2024.Daniela-podcast

Daniela Rendon, a master's student at Stanford University, shares her experience with networking and self-care. She emphasizes the importance of building relationships and making connections, not just for professional purposes, but also for personal growth. Daniela discusses how her mindset and confidence in networking has changed over the years, and how reaching out to professionals has led to valuable friendships and opportunities. She also highlights her experiences connecting with female founders and leaders in her field, and how these interactions have helped her gain insights and get involved in projects she is passionate about. Despite her busy schedule as a student and part-time worker, Daniela manages her time effectively to balance her commitments. Hello, I'm Lindsay Hickin, and I manage career services at the Department of Management, Science and Engineering at Stanford University. Welcome to MS&E Stories and Voices, Graduating Student Profiles. Social connection is important in so many areas of our lives, including our careers. Our networks are what lead to many of the jobs we'll have during our working lives, but many people are unsure of how to build and leverage these relationships. My guest today, Daniela Rendon, is the complete opposite of that. Not only has she figured out the networking thing, she's got a mature perspective on taking time for herself as well. I'm excited to hear more. So Daniela, thank you so much for being with us today. Before we get to your thoughts on networking and self-care, let's set the scene with a little bit about you and your background and what brought you to Stanford and MS&E. Thanks, Lindsay, for having me here today. I'm super excited to kind of talk to you a little bit about my experience as a master's student in management science and engineering at Stanford. So before Stanford, I actually completed my bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering at the George Washington University. And then after that, I started being full-time as a consultant at Deloitte. I was doing some technology consulting on some digital products for our clients. But eventually, I actually decided that I wanted to go for my master's. There were a lot of different things that I learned as an undergraduate and then as a professional, but I felt like there was still a lot more I wanted to learn. And in the end, I kind of settled on the management science and engineering program at Stanford, mostly because the program offers a lot of flexibility in terms of classes that you can take and just a lot of different courses and a lot of different concentrations, right? So I could take a CS class or an entrepreneurship course all in the same quarter as well as classes that could combine the two. And so I really appreciated that flexibility. And so being able to take some courses in either product management or health policy even, I actually also met a lot of different people from different backgrounds than my own. So there were a lot of management science and engineering students, but also students from the business school, other engineering concentrations and disciplines. And so being able to kind of interact with them and work on projects with them kind of also increased my knowledge in certain areas. And that was really, really great. So I definitely made the right choice. Yeah, the value of all of these different perspectives coming into the classroom is definitely something huge. And part of that is going back to what you mentioned earlier about having had those couple of years out in the workforce. I found personally, when I went back and did my master's after several years in the workforce, that my mindset was completely different from when I'd done my undergraduate degree. Did you find that as well? Any mindset difference for you? Yeah, actually, one of the biggest differences from when I was an undergrad to now as a master's student, especially after being a professional for a few years, was actually in networking. So I know that a lot of different people kind of may associate that negatively if it's not in a professional sense. But for me, essentially what that means is when you first start your undergraduate degree, you're a little bit more timid, a little bit more nervous. Everybody's trying to make friends, but still, like, you're not necessarily used to that. But after going through your undergrad and working a little bit professionally, you kind of hit the ground running in terms of trying to make friends and build connections and relationships, especially in a master's degree program where people come from completely different backgrounds than your own. You know, some people are co-terms. Some people came directly from undergrad and others were professionals as well. So, you know, meeting all those different types of people and being confident in myself when starting school and, you know, reaching out to them and forming connections and groups, that was a big difference for me. Yeah, I think networking is definitely one of those things. A lot of our students say to me that they feel like it's something that's really transactional, that they're using people almost. And really the correction that I try to make is that networking is just relationship building, where you hope there's going to be mutual benefit because, yes, somebody might be able to help you at the start, but then at a later point, you're going to be able to help them. Yeah, and I would agree with what you're saying 100 percent. And I understand why some people may think that it can be transactional. But at the same time, if you think about these relationships, right, a lot of these people that you start talking to because their career interests you or their background interests you, you know, they become friends, right? If you sit down and you're having a conversation with them and you asking them about their life isn't a negative thing because people really love to talk about themselves. And so in that process of learning about other people, whether it's about their career, their personal life or, you know, some steps that they took throughout their education, you're not only learning about them and seeing how they might be able to help you, but you also learn about yourself, right? You realize, oh, actually, that seems like really interesting. I'd like to try that. Where would I start? Maybe you can help me or like what you did make sense. How would I pivot into that? You know, you're also learning a lot about yourself and others. And it's not just this network that you're building, but also a lot of friendships. Yeah. Like you say, these friendships develop or these deeper working relationships, even than you might have otherwise. So it's just it's such a positive thing to do. I love to hear that you're doing all of that. And it really sounds like this virtuous cycle with you that the more you've done it, the more it's increased your confidence in doing it. And so you've reached out to more people and done it more. And I remember back when you first started the program, actually, you came to a session that we had on this very topic with David Selene Lawton, who's one of our alumni. And as a result of doing that workshop, you had reached out to a