You do realize that everybody that you’re probably going to be working with is probably sick? Also, the environment.” I was like, “I hadn’t thought about that.” I hadn’t thought about the hospital environment. All I could see was the money. I said, “I’m going to put that one to the side for a second. Later, as I went on to college, I thought I wanted to be in marketing and sales, but the first love was anesthesiology because of the money.
For the audience, it’s interesting because you had the intrigue, and then your mom mentioned that you’d be around sick people. It is true, training, you would be dealing with a lot of sick people. However, nowadays, there are arenas where an anesthesiologist may work at an outpatient surgery center. Those are typically going to be healthier patients. You get all these influences. Sometimes, things change.
For the people in the audience, some people don’t want to do OBGYN, and they don’t have to do all the aspects of OBGYN. You learn as you go and as you talk to other people. You mentioned your mom, and obviously, you listened to her. Tell us about who you feel played an important part in your life. It sounds like mom is one, and if there are more, please share.
It’s always a big shout-out, as they say, to the ancestors. I would certainly say there are probably four women in particular. It would be my maternal grandmother. She had an eighth-grade education and always said, “You don’t always need to learn how to take care of yourself. I’m going to need you to know how to make some pies or sew some dresses.” Her point was you’ve got to figure out how to be resourceful when the opportunity is not necessarily there.
She found herself in that situation. She became disabled later in life and could not work and had to find a way to take care of her family. She had to fall back on what were some of the other skills that she knew how to do that could bring in revenue. That idea of always trying to be thinking about what are the things I know how to do and how can I create for myself a living out of that, I think, was an important lesson. She sold lily dillies. I don’t know if you know what that is. If you’re from the South, you know what a lily dilly is.
I don’t know what a lily dilly is. I’m from Texas.
A lily dilly is frozen mix of whatever. It’s Kool-Aid, and she put pineapple juice in it. She also had some other little special ingredient, lemonade of some sort. You sell it as a frozen drink in a little paper cup, a Dixie cup. She sold three different sizes, a nickel size, a dime size, and a quarter size.
An icy. Icee stole your grandma’s idea.
It was a little push-up. For sure, I learned that from her. From my paternal great-aunt, who was a domestic for most of her life, taught me about building your net worth. While she was a domestic, she owned property. She owned a laundromat. She owned a store. Her message to me was, “You’ve got to make sure you’re doing it for yourself.” I remember her saying to me after her second husband, he passed away before she did.
One of the things he said to her when he was dying was, “Annie, I want you to get married again. You need to find a husband.” She said, “Henry, I wouldn’t take another man if my hoo-ha was on fire and he had the last glass of water.” She said, “I am done. I am done with other people taking care of me. I have everything I need to take care of myself. I know how to be self-sufficient and resourceful.”
It’s not a disparaging comment on marriage, and it’s not a disparaging comment on not having a man, but can you take care of yourself and making sure you put some things in place to do it? Those two women were about trying to make sure you can take care of your own. My grandmother’s sister was the first one to go to college in the family. She was an educator, and she taught me about how to make sure you’re also taking others into consideration.
You must figure out how to be resourceful when the opportunity is not there. Share on XYou have the privilege of education. How do you make sure that you do that for others? There’s a little poem, I don’t know if you know, it’s called The Starfish Thrower, that she told me about. It’s about a man walking along a beach, and along the beach are starfish waiting to die. Lots of them just scattered along the beach, and approaching him is a little boy who’s picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea one at a time.
As they get closer together, the old man says to him, “What does it matter? There are so many on the sand who will never make it.” Without hesitation, the little boy picks up one and throws it back into the sea. He says, “It matters to that one.” Her point was that what you do matters and that you have the ability to impact others. Make sure that with the privilege you get, you take care of others. Also, there’s my mom, who is also always making sure I’m taking care of myself, self-love, and self-care, all of those things. Those are my four queens.
All sage advice. I love all of it. I love all of them.
The HBCU Experience At Hampton
It reminds me of my mom, Del Morris, was big on, “You have to be able to take care of yourself.” If I learned nothing from her as far as just being self-sufficient and planning for the future, and then service was a big part of her life as well. It seems as if our ancestors were on the same accord. You mentioned your parents, Jen, as far as meeting at FAMU. I know that you went to Hampton. Can you talk about your HBCU experience and how that played an important role in your life?
