5/9/22 - Create Your Career Advancement Roadmap: Mary Guirovich, My Promotion Plan

Intro: As a Christian working woman, you have many roles from your responsibility with family and friends to community and work. How do you connect all that you do with all that you are, and still have your face shine through. It's a challenge, but you are up to it. The, sheWorks4Him. Podcast is the gathering place to empower Christian working women, to live out their calling at work.

By connecting them to God resources and each other through powerful face stories from other working sisters in Christ. Welcome to sheWorks4Him.

Martha: You've tuned into sheWorks4Him, where we connect Christian, working women to God resources and one another. And today is like, no, every other time, when we get together with you, we want to highlight resources or things that God is doing around the, the globe that we can take advantage of.

And one of those that I want to highlight, right. Is the boss woman getaway. It's going to be happening in Orlando in June. And so you probably need to bring a bathing suit cause it's not going to be cold. It will. Well, the air conditioning is always cold inside in Florida. But this is a getaway for every woman, whether they work in their home or in the C-suite every single title that you may carry. This is an opportunity for you to come where they're creating a collaborative platform. That's going to promote the exchange of dialogue and topics and issues that are pertinent to the Christian working woman. And I just want to encourage you to check it out at boss woman getaway. That link will be in the show notes, so you don't have to go try and search and find it. But we just want to highlight that and I want to also highlight: if you know, of an event or a resource or something that we should be talking about, and sheWorks4Him, even if it's highlighting it, just like this, please email me, Martha@iWork4Him.com so that we can make sure that we are, again, just sharing the news of what God's doing in people's lives and the ways that, that. Are living that out through the things they're organizing and writing down. So thank you for being with us today. We are your hosts, Martha Brangenberg and Catherine Gates.

And remember, you can find us everywhere. She works the number 4 him,

Mary Guirovich: Catherine.

Catherine: Thanks, Martha. In 2017, the Boston consulting group published an article called dispelling the myths of a gender ambition. Exposing the lie that women tend to reduce their goals or advancement in their careers as they become mothers and advance in their years.

BCG research shows that women's ambition levels are influenced for better or worse, more by company culture than age or family status. In other words, women's ambition can be encouraged or damaged by their experiences at work. Our guests today, Mary Guirovich has firsthand experience of being discouraged in her desire to advance to the C-suite.

Mary did eventually become COO of the multi-million dollar company she helped start, but not without having someone express belief that she had what it takes. At one point as Mary was hiring for open positions, she was struck by what she saw as an epidemic of women who don't believe in themselves enough to confidently pursue the jobs they want, or negotiate for a higher salary. She is passionate about being a catalyst to help women advance in their careers and breakthrough their own personal best in all areas of their life. Mary is also the author of the best-selling book God's Not Done With You: how to advance in your career and live in abundance. Mary, welcome to sheWorks4Him.

Mary Guirovich: Thank you, Catherine. And Martha, it's so great to be here and have this opportunity.

Catherine: Well, it has been so fun to get to know you and learn more about your story, and we definitely want to get to how you integrate your faith in work and what that looks like for you. But first, can you share with our listeners, how did you become a follower of Jesus?

Mary Guirovich: Yeah, absolutely. So I was actually raised going to church ever since I was a little girl, my mom would take us to church every weekend and I knew of Jesus, but I didn't have a relationship with him that actually came in my twenties. After I was actually in this deep, dark, depressing place after a breakup, I kind of felt like the whole world was caving in around me.

I found myself laying on the floor one night, eating McDonald's talking to my roommate because I had downsized and on her door, it said, Jesus freak. And there I am laying on her floor eating this McDonald's and she says, why don't you come to church with me tomorrow? And I thought, oh, I can't go tomorrow.

I've been drinking tonight. Maybe next week. I went the next week. She lured me in with pancakes. And within weeks I had given my life to Jesus. Not only did I know of him, but now I had accepted him into my life as my Lord and savior.

Catherine: He really does get to us at our lowest moments. Sometimes it takes that doesn't it?

Thank God. Yeah. And praise God, your friend was there for you, but when did you realize that your work matters to God, Mary? What did God do to get your attention around that area of your life?

