Episode 170: Find Your Next Outdoor Job: Olivia Deihs

Episode 170: Find Your Next Outdoor Job 

Interview with Olivia Deihs

Sponsored by IKON Pass and Danner

Join us in our She Explores Podcast Facebook Group!

Find the episode below, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you stream podcasts.

Featured in this episode: Olivia Deihs, founder of Women in Outdoor Work

Hosted by Gale Straub

Music is by James Childs, Marie Hines, and Emily Hearne licensed via MusicBed.

Resources

• Featured in this episode: Olivia Deihs, founder of Women in Outdoor Work
  • Women in Outdoor Work Website
  • Instagram: @womeninoutdoorwork
  • Facebook Group Community
  • TikTok: @womeninoutdoorwork
• Eastern Sierra Conservation Corps
  • She Explores Episode featuring Agnes Vianzon: “Laying the Groundwork”
• Ravel Media

Sponsors and Discount Codes

• • IKON Pass: Learn more about 20/21 winter season at IkonPass.com.
  • Danner: Learn more about the Danner Trail 2650’s.

---

Featured in this Episode

Olivia Deihs

Enjoy this episode? Rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. It’ll help other people find us. You can also share this podcast with a friend. Thank you for your support!

Episodes air weekly on Wednesdays – subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode. 

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This transcript was lightly edited and created using a transcription service. As such it may contain spelling errors.

Gale Straub – Narration:

I’m Gale Straub and you’re listening to She Explores.

I think it might be an understatement to say that Olivia Deihs loves helping women land jobs in the outdoor industry and the environmental nonprofit world.

Gale Straub:

How does it feel for you when a woman that you’ve been working with does land the job that she’s been hoping for?

Olivia Deihs:

Oh my goodness. It’s so it’s so awesome. I have a huge smile on my face just like thinking about it, talking about it because I had never had that feeling until I started Women in Outdoor Work. It’s really exciting. Just on all fronts. On one hand, I’m so thrilled that people can get into jobs that they love because while our careers, aren’t everything, they are a really big part of our lives. And so having something that you enjoy going to every day is so powerful and so wonderful, ideal, a little dance every time to be completely honest. Um, so it’s been fun to I’m like, okay, every time somebody lands a job or that I’ve helped somebody in some way, get into the interview room. I do a little dance because life is hard and stressful sometimes. And so going back to gratitude and just moving around a little bit, I was like a little solo dance party is fun. And so I’ve been doing a lot of fellow dance parties.

Gale Straub – Narration:

I’ve wanted to talk with Olivia Deihs, founder of Women in Outdoor Work, for a while now because I know a lot of you listening have an interest in working in the outdoor, environmental, and conservation spaces. Olivia helps people with underrepresented genders in the outdoor industry navigate the job search process. She also helps these folks in outdoor work find each other via her robust Facebook group community. Olivia explained to me that now is a surprisingly good time to contemplate a career change in the outdoors.

Olivia Deihs:

2020 has really felt like a tipping point for a lot of different things. And careers are definitely included in that unemployment is seeing huge numbers right now. So whether people are unexpectedly unemployed and having to consider a career pivot that maybe they didn’t think would happen. Now’s a great time to be thinking if you weren’t happy in your past position, the outdoor space is welcoming for you because there are so many causes that we need to be fighting for right now that we need people to be working on. And it seems like every day there’s a new news story of some environmental crisis. And so if you feel connected to one of those things and you think you can make a difference in one of those things, or even if it’s just something that’s interesting to you that you want to learn more about or dabble in or give back in some way, now’s a good time, right? As you’re re-evaluating things I’ve also found as well, just from various people in the community, reaching out that maybe their people’s current employers haven’t handled all of the punches that 2020 has thrown at us as well as they would like whether it’s in diversity, whether it’s in health and safety. And so that group of people is also considering career changes, potentially.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Olivia shared that she’s been seeing an unusually high number of job posting for outdoor work this fall — another good sign for those thinking about a career switch. In this episode Olivia will help us get a sense of what kind of outdoor jobs are out there, how to decide what’s right for you, and how to navigate the application process. She’ll also give us a peek into her vision for the outdoor industry. But before we dig into Olivia’s advice for making a big change in your work, I wanted to hear about Olivia’s career trajectory and why she’s so darn passionate about working in and for the outdoors.

