I found Molly Forrest to be incredibly interesting and a fascinating leader! When we were visiting the LA Jewish Home and she spoke for a short bit of time, she immediately made a great first impression to me. I enjoyed listening to her speak on the previous years (2015) budget and how much they have raised through fundraising efforts. As we toured parts of the campus, I noticed how happy all of the staff appeared to be and how well taken care of the Residents were.   As I watched her video prior to Week 3 lecture, she became even more intriguing.  

During the video, I enjoyed learning about the setbacks Molly faced as a female trying to climb the ladder in her career. Despite the disappointments and challenges since her start in 1972, she rose to every occasion and now she is a very well respected business woman and leader. Molly made mention to being an "out of the box thinker" and how that helped her throughout her entire career. I have always been one to follow everything by the book and not deviate from a straight and narrow path.  Molly inspired me to challenge myself and become more of an "out of the box thinker" in both my personal and professional life. She spoke on the importance of first impressions and getting those around you to listen. I found it to be interesting on how much she stressed the impact of dressing professional in the workplace.  To me, wearing a suit daily shows signs of strength and power, especially for a female.  Being a young female and professional in the health care field, I too have had setbacks and challenges when applying for a promotion. Instead of feeling defeated, I am going to learn from it and keep working to reach my goals.  

Lastly, I continued to learn and be inspired by Molly when she spoke in lecture.  In one of the first questions she was asked about the progress of women in leadership roles over the years. Her response touched on how things have improved for women, but then she stated "there is still a glass ceiling."  Personally, I feel there is going to be a glass ceiling for many years to come. With that being said, I want to work harder and strive more and more each day to accomplish my career goals. I liked how she spoke about the importance of promoting from within in an organization.  I feel this strongly benefits both the employee and the employer.  For the employee, it is typically more pay and a higher status.  For the employer, it keeps employees happy and engaged which in turn lowers the retention rate. I was also amazed by her successful fundraisingefforts over the years and how that continues to grow. She highlighted the key is building great relationships and working closely with your community. The targeted goal this year for the LA Jewish Home is to raise 20 million dollars (it takes 12 million dollars to operate each year). She has made building and maintaining strong relationships with donors a priority. As the President and CEO of a company, she still writes handwritten thank you and condolence letters to donors and families.  To me, that is so meaningful and sends a powerful message.  

Molly is a true role model for all young females aspiring to work in high level Executive positions!