 Good morning. Good afternoon and good evening. Thank you for tuning in and welcome to the first anniversary episode of Mentor Docs It's been a year since we started this program to offer career tips to exchange program alumni and all who are interested in proving themselves and their communities Including our alumni in Bangladesh who've organized a watch party for this event. Hello everyone My name is Asha Bay and I'm joining you from Washington, DC and the Office of Alumni Affairs at the US Department of State Our office opens the door to alumni networking, professional development and grant opportunities We welcome alumni of all US government educational and cultural exchange programs Today we're excited to welcome a very special guest for our anniversary show Marie Royce, the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs ECA at the US Department of State She's also an award-winning exchange alumna of the American Council of Young Political Leaders Program ACYPL Assistant Secretary Royce will be sharing her secrets for success Along with her experience in the private sector working for Fortune 500 companies and as a small business owner Before we get into our conversation with Assistant Secretary Royce, we want to hear from you, our online viewers Send us your comments and questions in the Facebook comment section of this video Now let's meet and hear from Assistant Secretary Royce. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you, Asha, for inviting me I just want to say thank you for your enthusiasm And for the enthusiasm for all the participants here watching today also to those in Bangladesh again Thanks for doing the watch party. I really appreciate it I just want to say again hello and as Assistant Secretary of State for the educational and cultural affairs I'm very delighted to join you for the first anniversary of Mentor Talks. It's a real honor to speak to you We developed Mentor Talks as a way to connect you to mentors who can share their stories and also their life lessons and To enhance your professional development. I want to just let you know that I strongly believe in mentorship During my career. I've been very fortunate and to have several people in my life that have been mentors to me And many I can really call mentors these people have really helped me shape my career And they've given me advice in both good times and also bad times Those people I really appreciate because of the role that mentors have played in my life I've launched several mentoring programs in several places where I've worked and I've also mentored very many people Myself and it's really a way to give back. So I really want you to think about that It's important to build your own network and I'm a big believer in the power of networking and so for those that are on the Online today your network is very important I find that people will often help you and be your champions and again, you can't forget about persistence That's incredibly important. I want to share with you a little story about one of my professors who nominated me for an award She actually nominated me four times four years in a row for the distinguished alumni award at my university Unfortunately, I I didn't win and she had to do it four times because I didn't win the first three And I won that fourth time. Why did I win because she believed in me? She never stopped nominating me and because I believed in myself I never saw it as a negative I was just so happy to have the opportunity to be nominated and submit my application And so again, I think for you to be successful in life You need to surround yourself with the best people and of course never give up So throughout my career fostering diversity and inclusion has been one of my top priorities When I worked in that private sector at Marriott International I helped get companies owned by women and minorities included in the business supply chain And in my job today at ECA I helped to ensure our programs reach talented people regardless of their background I'd like to say that ECA moves people to move ideas and I also say and moves values We believe that there's no better way for americans and people from other cultures to learn about each other's cultures create friendships from these different countries and develop skills than through these exchanges As assistant secretary of state, I'm very proud to represent a bureau that has a diverse group of employees and a diverse group of programs One program I want to talk to you about today is called the tech women program Tech women matches young leaders in the STEM fields with mentors who can help them achieve their goals And they also change their communities And that's just one of a hundred examples And one thing I will share is that I've had the good fortune of meeting many of you when I've been out traveling And also I've met these tech women and tech mentors when they've come into washington So that's been very exciting for me and during my time as ECA's assistant secretary Again seeing how you're moving ideas and moving values. It's been a real pleasure Again, I've seen the impact of our programs up close and personal from my visits with alumni around the world And I want to tell you about one of my really memorable visits and of course There's even a video online you can watch about my visit to liberia and I met yama zawu She's an entrepreneur and you can even see it in the video who runs the colorful wash wash textile craft store She got her business up and running with support and advice from a mentor That was a peace corps volunteer that helped her create her business and mentor her And again, I've also experienced ECA programs myself as noted by asha in the opening I'm along myself Of the american council of young political leaders program That's a program through the us department of state for leaders from age 25 to 40 And I went out as a delegate to poland and hungry And then I will also add that I served on the board So it was very very powerful experience for me From sales to telecommunications To teaching at a university to volunteering. I've had many experiences