On this episode of The Traveling Introvert, our guest shares their journey in leadership, from dealing with Impostor syndrome to networking as an introvert. They emphasize the importance of transparency in personal situations, building a supportive network, and creating space in a busy schedule for recharging. As an introvert, they value alone time but still make intentional efforts to network and lead their team. They also highlight the crucial support and resources provided by the International Association of Women for women struggling with confidence and asking for help. Join us to learn more about navigating leadership as an introvert and building a solid support network.

Megan Bozzuto is a woman who is always ready to take on opportunities that come her way. She was recently presented with a chance to help with a brand initiative and strategy for her parent company, and without hesitation, she raised her hand and took on the challenge. This move has resulted in an exciting career advancement for her while still being able to continue doing what she loves at IAW. Megan is a professional who is passionate about her work and is always eager to learn and grow.

Social media links

https://www.facebook.com/megbozz/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/megbozz/

https://www.instagram.com/megbozz/

Link to website

www.iawomen.com

Episode: Leading, Networking, and Fostering Community as an Introverted Woman

- Importance of being transparent with colleagues and managers without oversharing

- Benefits of sharing personal information with team members

- Communication skills when declining opportunities

- Accepting oneself as a leader despite doubt and overcoming impostor syndrome

- Delegating tasks instead of saying "no" directly

- Building relationships and maintaining a supportive network for nonlinear career paths

- Managing time and creating space for alone time to recharge as an introverted woman

- Strategies for successful networking, including being intentional about who to meet and where to network

- Support for women's confidence and negotiation skills in the workplace from organizations such as the International Association of Women

Note: The topics are not in chronological order and are a general summary of the episode content.

Computer.

Hello, and welcome to another session with Career Conversations.

Today I'm talking to Megan, and we are going to talk about

surprise, surprise career Conversations. Megan, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Janice, for having me. Can you just let us know

a little bit about yourself before I dive in on the first question? So I

guess when I say that, because that's such a loaded question, I would like name

and what you currently do, and if you wish to tell us which company you

currently work for. Sure. My name is Megan Bazuto. I currently

serve as the president of the International Association of Women. I also

just stepped into a new role that will kind of combine what

I do at IAW with heading up marketing for our parent

company professional diversity network,

because I just, like, adding more on my plate.

She's laughing because my face is like, what are you doing? What? I just spoke

to you months ago. Okay. I saw you in person.

Yeah,

we might talk about this. When opportunities

present, I feel like you have to go for them. And there was an opportunity,

and I raised my hand and said, yeah, I can help there.

It has put me in a place where I will be leading more

brand initiative and strategy for our parent company, but I will not be

stepping away from what I love doing here at IAW. And so

it's kind of the best of everything. Gives me a

career advancement play while also still getting to do everything

that just fills my soul. So it's good.

Back to a previously scheduled programming.

Are you an introvert? We're coming back to that. Don't you worry.

Are you an introvert? So I

like to say yes. Like, when I do all the online

assessments, whatever, I score very introverted. But I'm

also a people person. I do enjoy being social. I enjoy

being in places where I'm surrounded by people. But I

think a lot of it is energy levels. And when

I'm out and about and mingling and constantly around

other people that are loud and vocal, I have

to come back to myself and spend time alone. I need quiet space, and I

think that I'm refueled by the quiet space I'm refueled by

when I can spend time alone. But I

kind of like to say I'm kind of an extroverted introvert. Like, there's a little

bit of both. Okay. And so the follow up question always

is, so what does introversion or being an introvert mean to

you? So that's a good question, because I

think that a lot of people have some preconceived notions

of what an introvert is. And to me, it's really

the person who wants to spend time alone that needs that

alone time, that needs the quiet time, that is not the loudest voice in the

room, that isn't necessarily the one throwing the

party all the time, being out and about all the time.

And I think that for me, it's sometimes

feeling like I need that space to just be alone.

If I don't find time to recharge by

spending some time, whether it's outside on a walk or just

a day at home in my office with no meetings, I'm very particular about

buffering my schedule so that I get that time to recharge.

