Summary
This episode of Leadership Vibes features a discussion with Michelle. Michelle is the Community Outreach Coordinator at Centennial, focusing on women interested in non-traditional careers. Michelle is also known as one of the most helpful and connected people at the college when it comes to student resources!
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Hosts and Guest Speaker
Jacqueline James
Welcome to Season Eight of the Centennial College Leadership Vibes Podcast. Today, we have for you our guest, Michelle Solomon. Michelle is part of the outreach team here at Centennial. And she is known to be the most helpful and most connected person regarding student resources. Michelle, thank you for taking the time to discuss what your leadership journey looks like, so that it can be an inspiration to so many individuals. We look forward to hearing more about your leadership journey, and some of the challenges you encountered on your journey. Thank you for joining us today, Michelle.
Michelle Solomon
Thank you guys for having me.
Jacqueline James
So Michelle, tell us a bit about yourself, and your leadership journey so far.
Michelle Solomon
So I've been with the college since 2012, I had the opportunity to work with many teams and departments, this has allowed me to step in and learn so much about the leadership that Centennial holds and kind of develop my own leadership style, and let that shine through. I've been known as a go to resource for the teams and the students that I work on, even with students and learners that I'm not connected to, because of the relationships that I've built with colleagues and peers, they often call on me or information and how to do things. I always take very much an approach of being able to provide, you know, guidance and support where needed for my colleagues and learners. Being with Centennial for as many years as I have in the different roles that I've held, has allowed me to develop skills that I think are important for leaders to have and recognize in many different shapes and forms.
Jacqueline James
Very well, as you mentioned, you're known as the go to person, you know, it's great to be recognized that way where you are reliable, people know that you are reliable, and they can count on you. So you are the go to person that everyone is actually dependent on. That's awesome. That's a great quality to have.
Michelle Solomon
Thank you. Yeah, it's definitely something that I'm very proud of. And it's true, when you have other people being able to call on you, it's pretty awesome.
Jacqueline James
Yes, very well. What does being a leader mean to you? And what are some qualities you have seen in a great leader?
Michelle Solomon
What being a leader means to me is having passion and commitment to make things happen. It's a privilege and an honor to be recognized as a leader or to be credited for leadership skills that you possess, I don't take that lightly at all. Some qualities I have seen in great leaders is their ability to focus on developing others gratitude, great communication skills and the value of relationships that you hold, giving thanks to individuals and team contributions, valuing and recognizing the work that others do so that you can meet your goals, do what you need to do. A leader takes the time to get to know each and every member on their team. That builds trust and allows the person to feel confident in the work they do. If you're confident in the work that you're doing, you can always reach the goals that you want. A leader finds the confidence in their team and allows them to work independently. It's inspirational, and it's motivational. And also for leaders to be able to jump in as well. A leader should be able to do the work that everyone on the team can do, so that no one reaches a point of you know, exhaust or has the drive that they need to achieve what they need to achieve. Being a leader is being a motivator, being inspirational, recognition to others that you're working with. Those are things that I've witnessed, I've been very, very lucky to work amongst great leaders in Centennial and have management that have contributed to my understanding of what leadership is and actually demonstrating what true leadership looks like.
Jacqueline James
Very well said. I like that you mentioned focus on developing others to great leadership skill and being able to encourage action and change in people. It's very important.
Michelle Solomon
Yes, I think so too.
Jacqueline James
You are a community outreach program coordinator at Centennial College. Can you tell us about this role? And what are some of the services you offer to students?
Michelle Solomon
Yeah, the work been done in the community outreach team focuses on developing relationships with people and organization to create bridges of support and network in the post secondary education system. My particular role focuses on women interested in skilled trades and programs that have like a higher number of those who identify as males in it. One important goal in my role is to help women and learners gain the confidence that they require to overcome social and economical barriers through motivation, support and education. I get to work with learners seeking post secondary education. Some of the services offered within outreach fall within advising, application assistance, connection to college community resources, and the HYPE, the HYPE program. The HYPE Program is a program that is led by the youth outreach coordinator on my team, but all members of the team take part in making sure that that program runs smoothly and runs every year. So we have not had the program for the last three years due to COVID, and the restrictions that that surfaced, but we will have HYPE coming back. And HYPE is a six week program, a free tuition program that allows students access to kind of get a taste of what post secondary education life looks like and what it, what it can be. And we offer it to communities that normally would not have access to or have challenges and barriers in front of them, that may prevent them from post secondary education. So that's the outreach team. That's my role. That's kind of the work that's being done right now.
