Power Women: Ana Battung of MCSQ Consulting On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful Woman

An Interview With Ming Zhao

Relinquishing the thought of Imposter Syndrome: In starting my own business, I have learned to take risks and face the challenges that come with new opportunities — even when it was a new territory for me. I have never been a fan of the term “imposter syndrome” because this implies that people doubt their skills, talents or accomplishments and that they are a fraud when in reality, we all need to take each opportunity to learn and grow, even when we may not feel 100% ready.

How does a successful, strong, and powerful woman navigate work, employee relationships, love, and life in a world that still feels uncomfortable with strong women? In this interview series, called “Power Women” we are talking to accomplished women leaders who share their stories and experiences navigating work, love and life as a powerful woman.

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ana Battung.

As a first-generation Filipino-American, Global Executive, and Mom-Prenuer, Ana proudly embodies the promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion and empowers individuals to become visionaries through their own unique identities. Ana has received numerous awards for her contributions as a woman in business. Most recently, she was recognized by the Orange County Business Journal as one of the Top Businesswomen in 2020 and in 2019, she was listed #24 on the HERoes Top 50 Women Future Leaders List by Yahoo Finance and was also featured in Grant Thornton’s Annual Women in Business campaign. We invite you to connect with her: www.linktr.ee/mcsqconsulting/

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

Absolutely! My parents immigrated to Chicago from the Philippines in 1971, and we moved to Houston, Texas when I was two years old. Let’s just say my parents were over shoveling snow and dealing with cold winters. After high school, my parents asked me if I wanted to stay in Houston or go to Chicago for college and that’s when I decided to venture out and attend Loyola University Chicago. I have always been incredibly appreciative of my parents for their sacrifices and commitment to providing my brother and I with a Catholic school education. It has definitely helped to establish the foundation for who I am today.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

My path was not the “ideal path” of going to college, knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life, and continuing to build your career from there. Instead, I like to refer to my path as more of the “scenic route.” I majored in Psychology and minored in Business Management. My plan was to develop a career in Human Resources which completely made sense to me when I looked to pursue a career in managing people in business. My first job, after graduation, was in the Human Resources department for a prominent Real Estate firm in Chicago. After a few years I realized that Human Resources was not the right path for me. Words of advice I received a long time ago was to look at the people in positions above you and use that insight to determine your next career move. When I looked around, I honestly couldn’t picture myself in any of their roles and decided then that I needed a change.

I pivoted from Human Resources to Marketing and Sales for a large Commercial Insurance firm in the city. I worked my way up from coordinator to Account Manager handling several large accounts throughout Illinois. For personal reasons, I ended up moving to Southern California and unfortunately, the firm did not have a location on the West Coast that I could transfer to. I continued my focus on Sales and Marketing and started my career in Hospitality and Tourism. I spent over 16 years in this industry and was let go in June of 2020 due to the pandemic. At that point I decided that I could do one of two things. I could either sulk about being one of the 40% that was let go or pick myself up and decide what to do next. A month later, in July of 2020, my journey to Founder and Mom-Prenuer began and that is what led me to the career path I am on today.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

As I reflect on my career, I take pride in the fact that I was never complacent, continued to grow, learned every day and always stayed driven. I remember one particular instance, very early on in my career, when I approached the Vice President of our department and asked to have a meeting with him. During our meeting I asked him for a review of my performance and began to state my case for why I deserved to be promoted into the open position we had available. After some deliberation he said, “Let me think about it and I will get back to you.” A few days later, he called me back into his office and said, “Congratulations, you’ve been promoted.” Having a boss who supports you, believes in your potential and acknowledges what you bring to the table can make all the difference in the world!

You are a successful business leader. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Resourcefulness:

I have found that being resourceful is key to figuring out just about anything. No one person is all knowing so we need to be diverse in our resources and have varying degrees of expertise from the people surrounding us. Throughout my career, I have always had people around me that I could depend on to turn to for answers. These contacts were inside and outside of my immediate scope of work and included entry-level, mid-level, and executive- level individuals which helped me to gain invaluable insight and provided me with various perspectives.

