Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Irina Soriano of Seismic On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male Dominated Industry

An Interview With Ming Zhao

Commanding vs. demanding respect: It is hugely important to command respect in order to advance at the same rate as your male counterparts when working in a male-dominated industry as a woman. Commanding respect through your attitude, actions, and behaviors is key to being seen as equal and to be accepted for who you are.

In the United States in 2022, fields such as Aircraft piloting, Agriculture, Architecture, Construction, Finance, and Information technology, are still male-dominated industries. For a woman who is working in a male-dominated environment, what exactly does it take to thrive and succeed? In this interview series, we are talking to successful women who work in a Male-Dominated Industry who can share their stories and experiences about navigating work and life as strong women in a male-dominated industry. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Irina Soriano.

Irina Soriano is Vice President of Enablement & Process Excellence at Seismic, the global leader in enablement. She is a TEDx speaker and the author of Generation Brand, a modern playbook for cultivating one’s life-brand to develop long-term career-changing skills.

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”?

I’m a millennial. I grew up in Germany in a small town and had a lovely upbringing, I was very fortunate. Early in my life I discovered my curiosity for cultures and other countries. I begged my parents to send me abroad for a year so I could learn another language fluently. After a year in France at just 16 years old, my desire to live and work all over the world awoke. I left Germany for good at the age of 23. After studying in France, and working in London and Singapore for many years, I finally ended up in New York, a city that I now call my home.

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

I spent the first 10 years of my career working at the same company. I stayed so long because I was successful at my job and comfortable. However, I found myself hesitant to take any risks or do anything that was outside of the expected. I knew I had the potential, but I suffered from a lack of self confidence and belief in my own abilities, just like many women do. This mindset and lack of self-belief reinforced my insecurities that I wasn’t good enough to advance faster, it kept me frozen in place for a very long time.

Ultimately, I was able to overcome my self-imposed obstacles and step outside of my comfort zone. And the reward was worthwhile. I discovered an extremely powerful concept I coined as my “life- brand” and it empowered me to have faith in my own abilities to be whatever I aspired to be. Fast forward just 5 short years, I went from just “having a job”, to being a known Enablement leader in this field, an author, and a TEDx and keynote speaker. Actively controlling my life-brand has completely transformed my life and career.

This confidence in my identity and capabilities gave me the opportunity to advance my career and carve out my place in the tech industry — a field where large companies’ workforce is only made up of 33% of women. I realized I wanted to empower other women to do the same, which is what led me to write my first book, “Generation Brand.” And I have spent the rest of my career pursuing this mission to help women break through the societal structures trying to hold them in place and embrace their confidence and abilities to be whoever they aspire to be.

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

The most impactful moment of my career was the morning I woke up after just having left my first job I held for nearly a decade. That morning I woke up to an empty house, I had no connections, nobody knew me, and I had the realization that I had to reinvent myself. That morning was an epiphany for me and it was the actual day that the idea of life-brand was born.

If I had actively controlled my life-brand all these years, contributed to the business conversations online, built a strong network of people, given back by sharing my knowledge I built all these years, I could have accelerated my career even further. I was a huge miss, but I am grateful for this realization and experience. It got me to where I am today.

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?

Confidence:

In my early career and up to the time I stepped out of my first career path, I had very little belief that I could achieve anything I wanted with my life and career. In fact, my husband had bigger belief in me than myself. This lack of confidence held me back to ask for the salary increases and promotions I deserved, and it held me back to take risks. Confidence is one of the key factors that impacts women’s career growth these days.

Purpose:

I believe that true success comes from serving others. No matter what you do in life, to me we all have a responsibility to give back to people in our communities, our workplace, and beyond. Serving others comes from having a purpose. Your purpose doesn’t need to be groundbreaking, it can be as simple as a passion, your profession, or an interest.

Authenticity:

I have been told since my early career that I was “too ambitious”, “too intense”, “too loud”, “too….everything”. I have been called a bull in a chinashop, a pitbull, only to name a few. Many times, this led me to hold back my true identity and I tried to fit in by adapting to what people expected of a woman in my position. I always realized I was not behaving differently than my male counterparts, yet they were not called these names. This realization helped me to understand that I was not willing to fit any female stereotype and I finally allowed myself to be myself. It has been a true career accelerator for me.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you help articulate a few of the biggest obstacles or challenges you’ve had to overcome while working in a male-dominated industry?