during my career So I want to share with you a career is not just one thing It's a number of different experiences that you develop For building on your values and your interests and your skills I think the biggest thing is that I'm not afraid to try new things Right, you've heard of all the different things I've done in the different industries I'm not afraid to try new things and either should you It's really exciting to be here today. And I'm even trying this Speaking with you. So I just want to say I hope you'll see that my diverse experience will answer many of your questions today about how I've built my career And I want to help you really reach your full potential And I want to share with you that your potential is really truly unlimited And again, I'd like to hear from you. What are your career goals as you build on your exchange experience? And again, I want to say that I'm very proud to To say that you're all fellow exchange alumni just like I am As far as you are with me. So that's pretty exciting And I really am looking very forward to the conversation with you today Again, it's a real honor to be included today This bureau is so mean meaningful to me as an exchange alum. I couldn't Think of a better position to be in but again I'm just thrilled to be here and hear from all of you and about your questions about mentoring and your career So, thank you very much for having me and asha. I'm going to now turn it over to you for the first question. I believe right? Yes, thank you Thank you It's like assistant secretary Royce. It's such an honor to have you with us on the show And those are two great tips, you know never never give up and And try new things. I found that those have really work in a career So before we get to questions from our viewers, we'd like to ask how did your acy lpl experience shape your The career that you've built. Okay. Well, thank you. Well, I want to say that is The acy pl experience has made a big impact on my career Uh, I will also add when we talk to interns at the U.S. Department of State People ask us kind of how we started up kind of our thinking about what we wanted to do And before the internet we did a lot of what we call reading books. How exciting And I read about international and and I actually wrote down my goal, which is to travel internationally I didn't actually travel until I was 25 internationally and I paid for it myself I really wanted to travel international and see these places I read about so I actually get got more and more prepared To do that. I went to school for it I I asked for responsibility as far as my jobs with the corp companies. I I lot I asked for projects And and the fact that I was nominated to have an international experience as an exchange participant was very powerful to me I was on a group of delegates that were from three different political parties And the fact that we are from different states in the united states getting to travel into two countries that I was very interested in seeing One of the things we did was we actually rotated the leadership role every day, which was fantastic for me I think I was a little afraid at first But what happened was the day that I was in charge I remember we were in Warsaw, Poland and I was on television and making an introduction and speaking to the mayor But I have to say that here I am today speaking to all of you And I look back at that and say that I was so proud of myself to be able to do that and represent the group And ensuring that everybody was brought together in that experience So it made such a big impact on me that I at I really wanted to volunteer And I would say that's a very important thing is to volunteer your your service to to give others the opportunity So I actually was on the board and I thought that that would be a way to help Ensure that other young leaders were able to participate in in the organization as well One of the things I used to do also was also do fundraising to try to help create more scholarships and more opportunities So again, it made a big impact on me And this program is also part of the large portfolio of exchange programs of eca Never did I expect back then that I would be responsible for all these exchange programs I in cultural professional educational, etc in sports all part of the bureau Of the eca educational cultural affairs. So thanks for that question Asha Sure, you're welcome So now we have one from a viewer on facebook who asks What are some ways to meet people and make connections new connections during this time? Well, that's a good question. Uh I think that that's not as easy as it normally would from the face-to-face standpoint But I will say that I participated in some virtual events in fact, uh, recently I was able to be part of a cooking event which was a cultural event between the united states another Latin-american country and what happened was actually the small group of us were able to interact And also talked to the chef, which I thought was really great I would also add that you have the power to actually organize your own events Uh, I would when I worked for a major corporation, uh, I'll tell you that it was proctor and gamble I went I want to have a global, uh opportunity So I went and worked at the headquarters for two years I worked in california and then I went to the global headquarters and I didn't know anyone And at first I was a little sad about it because I said I really didn't know anybody But then I decided to create my own group. I said well, why I have the power to do this So I created a group called more than lunch more than lunch everyone I only knew about five people but everybody that had to bring another person So one of the people I remember was the person that was the editor of the magazine at work I thought oh, she'd be a really great person inviting to the group So I asked her she'd be part of the group and then I went down to the librarian because we had a library at the Headquarters and I asked the librarian which whether she'd be part of the group So every month we actually had speakers. Uh, we would actually go places Together and we and