Celebrating Success and Learning to Toot Your Own Horn, Humbly

Last year, I was invited to speak to a group of high school girls about celebrating success and how to toot your own horn, humbly. It is a topic we do not talk about nearly enough, especially with young women who are just beginning to discover their strengths. We tell them to work hard, to be grateful, to be team players, but we rarely teach them how to confidently recognize their own accomplishments without feeling like they are bragging.

So, I shared my own journey. I talked about what I have learned in corporate America and how I had to grow into a leadership style that balances humility with self-advocacy. And I read them the speech below. It reflects the path I have walked, the lessons I have learned, and the pride I have learned to stand in.

Here is the speech I gave.

Speech: Celebrating Success and Tooting Your Own Horn, Humbly

Good afternoon everyone,
and thank you for the opportunity to share a bit of my journey.

When I look back on my career in Corporate America, what stands out to me is not just the big milestones but the learning that came with each step. For a long time, I believed that if I simply worked hard and stayed focused, the results would speak for themselves. And sometimes they did. But many times, they did not. I had to learn that sometimes the work needs a voice. Sometimes you have to speak up for your own contributions so others can truly see the impact you are making.

That is where I learned the art of celebrating my own success while also lifting up the team around me. It is not bragging. It is not being the loudest in the room. It is acknowledging the truth of your efforts and the difference they created.

I am proud that I launched the first vendor scorecard at my place of business. That scorecard allowed us to move from assumption and storytelling into fact-based conversations with our third party and fourth party vendors. It created transparency, it created accountability and it strengthened our operational relationships.

I am proud that I completely rewrote the roles of the first line, the second line and the third line of defense. I built out a playbook that helped each group understand its purpose and stay within its swim lanes. That clarity changed the way we worked together, and it protected the organization in meaningful ways.

I am proud that I stepped in and took a leadership role in ISO 20022. During conversion weekend, our preparation and teamwork allowed a successful integration with SWIFT. It was complex work, it was high pressure work, and the outcome reflected strong collaboration and calm decision making.

And most of all, I am proud of my leadership style. I am proud of my ability to stand firm when senior management pushed us to move faster, and to report back with a steady, fact-based risk lens. Leadership is not about reacting to pressure. Leadership is about grounding decisions in what is responsible, what is true, and what supports the long-term health of the organization.

Through all of these experiences, I have learned that celebrating myself does not diminish the team. It actually honors the work we accomplished together. Every win was possible because of the people around me. When I share what I achieved, I am also celebrating what we achieved.

Humility is not silence. Humility is standing in your truth without exaggeration and without apology. And when we celebrate our successes openly, we show others that they can do the same. We create cultures where people feel valued, seen and motivated to grow.

So today, I stand proud of my contributions and grateful for the teams that helped make them possible. And I encourage all of us, especially the next generation of women leaders, to celebrate your wins boldly, to celebrate your teams generously and to never be afraid to let your work speak through you.

Thank you.

Sharing this message with those high school girls reminded me that confidence is a skill we build, not something we wake up with one day. If we can teach young women to honor their achievements early, to speak proudly about what they bring to the table and to do it with humility and gratitude, we help create a future where their voices are not only heard but expected. My hope is that each of them walks forward knowing that their success is worth celebrating and that their story, just like yours and mine, deserves to be told.

Happy Thursday lovelies,

-srt

The Benefits of Using a SWOT Analysis: A Walk-Through

Introduction: The Secret Decoder Ring for Strategy

Every project manager dreams of having a crystal ball. Something to reveal the hidden strengths that could drive success, the weaknesses waiting to trip us up, the golden opportunities just around the corner, and the looming threats nobody wants to admit are real.

While I cannot hand you a crystal ball, I can give you the next best thing: a SWOT Analysis. It is the strategic equivalent of a decoder ring. 

Simple, reliable, and surprisingly powerful. 

Born in the 1960s and still going strong, SWOT helps teams, organizations, and individuals connect what is happening inside with what is happening outside.

Strengths: Your Superpowers

Strengths are your internal wins, the areas where you shine. They are the project equivalent of showing up to a potluck with the best homemade pie. People notice, and it makes an impact.

Ask yourself:

• What do we do better than most

• What resources make us stand out

• What past wins can we build on

Leaning into your strengths is not bragging. It is smart strategy.

Weaknesses: The Elephant in the Room

No project is flawless. Weaknesses are the things you might rather not highlight but need to face directly. They are the flat tire on an otherwise great road trip.

Questions to ask:

• Where do we stumble again and again

• Which resources or skills are missing

• What feedback do we keep getting but ignore

Identifying weaknesses is not about self criticism. It is about patching the flat before you are stranded on the side of the highway.

Opportunities: The Open Doors

Opportunities are the external conditions that make you think, “If we do not act now, someone else will.” They are the open doors, the wind in your sails, or the extra fries at the bottom of the bag.

Consider:

• Which trends are working in our favor

• Are there partnerships, policies, or technologies we can use

• What unmet needs are waiting for us to address

Spotting opportunities early can turn a good project into a breakthrough one.

Threats: The Storm Clouds

Threats are the things outside your control that can disrupt your best-laid plans. They are the storm clouds hanging over your project picnic.

Ask:

• What competitors are doing better than we are

• What political, economic, or social shifts could impact us

• Where might disruption catch us off guard

Acknowledging threats is about preparation, not paranoia. A good raincoat can turn a storm into just another walk in the rain.