Very quickly, it was a choice between Hampton and Howard. This is the beauty of the wisdom of your mother. We went to visit Hampton, and they talked about a curfew for freshmen girls. We went to Howard. I inquired about this curfew, and they said, “We don’t have time for a curfew here. It’s a big school.” At the end of the trip, my mom said, “Where would you like to go, Hampton or Howard?” I said, “I want to go to Howard.” She said, “Really?” I said, “Yeah, bright lights, big city.” She was like, “I tell you what, you can go to Howard, but your money will be at Hampton.”
So much for decision-making on that one. I will say to you, hands down, it was the best decision. My other aunt, the sister of the one you heard me talk about, had been a professor there. She went on to college as well and then came back and then went on to teach at that university. They also lived in the area. I had some family that was there. I was my mom’s only baby. She was not going to let me go to a big city with no support system around me. It was the best experience possible because it was such a small, close-knit community that helped foster the whole person.
I remember going on internships while I was in school, and other kids from big schools talked about their TA. That’s how they got their information about classes. I thought, “I don’t know what that is. What is that?” My teacher and I sit in my classes. We sit in a circle. We sit around in a circle and we talk to each other. I stop by their office all the time, and so just that community support was hugely impactful.
You knew your professors directly? That was not happening at the University of Berkeley.
Not at Texas A&M.
I remember asking my professor. In my senior year, I had taken a semester off to do a longer-term co-op. In the middle of that co-op, my grandmother, unfortunately, got sick and passed away. I was having a hard time coming into the last semester of the year and was stumbling a little bit with my grades. I remember going to my teacher and saying, “How is it looking? Do I have to call my mother and tell her that I’m not going to be able to graduate?” He was like, “No, we got it. I will work with you. I understand what’s happened. Let’s talk about what you need to do to try to get things back on track.” It was the saving grace in terms of being able to graduate.
The Power Of Co-Op And Professors: Jen’s Academic Insights
Our readers, two concepts I want you to dive into a little deeper. The co-op, which I don’t know what they call that now, and also being able to have the wherewithal to go and talk to your professor directly and say, “This is what’s happening with me. How can we move forward together?” Could you say a little bit more about that?
They may call it something different now. At that time, when I was in college, there were two opportunities for you to practice work experience. There was the internship in the summer, or there was a co-op where you took a semester off from school. I had been very deliberate. This is another part, I think, about the community of an HBCU. I remember being a freshman coming in the door, and the career services team very clearly gave all of us a prescription for how to navigate our college matriculation.
One of the things they said was, “Get yourself in a position such that your grades are strong enough that you could, if the opportunity presents itself, take a semester off. We have enough great opportunities that happen at the school where people can take a semester off as a co-op. You should get yourself in position. Get your grades up. Load your courses in such a way that you’re not waiting until your senior year to take all of your hard courses. Make sure you are front-loading while you have the chance in the easy years to get A’s, so you have room to drop in years 2 and 3. By the time you get to your senior year, you’re not desperate. It’s not a desperate time for you.”
I was very calculated in going to college and planning my school years to do that. I was primed and ready when the position and the opportunity presented themselves. I could take that semester off from school and still only have to take four classes when I came back. I could have taken 2 in the first semester and 2 in the second semester and been able to graduate on time. I took that semester off and then came back with four to go. That’s the co-op piece. The piece about the grades, I think those were two.
I’m going to go back to Miss Betty. That’s my mom’s name. She was also very clear, I’ll talk about that in a second, about how this thing was going to work in terms of us getting through college. She said, “Listen to me clearly. Four and no more. I am paying for four years, not four and a half. No, ma’am. Let’s be clear. I am paying fully for an A and a B. I am paying three-fourths of a C. I am paying half of a D. If you make an F, you need to bring yourself home.” It was because she was working a full-time job and a part-time job in order to pay for me to go to school.
We agreed I would pay for the books and anything else. She would pay for room and board and the meal plan. A’s and B’s, three-fourths of a C, and half of a D, otherwise, come home. I was like, “You don’t understand. I have a contract with my mom about how this is supposed to work. I’m not honoring my part of the contract right now.” Some of it was just fear, I think. The other, I would certainly say, is that I do think that the community in that environment created the atmosphere for you to feel comfortable, that you could go forward, that you could ask the question. Also, my mother, I think, early in life, taught agency.
