“You’re Not an Imposter; You’re Learning”: What Women Leaders Are Saying About Careers Today

Alumni leaders speak candidly with Foster School of Business MBA students about leadership, career pivots, and navigating uncertainty at work.

From left to right: Phoebe Reid (Hybrid MBA student moderator), Caroline Boren (Fred Hutch Cancer Center), Lucy Wang (Oleria), Padmaja Vrudhula (formerly of Snowflake), and Anna Rainwater (Alaska Airlines) at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, following a conversation on leadership, career pivots, and navigating uncertainty in the workplace.

Written by: Suzanne Lee, contributing writer, Foster School of Business

Four times a year, students in the Foster School of Business Hybrid MBA program step away from their day-to-day lives and return to the University of Washington campus for intensive in-person immersions. In early April, one of those afternoons turned into something else: a candid conversation about women in leadership.

Hosted by Foster Career Management in partnership with the Hybrid MBA Women in Business student group, the panel brought together four Foster School of Business MBA alumni working across aviation, technology, and healthcare:

• Anna Rainwater (Foster Hybrid MBA alum), manager of brand marketing at Alaska Airlines;
• Caroline Boren (Foster Executive MBA alum), former associate vice president at Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center;
• Lucy Wang (Foster Technology Management MBA alum), vice president of product marketing at Oleria;
• Padmaja Vrudhula (Foster Technology Management MBA alum), former vice president of solution innovation at Snowflake, now pursuing an additional graduate degree.

The discussion was moderated by Hybrid MBA student Phoebe Reid, who balances the mostly online MBA with her full-time role as the program and finance manager of the Jefferson County Economic Development Council nonprofit on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

It was a working session on what leadership looks like over time: often nonlinear, sometimes messy, and filled with opportunities. Here are their key takeaways.

Confidence is rarely there when you need it

Even at senior levels, self-doubt doesn’t go away. It just becomes less surprising.

“I had self-doubt coming to this panel,” one speaker said, laughing. “And I’ve been doing this for 40 years.”

Panelists encouraged the students not to wait until they’re fully confident in a decision.

“When you’re 60 to 70 percent ready, raise your hand,” said one panelist. “If you’re in the room and wondering whether to speak, just say it.”

The takeaway: There will always be uncertainty; embrace it.

During one of the Foster School of Business Hybrid MBA program’s quarterly immersions, students returned to the Seattle campus for an afternoon conversation on leadership, career growth, and navigating change across industries.

You’re not an imposter: stop giving that idea power

The conversation sharpened when the topic of imposter syndrome, especially for women, came up.

“Did you call yourself an imposter when you first learned how to ride a bike? Or when you walked into a new fitness class?” one panelist asked. “No, you were learning. The minute you say you’re an imposter, you’ve given away your power.”

It’s a simple reframing, but not an easy one to adopt.

The takeaway: You’re not an imposter; you’re learning (and you always will be).

Most career moves don’t make complete sense in the moment

Career pivots came up again and again, but not as clean, upward transitions. For many, they looked more like lateral moves, everything from pay cuts to decisions that raised eyebrows.

“Every time I made a pivot, people around me were like, ‘That’s an interesting choice,’” one panelist shared. “And I had to accept that taking a lateral move — or a pay decrease or title decrease — would be worth it in the long run [to move into a new function, company, or industry]. Staying focused on the long-term plan helped when the short-term shifts felt frustrating.”

There was also a more tactical point: don’t assume too many layers of risk at the same time.

“If you have a role change, a company change, and an industry change all at the same time — that’s too many risks in one basket,” another said. “I would balance it out. Do one or two at a time, not three out of three, because then it doesn’t give you the right footing when you switch.”

The takeaway: Absorb some short-term friction to achieve your goals, and layer that friction so it doesn’t hit all at once.

As part of the Foster Hybrid MBA immersion experience, students gathered in person to hear alumni leaders share candid lessons on confidence, career pivots, and balancing ambition with life outside of work.

Don’t wait for the perfect role

Midway through the conversation, students asked how to break into competitive roles, especially in marketing and tech. The answer was direct.

“Take the job you don’t want if it gets you in the door of the company or industry where you want to be,” one panelist said.

The advice wasn’t about chasing titles. It was about access and understanding that careers are built through a series of moves, not a single perfect decision.

Breaking into a new field often means starting in a role that isn’t the end goal. It means taking a role that offers proximity to the work, the team, or the industry you want to move toward. From there, opportunities tend to open up through experience and internal movement.

The takeaway: A role doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be a starting point.

Balance is a series of tradeoffs

For a room full of professionals balancing careers, school, relationships, community, and family, the conversation around balance resonated.

“Balance isn’t 50/50,” one panelist said. “Some days it’s 80/20. Other days it flips.”

“Nothing is ever going to feel like you’re doing 100 percent; that’s not how things work,” another added.

No framework was offered, nor were time management skills or favorite apps shared. The panelists shared that priorities shift throughout your life and career. Trying to control everything tends to make it harder.

And panelists reminded the group that some of the biggest hurdles for creating balance are unexpected: a great manager or mentor leaves your organization, a sudden layoff hits, a merger creates a toxic culture, or you experience a health crisis.

“Let go of control,” one speaker said. “It’s an illusion.”

The takeaway: There is no one-size-fits-all solution to work-life balance. Figure out what works for you and continue to adjust and fine-tune.

The MBA changes how you see a job, not just how you do it

Several panelists described starting their Foster MBA expecting technical skills — finance, accounting, strategy — and leaving with something less tangible but more consequential: people, management, and leadership skills.

“Part of the reason I did the MBA program was that I felt — even though I had a math background — I didn’t understand what all these execs were talking about,” one panelist said. “And it turns out, what I got out of the MBA was how I manage people. I became a better leader. The number one thing we all have to deal with is people: whether they’re our teammates, our managers, our customers, our investors, or ourselves.”

The takeaway: The Foster MBA doesn’t only fill gaps. It expands your range in ways you don’t expect.

Taking your turn at bat

No two careers on the Foster MBA panel looked the same. The common thread was confidence in yourself: taking chances, missing, adjusting, and going again.

“Just get up to bat,” one panelist said. “In baseball, the best hitters still miss most of the time.”

In other words, progress isn’t about getting it right every time. It’s about staying in the game long enough for the hits to add up.

*Learn more about MBA programs for working professionals at the Foster School of Business.*