Confidence is EVERYTHING
- Molly Janasik
- Dec 16, 2025
- 4 min read
Hey STEM Baddie! šš¼āāļøš We hope you are having a wonderful day being your amazing, beautiful, intelligent, & fun self. We have a longer post for you today that has a few 'workshop' tips as well as some cool things we're doing in the lab right now.
Today at work we are putting the finishing touches on our gingerbread lab before the final judgement tomorrow-wish us luck! Ours is the only deconstructed one so I think we got this šš¼āāļø We made it into kind of a diorama of our lab so that people can get an idea of what we in Test actually do, since most of the company does not venture inside the labs. As you can see, the penguins have taken over our lab and made it into a bit of a mess, but we have a flow hood (left inside of the gingerbread lab) that was 3D printed by our boss and then we put some tape around it to really look like the real thing as well as other 3D printed equipment. The flow hood in real life is used to handle sensitive equipment (the sensors/detectors) in a more clean and safe environment. Next to it is a bench that would be used to hold the dewar (test station) parts once deconstructed, or tools. Then, finally, on the right side is the dewar with a vacuum pump attached to it by a hose and on top of it is a Gamma Sphere / light source. Inside of the dewar is where the detector goes in order to pump down, cool down, and then performance test. This is where the magic happens.
WORKSHOP 1: You NEED Both Masculine & Feminine Energy in the Workplace
It is crucial that we utilize both our FEMININE & MASCULINE energy in the workplace. Yes, both! If you're too masculine people, you will isolate yourself and push people away but if you're too feminine, you won't gain the respect of others and they won't listen to you. And men and women each have BOTH types, it's not just for your gender. As women, we want to be more in our feminine energy (if you label yourself as a feminine woman that is!) and create inclusivity and comfort. BUT, we must also be assertive and not get walked on or ignored.
Feminine Energy:Ā
Needed because you need to:
Get along with others
Be inclusive
Have fun
How to:
Smile and say hi to your coworkers
Make it fun and be a little silly when you can
Include others
Masculine Energy:Ā
Needed because you need to:
Get things done
Lead
Not get walked onĀ
How to:
Be direct when speaking to people
Have clear boundariesĀ and say no when needed
Take charge
Live from the lab: What I'm working on this week
Figuring out what's wrong with our optical dewar in the Astronomy Lab. It is wigging out once it almost reached temperature (~77 Kelvin (K)) so Mark switched the cable that goes from the temperature controller to the dewar because maybe something is off with the heater line or something. It should be below 200K now, I should go check on that.
My dewar in Lab 79 is cooling down right now so I will check on it later, hopefully I can run a CFT (cold functional test) before I leave today. Also, Rob the software guy wants to check some things on the station before he releases the acquisition software so I'll work with him on that.
Putting the finishing touches on our gingerbread lab like I mentioned above! Very important.
WORKSHOP 2: 3 Tips to Become A Confident QUEEN
Iāve always been self-assured, confident, and wanted to speak in front of others but I was coming from a wounded place when I was younger. I wasnāt fully secure in who I am or even knew who I was, I was very naive so I was easily manipulated and would shrink down if someone would challenge me or if another confident person would approach me. So I was confident on the surface and only in certain situations. Whereas now, I feel fully secure in who I am and can remain grounded and stable in who I am no matter who I am around.Ā Here are some tips that helped me achieve the level of confidence and self-assurance that I have today.
Starting and leading groups in school and college HELPED SO MUCH!! I messed up a lot, I did SO MANY things wrong, I embarrassed myself and upset people but I learned what to do and what not to do so that I no longer make those mistakes, which is good that I got those mistakes out of the way when the stakes were low!
Leading a project at work (1 year in!) now is such a difficult task because I have no idea what Iām doing so Iām learning new things every day and asking so many people such dumb questions but it is helping me stretch my rubber band so much. I'm learning and growing every single day which is amazing for my inner work.
Rubber band theory: I learned this term from my fave YouTuber Awwlexis: You can only hold as much success, love, money, etc. as your rubber band allows. Stretching your rubber band without snapping it is the goal and involves inner work and growth. If we get something we're not ready for, we will self-sabotage and snap our rubber band.
Doing things that scare me and embarrassing myself often and sitting in that discomfort in order to grow. You will not grow if you do not try new things. You will not grow if you are not willing to embarrass yourself. I posted something on my story that said if you canāt handle hard things, you canāt handle being great. And that resonates so well because your dreams and your goals will need a higher version of you in order to accomplish and keep them. Not the other way around. You need to go through the crap in order to grow and learn and become the best version of you, in order to reach your goals and your dreams.
Thanks for reading, baddie! We hope you have an amazing rest of your week and a wonderful holiday season.
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