Theoni Rapo joins us on the season 1 finale of "Women Just Like You", a podcast full of career advice for women in the middle of their careers directly from women in the middle of theirs. Theoni’s career as a loan officer starting as a social media internship at a bank freshman year of college and she never went back, combining both interests to build her brand as Not Your Daddy’s Lender and disrupt the mortgage industry, get speaking gigs, and set-up multiple businesses to get to BILLIONAIRE status one day.

She’s now using TikTok and Instagram to generate leads for her mortgage business and has created an entire backend system to support going viral on her page @TheoniTheLender, which will be super helpful as her second child is due this summer and she’ll need to take some time off as her family grows. Theoni also gets real with us about being a working mom, including the honest truth about maternity leave in her world and how hard it is to set boundaries while trying to grow her mortgage business. She shares her motivation with us and it’s a super inspiring discussion making me want to do what she’s doing after listening to this! But more importantly, this interview will leave you thinking “If she can do it, so can I” which is the WHOLE point of this show.

Our conversation is full of:

• The real honest truth about being a working mom and entrepreneur with a toddler in tow

• Social media tips for building a top-notch personal brand people will take seriously

• Educating consumers about the biggest purchase they’ll ever make, their home

• How she thinks about social media as a lead generator for her mortgage business

• Her approach to building out multiple businesses with her husband

• And doing all that while prepping for baby #2 (it’s a girl!)

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Childhood Dreams

06:47 Career Journey and Starting in Mortgages

09:15 Role as a Mortgage Banker and Loan Officer

12:06 Benefits and Flexibility of the Job

13:19 Tips for Becoming a Loan Officer

23:05 Opportunities from Social Media Presence

28:02 Advice for Women Getting Active on Social Media

31:07 Diversifying Platforms

32:20 Starting with One Platform

33:16 Differentiating Platforms

34:38 Navigating News and Changes

35:57 Transparency in Real Estate Commissions

37:33 Lead Generation on TikTok

38:37 Adapting and Pivoting in Real Estate

39:56 Balancing Work and Motherhood

40:55 Preparing for the Next Phase

45:13 Aspirational Goals

46:30 Asking for Help

49:39 Motivation and Inspiration

55:31 Future Career and Goals

59:32 Favorite Inspirational Quote

The things we chat about!

Audrey’s photoshoot with Christina Gavin Photography (SF Bay Area) @christinagavinphotography

Theoni’s photoshoot with Lena Nikolaj (New Jersey / New York, but travels!) @lenanikolaj

We Croak app: https://www.wecroak.com/

You can connect with Theoni at:

@theonithelender on Instagram and TikTok

trapo@annie-mac.com

notyourdaddyslender.com/links

linkedin.com/in/theonirapo/

You can find Audrey at:

⁠www.audreyutchen.com⁠

⁠linkedin.com/in/audreyutchen⁠

@audreythecareerwoman on Instagram and YouTube

Join the distribution list to get behind-the-scenes content about the making each episode, along with monthly career development recommendations: ⁠https://shorturl.at/begnv⁠

----------

"Women Just Like You" is a career advice podcast for women in the middle of their careers directly from women in the middle of theirs. Join Audrey on Wednesdays to hear from women just like you: not a new professional but not at the top of the ladder just yet, and learn what they are up to at this exact stage of their career journey.

Theme music is “Dance of the Violins” by F-777, usable under Creative Commons.

Katherine Bell, a data analyst at Asana, joins us this week on “Women Just Like You”, a podcast full of career advice for women in the middle of their careers directly from women in the middle of theirs. Katherine’s journey from wanting to be an astronaut as a kid to a pivotal player in data analytics shows the impact continuous learning and transformation can have on your career journey. She dives into her switch from urban planning to data analysis, emphasizing the importance of embracing new challenges -- like branching out as a consultant -- and the instrumental role of feedback in career growth.

Katherine and I met through a career development program that pairs women at our company Asana with other women in the middle of their careers to support each other in achieving great things. Katherine shares her immediate goal of upleveling into a data scientist and her broader aspirations that just might include a graduate degree one day!

Our conversation is full of:

• The shift from urban planning to embracing the complexities of data.

• The significance of feedback and open dialogues with supervisors.

• Setting realistic short-term and ambitious long-term career goals.

