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Business Strategist at LUX BRAND LLC

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Chief People Officer at Community Care Cooperative

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Owner and Chief Growth Maven of Marketing by Mission Consulting

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She has worked kinds of jobs. However, she works as a marketing manager now. Her main job is marketing. The reason why she tried to work at marketing field is her brother. When she was young, her brother did a job of newspaper deliver. One day, her brother brought her to the job because he thought if they went together, they might be able to get many tips. It was true and they got a lot of tips. And then, she felt talking with people is fun. That is why she decided to work at marketing fields. She also did not feel a gender gap because ther are many women in her work place. When we asked about her regrets, she replied, "I did not have some regrets about the negotiations I did, but they all led to my growth, so I do not rgret them now".

Her work is to support build brands in business such as person, logo, website, etc. She helps people who want to make money in business do what they need to do to make money in the best possible way. She said she would like to make jewerly in the future. We believe that the key to success is not to situation, but to keep challengeing yourself. She adviced us that if you do not have enough marketing skills now, you can learn them on the job, so it is important to experience a lot. She told us the most important thing when we do a job that is “Communication”. Every job needs communication skills.

Chintsu, Hikari, Sawako, Mina, Hina and Aoi (Group 2)

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She is the same Japanese as me, so I would like to ask the question about discrimination. I asked her that Do you have a discrimination experience in America? She answered No. She said it is lucky and everyone respects and protected her. However, she had a discrimination in Japan. After learning in America and going back to Japan, some people said that you are too Americanized and too powerful. It means you are not like Japanese woman. Most people think that Japanese women are silent and humble. That is why she did not favor these Japanese thinking. She decided to work in the U.S because she wanted to continue studying English and develop her English skills more. However, she felt guilty about leaving her family in Japan to stay in the U.S. Then her family told her that if she ever needed anything, she could always come home, and those words provided her with emotional support as she worked abroad.

We asked her "Which culture is better?". She answered that she was mix-feeling because both Japanese and American cultures are good for her. She also said she was happy to be Japanese. We thought that accepting both cultures as good was connected to her current job, which is to connect two countries. She felt successful in her work when that the students were fluent in Japanese and they said we were happy to learn Japanese. Now, with the support of her wonderful husband, she volunteers to help young people who want to study in Japan or America. she told us to speak up is important. If we think about something and want to say these, we should say these to teachers or family. It leads us more valuable life.

Chinatsu, Hikari, Sawako, Mina, Hina and Aoi (Group 2)

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She talked about her career business and her opinions. She came to the U.S. about 30 years ago because she got married. She works as an administrative assistant at Panasonic. She also opened a shop called “hungry ninja” at the farmers market in June of this year. I asked her some questions. First, I asked her if you were able to speak English when you were in Japan. She said she wasn’t good at it, but she had a pen pal and she wrote a letter in English. In addition, her father traveled abroad for work, so there were often English-peaking acquaintances at home. She had many opportunities to come into contact with English. I also asked about hungry ninja. She started it because she and her friends like cooking and they wanted to try open shop. This shop has just getting started, but it already has repeat customer. She is excited about it. I had a great time hearing a lot more from her.

Saya Terao

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I could learn a lot of things from Elena ＆Shinobu. First I learned skills ＆how to enhance the motivation from Elena. These days, I'm interested in global marketing. Global Marketing is needed not only education such as digital and social media but also good communication with customers, flexibility＆adoptability. In addition, people can get new knowledge by working with other People in these jobs. It is important for workers to trust other people. I am sometimes less motivation that can't speak and communicate English very well. Elena taught us some ways how to improve motivation. It is to push myself, practice, and not be afraid. So if I am less motivated, I try to push myself and ask myself a question. Second, I learned how Ms, Shinobu became accustomed to the U.S. She is working and becoming active in the U.S. She told us that has passion and is never shy constantly. Furthermore, there are a variety of people in the U.S., so she always respects other people's cultures. She also said like Elena that interacting with people and being open to myself helped English improvement.

