FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

In my travels, coaching and speaking, I get the opportunity to meet with many successful women who are doing amazing things in business. So I have decided to add a new section to the blog: Women of Substance which will feature their stories.

And so I would like to introduce you to Lisa Watts who I recently met in California. She is the Operations Manager and Technical Adviser to the Vice President of the Digital Office Division at Intel Corporation. In addition to working at Intel for 14 years, she is also an entrepreneur and artist. She designs a line of artisan jewelry under the label L. Michele Designs and is an active partner is several Sacramento businesses, including Restaurant 55 Degrees and W Gallery & Studios. Plus she has two kids. This is one very busy, passionate lady! And she contributes to an interesting blog Damsels in Succes.

What made you go into IT? Before she went into IT, Lisa went to art school and did interior design. Then she tried accounting school and hated it, so she went into banking because she had a passion for business. She started playing around with software and thought it was interesting. She went to school in computing science and started her career at Intel in PC repair. Since then she has worked in many different areas of the company, gaining expertise. Her success is based on always stretching and taking on bigger and bigger responsibilities. Lisa believes in going after what you want; never worry about failing.

You work in a very male-dominated industry - what are the most common ways that women give away their power?

• They second-guess themselves.
• They don’t go for the high-profile assignments because they lack confidence.
• They focus on action, instead of results.

Words of wisdom for women on balancing family, work and life: Make sure you have a support structure in place - recognize that you don’t have to do everything yourself to be a good mother. Take advantage of technology - work remotely if you can. Chances are you will get more accomplished because of fewer distractions. Focus on what matters most to you; have a plan in place and only do the important stuff. Decide what you want and what’s important and go for it. Let the rest go!