the bossbabe podcast - 157. The Secret To Landing Your Dream Job With Victoria Young

Episode Date: March 29, 2021

Join BossBabe Co-Founder & President, Natalie Ellis with special guest, Victoria Young as Victoria shares her secrets for how to land your dream job and make the most of the opportunity when you do. 99designs by Vistaprint: https://99designs.com/bossbabe Insta Influence Kit: https://www.instainfluencekit.com/buy?affiliate_id=3009395 Follow:  BossBabe: @bossbabe.inc Natalie: @iamnatalie Victoria: @victoriahyoung_

Before we dive into this episode of the Boss Babe podcast, I wanted to hop on to celebrate because just a few weeks ago, Boss Babe turned three years old and we hit three million followers on Instagram. And hitting those two milestones in a matter of a couple of days really made me reflect on the start of Boss Babe. Now, when started the Boss Babe Instagram I put all of my energy into the Boss Babe account. I knew that it would take a hundred percent. All of my energy and effort that it would be smarter to focus on building one account up a hundred percent of the time rather than split my time between my personal Instagram and Boss Babe. I had such a strong gut feeling that Boss Babe had the potential to make a massive impact. I knew how big

our mission was, how massive the impact could be and how important it was to reach as many women as possible and how possible that was because of social media. Social media is literally the reason Boss Babe is what it is today. It's the reason we've been able to actually coach over 17,000 paying clients just like you. It's the reason we've put over 120,000 students through our trainings. And it's the reason we've been able to interview so many amazing leaders on this podcast. So during the beginning of it all, we never invested in paid ads because social media served as free advertising space. And let me tell you, we were able to leverage it like no other. So I wanted to hop on because whether you have a crazy amazing idea or already in the

midst of your entrepreneurial journey, this is your sign to go all in, to show up daily at 100% and we have a tool to help you do just that. Our Insta influence kit is packed with over 100 customizable done for you templates to help you show up at that 100% without wasting so much time and energy on the design and thinking through content creation. Not only will you gain access to these 100 templates inside the kit, but you'll also walk away with a full understanding of how to leverage the Boss Babe 3 system, which is the secret content pillars behind our viral growth and how to actually implement it on your own profile. Listen, it is not too late to be starting

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tell your story and show how you think. Welcome to the Boss Babe podcast, a place where we share with you the real behind the scenes of building successful businesses, achieving peak performance and learning how to balance it all. I'm Natalie Ellis, co-founder and CEO of Boss Babe and your host for this week's podcast episode. So this week, I am so excited to interview my best friend, Victoria Young. This episode is essentially like you being a fly on the wall of one of our vacations from leadership to Silicon Valley to consciousness and getting to root causes. This episode is packed with brains, biohacking, and so many actionable takeaways. So Victoria has had over 10 years experience at companies including Disney, Google, Facebook, Uber, and Netflix, leading launches for some of

the most innovative and culture-defining products of our time, including Uber Pool and Facebook Live. She holds a BA in Mass Media and Economics at UCLA, an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from MIT Sloan. As always, we want to see you share this episode and tag us. So just take a screenshot, tag me at IamNatalie at bossvaved.inc and then tag Victoria at Victoria H. Young underscore with your favorite takeaway. with that let's just dive straight in and welcome victoria to the podcast a boss babe is unapologetically ambitious and paves the way for herself and other women to rise keep going and fighting on she is on a mission to be her best self in all areas it's just believing in yourself confidently stepping outside her comfort zone to create her own vision of success.

Oh my god, this is like the most overdue podcast ever. Everyone, meet my best friend Victoria. Oh my god, hi! I'm so excited this is happening right now. I know, me too. And just selfishly, like, I want to dive into your journey more and more because I feel like you don't really talk about that with friends like tell me your journey from college to being where you are now like I want to know it all I know it's so funny it's like sometimes with your closest friends you actually don't know the specifics especially with professional stuff but yeah I mean it's been a wild journey over the years when I went to college at UCLA I was really always very very hungry and I think it was mainly because I grew up in an immigrant family. We didn't have much. And so being ambitious and trying to be able to achieve all the things that

I didn't have when I was young was always really important to me. And so I was always really driven and always looking for opportunities. In college, I would take on pretty much all sorts of jobs. I was the brand ambassador for Google Video. I did this PR strategy for a random indie monster film called Carpet Creature. Pretty much anything that was available, I wanted to just give it a go. And so basically over the years, I've probably taken over 50 different kinds of jobs. And once I was going through all of that, I took an internship at Disney and ended up taking a full-time job at Disney Interactive Studios from that internship. And that was kind of my first foray into big corporate environment and really got to see the inner workings of like a multi

billion dollar company and organization. And that was the starting point of my career. And was that before or after you got an MBA? That was before. So a lot of people ask, should I go get my MBA? And I think it really depends. And for me, as I was going through my career, I reached a point. So after Disney, I worked at a video game startup. And then I worked at a digital agency where we were building like web and mobile apps for clients like Rolex or Qualcomm. But I couldn't break into tech. Like I applied to Google, I was getting rejected, and I was super frustrated because I knew that tech was the future. And I got super excited seeing things like Facebook and Twitter and all of that, but I couldn't get in. And I didn't have any connections in Silicon Valley. I didn't know anyone who worked at any of these companies at the

