Welcome back to another Glass Session!

In this episode, we get to connect with Mischa Martineau, founder and CEO of I Am Who I Say I Am Global, an identity-based leadership development platform supporting mid-career women in tech across the United States, Turkey, Nigeria, and beyond.

Mischa shares how her own lived experience, including homelessness, long-term sobriety, bipolar disorder, and recovery, became the foundation for the work she does today. Her story is one of resilience, but more than that, it’s a story of identity mastery: learning to become who you say you are before the world has fully caught up.

Through her organization, Mischa helps mid-career women in tech strengthen their self-talk, build self-efficacy, and develop the internal agency needed to pursue promotions, navigate change, and stay in rooms they may not have always felt invited into. As Mischa says in the episode, “Skills open doors, but identity is what determines who walks through the door and who stays.”

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why identity has to come before strategy
• How self-talk shapes confidence, agency, and leadership
• What mid-career women in tech need in order to stay and grow
• How to navigate being talked over or underestimated at work
• Why AI and workplace change require a stronger sense of identity
• The difference between outcomes and control
• How Mischa’s recovery and sobriety inform her definition of a good life

Timestamps

00:00 Catch-up and recommendations

11:38: Mischa Martineau joins the conversation

19:46 Mischa's program structure and cohorts

24:45 Self-talk and self-care

30:20 AI fear and change mindset

41:29 Handling being talked over

44:25 Charging 10X with confidence

52:05 Self-efficacy and self-talk

59:27 Glassy Insights

Links & Resources:

Mischa's website: iamwhoisayiam.global

Sign up for a free preview of Mischa's courses by going to iamwhoisayiam.global > Courses > Sign Up For a Free Preview

Mischa's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mischamartineau

Mischa's Instagram: instagram.com/mischamartineau

⁠⁠⁠The Glass Advisory⁠⁠⁠: theglassadvisory.com

Courtney's Substack: substack.com/@courtneyattheglassadvisory

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