Embracing Motherhood as a Superpower and Building a Values Aligned Legacy - with Erica Willie (part 2)

Leanna Laskey McGrath  0:00  

Welcome to The Executive Coach for Moms Podcast where we support women who are attempting to find balance and joy while simultaneously leading people at work and at home. I'm your host, Leanna Laskey McGrath, former tech exec turned full time mom, recovering perfectionist and workaholic and certified executive coach. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  0:27  

Hi everyone. Welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for joining me, and I am here today for part two of two, part conversation with Erica Willie. If you didn't tune in last week, go back and listen to it. It was an amazing conversation, and I know you're gonna love it, but if you are just tuning in, let me tell you a little bit about Erica. Erica is a former NFL cheerleader turned tech strategist, nonprofit founder and mom of three with a background in computer science and a master's in instructional design. She blends technical know-how, with heart led leadership, she founded The ScienceSIS Foundation to empower girls of color in STEM and leads CRM enablement at Paxcotech helping small businesses and nonprofits grow. Erica's career spans top sales roles at HubSpot, AT&T IBM and Cisco, and she's on a mission to prove that ambition, motherhood and purpose can all thrive together. Welcome back, Erica.

Erica Willie  1:23  

Thank you. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  1:23  

Yeah, thanks so much for joining me for this conversation. So where we left off last time, I wanted to start here, because I love this idea. What you had been talking about was kind of that when you became a mom and you were, you know, in your career, you kind of like hid that part of you and compartmentalized and kept home at home and work at work, as many of us are kind of taught to do, and then at some point along the way, you realized that actually motherhood is your superpower. So I want to hear more about that, and kind of like how you made that mindset shift and how you think about that now.

Erica Willie  2:00  

Motherhood is my superpower. It's been a minute, a lot of growth and digging deep to help me get to that point. I think most of my daughters, I have three daughters, and so I'm a mom of three girls. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  2:13  

Remind me how old they are now. 

Erica Willie  2:16  

They are 11. Oh my gosh, it happened so fast. 11. I'm sorry, 11, nine and seven. So they are around, like, 20 months, 22 months apart. Keep me very busy. I remember looking at them. I'm just, you know, I think I mentioned it before. I didn't feel any type of discrimination, really, when I was in tech. Like, Tech is a cool space, like, it's a lot of first in tech, lots of people all over different spaces and places, and so I didn't feel it there, but I remember just still being one of the lone women and then having three daughters. My husband works in the school system, and there isn't anything coming down the pipe that kind of promotes like STEM and there's like the vision when it comes to girls and the spaces that I worked and lived in and I love to be in, and there is a small portion of the people that I saw like me in the spaces that I love to be in. And I looked at my daughters, and I'm like, what if they want to be in the STEM spaces they don't have to be. What if they wanted it to be? And then I started, you know, doing a little bit more research and and so that kind of, like sparked it. 

Erica Willie  3:24  

But after I became a mom, I remember working and not wanting to share it, I just I started realizing how sharp I was, I was getting, like, how it sharpened me, and how I was better at prioritizing what really mattered. I started being really good at that. I remember how I could do a lot of things while it was chaotic around me, like before, I could not focus unless it was a clean space, like I had to have a clean space with hours to focus. But now, with kids being able to work in chaotic, chaotic spaces, or being able to work in the little moments in 15 minutes here and there, be able to be productive in those little tiny moments, more efficient. And then I feel like I got emotionally more intelligent, not in spite of being a mom, but because of it. So I felt like I was getting, like, a good training from motherhood, just from being able to pivot fast and then just to see, like long term better, even heightened my instincts for people when it came to sales and leadership. And I think that raising my little, tiny, little humans, it helped me navigate some of that resistance with patience and helped me motivate be motivated a little bit more. And so that is how motherhood became my superpower through my children, watching them, being a mom to them, and then not separating or compartmentalizing that, but bringing it into my workspace, bringing the lessons that I was learning from being a mother into my workspace, and I found myself being more efficient and leading differently. You know, I remember being in Tech sales and being in an enterprise space, having a BDR, and how proud I was when my BDR would be promoted, or wanting to learn their goals and and wanting to see them succeed, that came from being a mother, and I think I learned those lessons from watching my daughters, and so I let it come into my workspace, and that that's how it became my part of my superpower.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  5:22  

Yeah, I love whenever we can find ways where motherhood really helps us at work, because so often it is more viewed as a hindrance to us and to our careers. And I think, to your point, there's so many ways where it benefits us and it benefits our career and it benefits those around us, because, to your point, it's like your level of caring for other people and being invested in their success is so much greater whenever you have little humans. I don't know, at least it is for me and it sounds like for you as well. 