time. And so for me, going to get my MBA, that was a huge aspect of my decision is I knew that going to MIT would really help expand my network, really increase my confidence, give me a deeper understanding of all of the elements of business that I really felt like I needed in order to get a job at Google, for example. And so that's when I went. Yeah. So this is like, might sound like a stupid question. I don't really know much about the college world in America. Was it hard to get into your MBA? How old were you? What did all of that look like? Yeah. So getting into a higher ranked college in the US in general can be challenging. And again, if you don't have certain connections or a family's not affiliated with the college in some way, it can be difficult. So what I was learning, even as I was going through these jobs before my MBA,

was that I really needed to package myself and tell my story in a way that was very compelling for the person who was about to hire me. And so I did the same approach when I was applying for business school. I basically put together a portfolio of what work I had done, why I was excited about business school, and why it would be a good fit for that particular school. And so that was a huge part of what got me into business school. But the process was, I had to take the GMAT, I had to study so much, I had to remember how to take tests. And that had been a few years after I graduated undergrad. So I was like 25, basically, when I went into business school. and it was quite an ordeal getting in but once you got in it was very much worth it just with the people that I met and what I learned there.

And then I'm assuming at this point you know you wanted to work in tech. Did you know what your purpose was or like people call it like what your deep purpose your passion did you know any of that? So I had always been following my interests and I knew what got me excited, right? Like when I was thinking about how people behaved, what got people to change their behavior and how technology played a role in that, that had always been exciting to me and seeing the ways in which Facebook or Twitter could just completely change our culture and change the way we behaved, that blew my mind. And so I think the level of passion and interest I had in tech was a huge factor. It's like, they always say, do what you can't not do. And I couldn't not be curious about this stuff.

And so that was a huge driving force for me. I think that's so interesting that you've said that. And I just want to repeat it that you've always followed your interests. Because I think and I hear this from a lot of people, I don't know what my one purpose is I don't know what my one thing is and it's kind of the same for me in that I felt like I just followed what felt good at the time like opportunity after opportunity and it felt like as one door was opening I was seeing oh that's the other door I want to go through and it kind of built from there I don't think I would have figured out what my purpose was had I not just followed my interests. Yes, absolutely. And I think it's funny because in tech, we do a lot of experimentation and the

philosophy behind it is that until you launch something, until you take action, you don't really have real data, right? Like you don't have that insight into what people actually want or what you actually can learn from it. You have to make some moves and put something out there and experience something before you know deeply what the right thing really is. And so I think it's the same for your career and for your life. It's like, unless you're taking the action and you're experiencing it, everything is just theoretical and in your mind and the mind can go crazy places and end up in decision paralysis. Yeah, totally. So talk to me about what happened after your MBA. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I think at that point I was super anxious about landing a big flashy job in

tech because MBAs are not cheap and you're taking two years out of your life and out of your ability to be making money and having some sort of cash inflow, you're completely dedicating it to just learning and growing your network. So it's a huge investment. And so coming out of that, I was like, okay, I need to land a really exciting job to make all of this worth it. And so I basically started doing intense research. I was researching different industries, different companies. I was reading their filings and digging through their website, everything. And basically, I put together pitches for all the top companies I wanted to work for. So I put together a proposal for Snapchat, for Twitter, for Reddit, and Uber. And I knew that I wanted to work on something that people got to

use every day and that brand that people really loved. So after going through that process and reaching out to as many people as possible, my mentor at the time at MIT, she said, you should be talking to 10 new people every single week. And I was like, holy crap, that feels like so many people. But I took her advice and I started just cold outreach to different people on LinkedIn, started to just ask friends of friends and really started to just hop on these calls and have these conversations. And those conversations really helped lead to opportunities where all those pitches and proposals I put together for these companies got into the hands of executives at each of those companies. And that was when the door started to

open. That's incredible. And it's so similar to what I tell my clients, even with entrepreneurship, when they're trying to go out there and get high ticketticket clients I'm like you can't just sit back and wait for something to land on your doorstep you need to put something together you need to be doing cold outreach yes it's uncomfortable and it might be a little bit nerve-wracking but that's the only way that you're really really going to open that door for yourself totally and it's like with anything the more you do it the more comfortable you get doing it right And it's like with anything, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get doing it, right? So it's like you might as well just start, get the ball rolling. And once you gain that momentum, everything just moves along so much more easily. And from all of that hustle, basically at that time, trying to drum up opportunities for myself, I got an offer to join

Uber. And at the time, Uber was pre-IPO, super high growth, which was exactly kind of the environment I wanted to experience. A little bit of a startup, but also an established and loved brand. And it had the resources and really incredible people that worked there that I could learn from. And I decided to join Uber after my MBA and very fortunately got to work on the launch of UberPool, which is an iconic product of our time that really transformed the way we even think about carpooling and riding with strangers and that entire process. I felt very lucky to have gotten that opportunity. And what role did you get at Uber? So I started in product marketing and actually was placed at Uber through the Kleiner Perkins Product Fellowship. Kleiner is one of the largest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley.