All right, so I'm going to just dive straight into that. So as part of

buffering your meetings, tell me what your calendar average calendar day might

look like all week? Yeah, I mean, it really

varies depending on the week. I used

to be really good about blocking Monday morning and Friday afternoon

so that I had space so that I wasn't.

I find if I show up in my office at 830 Monday

morning and I have a call at 09:00 A.m., that overwhelms

me. So I have blocks of

space that allow me

I i do a number of things through IAW, where I have to

be on camera doing interviews or hosting webinars.

So those I always have buffer before and after. So if I have

to be on and being super polished

and super professional, I buffer my space around that so that I have breaks

before and after. So I'm not just run from one meeting to one meeting to

one meeting. I also with my team calls.

I tend to stage them in one day so that I can kind of knock

everything out one by one. But then I

guess week to week, it's not always

predictable. And so some days I get to the

end of the day and I think, oh, that was a bad day. I didn't

protect my schedule, but I'm

way more intentional usually, about making sure there's

time blocks that give me space to get outside for a walk,

to give me space to prep for a meeting, to give me space to actually

get tasks done, because if you're on calls all day long, you're not getting things

done. And so you said you used

to be really good about blocking off Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.

What changed? I took on more responsibility,

and I traveling. So the month of April,

I traveled with my kids. I'm currently going through a divorce, so there's

been lots of crazy stuff with that and just having to be places I don't

usually have to be. One of my friends got married,

so I was away for that and helping with that. And so I find that

during the week, if I'm out of the office for other things,

I open that space on Monday and Friday so I can accommodate the

people who need me, so I can accommodate getting the work done. And so now

I just finished a season of, like, April to early

May, was crazy busy with family obligations, and that the

last event was this past weekend. And now I'm right back to, okay,

what's my calendar going to look like, for the next six weeks because I'm realizing

that I've overdone it and I need to make sure I have that space back.

Yes. Okay. That is great. So with

the work that you do and the business that you work with,

can you tell me some misconceptions about your

industry, if there are any?

Yeah, it's interesting

because the International Association of Women, we support women,

so we're a membership organization where we provide resources and

benefits and tools and programming to women all around the world.

And I think when I tell

a lot of people what I do,

there's two things. There's one like, oh, people,

how does that work? Do people actually show up? I think they think

that women just kind of hide in the corner, and they don't ask. They don't

raise their hand and ask for help. And we coach a lot of women on

how to do this because women are notoriously bad at raising their hand and asking

for help. And so I

think a lot of people think, oh, well, do women really need the help

and support? And I think if you look at statistics,

women are more likely to have confidence issues. They're more likely not to ask for

what they want from a salary. They're more likely not to negotiate things. And so

I say yes, women really do need the support, and we're here to provide that

support. And so it's funny conversations sometimes

with people who question, well,

do you find that women show up authentically? Do they actually show up and ask?

And I'm like they do. Once we've created an environment that

fosters that community and comfort, where we're

here to do exactly what we say we're going to do.

Also, the idea that we're very much a circle,

that anyone is welcoming, that we

foster that environment where no matter who's coming into the room, whether it's a virtual

room or in person room, they're going to feel welcome. They're going to be supported.

They're going to find people who will help them get to the next level.

Okay. And so with those misconceptions

and things that you think about, and you mentioned with your calendar

that you try and put buffers, but you also mentioned you got a new job,

and when opportunities arise, you say yes. Is there anything you say no to?

Yes, there is.

This is something I've struggled with my entire life because I'm a people pleaser,

and I have a really hard time saying no.

I've gotten really good about using my team at work to do

things that so I used to think emails would come through,

and I'd just respond. There's a perfect example. You sent one the other day,

and instead of responding, I forwarded it on to Tracy, who could help you more

directly. And so it's not that I'm saying no to you.

