エピソード

  • What Now? Solving Career Confusion
    2026/04/16

    Are you feeling confused about your career, but you are not quite in crisis? You're not alone and you're not stuck. In this first episode of the What Now series, I reframe career confusion and give you a simple way to solve your career confusion.

    I share a client's process of moving from confused and stuck to energized and thriving, rooted in the Build Your Brave Career Framework.

    Specifically, I show you:

    1. Clarity — Stop asking the same big, vague questions so that you start telling yourself the truth about what you actually want.
    2. Momentum — Commit to small, intentional actions that build the confidence and the direction you need to ensure your confusion.
    3. Accountability — Decide who you're becoming and grow into your future you through self-concept and mindset design.

    If you've been silently asking "what now?" this episode is your sign to take the next brave step. Click here to start working together to solve your career confusion through 1:1 career coaching with me.

    Connect with Me:
    You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career:

    Check out my website

    Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

    Connection with me on LinkedIn

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    18 分
  • You Need Brave Feedback; Not Gentle Coddling
    2026/03/06

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    Schedule here: exchange 15 minutes of input for 30 minutes of coaching
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    Listen, this episode might sting a little—and that's exactly the point. If you're a woman in tech who treats feedback like a personal attack instead of career fuel, I'm talking directly to you.

    I've watched with horror as more women have become timid about giving feedback and defensive about receiving it. This pattern is quietly cutting your career growth at the knees while multiplying your stress.

    Here's what I know: You wouldn't coddle your code, your product, or your project when it needs iteration. So why are you being so precious about feedback on your own performance?

    In this episode, I'm drawing a hard line between toxic workplace BS (which is NOT what we're discussing) and the constructive, developmental, growth-oriented feedback that is actual career generosity. The kind you need to actively seek out, receive with curiosity, and use strategically.

    Here's what I cover:

    • Why feedback is the accelerated growth engine in tech—and why your career needs the same iterative approach as your code
    • The brutal truth about how women are held to higher performance standards (backed by research since the 1970s)
    • Why your defensiveness is far more damaging than the original feedback ever was
    • How leaders are watching for your response to feedback—not your perfection
    • Why you must stop optimizing for likability and start optimizing for clarity and effectiveness
    • The mindset shift that changes everything: feedback is data, not identity
    • Concrete examples of professional feedback versus unhelpful criticism
    • Why avoiding giving feedback makes you unclear and untrustworthy (not nice)

    I also share real feedback my clients recently received and how they made it mean something totally different than what was actually said.

    The women who enjoy their careers and reach their goals aren't the ones who never get criticism. They're the ones who are seen improving over time—in line with their values, purpose, and boundaries.

    Bravery isn't just about bold moves. It's about sitting still in a moment of critique and choosing your growth instead of your ego.

    Your Next Steps:

    1. Separate the feedback from what your brain tells you.
    2. Make feedback a monthly habit.
    3. Seek feedback from your critics.
    4. Give yourself 24 hours.
    5. Stop optimizing for likability.

    Related Episodes

    • Importance of Specific Feedback in Career Growth
    • Aggressive or Just Direct? Navigating Feedback as a Woman in Tech
    • E85: How to Deal with Unspecific Career Feedback to Build Your Skills, Relationships, Career, and Salary

    Connect with Me:
    You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career:

    Check out my website

    Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

    Connection with me on LinkedIn

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    27 分
  • Listener Voices: Responding to Feedback about Women Staying vs. Leaving in Tech
    2026/02/18

    Listen in as I respond to the generous and conflicting feedback that you sent about my last episode, "Bravery in the Meantime." Your feedback was the full range responses—positive, relieved, dismissive, and angry. I share your feedback and also offer my own thoughts on what comes next for us all.

    What You'll Hear:

    • Four buckets of listener feedback, from validating to challenging
    • My vulnerable response to criticism about privilege, systemic change, and individual coping
    • An invitation: What can Nicole create to support you in building your brave career?

    Key Takeaway:
    What you want to reject because it threatens you might be exactly what you need to work on right now.