Aimi Tanaka

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During this time, I heard from her about many things about her professional life and personal life. She came to the US because she married and now works as an administrative assistant at Panasonic. Also, she started a store called "Hungry Ninja" at the farmers market. Although she immigrated to the US, she works for a Japanese company because Panasonic is multicultural so that she can communicate with people from different backgrounds. She also can interact with a new generation. In addition, I asked a question: what are the most difficult things in your job and personal life? Regarding her job, she answered that she needed to pay attention to the deadline because of the time difference between Japan and the US. She said it was hard to understand each other because the company was multicultural. On the other hand, in her personal life, her parents live in Japan, so she is a little worried about their future. However, she enjoys her life! She told us that all life is an experience and we should have fun! She enjoys her work and personal life, even if it's hard. Her mindset is wonderful, and I respect her.

Sana Kobatake

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She is from Japan, just like us. As she studied English, she wanted to become an English teacher, so she became it. After that, she became a Japanese teacher, since she is also Japanese. She also works at a non-profit organization and is involved in activities to connect the U.S. with Japan, and other places. She makes full use of her experience and background in her work. She also said that experience is necessary to improve leadership skills. What I learned from listening to her story is that it is important to think about what you can do based on your experience and use it in your work.

Honoka Noe Ayaka Mika Saki Kurumi (group 1)

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She said that the most important thing in marketing is "value." That is, to analyze what is required and meet the needs. Among them, she said that communication is important. Communication improves one's marketing skills and leadership skills. She said that communication is like a puzzle. Since female leaders always face many challenges, it is important to respond to one's emotions in order to overcome them. Since she is successful in marketing, I asked her what advice she would give as a female leader. She said, "Believe in yourself. And get out of your comfort zone." I learned the importance of taking on challenges from her.

Honoka Noe Ayaka Mika Saki Kurumi (group 1)

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I learned from her about what she cares about Elena’s career. She told us she liked to promote business and achieve mission statement. She works for customers especially big company, so she always thinks and imagine what they want and tries to make a great relationship with them. She thinks career as a leader should be what makes well with people. She thinks leader has to think about what colleagues need and what makes them like or excited. Also, it is important to trust each other and make a decision loudly. I asked a question, how to keep motivation. She answered that I needed to push up myself. We should not be afraid of making mistakes and we should get out of comfort zone. When I heard these, I felt that I need more confidences to make actions.　Yoshino Iwasaki

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She told us about her business and her life. She got married to an American and immigrated to the US. She is now in a management position at an American branch of Panasonic, and has been running her own business, “Hungry Ninja,” from July of this year. I asked her why she decided to work for Panasonic, a Japanese company, even though she had moved to the US. She said that by working at Panasonic, she is able to communicate with many Japanese people. Actually, there are 20 Japanese people in the U.S. branch office. She was also attracted to the multi-national background of her company. However, she said it is hard for her when there is trouble at work or when she encounters people who don't understand each other. In spite of these circumstances, she has been enjoying herself and getting things done. I would like to respect her courage in jumping into a foreign land where there is no one to rely on.

Nayu Harako

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She talked about her career and her life in America. She started to live in America because she got married. And she is working as administrative assistant in Panasonic in America. The reason why she decided to work at Panasonic was there are multi culture. In the company, there are 20 Japanese people. Not only Japanese, but also many foreign people work there. She can feel comfortable. Also, we asked about Hungry Ninja. She and her friend run it. The reason why they started to run is that they love cooking and it is just trial. She enjoy running their shop. And, we asked her that what is your hardest thing. She said she enjoy working, so her job is not so hard. But she said it is difficult to understand to each other. People have different culture and background, so they have different ideas. She said it is difficult but she can enjoy to learn other culture. I thought it is good idea. By this, people can learn each other.

I can learn working in America is difficult but I can learn many things. I want to know more about job in America.