And again, through complete cold outreach, I had met with one of their other product fellows who was at UCLA at the time. And he took my analysis of Snapchat and shared it with their partners and was like, wow, this is really interesting. This person might have a lot of potential. And so their partners brought me in as a product fellow, which then further gave me the ability to get that job at Uber as a product marketer. And so my job at Uber was really to figure out the go-to-market strategy and to understand how we could launch UberPool into the market and get people to really adapt

to this new experience. There were so many fears that people had, like, what would it be like sitting awkwardly with a stranger in the car? Or like, what if the, you know, ride takes forever and I'm super late to my party? Like there were a lot of barriers and obstacles we had to overcome with just general perception and behavior. And so as the product marketer, my goal was to help us really showcase the different features we had built in the product and get people excited about trying this new experience by really highlighting the benefits and the value propositions. Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite all-in-one platform, Kajabi. You know I've been singing their praises lately because they have helped our

business run so much smoother and with way less complexity, which I love. Not to mention our team couldn't be happier because now everything is in one place so it makes collecting data, creating pages, collecting payment, all the things so much simpler. One of our mottos at Boss Babe is simplify to amplify and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year. So of course I needed to share it here with you. It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your business you know, get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things as smooth as possible. I definitely recommend Kajabi to all of my clients and students. So if you're listening and haven't checked out Kajabi yet, now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering Boss Babe listeners a 30-day free trial. Go to kajabi.com

slash Boss Babe to claim your 30-day free trial. That's kajabi.com slash Boss Babe. Yeah, that was a big project to dive straight into as your first tech job. I'm really curious with Uber being your first big tech job, what did you take away from that all day? And then ultimately, what was it that made you decide to move on to your next position? And how long was that transition for you? So the biggest takeaways, I guess, from working at a company like Uber was that company culture is a huge aspect of how people interact and perform on a day to day. So we had very clear cultural values, and people definitely stuck to them. And that was a huge learning for me was actually seeing how top-down leadership really impacted the team, which of

course we hear and know, but experiencing it firsthand is very different. Also just how scrappy even big companies like Uber still need to be. Like at the time I was literally sending, uploading Excel files into our backend system to send people little pop-up notifications in their Uber app to tell them like, Hey, it was like running this partnership, this national partnership with Capital One, like literally from my car in the parking lot one Saturday morning, just making sure that people were getting the notifications. And so that was super interesting to me. It was just how important it is to always be scrappy, be willing to jump in and make sure that things work out and our campaigns are actually effective. So yeah, those aspects of the experience were hugely transformative. And also just seeing the

amount of data that these tech companies have, it's fascinating, right? The level of audience targeting, the level of automation that we have was really what interested me. And being able to use that information firsthand was super exciting. So for example, we could see that people took three Uber pool rides, they were more likely to retain and stay with Uber pool for a really long time. And so we could then target them with specific promotions, have them refer their friends and things like that. And so that was super interesting to me. I love that so much. And that kind of data is gold. What's something we've been trying to figure out at Boss Babe for the society for a really long time, like how many months is it someone needs

to be with us before they retain or what five actions do they need to take? So that's something that we're dissecting and being part of that process. I'm seeing how valuable it would be to have, but also how difficult it is to get a hold of that as a smaller company. Yes. So it must have been interesting to really see what that looked like. Totally. And tech companies, so like the engineering and the technology is truly mind-blowing, like what these engineers are able to build. It's like really cutting edge, super advanced stuff. And the ability to have all that visibility into the data and be able to manipulate the data and use the data and be able to manipulate the data and use the data in different ways was super cool for me to see, especially out of business

school, where I just learned about all that stuff from these top professors who were talking about it in theory. And then I get to go and actually work with it on a day to day. Yeah, I love that. So what was the transition from Uber to your next position and how did that come about for you? A lot of times people ask, how did you manage to get all these opportunities at these top companies? And for me, it's like, I just really emphasize just being genuine and staying curious and making

your curiosity very widely known to the people in your life, right? So all that happened really was I was super passionate about my experience at Uber. And I went to this Kleiner Perkins product fellows dinner in San Francisco. And I had flown up there to do some meetings at the headquarters because I was based in LA at the time and sat next to my friend at the dinner. And he basically was like, we're actually looking to do this big push behind Facebook live. And we need someone to help with the go-to-market strategy. Is that something you might be interested in? And I was like, you know what? That sounds super exciting. I'd always been very curious about Facebook and I felt like Facebook Live could be a very huge paradigm shifting product, just like Uber Pool was. And so after that conversation, I got super excited, went home and did my typical process of research, really diving into the

company, diving into the strategy Facebook had, and then putting together a strategic proposal for that role. And basically he told me about the role and he said he would forward my resume to the hiring manager. But I was like, oh, you know, I'll just go on the website and upload it. And actually the minute I uploaded my entire application, I got this rejection notification. Like you are not qualified for this role. What? I know. I was like, what is going on? Like, I feel like I literally checked off all the boxes in the job description. And so I emailed my friend and I was like, Hey, like, can you pass on my resume and proposal to the hiring manager? Cause

I just got rejected from the website. And he was like, yeah, of course. And literally within 24 hours, once the hiring manager got my documents, he was like, okay, we need to bring her in for an interview. So just to say, because I have people reach out to me and ask me a lot, what happens? I'm not getting any responses from any of these companies. You just have to be persistent and creative. Half the time, the technology behind the resume analysis might be off or you're just no human is actually seeing your work and you have to come up with ways to overcome that. You need to get your work and yourself in front of someone so that you can

tell your story and show how you think. And so that's a huge aspect of what I teach people is get creative, be persistent and find ways to outline your strategic thinking in some sort of document so that you can get in front of a human. That's genius. I've seen your process and I love how you take that approach and you're like, let me put something together that really shows what I can do. And I also think that's just generally a very important lesson. I had someone on a call the other day saying, well, how, if this is my launch goal, how do I hit it? And I was like, well, how do you not? It's up to you to decide you're going to get there and you do what it takes. I can't give you this magical answer or I can't give you all of your clients.