I'm just reallocating the work somewhere else because I hate

saying no. Right. I do say no socially

from time to time, if everyone's like, hey, let's go out on Friday night,

and I need time to

refresh myself. And if I go out and have dinner and drinks and social,

I know that my energy isn't going to it's just going

to drain me more. Whereas I have a group of friends who thrive on

going out and catching up and sometimes I really need that, but sometimes I

don't. So I say no. There's been

times throughout my career where things have come across my plate, opportunities have

come across my plate. There was an opportunity a few years ago

and I had to say no because things within my personal life just

weren't at a place where I could take on more from a career perspective.

I just knew that I wanted to say yes. I wanted to

say, yeah, give me a new role, give me more responsibility. But my husband

at the time was very ill. We were having a lot of changes in our

house, and I said, you know what? If I do that, it's going to overwhelm

me and I have to do what's right for me. And at that

point in time, it was prioritizing my family and my kids and making

sure everything in my house was operating efficiently, even though I had to

say no to the really cool opportunity.

And so follow up question to that, how did you let the organization

know that it wasn't them and it wasn't the right time to

say yes? Yeah.

I'm usually pretty transparent with the people I work with and the people

I work for without being overly

sharing too much, but being pretty open

about what's going on personally. And I encourage this with my

team as well, the people I manage. I think that in order for

us to show up at work as our best selves, we have

to know what's going on personally as well. You don't have to

know every single detail. You don't have to know every little story, but if

there's big themes that are emerging, it's important information.

At that point in time, it really was, hey, I love this

idea. I want to support as much as I can, but I don't have the

capacity to give that role the attention it needs right now.

Let's revisit this in a year or so.

I'm respected at work. I do a great job, and I think that's

a big part of it is that if they know the reason

behind it, I realize, hey, there's a role that needs

to be filled and you're probably going to go find somebody else and I'm okay

with that. But just so you know, I'm not saying no to

this entirely. I'm just saying no right now. Okay? Yeah.

And you were lucky enough to have the option to do that because I feel

some people might feel that if they say no, that opportunity will never come by

again. And the what if the different things. That people might think

about it? Right? And so

what is something that you have done regularly

that has improved your career?

Networking, really building

relationships and spending time getting to know people and understanding

what other people need, adding value to other people's career stories,

even if it doesn't directly benefit me, but keeping my network really

tight and close. I think that there's people

I worked with when I started my career has gone.

You talk about nonlinear career plans. My career has been this wavy

line all around. I started in accounting and finance with a piece

of technology. I went from working at IBM to working at a video

game company. I then pivoted into marketing.

I was a freelancer for a period of time. I had my own business and

then ended up at IAW. And there's themes like I still stay in

touch with people I worked with 20 years ago when I started my career,

and I still support them in ways and they still support me in ways.

And by regularly showing up and just checking

in, it doesn't have to be every week. You're investing hours

and hours in networking. But we stay connected on

LinkedIn, we comment on posts, we check in from time to time.

And the job I started

at IAW like eight, nine years ago,

and that opportunity presented itself

because of my network. And I was in New York City

visiting with friends. I mentioned what I was doing to somebody.

She said, oh, I think I might have a role for you.

She brought me in part time as a consultant and that's how

it happened. And so I think about that one moment

where I just mentioned what I was doing and she

gave the opportunity. And that has expanded into more and more

and more. But really networking is something

I've done consistently. And so would you say

that your network is broad or

very specific and niche? Broad? My network

is so broad and sometimes I wonder, sometimes I think,

oh, maybe it's too broad. But because I've worked so many

different places and I spent five years living

overseas in Shanghai and Dubai, and so my network

spans global, but it's also people from all different industries

and all different jobs. And in some ways that's really great

because I can find anybody to do anything. But when

I think about kind of like the, well,

do I have the specific enough network to actually benefit my

day to day job right now that needs improvement?

I would definitely say my network is broad at this point.

And so a lot of people might think that introvert

can't have networks and don't like networking because

people ill people and

some people might find it overwhelming because you said your network is broad,

which implies that there might be hundreds or maybe thousands of people that

you know. So what is one thing you do? At least once a month that

helps you grow and or nurture your network. And can you be

really specific about it? Yeah.