Erica Willie  5:55  

Yep.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  5:56  

Yeah, so and I think about too the story that you shared last week about how whenever you were trying out to be a 40 Niners cheerleader, the first time you were kind of like trying to fit yourself into this mold of what you thought a cheerleader should be and what their hair should look like, and you know, what their profession should be, and so deciding what to share and what Not to share. And you got cut the first time. You didn't make the team, right, the first time. And so then the next year, you decided to go back and just like, be yourself and embrace yourself. And that led to success for you. So it sounds like when you lean into like, showing up with all of you, that really works for you

Erica Willie  6:40  

1,000%. I think I love the word that you used, lean. Whenever you lean into something like this is what you are here for. And I know we'll, we'll get to it. But, you know, leaning into so I have The ScienceSIS Foundation. I started it with my daughter. So science like, like, science and SIS, like sisters. I started it for them, and we used to just record them doing science videos and sending it to my my mother in law, who's a retired teacher, but then other parents seeing that, and they felt empowered to, you know, let their kids try things out with home ingredients. And that's kind of how it started. But then it kept growing, because I'm a woman, not that many women in STEM, and then with my husband in education, I didn't see anything coming down the pipeline that's going to increase STEM education. It was all about reading, and that's great. So that meant STEM happened in middle school and up. And you know, a lot of research shows that, especially girls, they kind of decide what they are good at, and usually they're not, quote, unquote good in math by middle school. And so I'm like, I need to catch this, you know, this group of girls before. And so I started The ScienceSIS Foundation. And my motherhood kind of fuels that mission. I created it, but I wanted to really focus on girls K through six, and then filter down to girls of color. And so speaking of leaning in, this is not the best time in the world. You know, this time, 2025, to really focus on girls right now and then, especially girls of color. So I got nervous, like I wanted to abort mission, because I'm like, no one's going to support my program, I'm focusing on girls. Girls is considered women. It's considered diversity. And so right now is not the best time to do it. But then I decided, because people are turning away from it, this is the best time to do it. So I need to lean in even more. And it feels scary to lean in more, because that gap, if that gap is there now, can you imagine what it's going to be like if people don't lean in right now, when it seems scary and, you know, all these things are kind of, you know, divisive things are happening out there. So I, you know, leaning in is, is one of the things that I rely on, pushing all the way in there and and seeing what happens. Like leaning all the way in. It's like, not one foot out, not one foot in, but leaning all the way in there and committing to that one thing that I really, really believe in.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  9:10  

Yeah, well, I think last time we talked about how you lean all the way into everything you do, you don't just, like, show up and do the thing. You're like, I'm not just gonna go to yoga class, but now I'm gonna become a yoga instructor, right? Anything you do, you're like, I'm gonna go all the way and so how amazing that this is the thing you're going all the way in on. And so can you tell us more about you talked about how you're mission-aligned. So what is the mission of ScienceSIS, and how you're helping the community with it?