Olivia Deihs:

I guess I’ll start with after college, really, I bartended and worked in restaurants throughout college and high school. So I have a lot of years in the service industry, but after college I was working in the service industry again and trying to get into something that was outdoor related. I had an environmental studies degree under my belt, so I thought, all right, this is perfect. It’s going to be easy to land a job. Here we go. And it wasn’t. But I got started working for conservation Corps. I’m originally from Illinois and I moved out to Utah fairly soon after I graduated and led some different crews in Southern Utah in the desert. And I realized I had not even known that that type of career path existed before never heard about conservation Corps work didn’t really know that leadership was something that I would really love. And so when I got into that, it kind of felt like a light bulb and some things started clicking and I was outside every single day, getting to work with people, getting to connect to the land that was incredible and kind of really helped me to form. The next several years

Gale Straub – Narration:

If you aren’t familiar with Conservation Corps, programs vary state by state but they offer opportunities to do field crew work like habitat restoration and trail maintenance. They also do research and environmental education. You might remember an episode from 2017 featuring Agnes Vianzon, founder of Eastern Sierra Conservation Corps. I’ll link it in our show notes. But first, back to Olivia’s career journey:

Olivia Deihs:

So I kept working for conservation crews throughout Utah and Colorado, and eventually after moving around for several years in seasonal positions, I realized, all right, I think I want a little bit more stability. And I started looking for more full-time outdoor jobs, but was nervous because I know that as you move up or I had heard as you move up in your career in the outdoor space, you end up being and more indoors, which wasn’t something I was interested at the moment. And so I luckily was able to get a few different job offers working as field coordinators and doing like kind of moving up in the conservation world. I started working for nonprofits and governments in Colorado, different counties and whatnot, and really fell in love with the public land management side of things. And it kind of just kept transitioning from there. So my last full-time position and I still am working actually seasonally at the moment, doing something similar for outdoor and public land advocacy, and actually getting people out in volunteer groups and community outreach to get people to steward our public lands. So I lead groups at the moment in trail maintenance and design in trail construction in fence removal, plantings, and beta invasive species removal, that whole thing. So that’s kind of where I kept moving up within my career and kind of accidentally fell into the public land management sphere. And it captured my heart immediately. I absolutely love it.

Gale Straub:

When did you discover a passion for connecting women with their, you know, perfect outdoor careers or maybe their next outdoor career? I don’t know if I don’t know if perfect is the right word to use.

Olivia Deihs:

I think that it came from kind of selfishly from my own struggles and frustrations as I moved up in my career and was landing really my first full-time position and had helped a little bit dabbled with, um, helping with hiring previously. But in my full-time job, I really helped with the hiring process. We had a lot of people in and out of our organization and it helped a lot of things. Click. I had a few aha moments of like, wow, if only I would have known the background in this hiring process, it would have saved me so many struggles and it would’ve saved so much frustration. And when you feel so discouraged, when you get a rejection letter, all of those different things, and then paired with that, I also found some really, really amazing mentors who were also women to look up to at that same time.

Olivia Deihs:

And so I think those two things coming together kind of just brought the idea of women in outdoor work out of me of, I really am learning a lot from these women that I’m working with and finally get to work alongside. And I also have all this background knowledge too. It was just such a game changer for me and my career and just feeling more confident in my job search in, especially in the outdoor space where I was really even still really often, um, one of the only women in the realm, which is empowering in some forms, but it also can be intimidating, especially at first, especially as like a young 20 something. I just wanted to help to break down those barriers and almost just be, uh, somebody who’s visible in this space that can help people a little bit.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Ultimately, Olivia wants to change the makeup of those rooms to include more women and underrepresented genders. And she wants to do this by bridging the gap between having a passion for the outdoors and the environment and making that passion your career.

Olivia Deihs:

I feel like there’s a lot of gray space in the middle. And so what I really want to do is build those bridges and get people into the jobs that they’re excited about that are doing good for the environment. That’s where a lot of it comes from too, is like, if we can get the best people working in conservation and advocacy on sustainable food systems and climate change, then we’re going to have such a better shot at it. And I don’t want the hiring process to be a barrier for like the brightest minds and the most amazing women that I’ve gotten to work with. I don’t want that process to be a barrier for them getting into this space and making huge, massive improvements and changes.