That’s our word. We talked about that in the introduction. That’s exactly what I felt and heard through your experiences. Basically, you took the power, made the choices, and accepted the consequences. You knew that you had to do it. Going to your professor is just a wonderful example of taking agency. You knew what you had to do because you weren’t going home.
It wasn’t going to end on that note. That’s how that came about.
It’s okay to have unstructured fun and to do things just for the sake of being in the moment. Not everything needs a stated outcome or a structured set of goals. Share on XPowerful Mentors, Powerful Lessons: Advice To Younger Self
Along those lines, it sounds like you’ve had amazing, wonderful mentors and women who have spoken into your life and given you that power and agency. Is there anything that you would tell your younger self at this point? Maybe some advice to her?
One of those things I would say is, it’s okay to have unstructured fun. One of the things my friends know me for, and they even talk about now as we reflect on our college experiences, is that we had very different college experiences. I don’t know if you know the organization called Posse, but I went to school with two of my other friends. This idea of, you go to school with your own posse. In case something goes down, you have somebody there for you.
We all had very different experiences. It was because I would call myself the nerd. That’s not a message from my mom. I was very clear about what I was there to do. This idea of just going and hanging out on the yard, that was anathema. I’m like, “Ma’am, we’re not doing that.” That took me even into my early work years. It’s okay to have unstructured fun. It’s okay to do things just for the sake of being in the space. Not everything has to have a stated outcome or a structured set of goals.
I had been so goal-driven, coming up through high school, going through college, heading into my career. Making space for that, I think, is important. Allowing yourself to let yourself off the hook probably helps from a stress standpoint, to be able to do some of those kinds of things. Even the idea of maybe making a B or C on an assignment, not in the class, but on an assignment that didn’t have a lot of value, maybe a low-impact grade, I didn’t understand those things. I felt like everything needed to be at full tilt.
She wasn’t playing either.
No mistake. I think there’s a piece about how you help someone navigate the balance between those things. One of the things she even said to me as I got older, and I think I’ve hopefully started to turn the corner, was, “Jennifer, it feels like you’re mortgaging your future for your present. I want to see you be present in your life and enjoy the moment in your life.” It was because I had always been so future-focused.
I wanted to make sure that once I got to the end of whatever this thing was, everything was in place. I had enough money, I had a house, I had all those things, while missing the ride and the journey along the way. That is what I would say to my younger self, that it’s okay to let yourself off the hook from having to be responsible every single moment of the day and that not everything must be structured. There’s beauty in that. You only come this way once. Make sure you enjoy the ride.
That’s such a hard lesson to learn. I, too, have been working on fun. I don’t think you can put work and fun in the same sentence, but certainly, being intentional about it. My mom, again, was Miss Dell, and she sent me to Berkeley to graduate and then get into medical school. That was the deal that we made. I get when you’re like, “I can’t be hanging out. I can’t do that,” because, first of all, my mother could see me from Los Angeles up to Berkeley. For our readers, that is at least a 6- to 8-hour drive or an hour flight, so she couldn’t see me, but I knew she knew what was happening.
Key Life Lessons Learned Through Motherhood
Learning how to have fun and being present is a skillset. Harmony is one of my new favorite words because I, too, swing in. I’m planning for the event that’s going to happen three years from now. We’re going to walk backward from that so I can get to three years from now. What’s happening at this moment? Learning how to be, to have fun, and to embrace spontaneity and those things are definitely on my list as well. Along those lines, Jen, motherhood. What has motherhood taught you?
I would certainly say this idea, people say it all the time, of unconditional love. I would say that it’s the unconditional love my extended family granted me that I think I am learning in motherhood. What I mean by that is, not because of anything I did to earn it, but simply because they chose to love me. It is because I adopted my daughter. I always say to people, “I am an only parent. I am not a single parent.” I adopted my daughter by myself.
With that comes all different kinds of things. When there is no other side of the family, there is just me. I didn’t give birth to her. I didn’t carry her. I didn’t have the pains, all those things that people say. Mind you, the adoption journey is a painful journey in and of itself. I would say I had some labor pains associated with that.