Erica Willie  9:40  

So The ScienceSIS is my heart, my passion project that I started while I was I was still working, and it's basically to expose stem to girls early, especially girls of color, K through six, because I can tell you from my experience, or you can look at research and read data and find that there are gapswhen it comes to women in STEM. While the STEM field is growing, the gap is still very small and not growing as fast as the STEM field is growing. And there are a lot of reasons why, because girls don't see people  like them in the STEM fields enough, because they're not exposed to it early. And so those are the two things that I The ScienceSIS Foundation focuses on. So we focus on girls, exposing them to STEM, exposing them to women who look like them in the field, where they can, you know, talk to and learn lessons from and see examples of people who may not have had the best confidence, you know, at a young age. And so we have this big flagship event called the Galaxy Fest that's once a year. It's free, and all of our programs are free. We have monthly meetups. So every month we meet up and we do some type of STEM activity. There is a woman in STEM there to kind of relate to whatever the activity is. And then we have a woman in STEM quarterly event, because, you know, even when you're working in a field, you want to have women who stay there. People stay there. And part of that is having people who look like you. And so being able to grow the base of women in STEM is very important as well, to make sure we have girls to filter to them. But also, you know, for them to grow that area and stay in that area. So those are the three things that ScienceSIS focuses on, and I use Paxcotech to grow that. And so Paxcotech is a CRM partner of HubSpot. I use HubSpot to grow ScienceSIS, very small nonprofit, but people don't really understand how small it is because of the technology behind it, because I love technology, obviously, and so I use that to grow it and also to help other nonprofits. So it's just like, really, really fun right now, I feel like I'm right in my flow. I can really use what I love, technology, to grow a passion and to also pour back into women or to nonprofits or to other businesses who want to grow theirs by using the technology that I use every single day.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  12:05  

Yeah, I love it. Tell me more about Galaxy Fest. I've seen you like post about it, and it looks really cool, but tell me more about what it is. 

Erica Willie  12:14  

So Galaxy Fest, if you can think of Beyonce and NASA having a baby, that's it. That would be Galaxy Fest. So Beyonce is the mom and NASA is the dad, and Galaxy Fest is the baby. There's a big stage that sees science experiments happening, there's music, there are artists, chalk artists, there's double dutch, there is face painting and nail painting and rock climbing walls and robotics and everything, and there's science behind it all. So we have curriculum developers to show like, hey, there's science behind Double Dutch. Do you know that? Just stand here. We'll show you the science behind it. And so kids can go through the park, and it's free, and they can go through all the interactive stations. They can come and sit and watch the show. There's food trucks. It's just a celebration of science in a fun way. We meet the kids where they are. A lot of people are like, is it just for girls? I market to girls, because if I do not, then all the boys would show up. But boys do show up, and it's great, and they have fun. And, you know, so the brothers can come. It's usually 50% boys anyway, but yeah, that's the Galaxy Fest. It's just a big festival of science, and it's every single year, it's growing. I even had a mom come from another state. She heard about it because she's like, there's nothing like it here.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  13:34  

I love that. So it's in Jacksonville?

Erica Willie  13:36  

Jacksonville, Florida. Yeah. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  13:37  

And when is it this year?

Erica Willie  13:39  

It's in September. So we found a sweet spot. So September, the week after Labor Day this year happens to be September the sixth. Is a sweet spot because school just started, but it hasn't started long enough for all the things to happen. So all of activities haven't been scheduled yet. So September the sixth, so the weekend after Labor Day is the weekend that we do Galaxy Fest every year.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  14:01  

I love it. Well, we'll put the link to it in the show notes. And if anyone is interested, if you're in the Jacksonville area, or if you want to travel from out of state.

Erica Willie  14:10  

Yes, travel from out of state, bring your girl crew and come on down.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  14:15  

Yeah, I love that. I remember I volunteered with FIRST Robotics for a while. It sounds kind of similar, but that was very like robotic focused. But it was like making robotics cool for kids, and so, you know, they had, like a DJ, and there was music, and it was at a an arena, like it was, like a huge thing, and and you had a team, and you built a robot, it was super cool. But I loved it. And I loved when I would see girls. I was one of the judges, and I would like, go around and make sure to check in with the girls. And, like, just, it was so fun to like, hear, you know, why they got involved and what part they played in building the robot. And you know, they would tell you all about the robots and stuff. It was really cool. 

Erica Willie  14:59  

Special. And girls, they act a different way when, when they're amongst their friends, just like we do, they show up differently, and they're more vocal. You can hear them more. And so something special about being able to be in your zone with people like you, but boys are going to be there. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  15:14  

Yeah. So you chose to leave an enterprise sales role. You started building this kind of while you were doing that, tell me about like, like, how did you decide to make that, take that leap, and how's it been?