Gale Straub:

Oh, absolutely. We know we’ve been talking about this space and the outdoor industry. How do you define it? And especially in terms of people that you work with,

Olivia Deihs:

That’s such a good question because it is so, so broad for me. When I talk about Women in Outdoor Work, at least the outdoor space for me is more the environmental conservation and a little bit of the outdoor gear brands and things like that too. But it really is based around environmental work. And I say conservation because I’m in public land conservation. So that’s really the first thing that always comes to mind, but getting other people involved in the outdoors, bridging some of the accessibility gaps too, and land stewardship or climate change research, all of that stuff. So it’s not as much I do hear sometimes from women who work in, you know, like construction or welding or who are on road crews, for example, like I’m working on streets and that’s definitely outdoor work too, but I wouldn’t say that that’s my area of expertise at all. Um, it really is more in the environmental side in recreation, in getting people outdoors and conserving land and resources.

Gale Straub:

So some of these outdoor careers, some of the work might take place indoors.

Olivia Deihs:

Yeah, definitely. So in a lot of the nonprofit world and government, world and advocacy, you know, advocating for different environmental causes, a lot of that work is policy. A lot of it is kind of behind the scenes, but I do find that having that outdoor or environmentally connected mission is still really fulfilling and it changes too throughout people’s careers. So for me, working outside every single day for the first several years was perfect. I’m at a point now where I get a lot of outdoor time, but I also have quite a bit of indoor desk time. And just with where I’m at in my career, I I’m sure that’s going to change again too. And I just try to let myself be open to those changes, but anything that’s really connected to that mission of outdoor work, or at least even if you’re inside working on an outdoor cause or environmental cause or in land use planning or something like that for a government. I think that that all kind of falls underneath the same category, at least in my mind.

Gale Straub:

Yeah. One of the, one of the cool things about that is that you might have skills from your current profession that is maybe in a different industry that could translate to the outdoor industry, say if you’re an accountant or you’re like, you could work in it and you could apply that to, you know, the environmental conservation space.

Olivia Deihs:

Yeah, absolutely. So I think of it too, as there are the people who work, I call it boots on the ground, like outside tool in hand potentially, or on a raft guiding trip, something like that. But there’s also the people that transition and work in their trade, like accounting, like bookkeeping, like marketing and copywriting, but for environmental organizations or for government agencies for consulting firms that still have that really closely connected mission to, I guess, kind of that broader, like doing good for the environment and all of those positions can be so fulfilling because they have that connection, but you’re still doing the trade that you love and that maybe you went to school for. So that’s another perspective to look at it that I think people should definitely be weighing and considering.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Ok, we’ve defined “outdoor” work as being connected by common goals of protecting our environment and encouraging stewardship and the benefits of recreation for all people. But what’s the first thing you should do if you’re thinking about making a career pivot to this kind of work? Olivia shares her advice, after the break.

Olivia Deihs:

The very first thing is not a resume revamp or a job search or anything like that. It’s actually finding clarity around what you want to be doing.

Gale Straub – Narration:

We’re back. And Olivia is sharing her best advice for getting started in your outdoor job search. As we dig into her area of expertise, I also want to underline Olivia’s tips for the most part translate across industries.

Olivia Deihs:

I emphasize that the goal of finding career clarity is not to plan out your entire career or even plan out your next steps to a T. But the outer space is really, really broad. And so to narrow down exactly what you want to do, how it aligns with your lifestyle, the tasks that you enjoy, the different job opportunities that might be out there for you. I think that that is a really good first step and helps to narrow down the field and helps it to feel less overwhelming. When you do start that job search. When you do start those resume updates, I use the analogy of, if you’re driving to your new friend’s house, you would want an address to get there. You wouldn’t just want the name of the town, right? So wanting to work in the outdoor industry as a whole is like only knowing the town, but having an address and having a map to actually get somewhere is going to get you there a lot quicker.

Olivia Deihs:

And it’s going to be a lot less frustrating than just driving around. That’s what clarity does for you is it gives you a little bit of that roadmap and you can do that through research. You can do it through outreach and networking. You can find clarity through journal prompts. I’m a really big journaler. And so I always like to reflect on whenever I want to make a pivot, or just any day that I’m feeling stuck in jobs, careers, even relationships, anything, writing those things down, what’s going well, what do I definitely not enjoy? And how do those things kind of culminate all together to bring out some values that I have that I can look for in future positions. So finding clarity right off the bat, I think it’s something a lot of people want to skip, but it’s so, so important.

Gale Straub:

Yeah. Really mitigates that risk of getting to the wrong destination. Right?

