Sheila's Story

This is Sheila’s story – the remarkable way a labor attorney changed the trajectory of her career.

Sheila has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology and in 1997 she was researching HIV risk factors in a vulnerable population in an urban area. But a man she was working with began sexually harassing her and there were other disturbing issues at work. She was disheartened by those who didn’t care about serious research to help prevent HIV. She was frustrated with those who were just out to better their careers and didn’t mind stealing other people’s research in the process.

A labor attorney advised Sheila to file a complaint so the man would stop harassing her. But she also gave Sheila this sage advice: look for another job. The attorney said, in so many words, that titles and prestigious institutions are less important than finding good people to work with. You need to find people who are good and your good will come from that.

Sheila had always wanted to align herself with big name institutions. But after that short exchange with the labor attorney, she changed her mindset. She based her job search on finding goodhearted people who actually want to make a difference in the world. Shelia was able to find a new job as a behavioral expert at a grade school, impacting the lives of countless teachers, parents and children. After 14 years in that position, she, again, used her strategy of searching for the goodhearted. Today she’s a researcher in Palliative Care, with funding from the National Institute of Health.

“I’m working with an amazing and nice research team,” Shelia said. “I needed the wisdom of that labor attorney. She wouldn’t remember me, but her words meant so much to me. I listened to her and now I tell my kids, ‘the most important thing about work is that you like who you’re working with.’”

What a difference one woman can make for another, when she takes the time to share her wisdom.