EPR Minisode 18: Happy New Year!

Transcript

This is definitely a week after we recorded the Christmas or the uh holiday thing. Um, I don't know what I'm saying it's been a week. It's definitely been a week for sure since we last talked to each other. Well, I hope you had a great holiday. It was so great that I can't even tell you about it. That's how great it was. But happy New Year, everyone. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Unbelievable that we are absolutely in 2026. I know. I don't think a lot of us thought we'd get through 2025. It has been a really long, long year, and I think especially for the environmental folks, some of our federal friends in general as well, moments, yes, very stressful year, very stressful moments. Um, but yeah, we did make it through, and gosh, it, it's funny we talked what last year. About like, we don't do resolutions, uh, we do some other word that you use that was really good. 

Oh, we did. I know, a year later I'm like, huh, but it was like it was like it was instead of it being Sam knows, Sam knows, I think I know. Is it intentions, intentions? Oh, my intention. I'm still doing intentions. Yes, intentions. And so yeah, we definitely still have a fun game that we're going to be playing and it's, I love the idea of a resolution isn't quite right. It's I have good intentions for the year. And am I going to go back and listen to what I said last year? Absolutely not. I refuse. I, I still have an intention of not listening to the episode. Yeah, I don't think you've. Have you listened to my real intention is not not feeling bad about myself. Yeah, right. You've, you've listened to some episodes, right? You've listened to, I have, uh, yeah, Carrie Kelly and Martha Gruber made me listen to an episode with them in the car when we were road tripping to Montreal. That's what friends are for though, yeah, because we were going to meet with Nick Holmes actually. Oh, that's right, that's right, I remember that they wanted to get the scoop on who he was and what he was up to, so I had to listen not only by myself but with them. Yeah, it was OK. I didn't, I didn't feel you're still here. You worry about it, yeah, yeah, so I didn't quit. I do have to listen to you occasionally to see if something was done or said or whatever, so, but I just, I don't force myself to do it. Yeah. Same. So, I know we have another game today, another Marley creation here, um, so. I, I'm still nervous from last time, so let's see how we do. Yep, but they are,  I think they're also kind of challenging. 

So here we go. OK, well, we nailed the Christmas one, so that's true. This will be a piece of cake. You all did well on the Christmas ones, but OK. Knowing what you know now as seasoned environmental professionals, if you were just entering the environmental career world today heading into 2026, how would you approach it? So instead of resolutions, we're each reflecting on what we'd focus on, what we'd let go of. And what we do differently if we were starting now. Wow. Yeah, what a, what a powerful question. All right, she has subquestions. She has subquestions. There's subquestions to the question. That that question had subquestions. OK. All right. All right. For our first question, if you were just entering the environmental career world today, where would you focus your energy first? This could be a skill, a type of experience, or a mindset. And again, she has examples, so if you need help, let me know. Yeah, we got to go without help, I think. And I don't know. I think I've got some, but I, I don't want to go first library every time. I got Laura, it's your turn. It's your turn. OK, OK. Well, oh man, knowing what I know now, I know that it's who you can get to know. So, I would be just going to meetings and, and I also know that nobody cares what you do or say or think or whatever, so just go and be yourself and have fun with it. That would be probably my number one thing. Yeah, that's a great one. It's like, so for me it's like its mindset, right, more than anything else because there's people you meet and people we've interviewed, right, whose backgrounds did not start with environmental in the title, right? 

There are political science majors who do environmental work. There are all kinds of ways to get into the profession, but the biggest driver, the biggest connector, you know, is. You're the people that know you, and the more you can expand that, the better it is. Uh, so. I mean, I, I, I got my first job through networking, but I didn't do anything really to earn that other than have that basic network. I had one person who got me, helped me get over the hump on, I had the interview, I got the interview on my own, they helped me get the job and that was pure, it was networking, but kind of out of my control and I think if I could do that again, I would be more purposeful. With that networking opportunity, using that to help me for the day, yes. Yeah, that's it. We would be intentional, and we would talk to everyone. Yes. Right, I would say volunteer, cause that's how I got my first job after graduating. Yeah Absolutely, that's part of meeting everyone, you know, you don't have to do it on LinkedIn, you don't have to do it in networking meetings, volunteer. And it helps when your now husband knows someone who knows someone, hence, hence networking. All right. What is one thing you would stop worrying about if you were just starting out today? 