each time people were bringing more and more people to the group So I would say that you could have the power to do that yourself If you have five friends, they can bring another friend and even when I first moved to washington I had something called a friend razor and I knew five people And we ended up getting 300 And those five people were allowed to invite their friends. So I would meet new people So again, I want to say it's not easy to do but I think that you can also do it Um and and also participate with activities like this So these are just a few ideas. Uh, again, um, I know we all have the power to, uh, you know, communicate and get together And um, you have the ability to do that instead of I think feeling That we have no power over it I think it goes back to kind of who you are in your career is that you have the power to do it And I'll add one more thing. Um, when I was teaching at the university us I remember working at the headquarters at marriott and People would go to lunch And I was like, well, they didn't invite me Uh, but it wasn't that they're really trying not to include me. They weren't even thinking about me They were thinking about going to lunch So I ended up deciding one day that I would just kind of jump out over there out in the hall and say Can I join you and you know what they said? Yeah, sure Not complicated Right That is really part of the thing I would say is to ask for what you want Uh, be be the creative force in your own life to do Uh, to make make change and to be part of to you know, if you want something you should try to create it Uh, so I would just say if you want to be included asked to be included If you want to meet more people, uh, maybe you can help get asked some of your friends to be part of it Be thinking about different talks. You could be part of I mean even in social distancing. I think that you Can come up with ways to do it. I would also say even on the uh, linkedin I I thought that was great that alumni office created the new linkedin Organization you could also communicate on linkedin share articles. So these are just some ideas Yeah, those are great ideas. I really like the uh, the friends the friend, you know, the inviting the friends Friends of friends Yeah, more than lunch because uh, again, that was like my friend razor Where I didn't know anyone but five people so they they had to help me make new friends Whereas and more the lunch, uh, everyone had to bring a friend So I think that's a good way to uh, really kind of get a group together to kind of get a start um, and then maybe having a topic or Uh, rotating it every month to have a each person have responsible ability You could even do something culturally which would be fun Uh, yeah, so these are just a few ideas. Thank you. Exactly. You can even like try to do that on zoom Yes, like friends. Yes. Yeah Yes, all right. So we have one from Karen who is an astronomy professor in Rio de Janeiro She says that In stem fields black women are very few among professors and researchers What advice do you have to build an effective mentoring program to target students that are oftentimes left behind? Yeah, that's a good question. Um, thanks for your question. Uh, I would say that Uh, you're right about that. That's not always easy. We actually at the u.s. Department of State created a program Little about four years ago We had a movie that was really great that we loved, uh, was through fox, which now is disney Always called uh hidden figures this movie about three african-american women from nasa That actually were amazing mathematicians and we ended up creating an exchange program We had 50 embassies each nominating one woman And the women ended up coming they now come three years in a row now going on four They came to nasa that came to the state department. They went out to the movie studios One of the women I will just say she went into wikipedia and she saw that they're only about eight women scientists And she's like eight. There's so many more people So what she did was she decided every single day she would do research And now I think there's about 800, uh, women scientists that are listed wikipedia. So I would say again, uh, It's the power of the network. I mean in this example, none of these women had ever partly met any, um They were a diverse group of women Many of them had not been part of a network before and and we helped facilitate and create that network I would add that you have the ability to try to do that. Maybe there's even a way to use if you're, uh Through your university that you went through or even where you work today There might be a way to convene when we talk about mentoring at the beginning of my career Um, we there was a group of women and minorities at the company that said well, we didn't really feel we were being mentored So we were we asked to be able to create create a mentoring program And we actually did we actually created a program and the company allowed us to do it And we actually also create another program called the buddy program We actually just did this at the um US department state in our bureau Where we had three new groups come into it and I asked people if they'd be buddies to the new people coming in and they actually created a buddy relationship where they took them to lunch and they Basically, uh gave them advice and was uh at first we were like well, this sounds kind of silly But it really was a good way to help on board people So again, I would recommend that um if you don't see what you want and then we at the US department state have the alumni connections and I would add that Perhaps there's a way that we can help you in brazil With the alumni that are there especially from the stem area. Um, and you know to help you kind of Create this uh cohort of uh, let's say diverse, uh women in the area of stem But but we'd love to help you with that. So it's a good question. Thank you Yeah, thanks for answering So we have another one from facebook uh samshad asks in a disastrous environment of pandemic What opportunities do you think women should seek out in a developing country like