In this episode of Real Talk, I am happy to introduce Mindy Rapp, Chief Operating Officer of Standard Iron &Wire Works and Destiny Lara, a Civil Engineer at Burns and McDonnell. We had an insightful conversation about a number of topics including the importance of establishing trust, the value of feedback, and the lessons that we can learn from exposing ourselves to new challenges, like when Mindy moved to new places to learn different cultures and when Destiny elevated her work when day-to-day tasks were getting easier and she started to get comfortable.

I was especially impressed with both Mindy and Destiny’s approach to feedback. Mindy sees feedback as agift to help others grow and believes deeply in providing those growth opportunities. She talked about the importance of building trust with her team and how she is mindful about how she delivers feedback, taking time to plan for those conversations in advance. Destiny shared her initial fear of feedback when she first started her career, which so many of us feel, but she learned quickly that when her managers and coworkers were giving her feedback it showed that they wanted her to grow. As a result of that understanding, she haslearned to be vulnerable and accept feedback in the spirit in which it is intended.

Take a listen to hear about these topics as well as the importance of mentoring and advocacy, Destiny’sthoughts on how to approach work in her twenties, and Mindy’s mantra, “There is more to life than…”.

Many thanks to Mindy and Destiny for their thoughtful input.