Like I can't do that magic for you. If it was me, I just wouldn't be failing. And it's the same if I was applying for a job and I knew what I really wanted to do, then I would go out of my way to get the job. It wouldn't be what if, what if it would be like, how can I get this? How can I find the person that can help me? How can I go out of my way to get the job it wouldn't be what if what if it would be like how can I get this how can I find the person that can help me how can I go out of my way and it really is a lot of that and you and I are both I think very against the hustle culture and we can get into that but there has to be an element of hustle in this there has to be an element of I am gonna get this done regardless yes and I remember like at time, I was working my full-time job at Uber still. And after I came home from work and had my dinner,

I would just spend like one to two hours doing research, working on my proposal, updating my resume and things like that, you know, and reaching out to more people. And that's just when you're structured with your time and when you're clear about your priorities, you're able to achieve your goals by taking effective steps, right? Instead of wasting time doing things that maybe don't actually help, by just being very focused, you can really achieve your goals without and work hard, but not sacrifice your entire well-being for that. Yeah, that makes total sense. Just having really clear priorities. Okay, so you got your resume handed in through a friend. What was that

next process looking like? Yeah, and these tech companies, there is so much, so, so much just process around getting the job, right? And it's actually harder to get a job at Google or in a company like Google than it is to get into Harvard. And actually less than 1% of people who apply to companies like Google are hired, right? And so when that's the standard, you really have to be creative with how you stand out. And so I got my foot through the front door, if that's the right saying. I got in with that initial connection through someone that I had known through my fellowship and was a friend and a colleague, but now really came the step where I needed to build those authentic connections with everyone who I would be working with, with my hiring manager, and really show in interviews that I was the right person for the

job. And so just in the same approach that I took with doing the research in order to put together my strategic proposal and reaching out to people, I had to then prepare just as rigorously for the interview process, right? And these tech companies, they really want to understand that you're a culture fit just as much as you are a skill set fit. And so for me, really understanding and reading about how Facebook likes to operate, what things they really cared about in an individual, and how you could contribute to the team culture. Nailing those kinds of questions was as important as nailing very tactical, strategic questions about how I could get more people to go live on Facebook, right? And so you need both in that process. And I prepared answers to over 50 different interview questions as I was

going through it, thought about as many angles as I could and really showed up so ready for the interview. It's so funny because actually, I spent so much time preparing on the day of the interview when I landed in Menlo Park, I realized I had forgotten my contacts. Oh my God. I know. So it was very not the best start. And for anyone who has like a high prescription, I have minus 10 for my contacts. And for me without contacts is like, I'm legally blind. And so I also had to hustle through that. I ended up calling a local optometrist and getting like a free pair of contacts as like a trial pair.

But things like that happen and you just have to stay focused and don't let those kinds of things throw you off in the process. But then you go on site. I do all these interviews, meet all these different executives, get asked really challenging questions. And that was a huge aspect of how they decide who to bring on board is that interview process with all these different cross-functional partners and stakeholders. I remember, obviously, we met because you knew Steven when he was at Facebook. And I remember, I remember when he was wanting to transfer from a role that he was in, in Facebook to a different role. And it was a product role. And he'd never done that before. I mean, he doesn't even have

a degree. He didn't finish university. And he was like, I'm going to get this role. And we knew it was going to be really hard. And so when I would finish my work for the day I would drive to Facebook I'd have dinner with him and then we'd spend from 7 till 10 p.m just prepping for this interview and we did this for weeks yeah and I would be on like watching how to prep for a product role which probably I must have came across your interview on on YouTube at some point but just doing all the prep. And that was for someone that had already had a position there. So they knew he was a culture fit. And that whole process, it was so interesting and really goes to show you've got to put the work

in. And he actually went for the role. He didn't get it. And he came home. He was like, I didn't get it. And we were like, great, let's start up again tonight and figure out how we're going to get it. And so we just went back at it and he got it the next time he went. But it can be so easy when you get turned down by a company like this to think you're not good enough. And it really is how willing are you to get the job? Oh, absolutely. I remember you actually saying how great the dinner was at Facebook too. You were going over there helping Stephen prep, which is very true. But yeah, it's so funny because people, I've been there myself, it's very easy to get disheartened when you get a rejection, right? And it's very easy to go into some stories you may have about yourself

in your head when you get that rejection letter. It's like, oh, that's right. I'm not good enough, or I'm just not capable, or all of these thoughts that we may be holding in our subconscious. And so it's just as important with the prep in the professional sense and the skill set and training and all of that, that's as important as the internal work you do. And so shifting your mindset to a resilient growth mindset and realizing that some of these rejections are, had nothing to do with you, right? Like it could be that there was already an internal person who was positioned for that role, or like someone had actually decided to remove that role entirely from the company. Like there's just so many factors that

