On Wednesday I went to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit during the Industry Preview. I go just about every year for work and it is always fun to check out the cars, but this year I was really excited. Over the last several years I've been leading the development a new system which is launching for the first time on the 2013 Toyota RAV4. This is what I have spent my work days (and many nights) doing, what I've stressed over, what I moved to Japan for.
As soon as I entered the Auto Show I headed toward the Toyota booth. As I approached the video display screens above the vehicles were displaying images of the RAV4 and my heart swelled a bit.
It was so cool seeing the car. Of course I've worked on it during evaluations and seen the car being built at our plant, but seeing it for the first time out in public watching people looking at it and taking pictures of it was really awesome. Being the dork I am of course I asked someone to take a photo of me with the car.
There is really something special about taking something that is a concept to some diagrams on paper to prototypes and finally to production parts on a vehicle. I struggled through obstacles, came up with creative solutions, pushed through despite a demanding schedule and in the end launched something that I will admit I am very proud of.
I really debated about writing this post. Often times it is hard for me to admit to being proud of accomplishments and I think it is pretty common for other women to struggle with this as well. Many times I've seen one of my girlfriends do something amazing and then just shrug it off saying it is no big deal. There seems to be an unspoken pressure for women to minimize achievements for fear of looking like bragging but we should really encourage each other to give ourselves permission to feel proud of a job well done.
So now that I've given up the goods on myself, tell me, what are you proud of? It can be anything from something creative that you do, a work accomplishment, an obstacle you've overcome, a personal achievement or anything else that you have done that makes you smile when you think of it. Don't be shy! You deserve to be proud!