Erica Willie  15:31  

It's been great. So the leap was very natural, because as an enterprise sales rep, you work with a team of people, so you are never selling a loan. You're working with legal ,you're working with probably marketing, a sales engineer, sales architect, and then a partner. So there's always partners that you work with to bring deals over across the line, or introductions to new deals. And so I always work with a partner. All of enterprise reps work with partners. And so my mother actually had a brain aneurysm. And so the company that I was with, HubSpot, love the company, they were very gracious, and they supported me throughout the way. But you can't do both again. You cannot do it all. And so while I loved being there, I had to say no to enterprise sales while supporting my mom. However, I could still do a little bit of partner work, and so I could work as a partner. And so a friend of mine who worked at IBM with me, and then she also was a product engineer at HubSpot, we decided to be partners, just like partners supported me as an enterprise rep, we decided to do the same thing. And so just a natural transition, because I was using HubSpot to grow The ScienceSIS and HubSpot, they really encouraged the reps to have a HubSpot account, to start their own business or use it for their own business. So I was already using it. It was just so easy to use. And I was telling another friend about it. I was telling another nonprofit about it and how easy it was to use, and they're like, all right, can you help us do it? And I'm like, Okay, this is fun. And then I asked my friend, like, Hey, do you want to do this? And she's like, Yeah. So we're talking to people about it and bringing them on. She's like, this is really fun. And so it's just it was very natural, because I use it every day. I can sell it how I use it, especially to nonprofits. So it's just a natural transition to that.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  17:26  

Yeah. I was thinking actually about your mom. We were talking last time about how, like you were starting to faint whenever you were pregnant, and trying to do it all. And I was thinking about how I remember, I think we talked around the time that that happened with your mom and and it was kind of like a also bit of a wake up call, of, kind of like, what's important to me and how do I want to be spending my time?

Erica Willie  17:53  

Exactly. It was. It's one of those things where I remember my mom, she's worked for the bank her entire life, the same company, and, you know, they were, it's a great company. However, I remember her talking to me about, you know, I wish I could have done this. This would have been great for me to do this company. You know, some of the things that I think I can leave my child, my kids, my legacy. When something happens to me, I want to be able to leave them something. And how, I think, I remember her telling me that this company is not hers to leave. This is another company and and when she's sick, then they're going to get someone else to do it, you know. So it made me think about how short life is, and how I wanted to leave my legacy, how I wanted to show up with my kids, how I wanted to, if I'm going to put stressful energy into something, it's going to be something that I really believe in, and something that I can leave and it's part of my life, and I can be show up as a mom as well. So all those things played into the transition. While it was a natural transition, it all helped me to affirm me that I was making the right decision.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  19:01  

Yeah. So what is your legacy? Or what do you want it to be?

Erica Willie  19:06  

Oh, that's a great question, Leanna. Am I even prepared to, what is my -

Leanna Laskey McGrath  19:12  

It's a big question. No pressure.

Erica Willie  19:15  

That's a big question. You know, I would say me and my family, we have like a mantra. One of our mantras is to leave it better than we found it. So, I say that could be part of my legacy, leaving something better than I found it. So I don't want my children, my three daughters, if they choose to be in STEM to feel like me. At least I can take the baton and like, take it a little bit further, so they're not starting at the same space, that place that I am, my daughters and their friends, so they can come and show up and be a mom and be confident. And that can be a superpower, that they not only view it as a superpower, other moms, but everybody society like, oh my gosh, she's a mom, not saying that moms are, you know, the end all be all. But that's just one of the things that I would like for them to be able to show up and and be them their full selves, and not have any types of insecurities. So if I can leave it better than I found it, I like bringing people with me. I think that's a mantra as well. Like, I don't believe in scarcity. Like I love learning from people and me like little bit that I have mastered, I love to I'm generous with that. So taking people with me and leaving it better than I found it, it's part of like a mantra. But, you know, just leaving behind systems and spaces and stories that just make it easier for my daughters and their friends and the next woman and the next mother to rise, and that, I think that would be my legacy, as far as, personally. The ScienceSIS Foundation, just giving girls access and confidence and in a platform where they can, like, see themselves in in STEM and beyond, I think that would be for The ScienceSIS and then Paxcotech. It's just, I'm just showing women, especially moms, that they can lead with tech, with clarity and kindness and excellence. And systems can scale with purpose. And strategies can have heart like you really can have a strategy with heart and not have to be so focused, focus, focus, focus on numbers. I think that will happen, that will come. So I think those are a mix of my mantra and my legacy together. I think it's just kind of all rooted in faith, family, helping people grow, and whether that those are clients or my community or my daughters and their friends.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  21:38  

I love it. It is like, so you to say, leave it better than you found it. Because it's like, you know, you show up to something, and you're like, How can I just, like, maximize it? How can I take it all the way?