    Mentioned in This Episode:

    • Previous episode: "Bravery in the Meantime: How to Use a Tough Career Phase for Long-Term Success"
    • Past episodes: "The Glass Floor" and "Recognizing Toxic Career Surroundings"

    Connect with Nicole:
    You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career:

    Check out my website

    Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

    Connection with me on LinkedIn

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    18 分
  • Bravery in the Meantime: how to use a tough career phase for long-term success
    2025/11/08
    Complete the survey here Schedule here: exchange 15 minutes of input for 30 minutes of coachingSign up for my email list hereBuilding your brave career isn't always about leaping, insisting, disrupting. Sometimes it means staying with intention using. This moment to calm your nervous system, build your skills and inner strength, enhance your financial safety and deepen your real life, your hobbies and your interests, and the most important relationships.Building your brave career is sometimes about bravery in the meantime.Listen to this episode for concrete examples of how to use a difficult career phase to build your long-term career without stressing out, burning out, or limiting your goals. More Links:Check out my websiteJoin my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspirationConnection with me on LinkedInDetailed TranscriptRight now, most women in tech are in a career phase that isn't quite what they expected. I mean, sure some of my clients and some fellow women in tech are moving abroad. Accepting promotions or lowering their stress by working fewer hours, traveling less, taking on less emotional labor. Yes, that is true.What is also true is that most of my clients, and many women in tech, are in a career phase that kind of sucks. They've been laid off with no warning, passed over for deserved, and sometimes even promised promotion, or they're stuck working with people they don't respect on products that aren't quality at companies that don't seem to care. They're watching executives and shareholders, and investors take far more than they could ever create.Because here's a brave truth: it's rough out there for a lot of women in tech, quite frankly, for a lot of everyone. And maybe that's you, and if it is, keep listening.By the end of this episode, you'll have a few ways to build the skill of bravery in your meantime. Even if you're in a job, that kind of sucks. Right now, you may be feeling ignored, stressed, lost, angry, stuck. You may feel held down by bad management and tough, real economic realities, but you're still showing up for work.Maybe you're biting back your sarcasm, your boredom, maybe even your hope. You are watching the cost of everything rise: food, clothing, housing, schooling, everything. It feels threatening. You're saving, but it never feels like enough. And you know that guy who does less and does it poorly is still earning more than you.You want to grow, be bold, create your next career phase, but you've also survived three layoffs in two years. Your friends are struggling, your mentors are struggling. You look around and it feels like just about everyone is struggling.You keep wondering what's right for me right now? Is there anywhere safe anymore? In the tech industry, we often celebrate the bravery of quitting, founding, leaping, reinventing. We talk about moving fast and breaking things, but sometimes the bravest thing, the best Next thing is choosing to stay. Choosing to stay at a job, that kind of sucks because it gives you the stability you need this month and the next.It helps you rest, build skills, activate your network, and deepen your personal relationships. Yeah, it kind of sucks and you can use this phase.You can use this phase to be your phase of bravery. In the meantime, crafting the foundation you need for that next clear leap. That might be exactly the type of bravery you need right now.Now, before I go any further, I wanna be really clear the rest of this episode is not for you. Or anyone. If you are in a truly unsafe environment, if you're being abused, bullied, harassed, or just frankly not paid, these tips are not for your situation. You need to protect yourself, and you need to seek support.What I'm about to share is for women in tech who are stressed, overworked, underpaid, and trying to stay afloat and craft a future in a very tough season.Today we're talking about how staying, how choosing bravery in the meantime can support your next career and life phase. None of what I'm about to say will help a toxic or abusive situation. Okay?If work feels draining. And it's impacting your life. This is your time to focus on bravery. In the meantime, it's about making conscious choices to build the habits and the skills you need for lowering your stress, for managing your time better. For most of you, that means working less. And setting yourself up in the future for greater income.Because you have built, expanded your sense of self, you've made yourself more valuable on the market. These are tiny habits that remind you of who you are, what you want, and why you matter.This might mean staying quieter in meetings, doing the minimum necessary for success in your role.Pay attention to what I just said : you're still going to meet success for your role. You're going to achieve. Not gonna overachieve you are not gonna extremely achieve. You're going to achieve and do the minimum necessary for achievement in your role.Maybe this means you're gonna ...
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    14 分
  • Shape the Future: Choose Your Boat for the River of Progress
    2025/09/20

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    Schedule here: exchange 15 minutes of input for 30 minutes of coaching
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    Let's get real about the challenges we face as women in tech—especially as right-wing, anti-woman movements gain ground around the world and in our industry. I share why it’s more important than ever to speak up, get involved, and “get on a boat” toward justice—whether your boat is advocating for equal healthcare, LGBTQI rights, or community building.

    You matter. Your voice matters. And your bravery—at work and in life—will shape our collective future. If you’re feeling stressed, numb, or just looking for a reminder that you’re not alone in these tough times, this episode is especially for you.

    Call to action: After you listen, choose your “boat”—find a cause, no matter how small, and get involved. And if this episode helped you, please share it with a friend who needs a little encouragement today. Together, we’re braver.