The Balance: Internal and External

SWOT’s real value lies in its balance. Strengths and weaknesses focus on what you can control. Opportunities and threats remind you of what you must respond to. Together, they provide a panoramic view of reality, including your wins, your challenges, and the external conditions that shape success.

A Real World Example: Farmers Market Delivery App

Picture this. You are launching a mobile app that connects local farmers to customers. Here is what your SWOT might reveal:

Strengths: close farmer relationships, intuitive app design, skilled marketing team
Weaknesses: limited funding, no customer service staff, logistics challenges
Opportunities: increased demand for local food, grants for sustainable agriculture, eco delivery partnerships
Threats: larger grocery apps moving in, supply chain disruptions, rising delivery costs

See how this shapes strategy? The team can apply for grants, streamline onboarding, and pilot in one region to reduce risk. SWOT does not just highlight issues. It sparks solutions.

Why Bother with SWOT?

The payoff is significant:

Clarity: it helps you see what matters most
Focus: it directs energy where it counts
Alignment: it connects your strengths to the environment you work in
Strategy: it provides a framework for smarter and more sustainable decisions

It is like putting on glasses after squinting too long. Suddenly, the picture is clear.

Final Thought

SWOT is not just about filling in four boxes on a chart. It is a mindset of curiosity and honesty. It invites you to pause, look inward and outward, and ask: What is really going on here

It is simple. It is adaptable. And it may be the difference between a project that struggles and one that succeeds.

So next time you are planning something important, do not leave it to chance. Grab your SWOT. Your crystal ball is closer than you think.

SWOT Away lovelies,

-srt

Seven Wednesdays, Finishing the Year With Intention, Presence, and Beauty

There is something powerful about the number seven. Seven days in a week, seven colors in the rainbow, seven notes in a musical scale. And now, there are seven Wednesdays left before the year comes to a close.

Seven pauses.
Seven recalibrations.
Seven midweek moments to breathe and begin again.

Wednesdays are often overlooked, caught between the hurry of the beginning and the fatigue of the end. 

Funny, Wednesday are actually when I write my Thursday Thoughts.  They have always been a day of heads down, kick into gear, get it done ... 

But, when I looked at my calendar today, I realized we have seven Wednesdays until we are into the New Year.  And, then, I started viewing the next seven Wednesdays as steppingstones into a new year, something shifted. They became checkpoints, invitations, opportunities to realign.

What if these next seven Wednesdays were not just the midpoint of another week, but seven powerful reminders to return to yourself?

Let us explore how you can use each one with intention.

1. Take Them in Your Hand

When we have only a handful of something left, days, conversations, chapters, we tend to hold them with more care and more meaning.

These seven Wednesdays are a gift.

You do not need a new month or a new year to reset. You can decide right now, these Wednesdays will be different.

This is your invitation to step out of autopilot and into awareness.

2. Live Them Differently

Wednesdays can feel like the turning point of the week, where stress accumulates and energy dips. But they can become moments of renewal instead of moments of collapse.

Try shifting your approach:

• Begin each Wednesday with a grounding practice
• Recommit to what matters most for the week
• Release overwhelm and return to what feels true
• Choose one small, meaningful action to realign your direction

When you live differently, even a midweek day becomes extraordinary.

3. Realize How Precious Your Life Is

Life becomes more meaningful when we remember it is finite, not to create fear, but to spark appreciation.

These Wednesdays are not just dates on a calendar.
They are reminders to wake up to your life.

Use them to notice the people you love, appreciate the breath in your lungs, recognize the beauty in your routines, and honor how far you have come.

When you treat time as precious, your days become richer.

4. Magnify the Beautiful Things

Beauty grows where attention goes.

Each Wednesday is a chance to magnify the beautiful things in your life, even if the world feels busy or uncertain.

Try this practice:

• Name three beautiful things
• Celebrate a midweek win
• Acknowledge a moment of joy or connection
• Notice what is working instead of what is not

When you magnify beauty, you shift your inner landscape.

5. Finish the Year Strong, In Your Own Way

Strong does not have to mean pushing harder.

Strong can mean clear boundaries, quiet confidence, thoughtful choices, authentic presence, and rest that restores instead of drains.

Finishing the year strong can be gentle.
It can be intentional.
It can be an act of self-respect instead of self-pressure.

Your Wednesdays can anchor that strength.

6. Focus on Now

Whatever happened earlier this year, whether triumph or heartbreak, is behind you.

These Wednesdays are not about what came before.
They are about what you can shape now.

Each one gives you a fresh opportunity to realign, correct course, and breathe into the present instead of replaying the past.

Presence is your power.

7. Give Yourself a Blank Slate

A blank slate is not something the calendar hands you. It is something you choose.

Let these Wednesdays remind you that you can forgive yourself, release old stories, reset your mindset, reimagine your direction, and welcome new truths and new beauty.

You can color the rest of this year with clarity, intention, and love.
You can choose to make your life beautiful, beginning now.

Make Life Beautiful, Starting With These Wednesdays

Beauty does not appear by accident. It is created through conscious choices, intentional attention, the courage to slow down, and the willingness to see your life differently.

Seven Wednesdays is not a countdown.
It is an invitation.

A chance to end the year with clarity, a chance to reconnect with your soul, a chance to create a softer, truer, and more grounded ending, and a brighter beginning.

Take these Wednesdays in your hand.
Live them fully, live them gently, live them beautifully.

Happy Wednesday <3,

-srt