That’s for another episode, if you choose.
We have been together since she was fifteen minutes old. I always say to people, “Whatever’s wrong with her, I did it.” The minute I saw her, I knew she was mine. She was mine to protect, to love, and to care for. I would say the things that it’s taught me are resting in something that a minister said helps me a lot, that children don’t belong to you, but they come through you. Your job is to help shepherd their lives.
It’s taught me not to impose my dreams on her but to inspire the ones that she already has inside her. It’s taught me that some battles are not worth fighting, but she is always worth fighting for. Being present with her is more important than anything I can buy, do, or plan for her. She’s even articulated that. That’s been pivotal in some decisions I’ve made. She, along with all of these other accomplishments that I am hoping to amass, or I am amassing, or I point to, she is part of my legacy, as is anything else.
I choose her every single time at every fork in the road where she is at that intersection point. I choose her. It is because the investment I make there is critically important to help equip her to be able to manifest the future she wants for herself. Those are the things I have learned about motherhood. Somebody gave me a book or mentioned a book to me when I first adopted her. I totally get it. Parenting is not a lot of fun, but very rewarding. It’s a lot of work.
I’m always amazed at the women who are in love with every single moment of it. I’m just going to be honest. That’s not my lived experience. I don’t love every single moment of it, and that’s okay because I have met other parents who feel the same way. It’s taught me that there can be different ways of parenting and different ways of doing this job. All of them are okay, and we’re all on a journey.
I was only imagining, given your ancestral history and the beautiful things you learned from those women who came before you. I can speak from being a chosen child myself, adopted, especially now, at this age, I realize how incredibly blessed I am when I can look back and know that I had unconditional love, that I was meant to be, that I was chosen. It wasn’t an accident. They were so intentional about just being loving.
Lessons On Business And Innovation From A Serial Entrepreneur
It’s truly a gift. I’m so incredibly grateful when I can look back and say, “This could have happened to me,” or “That could have happened to me,” but God gave me the family that I have. Kudos to you. I say that to patients all the time. I always love to share because people wonder, “What about this? What about that?” It’s just the love. That is the foundation. We’re going to switch gears a little bit. We’ve heard a lot about your beautiful family life. Can you tell us what lessons you’ve learned as an entrepreneur? I’d love to hear about some of your entrepreneurial pursuits.
I’m going to set this up a little bit because, Jen, when you and I met, we were at Serenbe, and you had this cool business where you could rent bikes. There were, I’m going to call them, nature hikes with a naturalist and all sorts of things. You are a serial entrepreneur. Please share some pearls with our audience.
I love that. Thank you for saying that. You’re right. I think it’s those women instilled in you. What I learned, I think, here’s what I’d say about being an entrepreneur, it quickly came to me as I started to do things to start a business, everything that is created came out of the mind of someone. I thought, “If it could come out of their mind, then it could come out of my mind. I can do that same thing, too.”
I think some very practical lessons I’ve learned in terms of entrepreneurship is the sooner you can transition and create processes and infrastructures that support the day-to-day operation of the business, then you no longer have to be the whole business, and you can do what you do best. Oftentimes, the trap of what happens, especially when you’re starting off in a small business, is that you are everything. You are the face of the business. You are the business.
If you don’t quickly figure out, “How do I delegate and get some of those tasks?” then you can burn out quickly. Outsource. I didn’t mean to say delegate, but how do I outsource the task of the operation of this business so I get to do what I do best? I’d submit to you that that’s one of the things I think is important even if you are not operating at a positive in the beginning, getting those kinds of resources around you, whether somebody to answer the phones or help you manage the books.
There are so many people out there now who are doing gig work who can help with that. I would highly encourage you to set up an infrastructure to do that. You got into it because you had a passion about a thing, and it can get ruined when everything, all of those other things, come online. Know that no one cares more about your business than you do. Surround yourself with good people, but then be prepared to pick up the slack in the beginning.
Don’t burn bridges, and don’t dismiss people or let people go because they didn’t do it exactly how you would have done it. They want to be helpful to you. They want to be supportive, but no one will love and care for your business in the way you do. You want to give people grace around you and also just be prepared to pick up some of the slack. I think probably, I’m sure maybe, those who shared or were on the show before, it’s about keeping a great board of directors around you who know how to do more aspects of the business that you do not.
