What Do You Really Want Out of Work?

What do youreally want out of work?

Women2Women’s Evening of Empowerment left attendees asking deep questions

By Katie Johnsen, Event Coordinator, GRCA

All photos courtesy of Wayne Becker, Zerbe Photography

Keynote speaker Marissa Orr told the crowd of nearly 200 stories of her time at Facebook and Google and how she redefined what it meant to her to be successful at work.

VIP guests had the opportunity to meet and chat with keynote speaker Marissa Orr. A re you the kind of person who sends emojis and detailed texts to your friends, or are you the type who just responds, “K”? That’s the question keynote Marissa Orr asked nearly 200 guests during Berks Women2Women’s (W2W) annual Evening of Empowerment Thursday, Oct. 20.

The night kicked off with champagne and boozy cider drinks, along with a delicious spread laid out by Catering by John Lowe. Several VIPs had the chance to meet and chat with Orr in the Roosevelt Room of The Abraham Lincoln amidst centerpieces by Saraí Variety Flower Shop.

Rachael Romig, Director of Women2Women, invited attendees to think about their walk-up song – the song that empowers you and gets you pumped up – before telling us all about what W2W has accomplished this year.

Next, she invited Alison Snyder, Chairwoman of W2W, to the stage, who welcomed our sponsors and shared her 10-year journey as part of W2W before introducing the keynote speaker.

Orr, author of Lean Out and former executive at Facebook and Google, navigated the workplace with some success – making early, but awkward, introductions to Cheryl Sandberg. When Orr was up for a promotion that would force her to manage a larger team, she felt dread. After taking a few personality quizzes, and

really asking herself what she wanted, she figured out why that position wasn’t right for her. Just like texting without emojis, that wasn’t where her strengths were. When she first approached her supervisor with this revelation, it was immediately rejected. This was the way the office worked, and they would not change it for her. She took the promotion but was miserable.

Eventually, she was able to communicate with a superior that what she really wanted out of work was more money and a genuine compliment, and she got it! The email she received may have been written by her direct manager and then copied and pasted into an email from a higher up, but it meant the world to her. And she got a bonus out of it!

Through her candid storytelling and deeply personal experience, Orr asked guests to consider what they really wanted out of our work – and their lives – and realize that not everyone should define success the same way. Just because their work environment is set up to appeal to one type of worker does not mean it should be the only way.

Everyone has different ways of communicating. Some are emoji people, and some are terse. There is nothing wrong with either! Through the lens of Orr’s experience, she challenged everyone to really get to know themselves by asking some deep questions about what we really want out of work and life. Rachael Romig, Senior Director of Events & Special Programs, GRCA, got the evening started by sharing her walk-up song, “I AM WOMAN,” by Emmy Meli. She then welcomed attendees and asked them to think about what their walk-song would be — the song that represents them and gets them pumped up.

Catering by John Lowe provided the delicious spread.