Erica Willie  21:50  

Yeah, I always like helping, wanting to help. Like, how can I help you?

Leanna Laskey McGrath  21:54  

Yeah, and I think it makes sense that number one, like that you when you went into STEM decades ago, and kind of found like challenges there, you're like, I want to make this better for people. And I think that's, you know, amazing. And then also, on top of that, you have three daughters who are inspiring you even more to leave it better than you found it. 

Erica Willie  22:18  

Yeah, and their friends, and then I'm like, just, and other moms and and, you know, just trying and showing up and failing, and saying it's okay, like, let's just try. And what's the worst gonna happen? The worst could happen for me is not trying at all. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  22:33  

Yeah, I love it. Well. Thank you so much. Erica, I think that, wow. Like, what an amazing legacy you're leaving to make things better for so many people, for your daughters, for moms, for other women in STEM like it's just amazing what you're doing, and I'm so honored that you came on the show to talk to me about it and to share with our community. I know so many people are gonna hear you and relate to what you're saying and be inspired by you. Because I think that lots of people go into spaces and are like, you know, this is not great, but like, I'm just trying to, like, live. I'm just trying to, like, keep my head above water so, but you're like, No, I'm gonna go in and I'm gonna do that, but also make it better. And I just love, I just love what you're doing, and I just so appreciate you and what you're bringing to the world. I'm so glad that you're part of my world.

Erica Willie  23:28  

And you are part of my world, because we skipped that, because not only did I work with you, I worked for you, you were my boss. You were my boss. And I just love how we've remained in the same space, like even though we don't live in the same area, I've always felt like I was part of your life. I kind of keep up with what's going on with your girls and your family, and you've always been such a great leader, and so I love that you have this platform. It makes sense. It makes total sense. And you've always been the same since I met you. So you are one of the women that I'm just very, very thankful for being part of my circle. So thank you for what you're doing.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  24:03  

Thank you, Erica. Oh my goodness. We're going to make sure to link to ScienceSIS as well as Galaxy Fest. If anyone is interested in supporting this amazing nonprofit or getting involved, especially if you're in the Jacksonville area and Erica, let me just clarify. Do you need to be in Jacksonville to be involved with your organization? Or is there a way to be involved if you are in another place? Since we have listeners from all over.

Erica Willie  24:28  

Yeah, you can be involved in so many different ways. I mean, we like we do marketing. It's all online. If you want to support by volunteering there. You can support by donations. You can support by giving your time being a mentor, just if you're a woman in STEM, those stories can be brought to life in person or online. So yes, please, you know, reach out to me. I think Leanna is gonna you're gonna post it, tag it, but I'm at The ScienceSIS, so it's like The Science S I S, like Sister, short for sisters. So you can find me on this at TheScienceSIS on Instagram, Facebook, and Erica Willie on LinkedIn.

Leanna Laskey McGrath  25:09  

Awesome. All right. Well, thank you so much Erica, and thank you everyone for tuning in, and we will see you all next week. 

Leanna Laskey McGrath  25:16  

If you're loving what you're learning on this podcast, I'd love to invite you to check out The Executive Mom Reset. It's my six month coaching program for ambitious, success driven, career focused women who are ready to stop surviving and start thriving. Together, we'll tackle the stress, guilt and overwhelm that come with being a high achieving executive mom. You'll learn how to set boundaries, prioritize what truly matters, and build the confidence to show up powerfully at work, at home, and for yourself. Head on over to coachleanna.com right now to schedule a free discovery call. We'll spend an hour talking about where you are now, what you want to create, and how I can help you get there, because every woman deserves to live the life of her dreams. Let's create yours together.