Oh, this is another good one. You already have an answer, it sounds like. Yeah, I would. The one thing I would stop worrying about is, this is gonna sound bad, but not to worry so much about the job. Breathe a little bit. Nothing is life or death, so thing, it's, it's OK. It will be OK. Yeah, yeah, bad answer, but that's really a great answer. It's a great answer. Sometimes the best answer is a terrible answer. Yeah, oh, thank you. There's no such. I was like, uh, Lee Hagan, I'll give her a shout out. She taught me a long time ago. She's like, Nick, there's no such thing as life or death in Nipah. Every decision you make is just a decision that you made. They do have consequences sometimes, but not life and death. It's not that bad. True. And I do try to remember that for me, I would just, I would stop worrying about what other people think of me and what I'm doing and just do it. You know, I think, especially as you get older, you that that veneer falls off. But when you first start, it's very hard to feel like At least it was for me, it was hard for me to be like, oh, I'm doing a good job, continuing to do a good job. I was like, oh my gosh, what do they think of me? Am I doing good enough? And that would try to scrub that completely if I could. Yeah, I think mine's the same. I would stop worrying about whether I'm gonna get in trouble for what I'm doing or not doing or how I'm doing my job. 

And with more of an understanding that if I am doing everything how I believe is right. And I'm still getting in trouble. I'm in the wrong place. Right, exactly. Exactly. And you kind of, especially when you first start, you think your whole universe is this job because it's the first job you've had and it's the only way that things are done and there is no Uh, good, bad, or indifferent, it's just what you know, and Your, your field of vision is, is, it's. You're only in one little tiny sector or one tiny part of one tiny thing, and it feels, but it feels like an entire universe, and yeah, it's overwhelming for sure, yeah, and it was probably hard to get that opportunity. So then you're thinking like if I lose this, it's gonna be hard to get another one. Exactly, exactly. Don't worry about it. Build your network and be just ready to move on if you need to, right? Don't tell anyone you don't know what NEA stands for, right? That's the, yeah, yeah. All right, what's next? All right. Um, second to last question, what is one thing you would prioritize much earlier if you were entering the environmental career world now? Oh, I, I, I have another good one. Go for it. Like, like, I wish that I had spent a lot more time in my early career figuring out what I liked because like I knew what I was good at, but I learned that pretty well. I was a really good writer. I was really good at that, and I could, I could write something. I could research it, I could do it, no problem, but like I had a really, I think it took me maybe a couple of years to realize that like I was, that's not what I like to do. It's not my favorite thing. I don't like sitting down for hours on end writing about the same thing. That's hard for me to enjoy.

 It doesn't mean I can't do it, um, but it's not my favorite thing and I didn't understand that, you know, the happier you are at your job doing the things that you like to do, the more fun that job becomes and the less burdensome it is. So I really wish I'd known that. Uh, and I could have acted on it sooner. Yeah, I think I would prioritize. My end goal, which is kind of, kind of counterintuitive, but I would have prioritized sort of looking at the landscape I was in and whether it was matching with where I wanted to go professionally, and I don't think I even had an end goal professionally, so I prioritize trying to figure that out. What, what do I wanna be when I grow up? I have a job now, but that doesn't help me get to a destination that fulfills me. Yeah. It's funny, I think that we kind of said the same thing in a way, but yeah, I, I totally agree. I think that's what you all should be doing. That's what every everybody who starts in a career. Pay attention to it. Write it down when you have a good day. Write down why when you have a bad day, that's easy to remember. 