• Why continuing education might be a crucial step for career advancement.

• Encouraging other women to pursue their career goals relentlessly.

• And laughing a lot along the way!

Chapters

00:00 Childhood Dream of Becoming an Astronaut

01:42 Transition from Urban Planning to Data Science

02:31 Transition from Urban Planning to Data Analysis

06:23 Career Path and Transition to Data Science

11:42 Challenges and Learning Experiences

12:47 Decision to Attend a Data Science Bootcamp

21:42 The Role of Data Science in Urban Planning

22:10 Navigating a Temporary Lateral Move

25:18 Unofficial Internship as a Data Scientist

31:42 Advice for Women in the Middle of Their Careers

33:15 Leveraging Feedback and Peer Input

38:24 Short-Term and Long-Term Career Goals

41:42 Closing Remarks and Takeaways

You can connect with Katherine at:

www.linkedin.com/in/kathmbell/

You can find Audrey at:

⁠www.audreyutchen.com⁠

www.⁠linkedin.com/in/audreyutchen⁠

@audreythecareerwoman on Instagram and YouTube

Join the distribution list to get behind-the-scenes content about the making each episode, along with monthly career development recommendations:

⁠https://shorturl.at/begnv⁠

----------

"Women Just Like You" is a career advice podcast for women in the middle of their careers directly from women in the middle of theirs. Join Audrey on Wednesdays to hear from women just like you: not a new professional but not at the top of the ladder just yet, and learn what they are up to at this exact stage of their career journey.

Theme music is “Dance of the Violins” by F-777, usable under Creative Commons.

Deanne Bhamgara, a Revenue Operations and Salesforce CPQ systems expert, is this week’s episode on Women Just Like You, a career advice podcast for women in the middle of their careers directly from women in the middle of theirs. Deanne grew up in Nigeria, started her career in marketing in India, and later transitioned to revenue operations in California where she became a liaison between users and technology. She emphasizes the importance of community and learning from others, as well as taking leaps of faith and pursuing additional qualifications or testing out different job structures (think leaving a full-time role for a contract job). She encourages women to pursue a career in RevOps and offers tips for getting started, such as joining a bootcamp and finding a supportive community. Deanne also highlights how women are the perfect type of people to work in RevOps because of our natural communication and collaboration skills!

Listen to our conversation, which shares how Deanne’s childhood dream of becoming a pilot turned into her role in technology today!

Our conversation is full of:

• Having a global mindset

• How to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated roles

• Staying motivated even after you fail

• Building a supportive community during times of change

• The nuances between full time, contract, and apprenticeship roles

• When to pursue additional qualifications

• Being a woman in RevOps

• And navigating when to speak Hindi, English, or a combination of the two!

Chapters

00:00 Childhood Dreams and Global Perspectives

09:45 Career Journey and Marketing Experience

11:57 Transition to Revenue Operations

20:04 Bridging the Gap Between Marketing and IT

25:15 Pursuing Additional Qualifications

28:50 The Power of Certification and Community

30:30 Different Job Structures: Full-Time, Contract, and Apprenticeship

32:44 Responsibilities and Career Development in Full-Time Roles

34:04 Building Community and Networking Opportunities

36:19 Women in the Rev Ops World

40:30 Tips for Pursuing a Career in Rev Ops

43:02 Career Paths After the Bootcamp

46:16 Career Outlook and Learning Opportunities

50:01 Advocating for Yourself in the Workplace

53:42 Every Day as a Personal Practice for Self-Betterment

You can connect with Deanne at:

www.linkedin.com/in/deannebhamgara/

You can find Audrey at:

⁠www.audreyutchen.com⁠

www.⁠linkedin.com/in/audreyutchen⁠

@audreythecareerwoman on Instagram and YouTube

Join the distribution list to get behind-the-scenes content about the making each episode, along with monthly career development recommendations:

⁠https://shorturl.at/begnv⁠

----------

"Women Just Like You" is a career advice podcast for women in the middle of their careers directly from women in the middle of theirs. Join Audrey on Wednesdays to hear from women just like you: not a new professional but not at the top of the ladder just yet, and learn what they are up to at this exact stage of their career journey.

Theme music is “Dance of the Violins” by F-777, usable under Creative Commons.