Jacqueline James
What are some of these programs, the trade programs that can be accessed by the students?
Michelle Solomon
The programs specifically are, like I mentioned, usually, we find in the career areas of the programs are, they're male dominated programs. So these programs are like skilled trades. So like automotives, or apprentice programs, those we don't see a lot of females kind of taking interest in or building on now. The world has changed and shifted, which is beautiful, to encourage women to be interested in sciences, technologies, engineering, math. And, you know, we had placed a lot of women in places where they, they may not have believed that they had a place in these fields. The advantages that I have in this role is to bring awareness and participate in events or host events and information sessions telling learners about the opportunities, the career pathways, and the different ways that they can access their educational pathway. A lot of the females that I am connected with and learners that I'm connected with may have not been in school for long periods of time, or have taken breaks or kind of haven't figured out what their academic goal looks like. So I work with them, alongside them, to build what pathway would work best for them and exploring those career pathways and opportunities to give them insight into making that a choice or an option available. Whereas they might not have built that interest and have not had access to take part in the events and the exposure that we give. So like for instance, we just hosted 100 females, different school boards, and we highlighted skilled trades. So they had a full fun day of participating in hands on workshops, learning from those who are in the fields, pathways and steps that they took to create their career journey. It was just so fun. It was in, you know, the girls left that day feeling motivated about thinking about the career and those who had interest in it, it ignited that interest to be like, Okay, well, this is definitely what I want to do. With my role I get to do that I get to meet someone where they are and kind of show them where they can go or you know, provide them this as an opportunity. That's something that they may not have even considered.
Jacqueline James
Great opportunities for girls, females to know that this is offered. And especially it's a great place to start in high school. It's good to get the information out there early so these students can think about their career path. Excellent program. Now there are so many barriers that prevent marginalized groups from accessing opportunities that can help them to grow and develop meaningful careers. How do you help these community members to build their self confidence in taking the next steps to opportunities that can change their lives forever? And in a positive way?
Michelle Solomon
Yeah, there are many barriers for marginalized groups. And it definitely limits the growth and the development that can happen. And I think within the community outreach team, working with learners and students, so like working with people who have not started school allows us to help them identify their need and their capacity, which then allows us to build what pathway works best for them. So it's a very individualized approach. And it starts from building the relationship and gaining understanding from the person being able to share their story and their individual journey of where they have been so that we have an understanding of where the challenges might be or what we can do to kind of help gap things that need to be addressed. or surfaced, so that we can build an individualized pathway. I think the outreach team, one of the greatest advantages we have is that because we work with learners, those who have not actually become students, and we work with students, we have that to encourage others and give that information back and share those stories and those journeys. We get referrals from college contacts. So those we work, that we work with here at the college and our community contacts, to help those who are interested in pursuing post secondary education and don't think that they're available, that it's not an option or available to them, connect with us. And we build on those capacities, no matter where they are, like, if they've never been, if they've never been able to finish high school, there's still an opportunity for a pathway into post secondary, everyone is individually looked at, and we meet them where they are. So if that means, you know, just kind of having conversations for a little while or connecting them with an opportunity through the college or through an external community partner on how they get their GED, or completing their high school, or even just entering school as a mature student, and what that looks like and the application process, we're there with them from the beginning and all the way through, those are the positive steps that we're making, like the one positive thing I think that I love about this role is that we work with students and learners, and we get to encourage them to expand where they are, or what their journey could look like. We provide access and encouragement throughout the whole time we're with them. So even if life makes them have to step out the school, so if they've stopped their journey of learning, we still stay connected, we still will check in see how you're doing, see what things are going on in your life. And even after graduation, we still kind of check in and see, you know, what successes came after that. So the really nice thing about that, and I think the positive way that we're impacting learners and students is we're there, we're a part of that network, we're helping them develop that community that will support them to keep creating goals and keep achieving and finding out what career success looks like after they connect with us.
