We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Nowak a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
I worked as an engineer in the construction industry for 22 years. First as a design engineer, then as a project manager, and finally as a people manager.
Despite the longevity of my engineering career, I never enjoyed engineering. It never felt like it was a good fit for me, and I experienced chronic stress as a result. However, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do instead. I had lifetime love of baking, but a series of meetings with a career counselor steered me away from pursuing baking as a career.
Eventually, I burned out and could no longer tolerate the mental and emotional stress from being in an unsuitable career. I took the leap to become a solopreneur – starting a small vegan baking business in 2019 and leaving my corporate job in January 2020.
The timing proved both fortunate and unfortunate, as the COVID pandemic would shut down life as we knew it only a month and a half later. As a new baking business, selling a niche product at a premium, the shut down was not favorable to my bottom line.
2020 was a very slow year for my baking business. Early in the pandemic, my husband was diagnosed with melanoma, and I started diving into healthy living and learning more about all the variables that impact chronic disease and health. I felt like there was so much the average person just did not know or realize about the true impacts of making healthier lifestyle choices. I wanted to share it with everyone I knew!
The downtime of 2020 also offered an opportunity for career reflection. I realized that, while I did not enjoy engineering, I loved the coaching, mentoring, and development aspects in my last role as a people manager.
Ultimately, I decided to marry the two and enrolled to become a certified life and health coach.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
What started as a bonified health coaching business in 2022 morphed into more of a life coaching business after I experienced the power of Positive Intelligence and became a Positive Intelligence Mental Fitness Coach myself in mid-2023.
I now coach women in the construction industry around stress management, imposter syndrome, and emotional intelligence – all issues I personally experienced and witnessed over and over in my 20+ year career in construction. Construction is a highly stressful industry – whether in design or execution.
Women face a unique challenge in construction since it is a highly male-dominated industry. The prevalence of imposter syndrome is high. Women often feel like they don’t measure up. They feel like they need to do more to prove themselves.
In addition, the nature of construction is inherently stressful with tight deadlines and tight budgets. Chronic stress is often the norm rather than the exception.
Underneath it all is emotional intelligence, and that is at the crux of what I do to help women manage stress and overcome imposter syndrome. Emotional intelligence seems like a buzz phrase, but it truly impacts our performance, relationships, and wellbeing to a high degree.
I personally suffered from poor emotional intelligence for many years and realized a true shift once I began improving my EQ. In the world of engineering, I witnessed poor EQ more times than I can count, as engineers generally feel more comfortable with data and numbers than they do with people. The result can be a lot of relationship conflict and poor leadership.
Through my speaking and coaching services, I help women in construction be the best versions of themselves possible. To banish chronic stress. To lead people and teams effectively. To live and work with confidence.
I expect 2025 to be a breakthrough year as my business continues to evolve.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
I wouldn’t change a thing about my career journey. Although I spent more than 20 years in a career that was unfulfilling, every single step of the way brought me to where I am now. The years I spent as a people manager led me to the work I’m doing now. The step I took to become a solopreneur and start my own baking business informed decisions I’ve made in my coaching and speaking business. I have no doubt that the work I’m doing now will parlay into something even greater to inspire others to reach their greatest potential. So, I absolutely would choose the same path.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Two words – servant leadership. I don’t believe in managing; I believe in leading. Recognizing that you work for your team, not the other way around. Treat people like human beings and not a means to an end. Emotional intelligence is key to servant leadership, so growing emotional intelligence is crucial. High morale is a dividend of servant leadership. It happens organically when a leader shows empathy and builds trust with his/her team.
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