are at play that you just cannot take rejections personally and doing so. Yes. You want to improve. Yes. You want to acknowledge where you could have done better, but you don't need to take a rejection and use that to reinforce any negative narrative you might have done better, but you don't need to take a rejection and use that to reinforce any negative narrative you might have about yourself because it just isn't helpful and it's something that will hold you back. Yeah, so true. So what was it like then when you did get the job and you started there? Was it daunting? How did it feel? It was so exciting and I felt I really started to realize that my process in this job hunting approach was something that I could really structure and teach other people because I was like, wait a minute, I've

done this a couple of times now and this approach is really effective. And I would always get people reaching out like, how did you prepare for the interview? What questions did you think about? And all these things. And I was like, you know what? I'm just going to document all of this because it was so rewarding and fulfilling when I saw that all of my hard work and all these things. And I was like, you know what, I'm just going to document all of this because it was so rewarding and fulfilling when I saw that all of my hard work and all the steps that I took to get the job actually paid off. I was like, wow, I'm so happy I spent those three hours after work every day working on my strategic proposal and practicing these interview questions because now I got the opportunity to really be a part of this multi-billion dollar organization leading one of the top priority products for the company, right?

Like it's a crazy experience. And of course, a huge learning experience too, to just jump right into that role and to learn an entire new organization, culture, and way of doing things. So it was super overwhelming in the beginning. And luckily, Facebook has an incredible support system for employees. So there's a wellness center where you can get therapy, nutritionist, acupuncture, the whole nine yards. And I love wellness. And so I fully took advantage of that.

I felt like I spent just as much time there as I did at work, probably. But it was really necessary because in a very demanding, high-pressure role, traveling a ton. I think like my second week at Facebook, I was already in Vegas doing infield research where we were talking to people literally in front of Bellagio in Vegas about how they might use Facebook Live. And so it was a crazy experience and super exciting. And at the time, the main thing I could just focus on was, okay, stay really on top of things, make sure you're putting in the work and read all the things that come your way and learn as much as you can. And how did you manage stress in a role like that? Because I can imagine there's just such a pressure to perform. I know it's an amazing place to work and a lot of tech companies

are, but there is that pressure there. Totally. I think I wasn't good at really managing the stress in the beginning. And between Uber and Facebook, I started to realize as I want to continue to experience professional growth, I really needed to get a grip on my own wellbeing. Because if you're not getting a good night's sleep, if you're not resting enough between travel, you're going to get sick. I would catch cold sometimes, or I would just feel lethargic or foggy minded. And that's when I started really getting into the importance of kind of this 360 approach to success of taking care of myself and my own wellbeing and seeing that translate into me showing up at work with more

energy, more clarity, and more ability to be creative. And when you're stressed, you actually, your brain doesn't function as well as it could, right? Like parts of your brain that are about creativity, parts of your brain that help you with strategic thinking, they shut down or they're just much more limited. And so taking care of yourself and taking those breaks really is critical in allowing you to perform at a much higher and more effective level at work. Yeah, it's like, yeah, you could put in that extra hour tonight and you might be productive or you could get an extra hour sleep and wake up tomorrow and get way more than you would have got done in that hour. And it's very much about how you're charging yourself up for that time.

All right. I hope you enjoyed the episode so far. Stay tuned as we share a bit of info about who supported this episode. This episode of the Boss Babe podcast is sponsored by 99designs, the graphic design platform by Vistaprint that makes working with a professional creative expert from around the world really simple. Now, if there's one thing that we're known for at Boss Babe, it's our signature pink quotes. And that brand recognition has been one of the reasons Boss Babe is what it is on social media. The graphic designers on 99designs know how important brand recognition is nowadays and are really ready to help you build your brand through custom memorable design. From logos to merch designs, 99designs is where you can get an

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of design work. From pitch to perfection, 99designs will be with you every step of the way, offering all of the creative support you need to help your business grow and thrive in the online space. Head to 99designs.com forward slash boss babe to learn more. And we're back. Let's jump straight into today's episode. I'm curious then, I do know this journey, but I want to talk about it. The move from Facebook to Netflix, how long you were at Facebook and then when you decided it was time to start taking the leap and then what process that looked like. Yeah, absolutely. So I was at Facebook for about two years and it's funny how things work because sometimes it's very serendipitous, but we're actually on a trip doing research for Facebook in Mexico. We were in Guadalajara actually,

and I was with one of my coworkers who had previously worked at Netflix. And we were literally, I kid you not, we were literally in a pool on the rooftop of our hotel in Guadalajara. And she was telling me about her experience at Netflix and how much she loved it. And I was like, oh, interesting. I'd never thought about Netflix before. I was really happy at Facebook and I felt like they were being really supportive of me and my career and had lots of opportunities. And literally after she had told me her experience at Netflix, a couple of weeks after that, I got a cold email in my inbox from a recruiter at Netflix asking me if I was interested in joining their product innovation team. And so because my friend had prepped me with that information about how much she loved working at Netflix, I entertained this outreach from this recruiter and was like, yeah, sure. Let's have a conversation.