Mary Guirovich: Yeah. Once I gave my life to Jesus, I could tell that the holy spirit had come in. I didn't know this at the time, but my whole life just kind of transitioned.

And at that point in time, I was actually working at a restaurant or brewery and I could tell like, it wasn't congruent with what God wanted me to do, but I didn't really understand all of that. I ended up moving to Texas to help my sister out. And it was through that process that I started to trust God.

I literally gave away everything that wouldn't fit in my convertible, drove across the country and didn't even have a job. What was I going to do? It was like a whole brand new life, but I was trusting God. And it was through that process that I realized that God cared about the work that I did. And I could see him in those very early stages after becoming a believer.

And I would kind of go to him like praying and asking about which jobs I should be doing. And it wasn't necessarily in those moments that I could see what that work really meant. But it was turning around years later after I could see the journey that he was actually bringing me on. And I started to become convicted to know that, Hey, when I go to work, I'm not working for the people around me.

My work is for Jesus. And so everything I do, I want to do to honor him.

Martha: Beautiful. So I want to talk about that work a little bit, and maybe both sides of the coin. Like, what are some of the biggest struggles you've had and the biggest victories specifically as a Christian working woman? Like with that context, what caused you some struggles and challenges, but first, can you tell me like what industry you were in? So we kind of have some context.

Mary Guirovich: Yeah. So when I was first saved, I was in the hospitality industry. So I was working in restaurants and it was interesting because before I would just, I was kind of like a bull in a China cabinet. Like I knew what was right. I had confidence and I was going to go out there and make it happen.

And then once I'd given my life to Jesus, it was like, okay, let me pray about this meeting that's coming up. Let me, let me, I still wanted to do the right things. I'm very much a person that wants to know the right things to do. And I want to do the right thing. But now it was inviting God into the conversation.

So when I had to have tough conversations with my manager, it was like, let me pray about this before going into this conversation. And it was, it, it was just so much easier to kind of go through that. But there's definitely challenges that we face because there were times, you know, as I was kind of going through I, my job, I went out of restaurants and then I started doing some consulting with fortune 500 companies.

And the company I was working for actually shifted and changed things. And so where it was really good for my family. And I did, I was one of those women that my ambition started to go. Not that it went down, but my pay went down out after meeting my husband three times. And here I was at this point where they had kind of put me in this different role, they changed my pay.

It just, I wasn't happy where I was and I had tried looking for other jobs and that's one day I came home and broke out in hives and my husband said, why don't you look for a job outside of the restaurant industry? And I had a lot of distorted thinking and, but I said, you know what, okay, I'm going to do this.

And I found a job for a front office assistant position. And he's like, not that one. They're not going to pay you enough, but I heard this woman's voice. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this is it. I'm supposed to work for this company. I always cared about health and wellness. I was very misguided, but I cared about this.

This was something that was really meaningful to me. And I knew that God wanted me to be in this place and to work for this company. And he showed that very shortly after working there, I got a very big increase in my bonus within a week. And the doctor was opening up this doctor's coaching company in which I'd go on to be a partner in.

And so God knows where we're supposed to be. But we don't always know. And so there were times during that time, when I was going through interviews and not getting the job. But looking back, I'm like, oh, I praise God, because that would not be the job for me.

Catherine: He's directing our steps all the time. Well, I can't wait for our listeners to hear more of it right now. We're going to take a quick break. You're listening to, sheWorks4Him with your hosts, Martha Brangenberg and Catherine Gates. We'll be right back with Mary Guirovich.

Break: Did you know that God has a calling on your life? It's true. He's called you to bring Jesus to the world. For some that may look like a pulpit or a foreign mission field.

But for most of us, it looks like a construction site, the cubicle, a hospital, or a classroom, wherever it is that you work with volunteering and best that is your mission field. To learn more about integrating your faith into your work in retirement. Check out our books. iWork4Him. sheWorks4Him, and iRetire4Him by oing to iWork4Him.com/Bookstore.

Catherine: Welcome back to, sheWorks4Him. We're talking to the CEO of my promotion plan. Mary, you were sharing a little bit about some of the downfalls that you were experiencing, but then you started experiencing an uptick in your career. I know that you you've written this book.