Aoi Baba

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I heard from Elena about her job. I was especially interested in her job style. When she chooses the job, the priority is flexibility. It means she wants enough time to do working and spending time with her family. Also, she wants to share her knowledge for many people. These are important things when she id working. These things are also the reason why she is teaching at Showa even though she is busy for any other jobs. Of course, she can get more income doe to have more than one job. However, not only that, but she also feels happy when she shares her knowledge with her students, and it is the best decision in her life. I think her personality and job style are very grate because she looks enjoy her jobs. Enjoying own job is difficult. However, she thought about what she likes and what is important for her in her work. And she finds the jobs that suits for her. I think it is important for me to find jobs in the future.

Koyuki Yamamoto

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Liat is a product manager that has rich experience acquired across several industries. She received her MBA from Harvard University. For example, she was engaged in Google or Amazon. I was surprised at facts because these companies are very famous all over the world.

My group had some questions. First, we asked about her most difficult challenge in her work.  One of the most difficult things is language. When she worked in Amazon, she was involved in "Alexa." To develop, she had to learn Japanese. It can play music, tell us the weather, and turn off the lights. She had trouble communicating and doing a task. The second is about work related to Israel. Israel has a small population and frequent conflicts. She was involved in solving it. Through interviewing, I found that she has taken on many challenges so far.

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Philly is the Chief People Officer at Community Care Cooperative, an Accountable Care Organization based in Massachusetts working with hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries. She is currently enrolled in the Executive MBA program at Suffolk University. She has dedicated her time to many community building and neighborhood improvement events. As a mentalist, she contributed to the local community by participating in many community events.

I could hear about her story, and it was so interesting. My group asked some questions. One of her challenges was to talk with different people. I found that communication is important in any job. In addition, I could hear about useful advice from her. First, passionate is skill which need for everyone. Second, people should have confidence. Doing a new thing is challenging, but she said that having confidence is very important. I sometimes become negative, so today’s experience is a chance of being positive. During studying abroad, I want to challenge many new experiences.

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1. Liat Berry

In Japan, workers generally work at the same company until they reach retirement age. However, she experienced many industries, such as Amazon, Apple, and Google. In addition, her birthplace is Israel so she had to work in the military for two years. So, I thought her story about her experience was very interesting. Also, it helped me think about my future career. Before I talked with her, I considered using what I learned when I joined a new company. However, I learned that what I learned is not very important and it is significant to keep learning new things. Incidentally, she spoke to us about her challenges. I felt a little worried when I heard her challenge. This is because she said “Even though it has been a few years since she joined Amazon, she was appointed to lead the Japanese Amazon team to create the Japanese version of  Alexa. Of course, all workers are appointed to take a heavy role. But, I thought I have to acquire various skills because it will help me.

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Her answers to the questions were very interesting. First, she shared an active episode from her school life. She had been interested in learning languages since she was a child and wanted to learn French when she was a student, but because her school did not offer French classes, she collected signatures and finally was able to learn French at school. This story gave me an idea of her energy and passion for action. The second is the benefits and concerns of working for a large company. An advantage is the wealth of resources, including training programs and support systems. A challenge is that it is difficult to keep in step and to consider the impact to others to work as a large organization. I felt the difficulty of not being able to reflect what she wants to do or think. The third is the thought of language learning. In particular, the surprising word is that everyone usually speaks one language, so learning more than one language is excellent. Therefore, you don't need to be afraid of making mistakes. I was also surprised to hear her say that vocabulary and conversation are more effective learning than focusing on grammar and accuracy.

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I learned several things through questions to her. The first is the challenge and reward she feels in her work. The two challenges she described are that her coworkers are her boss and that there are people on her team who don't fit in with her or whom she doesn't trust. The second is how to balance family and work. She has two daughters, a 12-year-old and an 18-year-old, and her current job also allows her to work from home. In addition, to spend more time with her daughters, she sets a time limit for her work hours and spends time with her family without taking care of her work after that time.　The third is about the experience of the Boston Marathon and the growth she achieved. She was not a runner and had no experience, but she practiced daily and ran the marathon. The most important learning she got is that I can do anything and to keep going and push myself lead to success. Her most memorable words were Health Care choose me. I felt hope and anxiety about whether I would be able to find a career that I could feel the same as.