bangladesh? Well, thank you. Um Well, I would just say that uh, you know, I was reading I actually gave it remarks about uh, Bangladesh yesterday actually And it was about a person that actually created face masks with their tech textile company and they gave them out for free Which is pretty incredible. I would just say that you actually to think about what ways you can be of service to others Uh, I would I'm sure there might be people. Uh, that are older that have um difficulty. Let's say for example Uh, even going to the market In our area, we have something called next door where people can Put down if they need help and other people can try to provide help I would say that you can see this as an opportunity to serve other people and develop a network Of people to uh and also think if there's any ways of innovative Use of materials in the case of the alumni story yesterday They are actually we're using um environmentally friendly materials that were recycled So I I would just say that's might be something that you'd be interested in doing and thinking about what What are ways that we can kind of take this up? pandemic and Make something innovative and do things that have never been done before So I that's what I would advise That's great advice. Thank you sure So we have another question from nico ragua from I hope i'm pronouncing this right uh, xayomara She says I'm a social studies teacher and would like to know how we can build mentor programs for younger students in high school Well, that's a good question. Um, here's how I would do it and this is actually my secret formula um, I would say when I created mentoring programs. I actually created a A little uh, I asked we asked people that wanted to be a mentor and if we asked them if they wanted to be a protege When I started my career, I decided I wanted to be a protege Meaning a mentee because I didn't feel like I was mentored as much and I so I got to be So you could decide you could say I want to formally be a mentor or a protege In the case of my university what I did is I set it up for juniors at the university When I was part of the full-time faculty I asked the juniors Who would like to be part of this and they're about 100 at the university And then I actually found mentors that said they would mentor them We created a form which was kind of a form where people said that they what they were interested in Um, and and consequently Both the mentors and the protege and then we created a committee that would do the matching So at the university I had several different I had a the president of the student group was on my committee. I had two top alumni I had two different board members I had some faculty and I was on the committee So we actually took the the protege and the mentors we decided Kind of who would be a good match and we had a kickoff event and then we said kind of the rules of the road And we everybody got to meet everybody and then I served as the ombudsman, which means I actually help people through that process So some people said well, it doesn't matter if like if I'm a man in this case at the university If there's a man that is a successful businessman He said well, I don't mind if I have a young woman student or a male student So then what would happen is let's say they were matched with a female They would contact me and they say well now what do I do now? I have a female student So I don't know what to do and I would say well, listen You've got you read books perhaps you could share a book Uh and give that to the student and you could talk about the book together Or you could invite the person to a training session and there's all kinds of things So bottom line and then also even in school you could actually create activities that the protege's And the mentors can do together So bottom line is that's how we constructed it It ended up that a lot of the students ended up getting jobs after they graduated because they actually built those mentoring relationships and then In my example when I was a protege it really helped me with my career I learned from the mentor who was a female that I had She actually asked for what she wanted to me. That was really shocking. I said wow I thought people would know I was doing a good job She said you have to let them know that you're doing a good job. You have to tell them what you want So I think the bottom line is uh, I think actually creating a formalized program is really what I would do I wouldn't I would ask people if they'd like to be part of it Mentors and protege's create a matching form create a mini do matching and kind of rules of engagement How do you do it and then do a kickoff event with a with the matching? That's what we did and when I worked at proctor and gamble when we did it. That's what I did when I was at the university Since I was working in hospitality. I'll just share the I went to disney which was in hospitality It's in southern california. I said would you do the kickoff event? And so they said yes So they the vice president disney actually served as one of the mentors and she did the event And we had a hundred protege's and hundred mentors. So I hope that gives you an idea of something how you could do it But uh, I think it was a incredible Program so much so that I've replicated it three times I also did it. I'd worked on afghanistan when I was doing telecommunications and I worked with the department of defense and the state department and I tried to help of Uh individuals that were in afghanistan because they would come to us and say well We want to do what you're doing. We want to Work in telecommunications and how do we get how do we do it? So I thought well wouldn't it be great and it was the in those days the early days of skype Right, so I said well, maybe we could create these scribe relationships and then have matching so Anyway, that that is really what I'd highly recommend that you formally put it together Wow, you're very creative Well, I think you have to do it because it doesn't always happen In other words people have to be motivated to want to do it So like the lamentors have to want to do it