Jaime Waydo — Taking Care of Yourself First, Fearlessly Owning Your Desires, Speaking Your Truth and Designing Systems to Support You

The Art of Accomplishment

In Episode 41, Brett interviews Jaime Waydo, Chief Technology Officer for Cavnue. Previously, Jaime led systems engineering at Waymo, Google’s Self Driving Car program, and collaborated with NASA on the Mars Rover Curiosity.

Jaime came from a mindset passed down generationally that, especially as a woman, it was important to place everyone’s needs — children, spouse, employees — before her own. She quickly realized that this way of being led her to chronically running on empty, which neither benefited her nor her community. She pivoted to putting herself first: speaking her needs vulnerably, organizing systems to support her and designing a schedule that worked for her, transforming her work culture and her home life, while giving her the energy she needed to live life on her terms.

Tune in to this episode to find out how she made it all happen.

“Let’s just look at this like a patient on the table. What are the symptoms? And then, what’s the next step in treatment? And so, solving problems like that and not worrying about whose fault is something, I think is a really good way to keep the shame from cropping up in people and then they can stay much more in the problem-solving mode.”

What we discuss in Episode 41:

1:41 Why it’s okay and important to be selfish.

6:06 How being a chronic people pleaser can result in "chameleon leadership” and create anxiety within a team.

9:23 Generational expectations placed on women to constantly give without having support systems to replenish their own energy.

11:13 The turning point where Jaime realized that prioritizing herself would also allow her to better serve others.

16:00 How Jaime showing up vulnerably allowed her to improve team culture and cohesion during the pandemic.

20:00 Jaime’s techniques for speaking her truth within the context of challenging interpersonal dynamics.

26:26 How Jaime brought more peace and joy into her household by relating authentically with her children.

33:28 Shame as a root emotion behind micromanaging and people-pleasing behavior.

**Full transcript can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/AoAEpisode41

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