God's Not Done With You. What motivated you to write that book? And, and what I'd love to hear. What are some of the biggest challenges you see for Christian working women with respect to their career advancement?

Mary Guirovich: Yeah. There were a couple things that really motivated me to write this book. The first was just a personal thing.

I had not believed that I was capable of reading, writing, or spelling for the majority of my life, because I started struggling with that as a six-year-old. And so I spent most of my life believing that it wasn't possible for me. And when I had this new belief I'm like, okay, I get right now. And that's one of the things that inspired me to want to write the book, but that's not really why I wanted to write the book.

That was just kind of this bonus thing. What really inspired me to write the book is the fact that I actually got stuck in my career. So I was working for this company and, you know, it seemed like I was doing all the right things. I was named team member of the year. I had the largest, most successful coaching load, but I wasn't really believing I was capable of being an executor. My husband would tell me how capable I was. And I tell him all the minute reasons why I wasn't. It's kind of, when we kind of look in our rear view mirror, instead of through the windshield that God has for us, we see all those mistakes.

And so through this process I actually one day decided at a leadership meeting. I said, I'm going to be the next CEO of this company. Little did I know that that position was going to open up just three months later. I thought God was giving me 10 years here. I got three months. So I went into my boss's office and I asked for that position and he said, well, you're going to have to do the position before you get the pay and the title.

And I was pretty much failing on all accounts. One woman even said she didn't want to be led by another woman. And others would just simply disregard me. I did have the support of the founder and, you know, there was some things going for me, but it really wasn't working. And so one day I was at work on my day off.

My husband calls me and he tells me that he's going to be out of his job, that his is going in another direction. So my breadwinning husband is going to lose his job. We just had our fourth child and I can't earn a promotion. And that's when God spoke to me and he said, Mary, make a plan. So I went on to put my plan together.

And through this promotion planning process, I was made VP of operations. And throughout the years, I was able to use this process to go to COO a year later. And then the plans worked so well for implementing that. I turned another one in and I was made a partner with the company. It was through this time that I was actually interviewing other women.

And that's when I realized that there was an epidemic of women that were undervaluing themselves, where I thought it was just me that was struggling to have belief in myself and where I thought I was struggling to own my own value. I now realize that I wasn't the only one. So I started teaching other people, the system that I use.

And women were able to advance in their careers that were deemed unpromotable in the past. People that, you know, didn't know how to approach their boss, because they were very uncertainand how to do that, or maybe they were afraid to do that. And so through this process, they were able to earn promotions and raises to much larger than the standard raises.

And that's why I wanted to write this book. And so when I started to write it, I was writing it to teach people the promotion planning process. But once I got that manuscript done, God spoke to me again. And he said, Mary, I'm supposed to be in the book. And I'm like, whoa, I'm just trying to accomplish writing a book here.

Now I gotta put you in it? Like, this is really scary because I want nothing more than to honor God's word, but he was right. He needed to be in the book because that's where true promotion comes from. It comes from the Lord. And it was through this process that I teach in the book of harmonizing your heart and renewing your mind that my, I was actually able to experience the promises of God for myself in my life.

And Catherine, you know, you talk about this in your book The Confidence, Cornerstone, how confidence is so key to women advancing and that's what's really needed. And so it's this confidence building section that really makes all the difference paired with the plan.

Catherine: Yeah. And actually in reading your book, there's a lot of parallels between some of the things we do to set up, you know, recognizing the beliefs that are getting in the way.

Right. And shifting those. That's fantastic. Now your offer. You have a free offer don't you? So people can get sort of a little taste of what is in that book and what it can do for them. Tell us a little bit about that free masterclass. How can people get access to that?

Mary Guirovich: Yeah. So you can go to CoachMaryG.com - they make it easy for you coachMaryg.com and you can get gain access to the free masterclass. So right on the site, you'll see it free masterclass. You're able to go on there and you can see the steps that we take in the promotion planning process, because it really is a system that's designed that really trying to advance in my career. None of the traditional stuff was really working for me. I couldn't overwork even more, you know, I didn't have time to wait on, on more mentors. I was on a lot of strategic projects. And so that's why I really want to teach people this. So they can gain access to that there.