and the protégés have to want to do it And then they they get together a minimum part of the rules for us was to try to connect at least once a month You know, whether by phone or skype or in person And I think if you create something that people really want to be part of then and it's really a volunteer thing Now with students I allowed them to be to do it because if they wanted to For June for kids that are younger like high school. Maybe they get extra credit for doing it Maybe you could do that or come up with ways to incentivize them because it's really a really positive thing for them Exactly. Yeah Okay, so I think we have we have a lot more questions coming up We're gonna try to get to some all we'll go try to get as many as we can Center writes i'm currently working in higher education, but i'm hoping to pivot to exchange work in the future In your opinion, how will cova 19 impact exchange programs moving forward? Oh, thank you for asking I well, I think there's there continues to be a big future for exchanges I believe strongly in the people to people connections I also believe strongly in student mobility, which you're working in the university We advocate strongly for people to come to the united states to go to school We also advocate for students in the united states to go across to other countries You know, we even have programs where Uh, if even if the people are not going physically, we've been doing programs like we have the stevens initiative Which is to the middle east where we have Almost 50 states that students from seventh grade to senior college who are connected to students in the middle east Working on projects like the american university in cairo Is connected with the arizona state and they're working on a solar project I've gone out in the field and i've seen these students and met with them Whether they're in virginia or in jordan or in egypt. So it's it's really dynamic. So I I know I definitely do not Believe in any way will exchanges us stop happening I believe now with the cova that there's ways to reach more people. I think we can Actually Engage people even more. I think face-to-face And and virtual is really terrific Um, you know, but even if there's limitations and some people will never have an opportunity for Face-to-face, I'd say that the experiences that are virtual could be very rich And I saw that with talking to the students both in the united states As an example when I went to virginia I got to meet the students in jordan who are up on the screen And they they had an incredibly real experience So when I went to cairo and saw that those students and they were connected to our students in arizona And the most recently in jordan our students that I've talked to These were their students in jordan and they were connected our students in iowa They used slack. They improved their english. I thought that was fantastic. They collaborated. They did teamwork And they in this case in jordan. They were working on a global sustainability project So I know I don't see uh state is going away I think what covet has done has helped us to be even more innovative to think of ways to reach more people Again, I think uh supplementing uh, both virtual And in person, but I think uh, again, I here's here. We are we might not have had this metrotox today I think uh in the scale that we're doing it if we didn't have people really focused on using kind of the technology tools You know, I want to add one more thing when I saw the tech women Uh, you know, I told them maybe they would be some the ones that actually invent something in the future That's not invented yet. And but I I'm going to tell you a little story. Uh, out in Uzbekistan. We had a advisor uh And he worked at the state department, uh since the 70s And he went out back to Uzbekistan again And he said to them, how do you feel that you don't really have a beach? You know, you're kind of a landlocked country And this woman said I don't feel that way at all. She said the internet is my sea Isn't that beautiful internet is so when he wrote me an email from tash kent That was the title the internet is my sea So I say, you know, the internet didn't exist when I was uh young and reading books And I used to write letters to people and have pen pals because I wanted to meet people But today we've got wonderful ways to connect and here we are. So again to you at the university level, I say Uh, this is a good way to go and I'd also add that you should do volunteerism I think I was part of my bio, but I've been on over 20 nonprofit boards Uh, I served on the board at the university before I was a professor there I I served on the board of two exchange programs Uh, so that's an example. So it really readied me for this job I'd say if you have something that you want to be part of think of ways that you could volunteer or be Out of board or committee and then you get the experience. So then, uh, that's how you'll be able to leverage your skills And then if you're thinking, oh, I don't really know too much about technology, for example I'd say well get yourself kind of in that space You know at the university I actually was shocked when I first came in How much people were using the uh internet? And I actually decided I would learn how to actually create my own webpage with the with the Tech people and I actually did I created my own website. I learned how to do it all I got the software and you know So the thing is if you don't know how to do it like figure out how to do it Figure out what you need what skills you need and uh, I'm sure people will be there to help support you And also lastly, I would say I mentioned this earlier when I was talking to asha If you are trying to learn what to do go to the people that know how to do it Like when I went to teach I never had done that before right I served on the board So I went standing on other professor's classes to learn how they they taught And then I decided what would my style be Also, I also met with my former predecessors as assistant secretaries to learn how they were assistant secretary What types of things that they worked on