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2. Philly Laptiste

She is currently working in the department of human resources but she also worked at many companies. I was impressed by her story because she spoke to us about two aspects: being a single mother and worker. She answered many questions: what skills do we have to have , what should I do to have confidence, and how do you balance raising children and working? I learned that passion towards the job is the most important part when I start a business. This is because if I have enthusiasm for the job, it will lead to the improvement of the business. In terms of being confident, it is difficult to be confident for me and I always get nervous when I speak in front of people and when I make a presentation. She told us that she also sometimes gets nervous so you don’t need to panic and have confidence. You need to take a deep breath and behave as if you are confident. It is still difficult but I think I will try it.

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Liat Berry graduated from Harvard business school. She worked at Amazon and Apple. She launched ALEXA in Amazon. Also, she one of the people who innovated iPhone, MacBook, and Apple Watch. As you can read, she is very intelligent and innovate many famous hardware. She stared interested in TEC industry because his brother who studied about technology. She said that expert, learning, and solving problems skills is important in TEC industry. People in big companies are so smart. So, companies are one of the school; good people, resource, and support and very effective for her. She likes to learn especially language. She can speak seven languages. She thinks that speaking is most important than grammar and reading. Get confidence and push yourself are also important. If you can speak other languages, this is great thing, and you are better parson than other people. There are many tools to study language, so you can find way to learn fun.

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Phillomin Laptiste works involve with health care. She graduated university and get BA and MA. She is not doctor or nurse, however she really passionate community service. Community health center is small hospital. Also, they do only primary care, but very important to local community. She doses human resources, organization development, and marketing in company. She said that she was chosen by health care. There are many ways to work involving health care; management and finance. And she feels rewarding in job now. So, she doesn’t think change job. Her one of the good memories is developing staff. At first, the number of staff is 60. Now is increasing 300. She did grow program and staffs looked like happy to know new benefit. She can’t cerebrate herself, so other people push her. Boston Marathon is one of the examples of it. She was recommended by company to get donation. She refused because she thinks that she couldn’t do. However, her daughter pushed her. She was said that you can do it. After that, she got confident. She said to us we can do everything.

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First of all, she explained her workplace to us. Her work connects people and hospitals. She gives people enough money to get treatment. She has worked as a manager for many years and is now as a director for the past three years. She said that just because you went to a medical school at university, you do not necessarily have to become a doctor or nurse. I asked her, how did you change before and after running the Boston Marathon? She answered that she started to feel like she could do anything. Thanks to her family and daughter's support, she could run the race. In addition, she did not know how to manage stress after becoming a manager. Then, she found running and listening are ways to release stress. After talking to her, I realized college was just a future process. I felt that finding ways to relieve stress is essential to succeed in the workplace.

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When I read about her career, my first impression was that she was a person who changed her work many times from a famous company to a famous company. She worked at Apple, Amazon, and Google. Between her works, she graduated from Harvard Business School. In addition, she speaks seven languages and has three children. She also has experience working in Japan. Due to her older brother, she started to become interested in engineering and programming. She said that the good thing about working at such a big company is that her co-workers are smart, and she can trust them. She also said that the people around her often inspire her. She gave us some tips to be able to speak some languages. She said that it is important to think in the language want to learn. She said going out and talking to people was important rather than studying using reference books.

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At first, my group spoke with Philly. She first talked about her background then after that we asked her some questions. I was impressed that she knew what she wanted to do so I was interested to know about her experience. One of my questions was "when did your life change?" and she answered that when she had a daughter. I really concentrated on what she was saying because I was really interested to know about it. Especially, her job in health care so when her daughter was born her mind got stronger to help people. I thought her story was really interesting and fun to hear even though I did not know about her job specific I still enjoyed it. I thought she was a fantastic women leader. Another thing that I was surprised by was she said to us that "You guys have good questions" and I was really happy about it. I was glad to hear both of their stories and I learned many things.