So one thing I do every month, and we've done some

content around networking for introverts because it's not impossible. I know

it's overwhelming and I know it's hard. So one thing I've started doing

every month, and I do this as part of an accountability thing I run through

IAW is I'm very intentional about

identifying five places I can network and

it doesn't have to be. So maybe we'll attend one in person

event during the month. I will find a Facebook group. I can go

engage in a LinkedIn group. I'll find a virtual event.

I the also make a list of at least five people I

want to have a touch point with. And a touch point doesn't necessarily mean we're

going out and having coffee, but it might be go look at their LinkedIn and

see what they've been up to and see if I can just drop a message

or if I've read a good book recently, I might

recommend they read the book. Just little touch points like that.

And then I look to add at

least ten people to my network every month. So I'll go

through and find opportunities at the events I'm attending.

I try to walk away going, okay, I'm not just showing

up to have a cocktail and mingle, but who can

I actually meet and walk away feeling like I have a relationship where

we could follow up and collaborate in the future?

So I try to be intentional about instead

of just kind of showing up and seeing who falls into my LinkedIn.

More intentional about where I'm showing up, when I'm showing up,

and how I'm gathering those contacts and nurturing them.

So a slightly different question. You mentioned the non linear

path that your career has had. Would you

consider yourself to be a leader?

Yes, I would.

This is a loaded question and you're laughing. I love

the pause. It was like yeah, because I've

struggled. So I've struggled with Impostor syndrome

because I took time. When we lived overseas, I did not work. So I

found out I was pregnant. My husband was offered a job in Shanghai and I

said, Great, let's go. I can take some time. I can have the baby.

I can figure out this being a mom, I can step away from my career.

It was supposed to be 18 months overseas, so I could take

that time to figure out mom and what am I doing from a career perspective.

So 18 months turned into five years total

overseas. Another kid, we moved home, we had another baby.

I'm still not back to work. So I ended up with this eight ish

year gap on my resume. And I really

struggled to come back and feel like a leader because I felt like I had

this gap and I hadn't stepped up in the

same way that other people around me had.

And when I reflect now,

I've earned the respect of others around me. Some people I

work with don't even know I have a gap on my resume, which I find

hilarious. Why would I? Right?

It's in my head. Right? It's in my head. And so I struggled

with the am I truly a leader? And I believe I am.

I believe I lead the community of IAW. I lead my

team at IAW. I lead others around me.

And I try to lead by showing good

examples. Right. I try to foster environments where people can

trust me and people know my decision making process.

I would say, yes, I'm a leader. But I struggle with that question

because my path to being a leader,

I've doubted myself. And so I

sometimes sit here and question, like, do I deserve to be here?

And I've come to accept that I do. And I've done

a lot of work in this area,

but I think

we can lead without a title. We can lead with a title. And so I

do believe I'm a leader. I've just sometimes

struggled to accept that along the way.

All right, thank you so very much. This has been an interesting conversation.

I have one final question for you before

you let the people know where to find you, and that is is

a hot dog a sandwich,

in your humble opinion?

No. And could you walk us through your thought

process? I mean, technically,

if I say a sandwich is something between bread, I guess, yes. But I just

look at a hot dog, and I don't think sandwich.

I suppose you could call it a sandwich, but I call a hot dog

a hot dog. To me, a sandwich is two separate pieces of bread, and a

hot dog bun is connected. All right,

thank you very much for that. I appreciate it. Everyone has a different viewpoint,

so it's wonderful to be like, wait, and the walk through it.

Yeah, that's a great question.

It has sparked debate over the years. I've led a lot of online

co working, and that question has stopped

anything work related, especially it's been, like, engineers or UX designers or

anything. Just, of course, the whole rate.

Oh, that must be fascinating.

Thank you for joining us today. Please let the people know

where they can find you should they wish to connect and be part of your

growing, expanding network. Absolutely.

So LinkedIn is the best place to find megan bazuto. It's B-O-Z-Z-U-T-O.

If you just search that, it should show up. I'm also on instagram

and facebook, but not quite as active in those places,

so LinkedIn is best. All right, thank you so

much. I really appreciate you being here today. This is janice

at the career introvert, helping you build your brand and get hard. Have a great