    Link to We Can Do Hard Things: The New Era: LOVE, FURY, FREEDOM

    More Links:
    Check out my website

    Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

    Connection with me on LinkedIn

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    21 分
  • Every Industry Is Tech Now: Building Your Brave Career Beyond Traditional Tech
    2025/08/23

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    Schedule here: exchange 15 minutes of input for 30 minutes of coaching
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    I dive into how every industry is now a tech industry. We bust the myth that "tech jobs" only live inside traditional tech companies and that you are trapped in the "traditional" tech industry. I share eye-opening job growth stats across diverse sectors and offer practical steps for women in tech who want less stress, more freedom, and similar or perhaps even more pay, without sacrificing your skills or ambition.

    Curious about how you can use your tech talents in new industries with better working conditions and much closer to your interests and purpose? Listen in, take note of where you feel that spark of interest, and get ready to build your brave career.

    Call to action: If something in this episode sparks your curiosity, reach out to someone in that industry for a chat, update your materials, and start exploring your next brave move!

    Here are the global growth projections for tech-related jobs across industries in the next five years:

    • Healthcare – 20%
      Sources
      : BLS, AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association)
    • Retail – 25%
      Sources
      : Statista, BLS
    • Finance & Insurance (FinTech) – 30%
      Sources
      : Finextra, BLS
    • Manufacturing – 22%
      Sources
      : Robotics Industries Association (RIA), BLS
    • Aerospace & Defense – 15%
      Sources
      : BLS, Aerospace Industries Association
    • Telecommunications – 18%
      Sources
      : BLS, CompTIA
    • Government / Public Sector – 25% (varies by country)
      Sources: BLS, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
    • Education – 18–35% (esp. online learning)
      Sources: BLS, EDUCAUSE
    • Real Estate – 30%
      Sources
      : National Association of Realtors (NAR) Extension, Statista
    • Construction – 20%
      Sources
      : BLS, Global
    • Energy – 25%
      Sources
      : BLS, Global
    • Transportation & Logistics – 22%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Hospitality & Tourism – 20%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Media & Entertainment – 25%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Pharmaceuticals – 18%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Professional Services – 28%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Automotive – 30%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Legal Services – 22%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Agriculture – 30%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Mining – 25%
      Sources
      : Statista
    • Food & Beverage – 25%
      Sources
      : Statista

    👉 Did you feel a spark reading through that list? That spark matters. It’s your signal to explore industries that align with your interests, values, and lifestyle while still leveraging your tech expertise.


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    11 分
  • 6 Years of Bravery: Intentional Choices and Big Shifts to Build the Skill of Bravery
    2025/08/09

    I'm popping back into your feed to celebrate a milestone: SIX YEARS of helping women in tech build the skill of bravery to stress less, work less, and then earn more.

    In this episode, I build upon the last episode (link below). Then I share how I applied the Build Your Brave framework - clarity, momentum, accountability - to make a bold move in my own career. I also talk about the opportunities that still exist for women in tech who are willing to bravely leave behind what doesn’t serve them and intentionally build the careers—and lives—they truly want.

    Want to take control of your career and build your bravery? Dive in, listen now, and reach out if you’re ready to work together or want to join my waiting list for coaching.

    Reference resources:

    • Bravely Bejeweled: Reflections on a Year of Loss & My Choice to Allow 2025
    • E62: Build Your Brave Framework 2.0
    • Join the waiting list or schedule your three hour intensive: email me at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

    You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career:

    Check out my website

    Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

    Connection with me on LinkedIn

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    16 分
  • Bravely Bejeweled: Reflections on a Year of Loss & My Choice to Allow 2025
    2025/01/21

    Complete the survey here
    Schedule here: exchange 15 minutes of input for 30 minutes of coaching
    Sign up for my email list here


    2024 was a year of immense challenges, transformation, and growth. In this deeply personal episode of Build Your Brave Career, I reflect on the losses, lessons, and connections that defined my year—and how they’re shaping my approach to 2025.

    I also share two key updates for 2025:

    1. I am pausing new episodes temporarily to allow space for reflection and recalibration. I promise new episodes are coming.
    2. I will not be onboarding new coaching clients in early 2025. Join my email list to stay up-to-date.

    What’s Inside This Episode:

    • A candid reflection on the highs and lows of 2024, including lessons learned from loss and transformation.
    • My choice to focus on an intention over traditional goals, with “allow” as the guiding word for 2025.
    • Two important updates for 2025.

    Questions to Reflect On:

    • What was your most significant experience in 2024?
    • What is your intention for 2025?

    To submit your question for me to answer on an upcoming episode, send me an email at Nicole@TrickSteinbach.com

    You can be a woman in tech and enjoy your career. When you build the skill of bravery, you will stress less, work less, and then earn more. Check out the following resources designed to help you thrive in your career:

    Check out my website

    Join my mailing list for more insights, opportunities, and inspiration

    Connection with me on LinkedIn

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    12 分