A Few Words of Reflection on 2022 and 2023

Less resolutions, more mindset changes is my motto of the year.

Hello Product-Boxers, 

First, I’d like to acknowledge that I am writing this post as I ride the train on a seat that faces backward. This is meaningful for two different reasons:

1. I get to literally see the ground I (or, actually, the train) have covered while inching closer to my destination. Very few things are as satisfying, especially because, in this case, all I have to do is sit here and enjoy the ride.

2. It is the last day of 2022, and there is something incredibly sentimental about spending this day reflecting on the way to a weekend of quality time with my loved ones to watch the clock strike midnight together.

2022 was the year when I took a leap of faith and left my job at Citi (a company and a team I loved) to go to JPMorgan Chase. While going from one bank to another may not seem monumental for some, to me, it solidified that my passion for the world of payments is genuine and that I’d like to keep on solving problems in the world of financial services for the next few years, if not more. 

Shortly after starting at JPMC, about a month in, I became a people manager. While I had previously directly and indirectly managed people, this felt like a new stage of my career, one with more responsibility and gravity at an organization with unparalleled reach and scale. I lucked out with an amazing Sr. Associate on my team, and I am grateful to watch him grow in his career and support him along the way. I was also lucky enough to have two phenomenal managers this year. They taught me that rising tides lift all ships and the value of psychological safety, collaboration, and open-candor-style feedback. 

Personally, I felt like I truly embraced leaning into my ownership mindset, which both helped me make a great impact but also taught me some tough lessons, some of which I documented in my second-ever Product Box post. And, of course, I decided to start this newsletter in the first place. A few other highlights from the year:

• My podcast, WIN/WIN: Women in Innovation, reached new heights, being recognized as a top 10% most shared podcast on Spotify with listeners from 140+ countries.

• I was invited to live-podcast at Money 20/20.

• My 501c3 nonprofit, Kozakov Foundation, welcomed its board and a brand new team member, solidified a unique value proposition, and raised $15,000.

• I started an MBA program at Imperial College in London and became Chair of the cohort. I began executive coaching with Rita Ramakrishnan to perfect my leadership skills.

• I became a Venture Partner at Lalotte Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund, with some of my closest friends and chosen family.

• I traveled to new cities and countries and watched some of my closest friends fall in love, get married, and start families. 

And most importantly, I solidified my “why.” It is probably not that surprising, but lots of my friends make fun of me (in good spirits, of course) for posting on LinkedIn and sharing a lot of my journey and thoughts on social media. And while I acknowledge my cringe-worthy moments, through the last year, I realized that content creation and knowledge sharing is a critical part of who I am, personally and professionally. 

Fundamentally, I am a massive advocate for democratizing knowledge related to career development and in the STEM world, especially. As a visual learner and someone very passionate about design as a whole, I also truly believe in the notion that “if you cannot see it, you cannot be it.” I want to keep creating platforms to share the journeys of other people (especially those who have had the odds stacked against them, those from marginalized communities) who have made an impact and use my platform to share mine as I continue to learn and grow. 

Transparently, this was the year when I realized the challenge of excelling in my career and embarking on that mission simultaneously. Through lots of self-reflection and breaking down the complexities behind the issues, I realized that I’d only like to progress as a leader (in the conventional sense - a lá career ladder) in my own way and my own right. What does that mean? Well, the bottom line is that as 2023 kicks off, I will: 

1. Build the kind of products that solve meaty, headache-inducing problems, which deliver value for customers, the business, and the ecosystem. 

2. Be execution-driven vs. ego-driven. I have watched myself make decisions based on validation from others or based on what “sounds” important throughout the years. I’ve vastly improved at this, but I will always keep it top of mind. 

3. Invest in the quality of the content I create and re-route my time to focus on content creation and personal projects that make an impact.

4. Evaluate advancement opportunities through the lens of my mission and forego them if they do not align with who I aim to be as a leader. 

5. Fearlessly “back out” or reject commitments that no longer serve me, even if I feel guilty or I am not doing enough. 

Most of all, I wanted to thank you if you’ve read, engaged with, or listened to any of the content I put out there. I recognize that time is the greatest commodity we have, and whether it is listening to a 30-minute podcast or reading a way-too-wordy written post, you give me yours. Please never hesitate to reach out if there is a way that I can support you or if you have a question you’d like me to ponder alongside you. 

Happy 2023!