Certain things that you’re just not good at, how do you find a nice, good, strong board of directors who can help you navigate some of those things? To Sylvia’s point, at the time that I opened Getting Around, it was at Serenbe, and it was called a local tourism boutique, the idea was when you came to Serenbe, you could rent golf carts and bicycles, but you could also do outdoor adventures. We did whitewater rafting, hot air ballooning, bike rides, and nature walks to support the community that was there.
I opened that business in 2007. If you remember what was happening, it was right at 2007 and the beginning of 2008 when the recession hit, I was then working in an isolated community. Serenbe is a wonderful place but not on the beaten path. When people stopped coming to it as a destination, then revenues went away.
It was much smaller then, Jen, than it is in 2024.
It was. That’s very true. Having some folks on the board to be able to say, “Think about this, here’s how you could pivot. Here are the other ways to help you expand or continue to grow revenue in different ways. If people are not coming here, how do you go to them?” I looked at renting bikes out of other small communities close by, or other bed-and-breakfasts close by to take the bikes there to help generate.
It’s this idea of surrounding yourself with others who can help you think about the business in a number of different ways. It is because, as we all know, those first five years are just extremely important in terms of the viability of the business. Those are probably some key lessons I would say I learned from an entrepreneurial standpoint.
I’m just going to ask a follow-up question, and it’s somewhat selfish because I’m in the journey. That was a long time ago, I know, so you didn’t have the same access to social media and all the things that are out there now. How did you go about choosing the sources that you used, like the outsourcing, administrative assistant, and your board of directors? What was your process like?
At that point, I was a part of an organization called Path Builders. They’re here in Atlanta. I would highly recommend them. They’re designed for professional women, and they have two tracks. They have a track for women who are in a corporate setting, and they have a track for women who are business owners. There was a network of women who had blazed the trails long before me, who could then look back and say, “I remember that stage. Here’s what you need to do at this point,” or, “Here’s someone I’ve used.”
This is back to investing in yourself, this whole idea of just betting on yourself. I say that to younger women all the time, “Bet on yourself. Bet on you can do this.” Being able to point me to places, things, and resources that they’ve used before was invaluable. What’s important is finding your industry associations. I think that’s important. It can be very lonely as an entrepreneur, so making sure that you stay connected to an industry and your industry associations, who can help support you is hugely important. That’s how I was able to do some of that.
Betting on yourself applies not only professionally but also personally. Can we talk about your own personal board of directors, not necessarily by name, but perhaps by personality type or industry? Who’s on your personal board of directors, if you could share that?
It evolves as I change and grow. At this juncture in my life, I’ve got some folks on there who are Black moms and who are moms who are also in my age group because it’s interesting, I adopted my daughter much later in my life. My contemporaries, the parents who are contemporaries of me, are even at a different stage of life than I am. They’re thinking about things that are different than me. They are in different stages of their careers, financially.
I have a group of a couple of women who help me navigate being a mom at this age. I also have someone who continually tries to help me manage the piece around this idea of making sure I am a whole person. A bit of an executive coach, as it were, who helps me think about work and work-life integration. You mentioned harmony, this idea of work-life integration. What is the right harmonization of that? It is because sometimes I get that out of kilter; there’s a little bit more work than there is in life.
You are not alone.
Entrepreneurship can be lonely, so staying connected to your industry and associations that support you is hugely important. Share on XSomeone is helping to continue to balance that out. Somebody is also continually watching out for me for the fun piece. There are some girlfriends on there who are saying, “When’s the last time you’ve been out?” That’s important to me. Also, I joined the local Chief organization here. Chief is a professional women’s networking organization. They’re across the United States. There is a chapter here, but not a clubhouse. They have clubhouses in other cities. I joined. You are paired with other women who are like-minded.
You talk about your career journey and what you’re looking to do. You get paired with a group of women. Some people in the group have been with their same cohort for 3 or 4 years and others. This is a new journey for me. In particular, it’s a new journey for me because I made a decision to take a step back in terms of title and even money so I could be more available to my mom and to my daughter.