Olivia Deihs:

Yeah. And even if you do get to the wrong destination, that’s okay. You can go back. And I also think that career clarity changes a lot throughout your career. And so having a really good practice to start with as you’re getting started in the industry, or whenever you want to make your next pivot, is there just a really good practice to actually know how to work through some of those things and what values you really want to see in a future employer and in a future job as a whole. I think that also trying things is a really great, you know, it sounds so broad, try something, but getting out and actually trying and seeing what works and what doesn’t, because I learned so, so much in my career from the things that did not go well. And I think that’s kind of a life lesson, but I think that that’s really powerful too.

Gale Straub:

Uh, one of the things that you mentioned in, in gaining that clarity is reaching out to your network or, you know, reaching out to people who maybe have careers in the outdoor space that sound interesting. What do you recommend for people during this time? You know, when it’s harder to do what we normally think of as networking, like going to, I don’t even know everyone seems to dislike networking, but it really is such an integral part of the job search process. So recommendations do you have for folks right now where it’s a little more difficult to do that in person?

Olivia Deihs:

Networking does get a really bad rap, but I found that networking could be really fun in the outdoor space. I know that we can’t go to events or meet people hiking or on the chairlift right now, but those are even some ways that actually are networking when you’re just making connections with people. But from a virtual standpoint right now, of course, LinkedIn is super important. I’ve also found some really awesome connections through outdoor industry, specific Facebook groups and social media. Those can definitely not be discounted right now. And I think we have a lot of opportunity in the outdoor industry right now in 2020, because there’s so many webinars and virtual conferences that have networking time and sessions built into them. So those are going to be really important places to, to show up and to put yourself out there a little bit and just start having conversations.

Olivia Deihs:

That’s all that networking is, is having conversations with people, getting to know people, asking questions, talking a little bit about yourself and depending on comfort level, too, if you do want to get outside and have a little bit of socially distance face time with people, outdoor volunteering is a really great way to do that. I just was on a volunteering project last weekend and we had a few different groups out. Everybody’s able to spread out because you’re outside in, on public lands or something like that. And doing tree plantings or trail maintenance or giving back to the community while still feeling like there is some semblance of community. But that really depends on people’s comfort level. I know not everybody’s comfortable with that right now, but it is a really great way to connect if you are comfortable with it and give back, and also get to know more about the organizations or land managers that you’re, that are in your area. And some of the tasks that might be fun, get to be around like-minded people who also care about the environment. And those are really awesome networking opportunities.

Gale Straub:

It must feel particularly good too, just to feel like it’s action oriented, you know, when you are volunteering and networking at the same time. Yeah.

Olivia Deihs:

Yeah, absolutely. And it’s one of those great ways to try stuff out too. If you really love your day of trail maintenance, think about joining a trail crew, maybe that’s your next career move. There’s a lot of opportunity with that.

Gale Straub:

Once someone moves along in the job search process and they do get that opportunity to, to have a interview, what are some of the ways that you’re specifically encouraging women to advocate for themselves throughout that interview process?

Olivia Deihs:

I think salary negotiation and talking about money is huge. I think there are so many stigmas and stereotypes around money and talking about money and especially asking for more money within a job interview. I know there’s the fear of getting that job offer taken away if you’re asking and negotiating, but every time a woman negotiates, she’s helping people in the future to negotiate too. And to help break down those stereotypes of women negotiating and standing up for themselves. And there’s actually studies that show that when women negotiate, it’s actually, they actually have an easier time doing so if they pretend that they’re negotiating for a loved one. So if you go into a salary negotiation room and pretend like you’re advocating for your best friend or your sister or a parent, you’re a lot more likely to feel confident. And I think that that is very telling about how maybe the broader community feels about asking for more money and that it’s a little bit taboo, but I think that it’s really, really important as women are a lot less likely to ask for more money.

Olivia Deihs:

So that’s something that I definitely would like to see change. And with that, I think salary transparency within specific companies and just throughout the outdoor sector as a whole is something that’s really important to be posting on the company side of it to be posting salaries for different opportunities. I think that that’s really important. Other ways that women can advocate for themselves is to simply be visible in this space. I think that’s really powerful and helps to advocate for women in the future and just show that we are in this space and that we’re doing a great job. And there’s a lot of bad-ass women and ladies and non-binary individuals in this space that we can recognize and keep being visible for everybody else in this space too.

Gale Straub:

So zooming out thinking about, you know, we’ve talked about the outdoor industry, the outdoor space, what changes would you like to see within, within that space?

