We recently connected with Gabriela Reid and have shared our conversation below.

Gabriela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s go back in time to when you were an intern or apprentice – what’s an interesting story you can share from that stage of your career?

I was lucky enough to complete two different marketing internships while in college. My first was with a landscaping company and my second was with a tech start up in downtown Chicago. I will state both my internships were unpaid but I did get class credit towards one of my majors. Oftentimes there is a negative association with unpaid internships and although I wasn’t paid in a monetary paycheck I gained so much knowledge, insight, and experience through my internships. Networking and exposure was the greatest benefit I had through my internships. A fun fact about my internship experience is that when I was interviewing for my internship with BUNDLAR through conversation with CEO & Co Founder, John Martin, we learned that I worked for his brother Jim, while at James Martin Associates. I learned that having strengths in both hard and soft skills is what sets you apart from other candidates that may have more knowledge on the subject area. I did not have any previous experience in landscaping or tech sales but I did know I could be an asset to the teams by providing strong administrative support, being a team player, and coming to work with a positive attitude everyday. After my marketing internship with BUNDLAR ended in August of 2018, I was recruited to return to the company in a paid role in November of 2020 and stayed with the company until my transition to higher education in spring of 2022.

Gabriela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

In May of 2019 I completed my B.A. in Biology and Communication from Lake Forest College. In March of 2024 I completed my MBA in Management from Depaul University. I currently work as a Residence Life Coordinator at UWM and have been in the higher ed industry for almost 3 years now. Prior I worked in a variety of industries ranging from sales tech, life insurance and research. My passion is striving for greatness and always trying to improve myself professionally and personally.

My personal motto is discipline takes us places motivation cannot. I believe if we do not hold ourselves accountable for our actions with honesty & transparency we will not succeed in leading our teams to be their authentic selves in a safe, supportive, & productive work environment.

I strive for greatness, value personal accountability and focus on improving my professional skill set every day through my role and responsibilities. I help teams function efficiently and effectively through interpersonal relationship building exercises to reach their desired results.I enjoy a positive, collaborative and engaging work environment with others who are committed to fostering innovation and new learning opportunities for everyone.

In my free time, I enjoy hot yoga, strength training, trying new restaurants around Milwaukee or attending sporting events. My Friday night ritual is immediately changing into comfy clothes at home and ordering a pizza to watch a new Netflix or Hulu show before switching to a comfort show (either Archer or The Office).

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

My biggest piece of advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale is setting a team mission that allows all members to improve on a professional and personal level. A common team mission I set for my staff is to commit to be 1% better each day in one of the current top 5 skills to be successful usually in our first official gathering. The top 5 usually include categories like Leadership, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, Communication, and Work Ethic and beginning strong is a good foundational step to setting expectations with your team. Holding space for a team to set expectations of themselves and of their supervisor allows for trust to build up between the group. For trust to exist in a team, vulnerability and respect need to be offered first and I do this by sharing some aspects of my personal life with my staff to humanize myself as well. To maintain high morale, I try to build a personal relationship intertwined with our professional working goals. My team are employees but before that they are people with a variety of values, hobbies or passions. I find value in learning about who my staff are as people first and understanding their strengths to encourage them to showcase that through their current role. Having a team that is solid in their trust of each other is unmatched because when a person feels safe to ask questions, offer new suggestions, or give constructive feedback that is the spark of a great collaboration effort by all parties..As a leader my goal for my team is to provide them an environment where they can actively explore their strengths and reflect on areas for improvement as we move forward together without fear of judgment or retaliation. As a supervisor, it is my duty to remind my team to find balance between their work and their life with all the other commitments in between. The greatest gift we can give someone is recognition of their importance and contributions.

My takeaway for others managing is to remember that personal and professional Development go together like peanut butter and jelly. We can’t have one without the other and expect it to taste just as good.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

5.5 years ago I made the decision to take control of my health and wellness by undergoing bariatric surgery and have maintained a 120 pound weight loss since. I had to dedicate myself to making intentional lifestyle changes and committing fully to being my own self advocate. Through my weightloss journey I learned to transition my new life skills into my professional sphere with a coaching and self care mindset to positively propel my career by being a strong leader. A strong leader by my definition is someone who is consistent, dedicated, and empathetic to their team. Through my personal wellness journey I learned my BIG 3 for being successful and showing up strong in my professional role. Delayed gratification, sense of accomplishment, and consistency are the three foundation bricks I had to lay to be truly successful in my weightloss journey while also completing my masters degree. I began my masters at DePaul University in June of 2021 in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Coaching & Talent Development. I had to work hard over a long period of time to see results in both my weightloss journey and my masters program while working Full Time throughout my journeys. Celebrating the small wins along the way allowed me to attain a sense of accomplishment during periods of high stress, low morale and fatigue. I had to constantly remind myself that just because you took longer than others doesn’t mean you failed; slow progress is still progress. My priorities had to change and I reminded myself that it wasn’t selfish of me to have different priorities than everyone else wherever I was at professionally or personally in my life. And finally, no matter what I needed to show up everyday. It took time and it was hard but choosing what “hard” I wanted to tackle is what illustrates my resilience. Being morbidly obese was hard, working 8 hours and then logging in to Zoom for class was hard, having discipline is hard, staying motivated is hard. I have the opportunity now to choose the hard path I want to overcome. It took me 2.5 years to complete my MBA while working full time and 4.5 years to lose and maintain my weightless. Every day is a chance to get stronger, get better, to live healthier, & to be the best version of myself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: gibshalifa
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielareid2019/

Image Credits

Isavel Gonzalez Photography