And here we go again, back on that carousel of the job preparation process and interviewing. And so I went through my own process again of doing the research upfront, really trying to understand what made Netflix successful, what they cared about, doing tons of industry research on video and the future of entertainment, updating my resume, right, is the second step is making sure that my resume and my LinkedIn really reflected this role that I was now interested in, in product innovation, which by the way, would be this next step to all the work I'd done in product marketing, right? I would actually be able to work on product management, help drive innovation for the algorithm and really expand my skillset. And then the next step was really outreach and networking. How could I talk to other people who worked at Netflix, really start

to build those relationships, get more inside knowledge on what they really care about. Job description and everything you can read online is one thing, but hearing it straight from people's mouths who work there is actually a strategy that helps give you a bit of a leg up in that process because you get more insight into the true day-to-day and you come across much more grounded in your interview process. Then of course, going through step four, which is really nailing the interview and prepping for those Q&As. And then finally, step five, which is really maximizing your opportunity in the negotiation. And so I was going through my entire flow, prepping, spoke with the VP of product innovation,

talked to all of these executives from different teams, and fortunately got the offer and was able to move into this new opportunity. But it wasn't that easy. I remember it being a pretty long process. Oh my gosh, yes. And this is something I always like to remind people is again, there's so many circumstances out of your control. So I'd gone through and done all of my due diligence and I had gone through all of the steps and things were

looking really good. And the hiring manager was like, we think you'd be a great fit. We're super excited to work with you. And then there was a big pause. So everything was flowing along. And then suddenly she was like, we're going to hold off right now, but I really enjoyed speaking with you and let's stay in touch. And I was completely crushed at the time. So I was like, wait, I gotten all hyped up. All my interviews and conversations were going so well. What's going on? And it turns out, which I learned a couple of months later that they had put an entire freeze on hiring for that role. Like they were going through a reorg, they needed to reassess and make sure that this was the right thing they wanted to hire for. And so it had nothing to do with me

as a candidate, right? Nothing to do with my skills and my abilities. It was a company and organizational challenge that they were working through. And so once they got through that, they reached out again and then completed the process. But being able to go through that and again, stay persistent, stay optimistic and not completely be hard on yourself when something like that happens is really critical. And for me, when I first heard that I was so crushed and so frustrated, like what's going on? Why is this happening to me? And I had to learn how to shift my mindset to deal with challenges like that, right? Because most of the time, it just is really this external circumstance that you can't control and obsessing over it or being upset over it won't do any good.

Yeah, totally. I remember when we were in Redwood City together and you'd got that news about Netflix and you were like, I thought it was a sure thing and it didn't happen. And then you were like, I'm going to think about it. And if I really want it, I'm going to get it. And so you did end up getting it. You moved to LA and then I obviously moved to LA. Just followed you, of course. And you started working at Netflix, which again, was a totally different dynamic to what you were used to. Yes. And it's crazy. It's like when you're transitioning to different companies and different roles, the ability to just be flexible and open-minded and just be willing to learn is absolutely critical because every company has its own environment, right? Its own way of operating

different team dynamics, the whole shebang. And so not letting that get to you, especially when you're brand new and you're taking a level up position or a role that is something that you haven't done before. And you're working around all of these super experienced professionals and executives who have been in the industry for years. It's really nerve wracking. And so mastering the ability to manage yourself in that circumstance is a huge part of being an executive and being a leader. And that's what I had to learn at Netflix was that your skills and your technical abilities or your strategic know-how only gets you so far. And at some level, that all is stuff that is kind of table stakes, right? And then what's next in

your leadership growth is really understanding how to manage teams, how to deal with people, and how to really navigate very complex and often divergent needs across different teams and different aspects of the business, right? And so that's really what separates a leader from an individual contributor is like, how able are you to understand what really matters to different teams? And how can you bring that together toward a common goal? Yeah, I love that. And what did you learn most

about managing people? Because I've come to you multiple times like, hey, I have this issue with team or not sure how to do this. And you've always had really, really good advice. Yeah, absolutely. And advice comes only from deep, personal, painful experience often, right? But what I realized is with managing people, you won't be an effective manager of other people when you can't manage yourself, right? Because so much of dealing with others, you have to deal with yourself and be aware of your own habits, your own biases, right? And what you're bringing into the room and into that conversation before you can really manage someone else and deal with what they're

bringing into the room. And so I really got into meditation at this point. At Netflix, I was journaling, meditating, reading about Joe Dispenza, all of this stuff to try to really manage myself and my anxiety that would come up when I was meeting with an executive. It's very overwhelming coming into an organization and meeting with a multi-billionaire who's like running this huge business, right? And who's been in the business for years and years, and you're fresh and brand new. And so, so much of it was just having me overcome my own anxiety and then be able to stay present and stay resilient, even when people were asking me difficult questions, or I would get a

response that maybe I didn't expect. And really maintaining that sense of calm and openness in those heated conversations in that storm, like how can you get to the eye of the storm? And how can you stay as objective and calm as possible so that you can be a better manager, you can be a better teammate. And you know, there were so many times that I just wanted to make sure that I created a very nurturing and open space for all of my teammates that they could call me if they needed to, and they were dealing with something stressful. And when that trust is there, that allows you to deal with challenges much more quickly and much more effectively, because people aren't trying to hide information from you or try to like manage your expectations. They just know that you're in it with them to solve the problem.

