Always Keep Learning & Be Not Afraid - Insightful Career Advice From 5 Women Making Waves
Release Date: 10/28/2026
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“You can't stop learning and you can't be complacent. And yes, you might have time constraints. Yes, you might have disadvantages. Yes, you may have been in your career and been very good at it for a very long time, but it doesn't mean that you can sit still and stop learning.…The advantage that you have is that you have experience, you have professional networks, you know how to hold down a job….But you have to get behind the new technology and learn how to use it because that's the tools that we're using moving forward.” Nikki Greenberg on Electric Ladies Podcast It's fall and...
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"Successful energy innovations can have outsize economic and social outcomes, impacting industrial competitiveness, trade, environmental health, infrastructure investment and security," according to the International Energy Agency's State of Energy Innovation 2026 report. They added that "spending on energy represent(s) as much as 10% of global GDP" and that "one in ten patents is related to energy – more than for chemicals, pharmaceuticals or transport." Joan Michelson at her Tulane Energy Forum Panel Our entire economy depends on energy. Yet, we find ourselves in both an energy...
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“Uncertainty doesn't mean you know zero. Uncertainty just means you may know 80%, you may know 90%. So I think we're too quick to freak out and say, "Well, if I'm not certain, therefore I know nothing….So I would say get curious about uncertainty. Stop freaking out about it because everything given to you is really here for your growth. It's just how are you going to make the most out of it? …You probably know a lot more than you think you do, or you can get the answer…." Jessica Li on Electric Ladies Podcast We are surrounded by uncertainty today, from AI to climate change to...
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“The venues chosen had to agree….Many of those venues went fully plant-based for Billie shows, which was amazing. So, they had to agree to have at least three plant-based mains. So that doesn't count pretzels…or popcorn…. On that last US leg (of Billie's tour), we went a step further. We worked with every venue and we presented these culinary trainings to the culinary staff. They focus on the why you should add more plant-based food, which of course is planetary. It's to address the needs of your customers. It can be even to save money. And then we address the how's, how's to do it...
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“Obviously that question of women, money, and wealth changed over time….We don't talk about women wanting money all that much…Women were excited to become gradually big earners, but they treated money very differently. They treated money as a way to create protection for themselves and their family, as a way to create a legacy that would continue. They were not into big spending as much…. What I hadn't realized was to what extent these early women…were saying, "I was the only woman in the room," and they had tremendous ramifications for how they had to function on Wall Street because...
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“It's really that investment to transition from a legacy industry into a future industry…that is aiming to drive more sustainability and manufacturing processes and products overall…One of the things that we fundamentally see as being important in this economic shift, and we say it in this Practical Guide to the Green Economy, is that this transition we believe will favor places that make things.… and we want to make them better and more sustainable.” Bethia Burke on Electric Ladies Podcast As communities seek economic growth and manufacturing jobs, a recent study found that...
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“I've been particularly passionate about working with women in those communities to teach them about new techniques so they can understand how to run their farm more effectively, but also understand their rights as women in those communities so they have a stronger voice…. And because they were called an ‘ambassador,’ their status in the village rose.” Alison Ward on Electric Ladies Podcast If you're shopping for back-to-school clothes or a new fall wardrobe, you'll look at the labels a bit differently after listening to today's episode. Why? Because the cotton in your...
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“We did a study where we shared the story of the careful thought that went into products that were better for people and the planet … Then we administered the standard guest satisfaction survey, and what we found, Joan, was 150% increase in satisfaction, loyalty numbers… Why?...They equated it to service. They said a hotel that goes out of its way to choose products that are better for me and the planet is a hotel that I have confidence is going to take better care of me while I'm there.” JoAnna Abrams on Electric Ladies Podcast With summer travel season is in full swing, a lot...
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“There are those individual actions that we can take. But if I can work with my community or work inside of my company, or if I can work inside of my house of worship and we can build some community and some action that way, it will have a much bigger impact than anything that I can do as an individual… The communities that they're already a part of, whether they're residential, like in their neighborhoods, or it's the nonprofits that they're a part of, or the places where they have other kinds of communities like religious communities, and start conversations there. What could we do as a...
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“(Climate modelling)…it's being used in things like insurance companies. It's being used by companies for their ESG assessments. So, when you get your insurance premium at the end of the year, there is some kind of climate model that has said something about the risk of your house to flood. It has said something about your risk to fire. And so that might be driving up your insurance premium…And so it's being involved in your lives in many different ways. The food you consume, those grocery bills, there's prices behind it that are being driven by people using climate models saying...
info_outline“You can't stop learning and you can't be complacent. And yes, you might have time constraints. Yes, you might have disadvantages. Yes, you may have been in your career and been very good at it for a very long time, but it doesn't mean that you can sit still and stop learning.…The advantage that you have is that you have experience, you have professional networks, you know how to hold down a job….But you have to get behind the new technology and learn how to use it because that's the tools that we're using moving forward.” Nikki Greenberg on Electric Ladies Podcast
It's fall and the winding down of the year, and a good time to think about your career - where you are, what you've done, and how to maximize the rest of the year and any conferences or events you're attending. So here's some great advice from five extraordinary women from different industries that I met at conferences.
Listen to these five amazing recent guests on Electric Ladies Podcast: food & climate activist and actor Maggie Baird; historian/author Paulina Bren; tech expert & Senior Director of Global Performance of Bentley Systems Lydia Walpole; urban design expert Nikki Greenberg; and critical minerals expert Liv Carroll of Accenture. What resonates with you? Post it to us @joanmichelson on social media.
You’ll hear about:
- Taking risks
- Always learning and building your skills and competence
- Building relationships for mutual benefit
- Exploring your talents
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