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I interviewed three people, Liat Berry, Philly, and Junko

At first, I heard Junko’s story. She was in charge of marketing at show Boston. She said that soft skills are important, such as communication skills and analyze, and I agree with her opinion. In my part-time job, it is essential for me to raise communication skills, because I need to communicate with customer.

Secondly,, I heard Liat Berry’s story. She is very experienced. In her job, She had to think about how to spread Alexsa in Japan. She assigned employee work assignment. She cannot speak Japanese, so while staying in Japan, she struggled the culture shock. When I asked her, “Can you share a memorable experience from your time in the Israeli Defense Force?” She had an opportunity to go into prison and talk to prisoners. I was surprised by her answer because no one can do that very often. In addition, I didn’t know that the military is mandatory for all citizens over the age of 18.

Lastly, I listened to Philly’s story and thought about how brave she was, because she said that  She said that she did not choose the job, she was chosen. After running boston marathon, she changed her mind. She was in charge of human resources. She thinks the important thing is to finish whatever I started. Every time I try something new, I always give up halfway through, so this story made me change my mind.

Through this talking, I think that confidence was the most important thing. These womens seemed very confident.

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She started becoming interested in the technology industry because of her brothers. They were her role models, and she respected them. She also chose the same major as them in university. When she was young, she liked language. She lived and grew up in Israel, which was diverse, and she had a lot of friends who had different backgrounds. Due to this environment, she enjoyed learning new languages, such as French, Italian, and Spanish. Moreover, she traveled to South Africa and spent four months with a backpack exploring there. A big change in her life is becoming a parent. She said that new priorities changed after she became a parent. She used to have the perspective that being a parent must be hard. However, one thing changed her mind: she could become a good mom. It encouraged her she could do anything.Thanks to this, she became motivated to do anything.

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Next, we talked to Liat Berry. She was an amazing person. First I was surprised at where she was working. For example, Amazon, Apple and Google. I was so excited to hear her experience. I also was surprised that she could speak many languages. I was am considering learning other countries languages so I was really interested in her language story. What particularly impressed me was "out of comfort zone and practice" I thought that was right but it is hard to go out of your comfort zone. In my experience I had a lot of experience of going out of my comfort zone but still I really get stressed and nervous. I also heard a phrase that she said many times "Push Yourself" I was impressed. I was glad to hear both of their stories and I learned many things.

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She was looking for meaningful work because she felt she wanted to help people, especially those with health problems. She wanted to work at a small community care center. This is because she can provide essential care more deeply rather than to a big community. When she achieves or succeeds in something, she doesn't celebrate by herself. Instead of this, her family or friends celebrate with her. There are some hard part of being a chief. First of all, working with her previous co-workers as their boss. She said that she used to work and talk as a co-worker, but once she became a boss, she had to manage and advise them. That was a hard thing for her. The other thing is working with people she doesn't trust. As a chief, she has to communicate and cooperate with them. However, sometimes, it is difficult for her. She hasn't decided what she will do for her next career. Her eldest daughter is going to Kentucky, and she wants to spend more time with her children.

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She worked at a lot of industry such as Google, Apple, Amazon and so on. Among them, the hardest challenge for her was project of Alexa. This is because the project team wanted Alexa to have variety of languages, for example Japanese. So, she came to Osaka in Japan to create Alexa in Japanese. But she did not know many Japanese people, and there is a difference of communication style between her culture and Japanese culture. For instance, people in America say to Alexa “Please turn on the light.”, but people in Japan say, “If you don’t mind, could you turn on the light?”. So, they had to create it to adjust to Japanese communication style. When I heard that, I felt it was so interesting, because I have experienced those cultural differences, and I wondered about the difference of communication style in this situation. Also, she worked at the Israeli Defense Force in the role of human observation. I was so surprised about her background. I was like why did she work there?, so I asked. And then, she answered that working there for 2 years was mandatory. I understand the reason, and I wanted to ask how her time in the military helped her in her career, but I did not, because we did not have enough time.