so every Position I've had I've actually learned and and sat down and had a cup of coffee or had a call And I would add that yes, what you should do is whatever field you're interested in Try to figure out who's doing it and how to be part of it and also be a volunteer to get the skills Yeah advice. Thank you Sure. So I know we're kind of like Running close to time. Um, do you have time for some more questions? Sure. Okay um, we have pew chowdery from bangladesh who is a uh Community college initiative exchange alumna. That's why yes His question is how was the transition period when you decided to change your careers? And how did you manage those challenges? Well, well, that's a wonderful question uh, you know I think this is a question that everybody can answer here You could do one thing all your life and you could be an expert But when you change industries, you're uh, actually it's a big it's very hard So what happens is that you have to be already prepared for that? Um, when I went into telecommunications, I had never done it. I wanted to do it by the way I always had goals So that was one of my goals was to get into the tech sector Uh, okay. I was successful getting into the tech sector. Uh, I went to a conference with 5 000 people I didn't know anyone I was my first conference. I thought oh my gosh What did I do? And my analogy at the time I still remember is Uh, I feel like I'm a kindergartner on the first day of school Okay, because I didn't know anyone and I said, you know what? I'm responsible for building my network I made this decision and I went around and I went to every single booth and went around talk to people And then there was an evening event and I remember I ended up going to the evening event with all these people on the bus To this activity was uh, actually kind of a country western Called hay ride where you go out and have barbecue And I remember everybody knew everybody each other But I didn't know anyone and I went around and shook hands with people and some of those people This is almost 20 years later. I still am in touch with because I I I really Made myself get out there. So it it will not be easy Um, and I will say that that is what uh, you know, it's it's changed But I I really believe that that's something I want to do Um, even when I went in I I for example, I would set up meetings with the engineers and scientists From the telecom their bell apps people We have noble prize winners and I would get it on the phone And I said for them to teach me everything they could about certain technologies And I would set up my own training sessions So to learn and and you know, you start with Harley knowing anything and then at p and g I worked on a project with these engineers on packaging And I ended up doing this global program on the environment and I was the I didn't really know all about packaging and and post-consumer recycle content And so I went to all the packaging meetings I ended up getting named and who's who in packaging and setting up these goals for the proctor and gamble company and Measurements all around the world coming from and then I would go to engineers and actually ask them to teach me everything they knew So I would say that's what you have to do. You have to be open-minded ready to learn and be very positive about Kind of taking it all in Thank you You're welcome. Yes Okay, we have another question from a viewer who asks what are some ways to stay up to date and keep your skills fresh Well, I would say one of the ways to stay up to date and keep your skills fresh is to Make sure you're always doing things like learning online doing things that you would be actually setting up Events like this where you're actually kind of working with other people or going to training sessions Another thing is actually taking classes You know, I went back to school for my master's degree as a I finished when I was 35 So I actually decided to do that and it was not easy But again, I would say that you're you can always take classes at In school or on the internet or actually even call someone and ask them to take you through A certain program and I'm always reading. I think that's a very important thing Whether it's a magazine like for example, if I want to read about architecture I would actually read an architectural magazine So there's nothing that it's going to limit you as far as keeping your skills fresh And the other thing I'd add is that you all You all have a network of people, you know that, you know, and maybe those people can teach you something One day I did something on LinkedIn where I wanted to learn something Texting and I actually put my question out I said, can you teach anyone here know about this certain technology? And actually within an hour there are 10 people that replied that they did And I actually set up a meeting with a couple of those people to learn about the certain technology So I think that you certainly could do this and that's one way you can keep your skills fresh Yes, those are great ideas Yeah, thank you And so You know to speaking of going to graduate school What would be your number one tip for those trying to start or advance their career in today's business environment? I would say that Well, I have a background in business First of all, I have two undergraduate degrees in business and I have an MBA And then I taught business at the university and I've had my own business So I would say some of the fundamental things about being in business is that you should understand that it's a It's basically a skill set Like for example One of the reasons a lot of businesses fail is people don't really know too much about business, but they might just have a good idea So think about this for a minute Like if somebody was going to go operate and and go in the operating room as a doctor I would never think that I could go in there and start operating because I don't know anything I didn't go to medical medical school But a lot of people say oh, I can do a business because I have a really great idea So there's a lot of fundamentals and one of the fundamentals is is to create a business