FWD Feature: Stef Caldwell, Founder of Manifest
FWD Collective is excited to announce that Stef Caldwell Founder of Manifest has joined the speaker roster for our Chicago Summit on September 12th 2019!
We had the pleasure of connecting with Stef to ask a few questions!
What does diversity, equity, and professional inclusion mean to you?
Inclusion is the act of creating environments in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate. Lack of representation of individuals from all backgrounds means lack of participation, and lack of participation from individuals with diverse backgrounds leads to poor outcomes that do not serve the needs of the people who use the products and services created. To me diversity, equity and inclusion means being intentional about increasing representation of all members of the population to ensure the best possible outcomes for society.
How have you experienced and/or dealt with adversity in your professional and personal life? How have you experienced and/or dealt with adversity in your professional and personal life?
Absolutely! I'm a female working in tech and I am in a biracial marriage. Adversity is all around us, and when you are aware of the adversity women and POC face you can become part of the solution, not only making it your intention to open doors for others as you open doors for yourself and as others have opened doors for you, but also making it your intention to support those who you open doors for by being a guide, a mentor and a coach, encouraging them and giving them the confidence they might need to speak up, raise their hand, have an opinion and deliver great outcomes.
What would be one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
Never stop learning. Don't be defeated by obstacles, recognize obstacles as opportunities to learn. It is okay to fail, it's not okay to give up. Everyone's inexperienced when they start something new, don't be afraid to ask for help. When you raise you practice vulnerability and ask for help, people will be more than willing to teach you what they know, increasing your likelihood of success.
Name three things that you do everyday to help lead you to success.
I'm always learning. I devour books on self-help, entrepreneurship and business. Ideas in = ideas out. I may never be the smartest, but I will always be the hardest working.
Work hard, play hard, disconnect entirely. It's so easy to be completely consumed by work and technology. Burn out is real folks! What I've learned is that time away is just as important as the time I'm on. Look at your calendar, look at what realistically needs to be done and by when. Make a plan to execute that work. Stick to the plan. As long as you are on-plan, you can feel guilt-free disconnecting to refresh. Often times I find that time away from my work actually makes it much better. I see problems from a different angle and have more creative solutions.
Who inspires your professional ambition? Why?
Most recently, Kevin Hart. In his book "I can't make this up" he says "I was an overnight success that was only 16 years in the making" so many of us want big, massive, exciting success, but so few of us are willing to put in the work, to have the persistence and to have the patience to accomplish that success. Kevin faced massive adversity from childhood through adulthood and through it all managed to keep us laughing and keep pushing forward. While I don't necessarily want to be a standup comic, I want to accomplish the level of success he has seen and he is a terrific reminder that with passion-driven-competitiveness, hard work, patience, persistence, a never stop learning attitude its possible for all of us, regardless of our imperfections or status in society.
What is your favorite book? Or the one you'd recommend most?
Too many!
The Third Door by Alex Banayan
I Can't Make This Up by Kevin Hart
Choose Wonder Over Worry by Amber Rae
What are the top three things we should know about your business or company?
1) Manifest is a community for people in Chicago who want to Manifest their biggest ambitions, anyone is welcome.
2) At Manifest, we help you break down your biggest dreams into accomplishable bits and pair you with a tribe of accountability partners to hold you accountable to the outcomes you are seeking.
3) At Manifest, we help you move through the goal setting saboteurs fear, failure, shame, and resistance by holding space where you can discuss how hard it is to actually take action towards your dreams and not run out of steam when you run up against obstacles.
Connect with Stef: LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Manifest Website