Jacqueline James
That's great news for the marginalized community. Everyone has strengths and talent, and we just need help to get some goals and set some goals and stick to those goals. And it's great to know that you are there to help the marginalized groups and students on their career path.
Michelle Solomon
Yeah, like it's very important, I think, for people to be heard and given an opportunity to set goals and identify their strengths. Because sometimes when they're going through hardships, we don't always feel like we're good enough or that we have the ability. And so being able to work with people and allow them to recognize the strengths that they carry. And use those strengths and the skills that they're not aware of or that haven't, they haven't given recognition to really does build the confidence and allow them to, you know, pursue an academic journey and set goals and achieve them.
Jacqueline James
Very well. Do you bring back students that have successfully completed the program to share their stories and experiences with all the students as a way to encourage and motivate those students?
Michelle Solomon
Absolutely. I truly believe that sharing experiences and life can speak to someone who is open to hear it and can resonate with people on different levels that allows them to recognize that they can, too. We often have those we work with connect with those who need it. It's part of building the bridge and creating that network that we do in outreach, to allow them to be motivated about someone else's success, and see that they themselves can achieve and define their own version of success.
Mebrat Bekele
Can you tell us about some things you love while working in the outreach program? Like it seems to us the experience you have connections with so many people? What's your favorite part of it?
Michelle Solomon
I'll be honest, like my favorite part is learning about others, hearing their stories being part of their journey. I definitely think that that's like a gift of being part of the community outreach team. It truly is something to see someone start recognizing who they are and what they're capable of. I learned so much from each person, whether it be a learner, a student, a colleague, my own team within my own team, I'm so grateful that I'm able to do the work that I do, because I do believe that it allows me to highlight my own strengths and the gifts that I have to help and support others. I love the work that's been done in this team and how we do it. It just brings me so much joy to be able to help people recognize and achieve goals.
Jacqueline James
There are so many benefits of helping others experience wellbeing, motivating others, also, just being able to be there to support and lift someone up. It is so important. You know, there's a quote that says, true fulfillment comes from helping others, you get that satisfaction, you know, when you give your time in lifting someone up, and it is so important in today's world, that we are there to help one another to lift one another up.
Michelle Solomon
You're exactly right. And I think that it's a perfect time to say that quote, and remind people that that is something that we can all do, especially after going through like, a pandemic. So I think that's just a beautiful quote. And I do think that it's something that's important for each of us to remember.
Jacqueline James
We know that not all our journeys are linear. Can you tell us about some of the challenges you experienced in your leadership journey, and some of the learnings that helped you to get where you are today?
Michelle Solomon
Oh, definitely. I was a young mom, I had my daughter in the last year of high school. This was a challenge on its own, but it made me aware of the systemic challenges young mothers face just to pursue access to education and completing their goals. starting university did not work out for me when my daughter was six months old, but it allowed me to step back and reset. And so I had to pause for many years before I was able to return to my academic goals. However, along the way, I found many people helped me shape what I needed, and what, and recognize what I was capable of doing in the moment that I was ready to go back. And that showed me options, made opportunities available to me. And now I have taken all that learning over time and did my best to harvest what leadership is and use the teachings of great leaders that have walked along with me in my path in being a mother and the relationships that make me who I am, I definitely, you know, try my best to ensure that I am putting everything I've learned into the work that I do at Centennial College, the journey for me has not really been linear. And I want people to recognize that journey that each person takes has its own individual path. And it just, it might detour often, it might change and shift. But as long as I think you keep moving, and you have the opportunities given to you to build and reach out for help when you need it. And you have support systems in place, you can learn from that. And as long as you can learn from that you can grow from that and reach whatever goal you need and define what success is for you.
Mebrat Bekele
That's an interesting story. Like I'm also a young mom and took time off before I returned to school. And your story is kind of related to the work you do with community outreach with like marginalized women. Do you think having gone through the experiences you went through with putting off your education journey on hold, do you think that gives you a greater motivation to be like the best at your professional career now?