female founder and CEO in your hometown of New York because Strong Women in particular was interesting to you. What motivates them? What empowers them? And you've had a really good conversation with her and started building a relationship as that continued building. And I'm going to guess you've got other stories that you can add to that one. Absolutely. I'm definitely glad that you brought that up because I think another difference between like my undergrad years and then as a master's student is definitely just that, being able to have more confidence in reaching out to people. One of the things that I learned in that workshop last year was that you can definitely reach out to people either, you know, via email or LinkedIn or whatever it is. They're happy to connect with you if they have the time and if you're respectful. And so that's what I did, right? I reached out to that female founder in New York. She was very open to talking with me. I was very transparent in like my request to get together and connect, you know, in the sense that I was like, hey, I know, you know, I gave a little intro about myself. I'm living in the Bay Area and I'm going home to New York for the holidays. I know that you probably don't want to connect with somebody you don't know while you're on holiday. But if you wanted to meet in person or if you had some time, this is when I'm available. She reacted to that really nicely and was like, yeah, like let's get together. I do have some time. So it actually works out perfectly. You know, I don't necessarily recommend asking professionals to meet during the holiday, but if you're kind and polite about it, it might work out. I still talk to her and if I have any questions, I'll go to her and she provides me with some pretty transparent answers herself. So that's super nice. While I found that confidence and kind of reaching out to different female founders or senior leadership, I actually followed up with that and I reached out to a different company called Carryaway Health, which is a digital health company that is focused on working with Gen Z women. And so what you do is you download the application and then if you have any, you know, health related questions and you can't necessarily go to a doctor right away, you can essentially like send them a message and they're available 24-7. I loved that that existed, especially like in the era of telemedicine and I wanted to get involved. And so I kind of just emailed somebody that I found on their career stage and I was like, hey, I'm still a student, but I would love to get involved in any way I can. And they mentioned that they have like this ambassador program for students as well as, you know, they try to meet weekly with students so that they could provide their any insights that they might have. It was almost like a mini product management role. And so I'm still involved there. And, you know, I definitely I love it. And I owe it to that workshop that I did last year, as well as the conversations that I had with that the founders that I've been speaking with over the last year. That is really great initiative on your part. So you've got that going on your studies. I believe that you're still working as well. That's a lot to be taking up your time. So how do you manage it all? Yeah. So funny that you bring that up, right? I am a full time master's student and I decided to keep working part time at Deloitte. And so that is a lot going on every day and every week. And so what I've actually learned for myself over the years, and this actually stems back to when I was an undergrad, I kind of set aside this non-negotiable time each day for myself to be able to kind of reset and level set. And, you know, if I have homework or if I have a deliverable due after that non-negotiable time, I'm able to kind of just sit back down and hit the ground running again. But basically what that time is, is time that I take for myself to go outside and exercise and kind of get some fresh air. So what I normally like to do is I like to go on runs. And so that really lets me kind of reset, clear my mind, you know, forget about work, forget about school, start thinking about what I'm going to do later that day after work and after school. What am I going to do this weekend? Just things like that. And then I find that like once I get back from that run or that walk outside and I sit down in front of my homework or my work, I'm like, OK, everything's a lot clearer now. And something that would have initially taken me like four hours to do now takes me like an hour or two. And so that's why that's my non-negotiable time. Even though I'm taking time to do something else, it's actually making me more efficient in my work. Yeah, that's a huge time saver. An hour run plus an hour worth equals four hours of work without taking that time for yourself. That's amazing in terms of the productivity level. It's funny, though, because when I tell that to people, they're like, oh, so is that like also what you tell your bosses or your managers? And I'm like, well, no, not that. And I wouldn't encourage students or professionals to kind of go to their managers or their professors and say, hey, like, can you move this exam? Can you move this important client meeting because I need to go out for a run? I would not encourage that. But I would say that professors and managers are more flexible, especially, you know, post the pandemic. Most reasonable managers and professors, they understand your need for space and being able to reset. And they respect that. They really do. Especially if you can sit down and have that very honest conversation with them after you've had the chance to kind of prove yourself on the team or in the class. And at the same time, like my non-negotiable time isn't, you know, every day at 12. You know, sometimes it has to be at 11 to make time for that 12 o'clock meeting or sometimes it has to be at 1 p.m. to be able to go to class at 1230. I love that discipline that you have, though, in holding that space for yourself. But with the flexibility of how do I actually in reality fit this in? Because life is messy, life is complicated and things don't always fit perfectly. And we just have to do the best we can. Yeah, absolutely. Definitely would encourage you to have that two way conversation with your boss instead of you just telling them this is what I'm going to do. Don't schedule any client meetings because I'm going to be running. More so, yeah, let them know that you'll be taking, you know, 20 minutes out of the day to do this when there are no meetings. Chances are they probably are already doing the same thing themselves. And so as you're graduating now and running into your future, if you will pardon the pun, what is that going to look like for you and what are you going to be doing? Yeah, no, that's a great question. So basically, I did mention that I'm working part time currently. And so obviously, I'm looking for, you know, a full time role. But my past professional experience was in essentially like our team builds web applications. And I really developed a passion for consumer facing products because of that. And I kind of wanted to go back to school to learn a little bit about more of what kind of products I'd want to