WiST Summer Fellowship Part 1

This summer I have been granted the incredible opportunity to work with the Astronaut Dr. Yvonne Cagle through the Women in Sports Tech Fellowship. I am assisting Dr. Cagle with bringing her wearable technology closer to market by conducting literature reviews and competitive positioning analysis. The goal of this technology is to accelerate regeneration of injured muscles. This project is incredibly close to my heart as I am a Division 1 Cross Country and Track athlete for Bucknell University, where I have not only endured a host of injuries myself but have watched many teammates struggle with injuries. In particular, I have noticed the most difficult challenge is coping with the emotional and mental battles brought on by injury. There have been many times I have watched myself or someone else deal with the same lingering ache or pain, day after day, week after week, and then hypothesized there must be some way to “fix that”. If we can repair or replace a flat tire or a shattered phone screen in a matter of minutes, why can’t we do the same with our bodies? That is the problem I want to solve in this world and that is what Dr. Cagle’s WrapEZe attempts to do. It is the perfect match. I am extremely grateful for Women in Sports Tech’s support in this fellowship and I am incredibly proud to be a part of such an impressive community of women working to change the ratio in the sports technology industry.

So far in my fellowship, I have learned more than I can write in a blog post. However, there are a few key notions and lessons that I would like to share. Surprisingly, the most valuable ideas I have taken away so far have less to do with the technology and more to do with the community and work environment. As an athlete on sports teams over my whole life, especially my recent experiences on my college team, I assumed that leadership and teamwork skills on a sports team did not fully translate to leadership in the workplace. But the deeper I get into my fellowship, the more I am having experiences in which I can apply the skills I have learned from athletic teams directly to the workplace. The main components that make a successful sports team are very similar to what makes a company successful in industry. The mutual trust that is created with teammates is the same trust that allows co-workers to work together in a constructive and effective manner. On my college track team, I have witnessed disagreements over team culture splinter the team and inhibit us from performing to our full athletic potential. To solve the team culture issues on my track team, we had tough and honest conversations with each other and have begun to implement a more supportive and inclusive culture to understand each other’s differences and unite under our common goals. I am excited to work on the WrapEZe team as we compromise and agree on product vision. By bringing an outside perspective, I hope that I will promote an efficient yet creative action plan to bring the product closer to market.

In the fellowship so far, I have also learned a lot about communication skills and different types of mentorship. It has been interesting to experience various means of communication, which is especially relevant in today’s rapidly changing world. Prior to this fellowship, I had mainly worked with people who used structured and regulated forms of communication like emails and scheduled meetings for communication. However, the people I am currently working with are much more inclined to pick up the phone and call me when they want to communicate with me. I will be honest, it took me a bit of time to get used to that. Quickly, I realized that I can communicate back to them on my own terms and maintain the schedule that works for me while making sure we touch base on what we need to discuss. I have learned that everyone has different communication styles and it is okay to communicate with your co-workers in a manner that will help you be the most successful and efficient team member. Just like there are many different means of communication in the workplace, there are also many different types of mentorship relationships that exist. In one of our WiST Fellow Zoom calls, we had a discussion about mentorship and discussed our experiences of good and bad mentorship relationships. Listening to the diverse array of mentorship experiences from both fellows and board members, helped me understand that each mentorship relationship is different and even if the situation is not ideal, there is always something to learn from it. The conversation really opened me up to instead of fretting over the concerns I may have, I can understand and embrace that each of us has something to contribute. Regardless of the outcomes, we will all learn a lot from each other. The idea that each mentor or boss has a different way to lead and guide is really helping me make the most out of my fellowship experience and learn how to effectively work with others I had previously thought I could not work well with.

It is strange yet exciting to be halfway through my Women in Sports Tech Fellowship because I am enjoying the experience thoroughly but there is so much more I am ready to learn, explore and achieve in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for another post, in which I hope to present some of my fellowship work and more insight I have learned from this phenomenal opportunity!