You're not going to forget why you had a bad day, but you do tend to forget why you had a good one. And you know, I even knew like going to conferences, right, going to NAEP, I loved that. I was like, why am I having such a great time during this week? And I'm like, Oh, because I really enjoy meeting people that I, that I like, you know. I know, isn't that crazy? That's so crazy. I didn't know that when I started, you know, I had no idea. Yeah, wonderful, yeah. I do want to share Marley's examples for that last question, because I think they're really good. So, her first example is setting boundaries and learning when to say no. That took me a while. Yes, yes. Her second example is finding mentors or peer support, which is what you guys touched on, I think, on the first question. Yeah. And the last example is protecting your mental health and energy, another very good one. Those things were all kind of on my second, like what I was gonna say. I really feel like I didn't, um, I didn't advocate for myself well enough or speak up, you know, I didn't have the tools to have the difficult conversations that my bosses wouldn't take the initiative to do themselves. Yeah, but like there's so, oh gosh, there's so many times. I remember when I wanted to. To move from DC to North Carolina. I dreaded having that conversation and I agonized it for an entire week. I was like, OK, I finally, I'm going to tell him on Friday. I'm going to tell him on Friday. I'll do it on Friday. I'll do it on Friday. What day is it? Monday. OK, yeah, I can make it to Friday, right? And I agonize over it all week and I get to Friday, and I tell him like, hey, is it OK if I transfer to? 

He's like, I was wondering when you're going to ask me that. He's like, why, why, why are you still here? You know, and like, it completely blew my mind that He already knew I was gonna have and it's just because, you know, a circumstance, my life circumstance had changed, uh, you know, and he's like, yeah, why would you stay in a place where you're not with your partner? That doesn't make any sense. Move. Um, and, and it was such a relief in a way, but it also kind of taught me, oh, we, sometimes you just need to have the bad conversation, just have it and it's over and maybe it's not as bad as you think, um, but yeah, that was, that was, uh, that was like a self-inflicted. Mental health burden that I gave myself. No one else did that. It was me. And that's really that's most of the time with self-inflicted. Yeah, those are great examples. Yeah. All right, last, last question. What is one piece of advice you would offer to someone just entering the environmental field in 2026? I mean, I would say all of those are pretty good tidbits of advice. Well, I mean, what's one more, right? Yeah, what's one more, one more. Yeah, for 2026 specifically. I think it has to be back to mental health. If, you know, you're spending too much time doing scrolling, watching the news, um, And, and letting that, like we just talked about, affect your thoughts, which are creating your own. Closed mind or um bad, you know, just pessimistic point of view or whatever like. Change it. Close that stuff off. 

Like, yes, it's there, but if it's out of your control, it's out of your control. Focus on what you can control. That's it. That's my, my tip. 2026. Focus on what you can control, yeah. Yeah, and you know, in a way, when we're faced with challenges, it sparks creativity. So don't be afraid to meet the challenge either. You know you need to have a balance between, um, you know, watching out for your mental health, but not using that as a shield to not do anything. And you want to make sure that you're also meeting a challenge because that's what this is going to be. This is going to be a challenging year again, um, and that doesn't mean that it's bad and it doesn't mean that you can't come up with creative. Uh, and thoughtful solutions that are that are beneficial to lots of different people in lots of different communities. Yeah, so I mean this is very true, having been laid off and then moving on to greener pastures, you don't, you don't see the greener pastures till you're in them. No, and that's for sure, you know, so you, the more you can recognize and realize that everything is temporary and even a layoff may seem like the end of the world, but it will most likely open a better door. Yeah, and it'll allow you to focus on new things, and that's always. It's always a good thing. 

Every now and then you need to mix things up, yeah, and you can only do that if you're open to it, yeah. So, there it is. There it is. Yeah, we're ready for 2026. Yeah, and now we'll have no issues now that we, now that we've had this episode. Everyone, everyone will be fine. So, it's gonna be a banger year for environmental professionals everywhere. Yeah, and we'll be very intentional about how we take on the year. There we go. Yes, no resolutions, just intentions. I, I intend to make 2026 a kickass year. Yeah. Me too. What else can you say? Ditto. All right, everyone, thanks for listening. We super appreciate you. Have a happy and safe New Year. Happy New Year. Happy New Year.