continue building and how to leverage like new tools that I learned in classes like AI and machine learning. I strengthened some of my skills there. And so I think I would love to stay in the consumer realm, specifically like digital products. And I think for me, though, my biggest goal moving forward is to, you know, leverage the skills that I learned in the program, as well as a professional to work on a product that I'm very passionate about, whether that's in the travel industry, or the health industry, specifically like for Gen Z women, for example, and kind of continue to build those products that impact people on a daily basis. And eventually, you know, I myself want to be in more of a senior role to be able to kind of, you know, make some of those key decisions that you see impact people. So I think that was kind of a big answer. But ultimately, you know, I want to stay in the consumer product world and be a better leader. And in these passion areas of yours are travel and women's health. Yeah, yep, exactly. It makes a lot of sense with your focus on self-care and the travel that you do. So thank you so much for talking with me today about all of this. I do have my final three questions that I ask everybody. And so I'm going to launch into those. And the first one is, what advice would you give for someone who is coming into the program you're just finishing? So in your case here, the master's program, but advice that somebody else might not have already told them? That's a good question. What I kind of wish somebody would have told me, especially if you're a co-term or an undergrad who's starting their master's degree right away, and you're still working on developing some of your confidence, I would say think of a potential mentor that may already be on campus or in the Bay Area, you know, near to where you're living. Think of who that potential mentor could be so that they can start mentoring you as soon as you essentially start your first day of classes. Because having a good mentor will go a long way, not only in like your professional and academic career, but just overall, it's like having a good life coach. And it'll become really in handy, like not only when you're like picking classes each quarter, but also when you start preparing for what comes next after graduation. You want to have a good idea of what career you're going to want to work towards or where you might want to start applying and when you want to do that. And so having a good mentor will go a long way. And the program goes by really, really fast. So before you know it, you'll already be a year in and it'll be a little bit harder to develop connections with a mentor. So I would say start with that first so you can hit the ground running. Perfect. And then what is your life maxim, that signature phrase that your grandkids are going to be tired of hearing you say one day? So that's one of my favorite questions. If you ask my friends or family what I say to them all the time, that makes them kind of roll their eyes at me, is I usually always like to respond to things as, well, diamonds are made under pressure. And so what's funny, though, is that eventually somebody responded to that with, well, they can also break under pressure. And so I definitely like to add that little tidbit to it now. And the reason why that's the life maxim that I love to share with people is because you're only going to continue to learn and grow if you challenge yourself. But that doesn't mean that you should challenge yourself to the point where, you know, you can't handle it anymore. Being in a comfortable, safe space and prioritizing that will actually let you be better and stay kind of like bright and shiny. I mean, that comes back to your commitment that you have to your self-care and your running is that's that release valve so that the diamond that you are does not break under pressure. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then two books and a podcast. So the two books that you're constantly telling everybody that they should read, that one of them should be MS&E related, and the other one is that total free choice. On top of that, a podcast that you really like. The book that I would recommend that is related to MS&E would be Let My People Go Surfing, The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvonne Chouinard, who is the founder of Patagonia. Obviously, that fits in with MS&E. You know, he's an entrepreneur. He built up his own company. But why I would recommend it is because he not only talks about his process in building and finding Patagonia, but he also kind of talks about how to build a really good culture at your company. So it's called Let My People Go Surfing. And from what I've read in the book, it sounded like they were working a 9 to 5, but at 1 p.m., the surfing conditions were optimal. Everybody was done for the day. That's what they went to go do. But, you know, the work still got done by Friday, 5 p.m. So that was important for him as well. It was just a really good read. So I highly recommend. A book that I personally have read just for, like, personal enjoyment that I really enjoyed was Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder. Just a quick little, you know, description of the book. But the book talks about Dr. Jim O'Connell, who was a Harvard medical student who was doing his residency, I believe, at Mass Gen. And eventually he actually decided that he wanted to devote his career to serving the homeless population in Boston. And so it's a really, really great book that talks about the work that he's done over the last few decades in Boston. And, you know, it really changes your perspective about different things and people's career and what they do. And it helps you build a lot of empathy, I would say. So highly recommend. And then a podcast. It definitely coincides with MS&E as well. But How I Built This with Guy Raz is actually a podcast where Guy Raz interviews entrepreneurs and founders to discuss how they built their companies and what insights they have regarding the process of building these companies and their brands, including any moments of doubt that they had, but obviously eventual success. So, you know, he interviews the founders of Airbnb, Atari, Crate and Barrel, like literally anything you can think of. So super, super cool podcast. That sounds really interesting to show all of these. Thank you for the recommendation. Again, Daniela, thank you so much. Your enthusiasm for this outreach that you do and connecting with people is just so, I think, indicative of you as a person. And what I see for your future is that this will start morphing and you will increasingly start becoming the mentor for so many other people. And so I'm just really excited about what your future holds and what you're going to be doing in some very short years. Like you say, you know, the program went by really fast. And so before you know it, you'll be a few years into this next stage of your career. I really hope that you stay around and we keep in touch. And again, just thank you so much for your time with this interview. It's been really fun talking to you. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I really enjoyed having this conversation. So thank you again.