It’s an interesting thing to navigate where you’ve been at one point in your life, and now you’re at a different point, having to navigate a work environment with that new lens in mind. They’ve been extremely helpful. Those are the four groups of people who are on my board, given the stage I am in my life, both from a work perspective and a personal one. Does that help?
How To Make Bold Leaps In Your Career
It does. Thanks for sharing that. Teri Rhetta-Gallarzo was probably episode 7. She’s a member of Chief in Southern California, which is why I’m familiar with Chief. That is absolutely fantastic. Jen, you mentioned you are taking a step back. I think of it as making another leap. Can you tell us or share with us how you decide to take a leap from one opportunity to the next?
It’s a formula for me. There are four things I am always looking at, especially in the job space, but it will bring other things. I look at, especially because, again, I work in a corporate setting. As I’m getting ready to approach a new opportunity and once I’m there, I look for four things. I did that in this search. One, is this an environment that supports an only working parent? Not just the boss, not just the department, but does the company support that? Someone shared that with me, “Bosses come and go, Jennifer, and you may decide you want to leave that department and go to another. You need to make sure that the whole of the company has a culture that supports that.”
How do you know that when you’re on the job search?
I spend a lot of time asking a lot of questions about that. When I network with others, I’m very clear, “Here’s the kind of environment I’m looking for. If you think that environment exists where you are, then I’ll go look for the job there.” I don’t start with the job first. I start with the culture of the organization. Is it one that will support an only working parent? If it isn’t, then I stop.
It is because it’s not a good use of anybody’s time. I’ve done that before. Somebody was like, “I know what it says on paper. I’m going to tell you the truth of the matter, this is how it works.” I was like, “Great. I’m thankful for you sharing that. I’m going to step back. I’m going to wish you all success with whomever you choose.” I’ve been in interviews and had that conversation happen.
The second one, is it work I like to do? I know that sounds odd. Sometimes, we chase money, and I’ve been there, too. Is it work I enjoy? It is because we spend a lot of time in our jobs. Is it work that I find invigorating, purpose-filled, and aligned with what my innate talents are? That’s the other thing. Am I going to be struggling to do this work because it’s outside of what I am innately built and designed and purpose-driven to do?
Number three, is it an industry that I’m interested in? It is because the industry, even in and of itself, will drive some of the culture of the organization. I’ve made some missteps in terms of not understanding that. The last one is, are there growth and upward mobility opportunities? I am looking for that as I go in. As I go in, I am continually evaluating the organization on those four things. That is always my question. I’m asking that on a quarterly basis, on an annual basis, those four questions.
You should expect, because it’s work, not all of those are going to be up all the time. You should expect some of them will go up and down at any given period of time. If any one of them stays down too long, that’s the indication for me. The one that is, as they say, the canary in the coal mine is the first one, is it a place that supports an only working parent? It is because if I get to a place where I am finding that I am less available to support my daughter, then it starts to become a real problem. I’ve got to figure out what to do next.
I’ve heard other women say that, working parents, whether they were only working parents or not. Some have said, “I’ve lost jobs over my kids. I had to go. It wasn’t working out. They couldn’t support it.” I remember working somewhere and sharing, “I’m struggling. I’m struggling with how to be a parent here.” They said, “If you want to be that kind of parent, then maybe you need to find something else.” I was like, “You mean the kind that likes to take their kid to the doctor? Who wants to go read to the class?” That’s okay. If that is what that means, then probably this is not the right place. I’ve got to go find what’s next. Those are the criteria I use for evaluating where I am currently and when it is time to maybe make a leap.
Thank you. I love that. Those are actionable steps. That’s all we’ve had now, just actionable steps and processes from you. Love that. I can completely relate to your number one. As an OBGYN, years ago, you got to a point where you moved up and made the money you never thought you’d be able to make, and it’s all great.
I got to a point where I was coming home, and I wasn’t as nice at home as I was when I left the office talking to a patient. I wasn’t as happy. What was going on? It was, I think, in my adult and professional life, the first time I acted on my agency, making a choice that meant significantly less money but more time for my kids. I champion that for you and all women reading because you don’t get that time back.
Gratitude And Reflection: What Jen Is Most Thankful For
Certainly, there are other things you can do, like you said, people in your life to make things easier for you. Someone to clean your house, if you have that ability. It’s so important for us not to live life with guilt, particularly when we can make choices that can make a difference as we move along this path in this journey. Along those lines, I can hear through your story that you have so much to be grateful for. Can you share with our readers what you’re most grateful for?
