Career Mama newsletter

Hi Career Mamas,

🎃 Happy Halloween week! Wishing you a fun week of costumes, treats, and moments of joy.

This month in Career Mama, we focused on Storytelling 2.0 - learning to share ideas that inspire and influence. We focused on structuring clear and compelling messages, leveraging the Message Prep worksheet to help you strategically communicate in everyday conversations, and

understanding power dynamics.

💬 Monthly Slack roundup

Owning your voice in executive meetings: Srilakshmi Karupakala reflected on her first experience joining an executive meeting and asked for advice on speaking up with confidence and clarity when discussions stay at a high level.
Scaling back while staying balanced: Heather Young asked for advice on transitioning from full-time to part-time or contractor work so she can create more space for family and caregiving. She’s weighing how to maintain professional momentum, navigate benefits, and avoid defaulting into the “primary parent” role at home.
Choosing joy at work: Danielle DeLatte shared she accepted a new role with former coworkers and asked how others debriefed after leaving a challenging job and supported their teams during the transition.
Support System breakdown: Shivani Berry opened up about the support systems that make her life work - from shared parenting and childcare to home help and community. Reminding members that success comes from building support, not doing everything alone.
Back-to-work prep after maternity leave - tips & advice: Anna Matlin asked for advice on how to “stick the landing” when returning from parental leave - balancing career growth, well-being, and new motherhood while preparing for upcoming travel with her baby.

More threads from this month…
Saying no with grace
Managing power dynamics in academia
New England meetup
Introducing allergens with care
Halloween costume ideas
Baby rain gear recommendations
Instant latte recommendations

November Theme: Build Your Reputation Capital

Your reputation connects what you’ve done with how stakeholders remember it. This month, we’ll focus on shaping that story and taking intentional actions to strengthen your visibility.

Up next: November events, challenge, Circle prompt, and Kajabi updates.

🗣️ Events

Coaching call: 11/12 11am-12pm PT (optional)
Circle: 11/20 & 11/21
Connection call: 11/25 11-11:30am PT (optional)

🎥 Resources

Visibility Framework - a new short video lesson in Kajabi to help you advocate for yourself (released on November 4th)

🎯 Challenge for November: Reputation Builder

In November, we’re focused on ensuring you get the credit for the great work you’re doing. Each week, you’ll take one 5-minute action to define how you want to be known, communicate your strengths clearly, and make your impact visible. This is timely with upcoming performance reviews.

📆 Week 1 Challenge (November 3rd week): Define Your Spotlight Skill
📆 Week 2 Challenge (November 10th week): Communicate Strategically to highlight your skill in a meeting
📆 Week 3 Challenge (November 17th week): Make Your Work Visible With Your Manager
📆 Week 4 Challenge (November 24th week): Strengthen Relationships — Thanksgiving Edition 🦃

Look out for MJ’s Slack on Monday (11/3) to kick off our challenge.

✍️ Circle prompt for Novembe

Your reputation shapes how your story gets told in manager conversations, calibration rooms, and promotion discussions.

This month’s Circle will help you uncover how you’re currently seen, what story you want told, and what actions can strengthen that story — not just for this review cycle, but for your long-term growth.

Where do you notice a gap between how you want to be seen and how you’re currently perceived? Or, is there important work you’ve done this year that hasn’t been recognized?
Why do you think this gap exists? (e.g., relationships, imposter syndrome, communication patterns, lack of visibility, or team dynamics)
What’s one action you can take this month to close this gap — especially as reviews are being finalized?

🕒 Please reflect on this prompt for 15 minutes before your Circle discussion.

🌟 Member Spotlight

Congrats to Ashley Perez for being selected to cover for a leader at Salesforce! Within 7 weeks of joining Career Mama, Ashley went from ‘being in quicksand’ to creating bandwidth for herself and confidently raising her hand for the leadership opportunity. She was chosen even though she wasn’t the most tenured candidate. Cheering you on!

Storytelling helped us strategically communicate in October. In November, we’ll build on that momentum by strengthening the reputation that carries your story forward.

Cheers,
Shivani & team

P.S. Let’s welcome our newest Career Mama members! Check out their intros in #intros and say 'hi'!

Career Mama newsletter - October 2025