Yeah, completely. That's so true. How do you balance that open door policy and creating that nurturing space with also needing to have those crucial conversations perhaps when someone isn't performing or you're noticing their performance just starting to slide? Yeah, I think it's so interesting because being able to be both open and kind and direct can be a challenging combination, right? But Brene Brown, I love her quote where she's like, unclear is unkind and clear is kind. And so there is a way to be direct while being kind. And that's something that I strive for every day in all of my interactions, where you want to show people and help them see and face their own shortcomings or their own areas of improvement, right? And I think a huge part of it is just helping people see that they can overcome it. The people that

get stuck are the ones who are spiraling and having these repetitive thoughts about their lack of ability or lack of confidence in being able to achieve something. And so as a manager, when you're able to show them like, yes, it is true, there's some challenges and issues in this area. And here's some ways that we can tackle this. And I'm here for you to help support you as we do this. And if someone genuinely cares and is really working and committed to those changes, then you're able to move them back into a place of performance and motivation. And then sometimes just isn't a fit and the environment or those tasks just don't play to that person's strengths. And that's perfectly fine. They'll go on and find some other thing that's a better fit. And that's totally okay too. Yeah. That spiraling thing. It's real.

It's so real. And we all do it. Yeah. But spiraling thing. It's real. It's so real. We all do it. Yeah. But it's funny because as an entrepreneur, I never noticed it so much in myself. Looking back, I can see that it was there, but I also didn't have a boss. I didn't have a way to fail or to not be high performing. Otherwise I just wouldn't be making money. I had to be on that path. Whereas I've noticed, and it's happened multiple team members numerous times where they get their confidence knocked and they mess up once or twice. And then that kind of goes into its own spiraling thing where they keep messing up and their confidence keeps getting knocked. And it's really interesting to observe as someone that's never had a boss, how to handle

that situation. Oh, absolutely. And I think we've all had moments like that. And when I personally experienced moments like that, that's when I got super curious and really interested in ways to manage that. And I tried all sorts of things with my anxiety too. I did hypnotherapy. I did regular therapy. I've tried a flotation tank. What is it called? The float lab. Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah, I tried acupuncture. I tried a flotation tank. What is it called? The float lab. Yeah. I know what you mean. Yeah. I tried acupuncture. I was like, I think there's a combination of ways to tackle getting out of the spiral. And what separates people who are able to continue

to succeed and find different paths to success in different ways is getting yourself out of the spiral. It's okay to spiral. We all have emotions. We all experience that. And what I learned in getting out of the spiral was separating yourself and your value and worth as a human from that particular instance or that particular project where, yeah, maybe you messed up. Maybe you didn't perform as great. Maybe you were just off your game for that week or whatever, and you made a big mess up like that is human. And that is going to happen in your career. And you need to acknowledge that, be compassionate to yourself for it, and then pick back up and just find a different approach and can come back and go back

to being high performing. Yeah, so true. Okay, so I want you to just tell everyone a little bit about your programs, because you're going to get inundated with questions about, okay, I want to get a job in tech. What does this look like? I know it. It's so exciting for me to be able to help other people get into these roles because they have been a massive game changer for me going from a non-tech role that was paying less than six figures to these multiple six-figure tech jobs, right? And so I'm super passionate about helping people get these opportunities as well, especially because I've basically developed this process that's been repeatable time and again. And so I have two courses. One is for career growth and it's called Getting Hired. And I

basically break down in five easy to follow modules, different ways that you can go about nailing that process for getting the job. And so I include the exact templates that I used for my strategic proposals to get into Uber, to get into Netflix. There's video trainings, there's other templates that you can use for your resume, for even LinkedIn outreach. Every little element of that entire process, I have broken down and packaged it up in the most easy to use way for this program. So that's my first program, which is helping people get the job that they want in tech. The second one is also from my experience and struggles in learning how to become a great leader and manager, right? Which is still, I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means,

but it's certainly a process that I've experienced and learned across all these different teams. And it's called leadership growth, mastering your management skills. And so I really helped break down all of the elements that are required for managers to be successful. And that's managing relationships, maximizing your personal well-being, mastering these crucial conversations that can be game-changing for your career, and really how you can maintain flow and action as you're going through and helping to execute your goals, being a leader, prioritizing all of those aspects that really bring your leadership to life. And so those are the two programs that really take all of my

experiences across these different companies and help people achieve their own professional and personal goals. And where can everyone find those? You can just go on my website, www.victoria-young.com slash boss babe. I'm going to have a specific landing page and a promotion code for anyone who listens to this podcast to get these programs at a discounted rate. Amazing. Thank you. Okay. So before I let you go, yes, I need to know about your morning routine because it's, Oh my God. I know it. It's literally my favorite part of the day, to be honest. So I always have a gentle alarm to wake me up. And when my alarm goes off, I just give myself five to 10 minutes, at least, in bed to just really stretch and cozy up and have a soft, gentle introduction to the

morning and to the day. Then I get ready, brush my teeth and things like that. But then comes the most critical process of the day, which for me has been a huge game changer in my performance, my ability to prioritize and just how I've been able to actually achieve my goals. So I start with making my bulletproof coffee. I add brain octane oil, which you actually introduced to me a couple of years ago. I add my lion's mane. I add a little bit of beetroot and a touch of rosewater that our friend Anna told us about. And I blend that all together up in this delicious bulletproof coffee. I take my coffee and I go to my cozy spot on the couch and I break out my planners. And I'm not just saying this, this boss babe planner that you introduced to me has literally changed

the game and made me multiple times more productive than I've ever been in my entire life. I'm honestly obsessed with it. And I need to have it with me throughout the day within arm's reach. But basically what I then do is I look at what I need to achieve for the week. I review my weekly goals and I break down all of those goals into each individual day. So every single day I go through my boss bait planner. I talk about what I'm grateful for. I write it down, right? Because writing is actually really a critical part of learning and helping your brain process things. So I'll write down the three things I'm grateful for and the top three goals of the day. And after I do that, I actually break down individual random