It was such a big question, and I had a small answer. I hope it’s a good answer in terms of that one. It’s an interesting one. The first one I will say that I am most grateful for. I know it sounds odd, but I’m so grateful to my mom for allowing me to walk out of school debt-free. It was a very deliberate choice that she made about how we were going to pay for school. The reason I say that that was so important is because of the freedom it gave me early in my life to be able to make different kinds of choices about work, to explore, and to find what my purpose was, how to do that and be able to take work that paid no money.
It is because I didn’t have real bills to pay that it was a gift like no other. I had other friends who were like, “I would love to be able to do that, but I can’t afford it. I would love to be able to go off and explore.” I didn’t have that burden. I picked up bills later, but it was such a blessing to be able to navigate through life without that burden and find what was my thing. I would say I’m eternally grateful for that because it has transpired, or transitioned, me into a career where I have been uniquely blessed across my entire career. I was able to find it and then make the money that has afforded me the lifestyle that supports me and my daughter.
The other one is, I know it sounds corny, but just good friends who are supportive and caring. I’m an only child. I think I may have said that earlier. You have chosen family at that point. You choose who is in your life. I’m so grateful to them, all who are always checking in on me and making sure I’m good. I happen to work in the DEI space. It’s an interesting time.
Self-care includes anything unrelated to work. Make space for simply being in the moment. Share on XThe countless number of friends who sent me notes to just say, “How are you doing? I see what’s happening. Are you doing okay? What can I do? How can I be helpful? Where do we need to make a move?” All of those things, whether that’s on a work front or a personal front. I’ve got some friends who are going to take me out. It was my birthday, and somebody else jumped on the bandwagon to keep the party going.
We share the same birthday. I heard that. Happy birthday.
Thank you. Happy Birthday. Those are not things that you can buy. I’m grateful for that because not everybody has that. Those are it.
Effective Self-Care Practices: How To Prioritize Your Well-Being
Our last question that we always ask our guests is, how do you practice self-care? How do you intend to practice self-care or endeavor?
I’d say self-care consists of anything that is not work. I came off a gig that was demanding. To have space and time around me and to honor that, like the other morning, I was like, “I got to get up early. Let me jump in there and do some emails.” I was like, “No, I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to lay here in the bed.”
What could you do with this time? You could just reflect for a moment and think about your day and think about what you want to do or think about nothing. You could stare at the ceiling. This idea of giving space back to just being in the moment. I started taking walks. Initially, I love NPR. I love all things fresh air and all the programming. What I noticed was I was still listening to it while I was walking, and I wasn’t being present in the moment. I don’t even listen. It’s just my feet hitting the ground.
Moving meditation.
Whatever is around me, I’m just taking that in. It’s been important for me now in terms of self-care. The other thing I am doing is giving back. I used to be a huge volunteer, and I don’t have as much bandwidth as I did before, but I volunteer at my church. I drive the little golf cart and take the senior citizens from their car up to the front. That gives me lots of joy, to be able to talk with them about their day.
I can see you doing that. They love you.
I have some regulars, and they know me. I’m also checking in on them because I’m watching to see, do they have somebody else who’s checking. The church community knows, “We haven’t seen Ms. So-and-so in a while. Can we check on her and see what’s happening? I haven’t picked her up in the last couple of Sundays.” That fuels my soul, to be able to, again, give back. That’s my form of volunteering. The last one is, I’m just watching some mindless TV.
What are you watching now, Jen? What’s your favorite?
You keep looking for something good. I will tell you two things I watched over the holiday break that were more like movies. I watched Widow Clicquot. She makes the champagne. I’m not a drinker. That was a good movie about women at that time. It’s the name of a champagne.
Veuve Clicquot is a champagne.
I knew you would know it, Sylvia. Her story, I loved that. That was a good movie.
That was a good story. That was a good movie to watch. There was a show I watched about a woman who was a diplomat. The Diplomat was good.
That’s a good one. There’s going to be another season. I don’t know when, but that’s a good one.
That’s a good one. That’s what’s up with me these days.
Thank you so much, Jen, for sharing everything, all your wonderful pearls with our audience. May you be well.