Despite our inherent power, women are prone to suffering from a lack of self-confidence. My own lack of confidence held me back for quite a long time in my career. Maybe it’s due to the media telling us our bodies are never good enough or because we’re less likely to become C-Suite executives due to systemic bias. Either way, we can build that confidence over time — even though a lot of women are still not encouraged to do so.

Women trying to advance their careers to executive positions are often eventually compelled to take a supporting role instead. I can’t say exactly why this is. But I believe there’s an inherent sense of fear and doubt that’s ingrained in us so early on. That we don’t have the abilities, or we won’t be able to balance our careers if we want anything outside of that. For instance, women are often told they do not have the capacity to have a successful career and a family at the same time. I had to overcome some of these stigmas before I was able to truly discover my self-worth and realize that I was capable of so much more than I had been led to believe.

The female stereotype also expects it to be less “pushy” and “ambitious”. I have encountered many men that have no hesitation to say “I want this job, how do I get there?” But when women portray the same behavior it can seem out of line, it’s considered too aggressive. There is a double standard in the workplace women are still having to overcome on a daily basis to embrace their power and pursue the opportunities at their disposal. Early on in my career, I had to face the reality that I would never be able to please everyone and prioritize myself at the same time. Once I was able to shed these expectations and the fear of offending someone or being “too abrasive,” I had the freedom to pursue my career dreams and embrace the journey that led me to where I am today.

Can you share a few of the things you have done to gain acceptance among your male peers and the general work community? What did your female co-workers do? Can you share some stories or examples?

When I began my first job in London, I worked on a sales floor that was 90% men. Though the environment was somewhat harsh and intense, I was able to adapt and feel comfortable quite quickly. One day, one of the sales leaders described me as “a bull in a china shop.” I didn’t fully understand the meaning at the time, but I perceived it to be a compliment.

I later learned the full meaning of the phrase and realized it had a double-edged connotation. But I also realized that it was exactly this mentality that allowed me to advance my career at the same pace if not faster than my male counterparts. So I leaned into it. Being self-aware and delicate at times is important. But so is being confident, assertive, and persistent. I am a bull in a china shop, when the situation calls for it. And that let to my male peers accepting me, because I became my true authentic self.

Women get called names like this behind their backs all the time, because they’re not supposed to display assertiveness in the same way men are. As women, we know that in order to advance our careers we oftentimes have to be even more aggressive or assertive than men to be heard. But at the same time, you might put people off in the process. I found when I embraced my authentic self and showed that I wasn’t ashamed to be who I was, even if some people may not like it, I was respected for it. And that’s why I advise other women to do the same. Just be yourself and find people that love you for it at work and in life. Life is too short to hide who you are.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

The power of female role models cannot be understated. When women see other women in leadership, it empowers them to believe they can do the same. This is one of the biggest pieces of advice I can offer to any company that’s looking to attract more women to their field. Women in leadership roles serve as a beacon of hope to other women just entering the workforce. It shows them that they don’t have to choose between having a career and a family or between being liked and being respected. They can do it all; they simply have to believe that they can first.

Building out a more gender-diverse workforce also requires men to advocate for their female counterparts. And I will say, I have seen huge steps forward with that in the past few years. The men I work and worked with have been incredibly supportive of my career advancement. Men must not only ensure they have gender equity across their teams, but be a champion for their success. If women are able to see that a company is somewhere where they’ll be bolstered and empowered to do their best work rather than having to fight tooth and nail for every success they earn, it will draw them to the company and serve as a signal for other women to follow.

Ok thank you for all of that. 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 Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Commanding vs. demanding respect:

It is hugely important to command respect in order to advance at the same rate as your male counterparts when working in a male-dominated industry as a woman. Commanding respect through your attitude, actions, and behaviors is key to being seen as equal and to be accepted for who you are.

Don’t expect opportunities to come to you:

Women have to actively seek out opportunities to advance their careers, they will not fall in their laps (unless they are very lucky). That means being on the lookout for extra projects they can take on, volunteering to lead initiatives, and actively approaching senior leaders and/or executives in the companies to see where they can get more involved to get exposure to other areas of the business. Career advancement is not happening by chance.