tasks I need to do that contribute to those top three goals. And then I map it out to my calendar. So I make sure that I literally block off times on my calendar, in my Google calendar and on my boss bait planner for how I'm going to get those tasks done and when I'm going to do it. Because when you are specific with when you're going to do a task and how you're going to do it and how much time it's going to take, it allows you to really blast through everything you need to get done in a way that is just so effective. And your brain actually processes all of that in a much better way when it sees visually where everything fits together. So I'll do that. I feel really good about how I'm

going to go about my day. And then I take at least 10 minutes, sometimes 20, to just sit there and meditate. And I love doing, as you know as well, I learned at Hoff 10 minutes, sometimes 20, to just sit there and meditate. And I love doing, as you know as well, I learned at Hoffman Institute, which is called the quad check. So during my meditation, I use the insight timer and I have a really relaxing sound that comes through that's like the om sound of relaxation. So I listen to that for 10 to 20 minutes. And during that time, I just really allow my body to settle in. I talk through what my mind needs, what my body needs, what my emotional self needs, and what my spiritual self needs.

And when I do that moment of, and I create that space for myself and give myself time for that inquiry, I really come up with sometimes ideas I didn't even expect or just insights and things I had forgotten just by creating the space for myself to do that. And so that's also one of the favorite parts of my day is like the 10 to 20 minutes of meditation. And then I'll do some light reading. I'll read at least for 10 minutes from a book that I'm really interested in. And then that's when I'm ready to start the workday. And so if I'm lucky, I also get in a little yoga session as well. But those are critical parts to a successful day in my experience.

I love it. And you guys, Victoria is really not kidding about the planner. You know when you give your friends something, especially if you made it and they tell you they love it, you can hope they're telling the truth, but you're like,

but are you just saying it to make me feel good? And you were like, no, I actually need, can I come and get another planner? We were in quarantine. I'm like passing it out of my garage because I keep tons of planners in here. So I'm really glad because it is an amazing resource.

And for anyone listening, me and Victoria are kind of like the same person. We indexed on coziness, organization and all the same things. So I love that morning routine. And I love how you said, if I'm lucky, I'll fit in like a yoga. It's like having a simple morning routine and a luxurious morning. Exactly. You got to stay flexible to the day. And sometimes I don't get to practice all those things. Right. And as long as that's the majority of the time, then I stay on track and

I stay connected to my body and I'm taking care of myself. And that allows me to just be a better all around leader, teammate, all of that. Yeah, exactly. I love that. Okay. So where can everyone find you and stalk you? Feel free to reach out to me on Instagram at Victoria H. Young underscore, and then on Twitter at Victoria H. Young and LinkedIn, same thing. And of course my website, like I mentioned, victoria-young.com. You can also drop me an email at hello at victoria-young.com. I would love to hear from people. I want to hear about your morning routines and what you're most interested about, what tech companies you want to work for, all of that stuff.

Yeah. And I really recommend for everyone listening to sign up to your newsletter, Mind Muse, because it's so well curated. Every single time I get this email, I'm like, damn it, Victoria, why are you not writing me a list of boss names? They are so good. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. Honestly, the newsletter is one of my favorite, favorite things to do. And it's basically, you know, just a way for me to help people through something that I've also experienced myself, right? Like some part that's for your mind, some part for your body and some part for your

professional growth and just some really interesting, creative things I like to share that I've found online, just browsing on Twitter or on Reddit or whatever. But yeah, absolutely. Please sign up. I would love to have you as a subscriber and would love to just connect with more people. Yeah, I love that.

So for anyone listening, please share this podcast, take a screenshot, share it, and tag me in Victoria and then tag the Victoria to your Natalie. Tag your best friend on there as well and let them know they should listen because I think this episode especially, it's not just focused on that entrepreneurship path. It's really showing you can be ambitious

and really excel in a career. And a lot of the steps are the same. A lot of the mindset is exactly the same. So thank you so much for doing this, Victoria. I've wanted to have you on here for the longest time. So I really, really appreciate it. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. And I just want to take a moment to really acknowledge how much of an inspiration you have been in my life. Just seeing your persistence, seeing all of your incredible programs like IGA and like your planner, it's having friends who are there who can inspire you and push you and really support and love you through all of the hills and valleys that life

inevitably brings. Like that is truly, I'm so grateful for you. And oh my God, I'm like teary eyed, but thank you so much for your friendship. And I just, it's so wonderful to have a friend who is able to do that for you. I received that. Thank you. So go tag your Victoria to your Natalie. We want to meet them all. We want this to be out there. If you loved this episode, please subscribe, download a few more, and please leave us a review. I really want to hear what you enjoyed, what your main takeaways were. And I also want to know what you want to hear us talk about next. To say thanks for leaving us a review, we'll send you a copy of The Boss Babe 25. The Boss Babe 25 is the 25 essential resources you need for personal and professional growth. It covers everything from our favorite rituals, books, and hacks. If you want

a copy, just leave us a review, screenshot it, to podcast at bossbib.com we will then email you a copy ASAP and since we love Instagram you can go to the hashtag the bossbib podcast and find our latest post and leave a question in the comments we love reading through the comments and we'll make sure to answer it on our next podcast