Martha: So I'm curious - thank you for that. And I'm again, you said coachMaryg.com and so I hope that people will take advantage of that. And I'm curious though, when I'm hearing your story, like when you were interviewing people, did you, at that point did you help them? I mean, like were you actually, like, here's a way, you know, to promote, you know, help yourself?

Do you have more confidence? Did you find yourself there or, or at what point did you say? Ah, I need to share this with the world.

Mary Guirovich: Yeah. So it was actually through those interviews because I went to school for hotel, restaurant management. And so I was trained and taught to not hire people that weren't promotable in their last position.

Yeah, but I took a chance on some people and I'm like, I just like, once again, God's like telling me, like you're supposed to hire this person. And so I did. And like they came in and they were like running circles around people and I'm, well, they didn't have a mystical burst of this growth overnight. And so that was really how I discovered it.

So I did help them. The promotion planning system that I developed actually became the standard for advancing within my company. So these people that I interviewed and hired were able to advance and others, you know, it, it was, it was there was some coaching going on there sometimes just helping them to understand like, Hey, this is you, you really should be putting yourself out there for more.

But I think there's so many myths and so many there's so much misinformation out there on how we should value ourselves. And even just having that little bit of information. How much you should be asking for when you go into that next job and how to determine that amount, it it's life changing.

Martha: So Mary, I have a, another question a little bit back to something else you said when you wrote it out and then God said, Hey, I'm supposed to be in this book.

What does that look like? How, how because I hear in your personal life that it was, he was incorporated, but how did you write that into the texts that you

Mary Guirovich: share with the reader.

Yeah. So there was in their original manuscript, there was one chapter called executive mindset. And, you know, I was going through there, I was going through this healing time. Back in 2019, I heard Dr. Bruce Lipton speak at a John Maxwell conference and he was talking about how our subconscious mind works. And it was at that point that I identified. I had a struggles with spelling and reading and writing because my six year old self who went through a traumatic situation of being molested at that time was holding onto this belief.

And it was a sphere that was blocking my learning. And so I just adopted these new beliefs to say, okay, this is what it is. And so through this healing process, people introduced me to meditation. I got some neurofeedback, I was doing affirmations. I was doing gratitude and I was doing all of these things, but it was like, I had this personal development, health time. And then it was like, okay. And then I have this time where I read my Bible and I pray and it kind of felt like I was just checking boxes off and it wasn't integrated. And that was the problem is that, you know, God is here to provide for us. He is our healer, but I wasn't understanding God's love.

And so it was through this process. That God showed me. He gave me the wisdom and the understanding of yes. Okay. These affirmations work, but here look, look how many times I say I am in the Bible, right? This is not something that the world has just developed. God tells us to be thankful. He tells us to be thankful in our prayer before he even gives us things.

So there are these principles that, you know, science has kind of proven to work. And here I was able to integrate into this practice. I actually, in the book, I have a harmonizing the heart and renewing the mind section. And it's actually how I stay on track every day I develop my own journal. And so I have, and people have access to this too through my book.

It's, it's a bonus. And through my harmonizing, the heart and renewing the mind course that people can, it's a pay what you can, and we donate everything to charity. You know, this is what made the difference for me. And so this is how I integrated it into the book. It actually became the largest section and went from one chapter where it kind of felt like, am I cheating on God?

Because we're talking about this executive mindset without God. And now it's like, okay, no, seek him first because that's where true promotion comes from. We don't have to fear, man. We can get our competence from God because he is really the one that is opening the doors and closing the doors. It's not about all of these formulas that the world gives us.

Catherine: Yeah. He really is the one that we have to give credit to him. Right. Absolutely. And he has created all, all kinds of tools for us to connect with him. And, and to your point, really recognize who we truly are. Our true identity. Well, we're gonna take a quick break. You're listening to, sheWorks4Him with your hosts, Martha Brangenberg and Catherine Gates. We'll be right back with Mary Guirovich.

Break: Hey listeners. One of the huge projects Martha and I have been working on for years is making it easy for every workplace believer to find all the voices speaking, encouragement, and equipping into the faith and work movement, presenting the awaken podcast network.

Online and awakened podcast network.com with over 130 different podcast. Voices speaking truth into you. The workplace believer, including over 30 podcasts, dedicated to Christian working women. Go online to awaken podcast, network.com that's awaken podcast, network.com.