Executive sponsorship:

Other than mentorship, sponsorship cannot not be demanded, an executive would have to see potential in you and invest time and energy to help you advance your career faster. Getting to executive levels without a sponsor is hard for men and women, but it’s pretty much impossible for women to do so unless they have someone who is backing them along the way.

Authenticity:

I have been told since my early career that I was “too ambitious”, “too intense”, “too loud”, “too….everything”. I have been called a bull in a chinashop, a pitbull, only to name a few. Many times, this led me to hold back my true identity and I tried to fit in by adapting to what people expected of a woman in my position. I always realized I was not behaving differently than my male counterparts, yet they were not called these names. This realization helped me to understand that I was not willing to fit any female stereotype and I finally allowed myself to be myself. It has been a true career accelerator for me.

Confidence:

In my early career and up to the time I stepped out of my first career path, I had very little belief that I could achieve anything I wanted with my life and career. In fact, my husband had bigger belief in me than myself. This lack of confidence held me back to ask for the salary increases and promotions I deserved, and it held me back to take risks. Confidence is one of the key factors that impacts women’s career growth these days.

If you had a close woman friend who came to you with a choice of entering a field that is male-dominated or female-dominated, what would you advise her? Would you advise a woman friend to start a career in a field or industry that’s traditionally been mostly men? Can you explain what you mean?

I would advise any woman to be whatever she aspires to be. Women are so often told to stick with the status quo or comply with what is expected of them. Notions like these are exactly what has held women in the workforce back for entirely too long. And women being fearful to work in male-donimated industries is only contributing to this issue, it’s not helping us with gender equity in business.

If I had a close friend that was thinking about entering a male-dominated field, I would encourage her to do the same due diligence she would do for any other role she would consider and not be blind-sided by the fact that the industry is generally male dominated. I would also advice that if she decide to move ahead, that she will likely feel more challenges throughout her career path, that she will have to push a little harder, work on her confidence, and should not be intimidated by others around her.

Building up deeply rooted confidence is no small task. It’s a long, arduous process, but it is absolutely essential for women to maintain their self-worth even in the face of criticism. Practices like having positive self-talks, acknowledging gratitude, and recognizing how far we’ve come may seem trivial at times, but over time they allow you to build a strong foundation of confidence that can overcome any obstacles women in the workforce might face.

Have you seen things change for women working in male-dominated industries, over the past ten years? How do you anticipate that it might improve in the future? Can you please explain what you mean?

Women in the workforce have been fighting for equal treatment for decades. Though there is still much work to be done before we reach a point of true equality, there are countless victories to celebrate in the past 10 years alone.

For instance, there is far more pay transparency in the workforce than there was even 10 years ago. In 2014, Obama signed an executive order that prevented federal contractors from penalizing workers for discussing their salaries. The ability to discuss salaries transparently is absolutely essential to eliminating the gender pay gap, and a good deal of progress has been made since then. A 2015 study actually found that the pay gap between men and women had closed for millennials working in New York City for the first time in American history.

Social movements such as #MeToo created a window for women to speak out against the sexual harassment and abuse they had been enduring in silence for decades. The discussion sparked a call to action to end to hostile and discriminatory work enviroments. Unfortunately, the battle is far from over, but the movement empowered women to take remarkable strides towards progress and demand equal treatment.

The shift to remote or hybrid work has also allowed countless women to have a better work-life balance and the flexibility needed to work in a way that fits their lifestyles and schedules. The Great Resignation empowered not only women, but employees everywhere, to demand a workplace that’s supportive and actively demonstrates that it values employees and cares about their wellbeing.

These are just a few of the countless steps towards progress women have made in the last 10 years. There is still a long way to go, but women are continuously paving the way forward for other women to follow in their footsteps. And the more women there are in the workforce, especially in leadership roles, the easier it will be for other women to follow suit.

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.

A person I would love to have lunch with is Oprah. Being the successful and powerful woman she is, her story has always fuelled my confidence and self-belief. She is truly serving this world to be a better place and is an inspiration to every woman who wants to impact change in their communities and beyond.

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