Michelle Solomon
Absolutely. I think my own individual journey has really shaped me and allowed me to set, renew my goals and set my goals. I always knew that I would end up in outreach. Actually, prior to being an outreach, I've only been with outreach for like actually close to two years now I joined this team. And before, I was a success advisor at Centennial, and when I joined this team, I knew that this is where I wanted to be because it would allow for my story to resonate with the learners and the students that connect with outreach, identifying as a young mom and being marginalized, wanting to achieve a goal of post secondary, I hold that close to my heart because that was my goal. That was my, my thing that I needed to kind of check off to start identifying successes in my life. And once I was able to achieve that, no matter how many barriers are placed in front of me, challenges I faced, the people around me that allowed me to recognize my strengths and push through. That's what I want to do for the learners and students that connect with me. I want to be that person who opens doors when they feel like everybody has shut a door on them. I want to connect them to others who want to walk along the, along, along with them on their journey and teach them things that I've learned myself from these others that have showed up in my life. I think it's important. I think it does take a village to raise children. And I think it also takes a village to allow those children to become adults and give back to their communities. And this is something and I, that allows me to give back to those people who helped me continue my path in helping and pursuing success and what it looks like, because it fulfills me so much being in this role, and taking my learning and being able to give it to others, and allow them to develop their individual selves. It's just, it's an opportunity and a privilege that I don't take lightly at all.
Jacqueline James
It's important to know that we are not alone and every person has their low points, we just need to ask for help. And when the right people are there then we are in good hands, we know we are in good hands to get the help that we need.
Michelle Solomon
Yes, building that circle of trust and building that circle of care is definitely needed, it ripples, it ripples into your future. So that's what my journey has done. It has rippled into my future, placed me here in this role, allowing me to connect with young people who are just identifying what their future will look like.
Mebrat Bekele
It seems like you experienced a lot and where you are right now is a good place for you to share that experience and motivate other learners and future students. Thank you for sharing that work keeps you busy. Being in community outreach is a lot of networking. It's a lot of going to different places and trying to connect with people, you're also a parent, you have family life, how do you keep that balance and prevent burnout?
Michelle Solomon
That's a great question. Because it is hectic, it is busy. And when you're responsible for others in the work that you do, and you're responsible for others in the life that you carry, it is definitely a challenge. But I think for me, it's being confident in my skills that I've given all that I can in a day, did everything within the hours that I had for the work, recognizing that when I need rest, so that I can show up and be my best every single time and every day. I think to prevent burnout, it's just acknowledging what you, you've done, being aware of what, of what you know, and setting healthy boundaries with everyone that allows you to turn off and do the reset that you need, so that you can show up with the same enthusiasm, the same passion for the work that you do, and be rested enough to, to face whatever challenge and whatever barrier is placed in front of you, and be able to complete the tasks that you have in front of you. Just making sure that you listen to yourself, and you create healthy boundaries and a healthy kind of self care plan.
Jacqueline James
Very important to have self care plan with the busy schedule that we have, it's important to step back, take a break for our wellbeing. Very, very important to have self care plan. Now, Michelle, this podcast will be released early in the new year 2023. With that in mind, are there any goals you would like to work on or achieve this year?
Michelle Solomon
Big question. It's always big when like, you know, a year comes to an end, you start thinking about what's next. So for me, I would like at this moment, you know, for 2023 to continue to be filled with like laughter, learning and any opportunity that could make me better at the job that I do. And just better overall, as I grow into, I continue to grow into my individual self. If that happens, it's going to be an amazing year.
Jacqueline James
Thank you, Michelle, I think we have come to the end of our chat with you on our leadership vibes. Thank you for coming. Thank you for taking the time to chat with us and be here with us. We truly appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to share your leadership journey with us.
Michelle Solomon
Well, thank you. Thank you so much for creating this platform in this space and allowing me to show up with my story and taking the time to put these beautiful questions together and I look forward to you know, seeing everyone else on the Leadership Vibes Podcast.
Jacqueline James
Thank you for joining us for episode seven of the Leadership Vibes podcast. In the next episode, we are coming back with our guest Michelle Solomon to hear about her leadership journey and experience. Make sure to subscribe to the Centennial College podcast on SoundCloud, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts and Spotify.