Olivia Deihs:

I definitely would like to see more salary transparency. I’ve been doing a lot of research around that and when we are transparent about our salaries, it helps the most marginalized groups of people in our communities. And I think that’s really important. And on that note, I’d love to see the outdoor space become more inclusive and accessible and making sure that everybody feels welcome. That’s definitely not the case at the moment. And so we have a lot of to do around that. Another thing that I hear a lot from my community too, that I think is important is normalizing some of the career paths that we find as maybe a little bit less traditional. Some of those untraditional career paths like freelancing or B having seasonal jobs for more than just a few years. Some people work seasonally for their entire careers and find a lot of fulfillment and success in that.

Olivia Deihs:

But it’s confusing for potentially various generations. And I know that when I was working seasonal, my parents are so supportive, but it still was. So when are you going to get a full-time job? And I was like, this is a full-time job. It’s just not year round necessarily. And so breaking down some of those barriers and realizing that fulfilling careers look a lot of different ways, I’d like to see that seasonal work or working as a guide or working outside for your career, just be a little bit more accepted and like, yeah, that still is a good measure of success.

Gale Straub:

Uh, what are some of the ways that you see your work through women and outdoor work, playing a role in some of those changes that you’d like to see within the industry?

Olivia Deihs:

I would love to see women, especially women and non-binary individuals who feel comfortable being visible in this space. I’d like to see more of that. And I think that if I can advocate for salary transparency and help women to feel empowered when asking about money than that is a really big piece of it as well. I think that simply sharing career resources, if we can just make it a little bit easier and open people’s eyes to the possibilities of the different careers that are out there when they get started, especially so that you’re not even if you are 10 or 20 years down the road and you want to make a career pivot. I think that’s awesome, but there are still some outdoor jobs that I don’t even know about. I’m learning all the time. And when I got started in my career, I had no idea that my job even existed until I had it.

Olivia Deihs:

And so I think opening up those possibilities and showing that people are in these spaces, that women are in these spaces that diverse individuals are in these spaces. I think that that is something that’s really important. And then just getting, not letting the hiring process be a barrier to entry to actually let it be an empowering piece for people and feel confident that they’re getting into the right positions and also holding companies accountable, um, asking the right interview questions so that, you know, if this company is going to be a good fit or if maybe they have some shady practices who knows, I want people to be able to make those decisions for themselves and not feel like they just have to accept a job because of some societal or because they feel like they should. For some reason, I want us to be thinking critically about if this actually fits into what we want to do. Long-term or maybe this is going to be a fun next step either way. I think both of those things are great, but looking at it from that larger lens of interview, the interviewers, I think is one way to put it.

Gale Straub:

Yeah, yeah. That can feel scary in the moment too.

Olivia Deihs:

Yeah, it does. And I’ve heard everybody’s going to be different, but I hear some interviewers say, that’s what got you the job, because you asked the hard questions and were inquisitive, and that’s what we want. We want people who are forward-thinking and creative in that way. And of course, there’s going to be people that, that puts off, but you know, is that somewhere that you want to be working, if they’re not going to let you feel empowered. And I realized that’s a really, really privileged viewpoint to be able to turn down a job. That’s really not a possibility for a lot of people. I hear a lot of times on social media, like just don’t take the job if they’re not going to do X, Y, Z. And that’s just not realistic, I think for so, so many different people. And we really need to be holding companies to a higher standard. Hopefully putting people in less of those challenging situations

Gale Straub – Narration:

Through Women in Outdoor Work, Olivia is giving women the resources to push back, ask for change, and even getting them in the position where they’re choosing between a few jobs so they don’t feel pressured into one that doesn’t feel like a healthy fit. Empowering women in this way adds up. As I chatted with Olivia, I was energized by her enthusiasm for the outdoor industry, and for helping women navigate it. But I also know how darn hard a job search is. So I wanted to know:

Gale Straub:

What, what would you tell someone today who’s feeling discouraged in their job search?

Olivia Deihs:

Hmm. Well, especially today I would tell somebody to take a break and rest and come back to it later. I really talk about how important it is to be consistent in your job search. And I stand by that a hundred percent, but it can be discouraging. It can be overwhelming and frustrating and taking a step back so that you can revisit it when you’re fresh, when you’re in a better mindset, you’re going to get a better result that way too. I think that, yeah, that’s the first thing. Take a break, take a step back and come back to it. When you’re feeling ready to, don’t let too much time pass, but if today’s not the day and you had it scheduled on your calendar, give yourself some grace and come back to it. And then the next thing is to still stay. I guess I feel like this is kind of contradictory, but stay consistent overall, I guess, from a larger viewpoint, stay consistent with it.

