Paying it forward: Erica Lockheimer

- Early on in my career, I remember someone had reached out to me and truly invested in me and wanting to help me progress in my career. I'll never forget it, his name's Frank, I'll never forget Frank, he's absolutely amazing and I think about those moments because I didn't ask for his help, he just saw that I needed help, which makes a huge difference. And I think if we can always have some awareness and recognize the people in the room that need that help and just go after it, it'd make a world of difference. And when he did it, I mean mentoring, sponsorship, that was not even in our dialogue, it wasn't something that we talked about, but I knew looking back in that moment, that's exactly what it was. When I was asked to be a mentor, you know you think about do I have the time, you know can I make this part of my life, and it was one of those moments that I just kept on saying, yes I need to, and I started diving in, stepping in, and it's been one of the most rewarding experiences for me and just feeling that you can help people, it feels great. I started volunteering my time quite a bit, I'm actually volunteering my time this weekend at a conference on a panel, and those are some of the most valuable conversations that I have had. I, I'm am also in a unique position where I get to lead Women in Tech at LinkedIn. It's it's so impactful on on so many ways, where I can now influence change, I can create change, I can innovate change, and I could bring the community together to help people working at LinkedIn and outside of LinkedIn. I'm truly in the best part of my career right now and I can bring those two worlds together. One of the best pieces of advice that I've heard is from a great leader at LinkedIn, and that was to use the voice that you have earned. Sometimes when you're growing and you're realizing that you're growing in your career and you almost don't realize this voice that you, that you now have that is in your control, you have to use it, you've earned it, and you're in a position to actually make a larger impact than you think. So again, use the voice that you've earned. I think the best advice that I can give is for you to think about how you can step in and help someone and truly pay it forward. We're all busy, hundred percent get it, but there is moments in your, in your life and some daily thing that you can do that you can just take that and say, "hey this is where I'm going to reach and help someone." It doesn't actually take a long time to do, and it doesn't have to be this massive investment, it could just be a small moment of just reaching out and lending a hand in your day-to-day life. So I think, think about it, think about your space, and see how you can give back and pay it forward.