Thank you. I wish the same for you as well. Thank you for the opportunity. Take good care.
Thank you. You’ve got so much. Your methodical way of living sounds like a very intentional life, but like you said, adding some spontaneity in there and sharing those pearls with us, is so much for our audience to digest. I look forward to speaking with you again, maybe having you back if your time permits. Until we meet again, may you be well, and same to our audience.
Key Takeaways: Life Lessons On Gratitude, Self-Care, And Success
Sylvia, what an amazing interview. Jennifer just brought it on all fronts, personal life experiences from growing up and then motherhood into her career, and so many pearls of wisdom. I know I got a lot out of it. I heard things that she gathered. I think the one that spoke to me was from her mom. She was concerned about her mortgaging her present for her future.
For me, what I took from that, I’m so busy planning for the future and what I want to do and not tending to the here and now, enjoying what I have and all the blessings that I have. I took that to heart. That’s how I interpret it. I know everybody might get a different meaning there. Bet on yourself.Every episode, I hear those just encouraging words, but bet on yourself.
That, again, has to do with agency, having the power to believe in yourself and making things happen. You have to be the one. I hear it from you on a consistent basis. I hear it from my family, hear it from people outside, but you have to believe it on the inside. Betting on yourself. For me, it was just a very practical reminder of outsourcing, particularly as an entrepreneur. We’re oftentimes waiting for a certain thing to happen before we ask for help in these certain areas. Sometimes, things don’t happen until you invest in and outsource some of the things to make your business more efficient and successful. Lots of pearls that I got. How about you?
Certainly, focusing on the things that are important to you. A part of that outsourcing is perhaps the things that are a little bit out of your wheelhouse, for example, or less fun. You outsource them so that you can, in fact, focus on the reason why you started the business. You’re right. I am in awe of Jennifer. There were so many things that resonated with me. I think one of my favorite things she talked about was when she talked about her grandma and making a lily dilly. I am a huge fan of a snow cone or an Icee, but just her grandmother using her skill sets, things that she already knew how to do, to continue supporting her family. That is a life lesson that I certainly take home, and definitely betting on ourselves.
The biggest one for me is fun. It’s okay to have unstructured fun. I don’t want people to think that I’m not fun because I am fun. However, I think finding the fun and finding joy is as important, and the intentionality around it. We spend a lot of time talking about, “What’s your job? Your career plan? Where are you going to be in five years?” We don’t always ask, “Did you have fun?” With my mentees, I’m in the habit of saying, “What did you do for fun? Have you gone out with your friends? What’s your love life?” All those things, because that creates the whole person.
We would love to have Jennifer back. I’m sure she’ll have more actionable steps for us to get our lives in order. It is always wonderful to share these stories. I’ve not left one without being inspired, and I’m always inspired by you. I thank you for doing this journey with me. To our audience, until we meet again, may you be well.
Thank you, Angela. May you be well.
Important Links
- Jennifer Williams on LinkedIn
- Path Builders
- Chief
- Be Bold: The Courage To Evolve With Dr. Teri Rhetta-Gallarzo – Past Episode
About Jennifer Williams
Jennifer Williams is a talent development leader adept at accelerating organizational performance by building a diverse and inclusive work environment. She has 20 + years of people capability experience; working for firms such as Mastercard, Meta and Warner Media. Throughout her career, she has been responsible for many “company-firsts,” including an executive summit to address the challenges facing senior women leaders, pipeline programs to increase the next generation of hi-potential underrepresented leaders and DEI learning interventions to equip senior-level leaders and their teams with a practical approach to addressing inequities in the workplace.
Jennifer has served on the board of the Association for Talent Development, is a member of the Metro Atlanta Chamber DEI Round Roundtable. She has also been a presenter and panelist at HR and DEI Industry conferences discussing the key role senior management and front-line leaders play in implementing a sustainable DEI strategy. She recently joined the board of a local non-profit that ensures our youngest and most vulnerable children have the best start to reach their full potential.
An Atlanta native, she is a graduate of Hampton University and has her Masters in Instructional Technology with an emphasis on Human Performance Improvement from Georgia State University. In her free time, she enjoys going on adventures, throughout Decatur, where she lives with her eleven-year-old daughter.