Leading with Compassion and Living with Purpose:

For me, these two-character traits go hand in hand. I believe that leading with compassion and living with purpose has been instrumental to my success. So much so that it has become the company motto. If we were to think about leading teams through a lens of compassion versus deadlines and metrics, how differently would our teams feel? While the work certainly matters, how can we find balance to include compassion, understand our employees and meet them where they are? Living with purpose is equally important in the work we do. If individuals and corporations would look deeper into how they can make a difference, stand for something bigger than themselves, and make an impact on the world or in the lives of others, imagine what a better world we would have. I always tell people that I am not here to change the world, but I will make a difference. That is where leading with compassion and living with purpose play a part in being successful leaders. We don’t have to solve all of the world’s problems but if we live with this compass, everyone has the ability to influence change.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. The premise of this series assumes that our society still feels uncomfortable with strong women. Why do you think this is so?

For centuries, women were not seen as powerhouses within society. Women were caretakers of the home, without equal rights and with limited access to education, much less higher education. In the mid-19th century, women sought change in voting laws, social reforms and basic economic equality. When you think about it, that really was not too long ago. Which is why I believe that so many people are still uncomfortable with the thought of strong women in society. Even though women have more rights, access to education and graduate with more degrees than men, institutionalized structures are such that discrepancies are prevalent in the gender wage gap and gender disparity in Executive leadership positions.

Without saying any names, can you share a story from your own experience that illustrates this idea?

When my children were young, I remember having a conversation with a senior leader about the next steps for me in my career. There was an opportunity for me to advance my career with a position that was available nearby. When I had asked about this opportunity, the senior leader responded by saying, “it wasn’t the right timing.” At first, I thought it was due to my experience but then my Regional Director went on to talk about having young kids and the demands of what this new position would entail. I was not even given the opportunity to apply for the position. Shortly thereafter I decided to work for another company where I felt valued, was compensated for my experience and had the ability to advance in my career.

What should a powerful woman do in a context where she feels that people are uneasy around her?

Even though we cannot always control the environments we are put into, taking the time to assess the situation and isolate the uneasiness is important. Every person should know their worth and should not have to change who they are just because others feel uneasy around them. There are many unconscious biases that exist and it is not our role to have everyone feel comfortable around us at all times. Stay focused on the task at hand and do not let it consume you. We do not have to change who we are to make others feel at ease and can focus on positivity to create a better environment for everyone.

What do we need to do as a society to change the unease around powerful women?

We must internally understand our own unconscious biases and why we may be intimidated or uneasy around powerful women in order to find the deeper meaning behind the why. Men supporting women and women supporting women will also provide a step in the right direction to elevate women into positions of power. Women do not have to change who they are or play down their accomplishments because others are uneasy around them, but instead need to rise to the occasion, be true to themselves and continue to thrive within any capacity.

In my own experience, I have observed that often women have to endure ridiculous or uncomfortable situations to achieve success that men don’t have to endure. Do you have a story like this from your own experience? Can you share it with us?

Unfortunately, I do have a story to share. I was attending a Casino Night themed customer event that offered everyone several activities to choose from. As I passed the poker table, to mingle with my customers, one of our Executives looked at me and said, “Be a doll will you and get me a bottle of water?” I was taken back by what he had asked of me and his condescending approach. Other male counterparts of mine had been standing around the table as well, yet he singled me out to get him water, called me a “doll”, and did not even look in their direction. It was certainly an uncomfortable situation not only for me but for customers attending our sponsored event.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women leaders that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Some of the biggest challenges women leaders face are oftentimes not being considered for the same opportunities that are presented to men, the disparity in the gender pay gap, minimal representation of women in Executive positions and the stigma that surrounds women who are mothers and their ability to be focused on their jobs. When was the last time you heard a soon to be father be asked if they were going to return to work after their baby was born? We need to address all of these challenges to even begin to write a new narrative around gender equality.

Let’s now shift our discussion to a slightly different direction. This is a question that nearly everyone with a job has to contend with. Was it difficult to fit your personal and family life into your business and career? For the benefit of our readers, can you articulate precisely what the struggle was?