plan That's really one of the fundamental things that you do and there's a young man here There's a very successful business here for shoes and purses that makes leather Products and fixes them and I actually came to talk to him about it And I actually get my my purse I got repaired there and I talked to him about creating a business plan And you know, he said he said I had my business and it failed twice And somebody said to me have you ever thought about doing a business plan? And he said I I don't even know what a business plan is So he ended up he ended up paying for himself to go to a class on business planning And he now has a very successful business today. So I would say that's a very strong fundamental How to do marketing, you know, another thing would be even kind of raising capital also, uh, I would say also creating a Legal framework for yourself to make sure that you're doing everything properly If you set up a little business, sometimes you can even have advisors You know a lot of a lot of these have little boards You could have advisors to kind of advise you or your your friends what can give you input But I definitely think there's lots of opportunities during this Time to come up with new ideas. I remember when years ago, it's giving an idea, but it's so amazing Back like 20 years ago when I'd be on the road I saw in business. I saw we think, oh, wouldn't it be so great if I could have a Assistant that I could just Send things to that could be virtual when I needed things and so at that time there was no such thing Then I met a woman who actually said I created a company called virtual assistants And I thought this is great. This is exactly what I need Like if I'm in a remote town and I need something I could send it over and she could do it And I thought well, that was kind of an example of an idea, right? And then the other thing about it is I I worked on a We're small business owners When I worked for the Marriott corporation as an example We tried very hard to get women and minorities into the supply chain So we would actually try to help train them and created a network to help them get into the company Then I also was part of an organization which actually tried to help the women From different try to get into different companies. So I just want to share that There's a lot of different groups to help other women. You can learn with small business, but there are There's principles that you should know as a business person And then you could always try to if you already know all those things is to think how can I take it to a higher level? Going back to that I'll also even say having a mentor There was a woman I met they'll never forget this who was her art was in 20 stores That I went to is a beautiful linen store chain And I saw her work and was so beautiful and I said she said I I'm the artist for all the stores And I said well, how did you ever do that? She said well I used to paint in a small way And I had a mentor that told me I had to paint larger and he actually was Mentored me and he helped me and I ended At contacting the chain and asking if they would buy my art and she ended up getting it into all the 20 stores So I thought that was pretty fascinating But any any bit any idea you can and I think having a mentor is a great way to go You know whether whatever that idea is and then also having a solid plan behind it I think you've been a great mentor today. Oh, thank you. Yes, and thank you for your time Oh, yeah, I think uh, yeah, we're a little bit over time. So I think we probably should wrap things up Okay, I just want to thank you again very much assistant secretary voice for being with us today And a big thank you to you or online viewers for participating Um, I think we need to keep uh these things in mind that secretary assistant secretary voice is telling us about never giving up uh, don't be afraid and Try new things Also, you know build your network Reach out to people look for mentors And have a plan and uh always can try to fill a need Yes, I think all great tips. Yeah, those are all really great and uh, you know, everyone here that's watching today has a unique Experience that you've had the opportunity to be an exchange participant Um, and I would just say that that's really a transformative thing Uh, and I just want to say that I feel very fortunate that I've had that opportunity And actually be able to speak to each one of you today I I believe strongly that you can do anything you want to do Uh, you have to just one of the things is just to be clear on what you want and tell people what you want I I think that's the thing that sometimes people don't reach their goals because they don't really know what their Goals are they never really wrote them down Like my goal at age 18 was to do international right and I wrote that down and here I am doing international Right, so but I really put a plan in place To do that and so I would just say think about what you like doing and and if you know the other thing is you don't have to Just do one thing. Maybe we talked about career I've done different things right, so I've done So that you know, I've worked in government. I've done nonprofit. I've done business All those things are all part of a career They are yeah, you've built you've built on it each year each step is built on your career every step of the way Yes, that's right. Yes, right. Okay. Thank you Sure, you're welcome And for the for for our online viewers if you're interested in learning about are you interested in learning about more opportunities for exchange alumni You can visit our website at alumni.state.gov and follow us on facebook twitter and linkedin And so with that we're going to wrap up the show. Thanks for watching and see you all for our next Mapping me. Oh, you're welcome. All right. Goodbye to all the alumni Thank you for being here and also the Bangladesh. Thanks for having the watch party, but to everyone here. Thank you and asha Thanks for being the moderator today. I really appreciate it. Okay. Congratulations on the one year anniversary Thank you. All right. Bye. Bye. Thank you