Panelists of the “Finding Your Why: How to Walk a Successful Career Path” session at the 2024 Accelerate! Conference at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.
What is your ‘why’ in your career? “It’s your purpose. It’s why you do what you do. It’s your rock fuel that keeps you going when things get tough,” according to Danelle Bressler, Brand Marketing Manager for PACCAR Parts. Bressler moderated a discussion of four professional women to discuss this at the recent Wnbaz’s 2024 Accelerate! Conference & Expo Nov. 10-13 in Dallas, TX.
According to Bressler, some motivations to “find your why” could be seeking financial independence, finding meaningful relationships, pursuing personal ambitions, or creating opportunities for all.These women sharedwhy it’s important to “find your why,” how to discover what it is, and how to maintain it throughout your career journey.
Be Intentional: Analyze Your Strengths and Interests
What skills do you naturally excel at, and what issues or areas of work naturally intrigue you? While you think about this question, also reflect on your career or educational journey and look back at past jobs and projects that brought you moments of passion, fulfillment and joy. When identifying your “why,” it’s critical to be intentional.
Sue Maier agrees. As Vice President of Sales Systems and Analytics for Penske Truck Leasing, Mayer says she worked at Penske for 26 years and AT&T for an additional 13 years before that.
“My ‘why’ is I love solving problems and fixing processes, and I love being famous for being good at these two things,” she says.“Honestly, at the beginning of my career I really had no idea what my ‘why’ was. I started out at AT&T as a programmer, but realized after a few years that I was really good at being the translator between the programmers and the end users.I also found I was really good at solving business problems.So I developed my ‘why’ by thinking about the things I was really uniquely good at and thoroughly enjoyed.”
Be Flexible: Know that Your “Why” Can (and Will) Change
Regularly reflect on your “why” to maintain focus and motivation – but also realize that as you change through life, so can your motivations, passions and purpose. Abbi Failla, Vice President of Business Operations with Ease Logistics, knows this first-hand. She began with the company as Director of Strategy and Innovation and shifted to her role in operations leadership when the opportunity arose.
“My ‘why’ is to make an impact on the communities where I live, work and serve,” says Failla. “Knowing your ‘why’ is so important because it’s easy for us to get lost in the craziness and the overwhelmingness that can be our everyday lives – both personally and at work. For me personally, finding my ‘why’ has helped ground me, bring me back to center, and remind me why I’m doing the things that I do every day.”
Her career began in politics as an event director for the State of Ohio, the Office of the Governor. But she eventually realized that politics was not for her. “But what I also found out was that I loved making an impact,” she explains.“It made me really dig inside and ask myself: ‘How can I make an impact on people in my communities, on my family, on the things that I love to do everyday – and the things that really feed me and keep me going?’”
Failla continues: “So I think that your personal ‘why’ can change over time.So it’s good to continue to revisit those to make sure that the core of what you want to do is what you are, in fact, doing.”
Also, don’t lose sight of your own goals and get wrapped up in your company goals or only on your family goals, she advises: “Make sure that you are taking care of yourself first.It’s important to be happy with where you are as an individual and what you are doing.” Only then can you be the best individual you are to be the best for others.
Mentoring: It Can Be Part of the “My Why” Equation
Mentoring helps to facilitate the personal and professional growth of individuals by providing guidance, support, and professional growth from experiences mentors to mentees. This can also lead to a feeling of “giving back” to others and can be at the center of discovering your “why.”
“I got started in my sustainability journey about 13 years ago,” says Alexia Bednarz, Head of sustainability at Nikola Corp., a technology pioneer in the next-generation field of truck technology, hydrogen fueling infrastructure and maintenance. “It is what I got my degree in and it plays into my ‘why,’ which is saving this planet for future generations, to impact to people and the planet, and inevitably to impact profits sometimes too.”
But a big part of her “why” is the fact that she has mentored many individuals throughout her career path: “I’ve had interns who have worked with me for a season and others who I’ve mentored for a period of years.It’s just whatever their need is in that moment. But it can be as simple as somebody reaching out periodically for 15 minutes of my time via Zoom or it can be making time to do coffee chats.I think those are a great way to get to know one another and to be a good listener.”
“That’s really what mentoring is about,” she continues.” It’s not so much telling somebody what to do and what has worked well for you.It’s really listening and empathizing with their experience and maybe helping them with some of their discovery – listening to their pain points, their triumphs. It also can be as simple as just taking a colleague for a walk around the office.
Bednarz emphasizes that mentoring often is just about celebrating each other’s successes. “Sometimes people don’t always get the recognition that they deserve,” she concludes. “So really fostering encouragement around where they’re really thriving can be important.”
Samantha McCracken, Strategic Operations Manager with Bridgestone Americas, also has leaned into mentoring as part of her career mission: “Sometimes peer-to-peer relationships and mentoring can be some of the most important conversations you have because you may be in the same career season, you may be facing the same struggles or pain points, or you’re in the same position asking yourself ‘What’s my next?’. We can learn so much from each other.”
“I enjoy helping others to explore their strengths, their weaknesses, their joys and motivations,” continues McCracken. “Having meaningful conversations with others, and asking them tough questions too, can be rewarding for everyone. Getting others to pull out the answers from within themselves is really, really powerful.And listening and celebrating successes can be equally powerful.”
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What is your ‘why’ in your career? “It’s your purpose. It’s why you do what you do. It’s your rock fuel that keeps you going when things get tough,” according to Danelle Bressler, Brand Marketing Manager for PACCAR Parts. Bressler moderated a discussion of four professional women to discuss this at the recent Wnbaz’s 2024 Accelerate! Conference & Expo Nov. 10-13 in Dallas, TX. 
Sue Maier agrees. As Vice President of Sales Systems and Analytics for Penske Truck Leasing, Mayer says she worked at Penske for 26 years and AT&T for an additional 13 years before that.
Regularly reflect on your “why” to maintain focus and motivation – but also realize that as you change through life, so can your motivations, passions and purpose. Abbi Failla, Vice President of Business Operations with Ease Logistics, knows this first-hand. She began with the company as Director of Strategy and Innovation and shifted to her role in operations leadership when the opportunity arose. 
“I got started in my sustainability journey about 13 years ago,” says Alexia Bednarz, Head of sustainability at Nikola Corp., a technology pioneer in the next-generation field of truck technology, hydrogen fueling infrastructure and maintenance. “It is what I got my degree in and it plays into my ‘why,’ which is saving this planet for future generations, to impact to people and the planet, and inevitably to impact profits sometimes too.”
Samantha McCracken, Strategic Operations Manager with Bridgestone Americas, also has leaned into mentoring as part of her career mission: “Sometimes peer-to-peer relationships and mentoring can be some of the most important conversations you have because you may be in the same career season, you may be facing the same struggles or pain points, or you’re in the same position asking yourself ‘What’s my next?’. We can learn so much from each other.”