Olivia Deihs:

And also I think it’s important that we don’t take rejection personally in the work atmosphere, in our careers. You’re not going to be for everybody. Everybody’s not going to be for you. And there’s a lot, a lot of different reasons that you don’t get at interview, right? Maybe you just simply weren’t the best fit for the job and that’s going to happen. But maybe the company already had somebody in mind. Maybe they had somebody in their network that they wanted to put into that position. Anyways, maybe they’re going to give somebody a promotion. There’s so many different reasons that are out of your control for not landing a position that can feel really discouraging, but it’s usually not personal. It’s usually just some, a circumstance that you don’t have a lot of control over. So keep that in mind too. And yeah, I think that’s it.

Gale Straub:

Well, it’s a lot of good advice.

Olivia Deihs:

Thanks. I’ve uh, I think I’ve made all of these mistakes before. And so that’s where it comes from is like planes. I wanted to get easier.

Gale Straub:

My last question for you is, is a related question is I just literally took out one word. What would you tell someone who’s feeling discouraged in their job right now?

Olivia Deihs:

You’re feeling discouraged right now. You always have the option to change your mind. I think that there’s a lot of stereotypes around just continuing up in your career. And if you’re not happy, you get to change your mind at any time. Anytime you want. If you want to make a pivot in your thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, you have the power to do so. And you’re in control of that. And so if something is not clicking right now, I want you to feel empowered, to change your mind and to try to figure out whether it’s within your company. Maybe you can make a change so that your job can be more fulfilling and have a little bit more encouragement and feel valued, but maybe it’s time to switch to a different company to switch to a different field or industry. And you have the power to do that.

Olivia Deihs:

Anytime. I know that there’s a lot of planning that needs to take place first, right? It’s not like I’m feeling discouraged. I’m going to jump ship. I don’t recommend that, but change your mind and start making a plan for the future. If you know that you’re in a position that’s not right for you start to make that plan to start to think about, do you need to have a savings built up? Do you need to start networking? Do you need to start job searching and see what’s out there? There’s a lot of different ways that you can start moving forward once you know that a change needs to happen. Yeah. I think that that’s the most important piece is just, you’re not stuck anywhere, even if it feels like you are stuck, you get to change your mind at any time.

Gale Straub:

It’s also good to remember that when you do have that plan in motion, it can make the daily work easier. You know, like it feels, I don’t know if that resonates with you at all, but like knowing that you have that plan that you’re working towards can make plan a, feel more sustainable in the short term.

Olivia Deihs:

Absolutely. And sometimes having a to-do list, having a plan, having a light at the end of the tunnel, almost something to look forward to that, you know, you’re going to be making a change and being in a new situation in the future that can feel encouraging and kind of light that fire under your buddy. Again, that maybe was a little bit dimmed.

Gale Straub – Narration:

Olivia has given us a lot of advice and she has a whole lot more available via her website, social media handles and Women in Outdoor Work Facebook group. I’ll make sure to link all of them in the show notes. But in the meantime, Olivia had a few last thoughts for us all:

Olivia Deihs:

Having a job that you enjoy, that’s fulfilling for, you can make your broader life really enriching and you need all of those other pieces, but just know that whatever situation you’re in right now, job searching could be discouraging, writing resumes, cover letters, networking. The whole thing can feel overwhelming and frustrating, but there’s a community behind you that is there to encourage you. I’m there to be your cheerleader. If that’s what is going to work for you. Um, all of my clients are like, I just need some cheerleading today. Like if we’re done together and I’m like, I got you, here we go. Let me just amp you up a little bit. So find that support system. I think that that’s important. And yeah, we need you in this space. If you’re passionate about environmental causes about getting other people outside about just spreading the word about sustainability or about how we can do better in climate change or food systems or anything like that. If you’re passionate about any of those things, we need you in this space, we really need strong bad-ass forward thinking creative women and non-binary individuals that are going to help us keep breaking down those barriers. Please, please work in this space because we need you so much. If this is something you’re passionate about, there’s so much work to be done.

Gale Straub:

And somewhere out there. Olivia is doing a little dance for someone like you.

Olivia Deihs:

It’s so true.