In the middle of my career, I was faced with a new challenge of being a single mom and what that balance would look like between my career and family. While their father and I were on amicable terms and on the same page about raising our children together, it was definitely challenging to figure it all out as a team leader and mother of two young, active children. Trying to keep it all together, while starting a new chapter in my life on my own, finding financial stability and this new normal was certainly difficult to balance.

What was a tipping point that helped you achieve a greater balance or greater equilibrium between your work life and personal life? What did you do to reach this equilibrium?

As women, and mothers, we put so much pressure on ourselves to do it all. Over the years I have learned that it is okay for me not to attend every sporting event, to ask for support from others and to have open and honest conversations with superiors and team regarding realistic timelines. My personal life has never defined the Global Executive I have become, limited what I have been able to achieve, and likewise, my work life has not hindered my ability to be the best mom I can be. By no means has this been easy and continues to be a work in progress to this day. I have learned to trust the journey, embrace the process, and by doing so, allowed myself to find equilibrium in both my work and personal life.

I work in the beauty tech industry, so I am very interested to hear your philosophy or perspective about beauty. In your role as a powerful woman and leader, how much of an emphasis do you place on your appearance? Do you see beauty as something that is superficial, or is it something that has inherent value for a leader in a public context? Can you explain what you mean?

Feeling powerful and our best is important in how we represent ourselves. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder and means something different to everyone. At the end of the day what matters is how we show up. Our outward beauty and appearance do not define who we are but it is important that we feel like we are bringing the best representation of ourselves to the table.

How is this similar or different for men?

I believe it is similar for men. Everyone wants to feel and look their best regardless of gender.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Powerful Woman?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Develop a Strong Network: I would not have been able to start my own company without resourceful and developing a strong network. When I was laid off due to COVID19, my network reached out to check in on me, kept me in mind for opportunities and offered me consulting projects that aligned with my experience. Most recently, I was able to connect one of my interns with a contact of mine that was in the industry she was looking to pursue. It was invaluable for her to be able to have a one-on-one conversation with a professional in that field and gain insight on the role, path, and experience they had to share. Lastly, my strong network has been pivotal in my firm’s business development services because I have been able to easily connect with others that may be interested in what my customers had to offer thus creating a win-win situation for everyone. For me, success has come from building quality relationships versus the quantity of people in my network.
2. Confidence: In order to be powerful, you should also feel powerful. So often we second guess why we belong in a setting or what we have to offer during a meeting. My word of advice is to always remember that you were invited to be there because of your knowledge and experience. Even though it may be intimidating, you deserve a seat at the table and as Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
3. Relinquishing the thought of Imposter Syndrome: In starting my own business, I have learned to take risks and face the challenges that come with new opportunities — even when it was a new territory for me. I have never been a fan of the term “imposter syndrome” because this implies that people doubt their skills, talents or accomplishments and that they are a fraud when in reality, we all need to take each opportunity to learn and grow, even when we may not feel 100% ready.
4. Being Open Minded: I have found it invaluable to always keep an open mind when taking on new projects, leading a team and trusting your inner compass. The best gift we can give ourselves and others is honest feedback. I did an exercise with my team where I asked them each to anonymously give me one word that describes me. Being vulnerable and open minded to that feedback was important to understand how I showed up as a leader. In my one-on-one reviews I would ask my team how things were going in their work lives, personal lives (if they were so inclined to share) and what I could be doing to be a better leader for them.
5. Mentor Others: Having the ability to give back to others has been a focus of mine and our company’s. All of us can make a difference in the lives of others, raise other people up along the way and share what we have learned. I have never turned down the opportunity to coach, mentor or sponsor someone and have led grassroots efforts to create environments where genuine connections could be made. When we choose to mentor, not only do others learn from us but we learn from them as well.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would love to spend time with Michelle Obama. She is the epitome of strength, empathy, resilience, knowledge, confidence, compassion, family values and I would relish the opportunity to spend one on one time with her. When I emphasize the importance of mentorship, leadership and development I reference a quote from Michelle Obama when she said, “We should always have three friends in our lives — one who walks ahead who we look up to and follow; one who walks beside us, who is with us every step of our journey; and then, one who we reach back for and bring along after we’ve cleared the way.”

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.