Martha: Welcome back to sheWorks4Him with Mary Guirovich, where we are talking today on a topic that I know a lot of people may not have ever heard anybody even having a conversation about. Like, can women really talk about how we could have more confidence to ask for, for the bigger paycheck, the bigger title, more responsibility? I know from all the women I've known over the years, many would have the testimony that would say kind of what you said, Mary, at the beginning. Like, well, you can have this role, but we're not going to give you the title. We're not going to give you the paycheck to go with it, but you can do all those things and maybe prove to us that you're worthy of it and such a backwards way. And unfortunately, very unfair way for anybody, whether it was male or female, but it seems to be a common theme. So I am, I just want to encourage everybody check out this book for yourself. And the links will be in the show notes. So you can get it. And also her free masterclass at coachmaryg.com.

Thank you so much for providing that for us. Just real quick. Tell us where you go for encouragement yourself, Mary, to live out your faith in all that you do, including your work.

Mary Guirovich: Yeah, encouragement is so important. And God tells us in the Bible, you know, to stay close, we need to stay in community. And so I try to surround myself with people that are like-minded my inner circle and the groups that I'm a part of.

So I have a Bible study group. A lot of people are local, but not everybody. So that is one thing. We actually have a group. So I, even today I'm like, Hey, can y'all pray for me. I'm part of the John Maxwell team. It's a great organization. Even today, I'm on there, got this amazing interview coming up where y'all pray for me and like just the encouragement, floods in.

And then I have areas where I want to get more. I want to give, but I also want to get, so I I'm part of Jim Richards ultimate impact group. He has great teachings every single week and it's just so encouraging. And this is what I listened to when I go to bed or I wake up. I'm constantly just getting God's word from different people and being a part of my church, community, Bible church, being on the prayer team, getting to talk with the pastor, it just hearing his insights and the people within the prayer team and getting to pray for others. This is a way that just encourages me to see what God is doing, not just in my life, but in the lives of others.

Catherine: Yeah. Community is huge, right? I mean, that's probably been the toughest part over the last couple of years is the isolation that a lot of people experienced, but to your point, Even even when we do have to be at home, we don't have to remain isolated.

There's so many tools. There's there are groups, there's zoom, there's group me. I love group me for, for staying in touch with my little, my, my small groups here and there. So that's fantastic. So Mary, we've got a wrap up and this has been amazing. I do hope that people will check out your book God's Not Done With You, but what scripture have you meaningful recently that you would like to leave with our listeners?

Mary Guirovich: Yeah. God has really been putting James 1:3-4 on my heart: For you know, that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. For when your endurance is full developed, you will be perfect and complete needing nothing.

And I think this is so great for work because this is what God tells us. We've got to have that faith first and we take the actions and it's through that endurance and those actions that we were were, we will gain that experience in that full faith, in that perseverance that we need.

Catherine: And we see God show up. Yes. Yeah, that's fantastic. Well, Mary, thank you so much. It's been so inspiring to hear your story. And I, we pray that many women are inspired and encouraged and will pick up your book and advance in their careers in ways that they maybe didn't see possible before. So you've been listening to, sheWorks4Him with your hosts, Martha Brangenberg and Catherine Gates.

We're a Christian working women, helping other Christian working women to live at their calling at work as sheWorks4Him.

Outro: As Christian women, we have many roles from daughter, sister, friend, wife, and mother to analyst, accountant, executive or educator. Is it possible to balance our roles at work and home in a way that honors God?

The answer is yes. And our new book, sheWorks4Him will help show you. Written to celebrate, encourage and equip women in the workforce. sheWorks4Him. Discusses the diverse experiences of today's Christian working woman. Pick up a copy by going to iWork4Him.com/bookstore.

You've been listening to the, sheWorks4Him podcast with your host, Catherine Gates, Nadya Dickson, and Martha Brangenberg. Please like us on Facebook and subscribe on YouTube under sheWorks4Him and to access any of the resources we mentioned on today show. See the show notes at sheWorks4Him.Com that's she works the number 4 him.com.

This Podcast was created to empower you to live out your calling at work so the world knows sheWorks4Him.