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What I found amazing about her was she has confidence and is proud of herself. We asked, “how come you have confidence yourself?”. She said sometimes she has to or needs to have confidence to calm down. When I heard that, I remembered the time when I had presentations. I often feel too nervous, but I realized having confidence makes me calm down. I also think in order to have confidence, I have to make an effort, so through this event, I gained motivation for learning English. I want to be confident myself! In addition, the most interesting thing was she participated in the Boston Marathon. Her daughter’s words led her to join it. She asked her daughter, “what would you think if I said I will participate in the Boston Marathon?”. Her daughter said you can do it, so she decided to join it. Her daughter also always proud of her and believes that like her mother can do everything. So, I feel what a good story it is.

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I gained a lot of wisdom from her. She can speak 7 languages. Some people asked how you could acquire so many languages? She answered that the most important thing is just speaking. You do not worry about making mistakes in grammar. I learned how to improve my English skills. In addition, the turning point in her life is having children. For her and Philly, the family is a big part of their life. Her brother influenced Liat. Also, she said, there were many smart people. So, she inspired me. I thought the connection with people has changed my life and values easily. I asked which do you choose, Amazon, Google, and Apple. She answered Google because her teammates are good. She answered quickly. Also, I was surprised about travel to South America. She went there without any plans. She recommended that we do that. But I do not have the courage.

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Her most memorable phrase is, “I didn’t choose this job. I am chosen by this job.” Someday, I want to say that like her when I am able to work were I want. I was surprised that she does not have routines for health. Instead of this, she always gets her daughters up and checks her schedules. By doing so, she is ready for the day. I thought I did not need special routines to be active. When I asked about the next stage, she answered she has no plan. Getting a higher position means working rather than spending time with family. In that case, she wants to stay with her family. Before I heard her story, I thought that to be successful at work, I had to give up something, such as family and privacy. My value have changed.

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I was so surprised that Liat Berry didn’t study machine skills. In my image, ALEXA is used by Japanese people such as ‘‘ALXA, please turn on light.’’ So, ALEXA connects to other devices and helps to operate a machine. However, she said that she didn’t only study machine skills, but also Japanese, because ALEXA is used by many Japanese people. I was fascinated that she isn’t afraid of first her experience. In addition, I was interested in her experience in the military. I couldn’t imagine what she did and how to contribute the country. According to her, people over eighteen years old have to join the military in Israel. They train and gain fitness preparing for emergencies. And her job is assessing whether people’s personalities fit the job or not. Her challenge in her career was leaving Japanese and Japanese culture. In her image, Japanese people are more polite and less direct than American people, so learning Japanese when programming ALEXA was the biggest challenge for her.

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I was interested in her Boston Marathon experiences. At first, I thought that she likes marathons because she had joined the Boston Marathon twice. However, she had never had a marathon experience, so she trained very hard to achieve her goal. If I were hard, I wouldn’t run because It’s very hard challenge. I admired her determination to achieve and grow on her own. Through her experience, she could gain confidence going from ‘‘I couldn’t do it.’’ to ‘‘I can do everything !!’’ I was also curious about how to balance work with raising children. At first, she worked full-time at her office and didn’t take care of her children. However, she changed her work style after the pandemic. She said that flexibility is the most important thing to balance work with housework. My group member asked her whether her life is successful or not. She answered ‘‘Yes, because I had a good job, daughters, and am proud of my life.’’ I want to say that ‘‘I am proud of my life’’ like she said.

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She teaches us about Hangry Ninja. This was started in June at the farmer’s market. There are many vegan dishes. She and her friend, who usually teaches cooking, start preparing at 4 a.m. She said it’s difficult to buy Gobo or other vegetables from Japan, which is uncommon in the US.

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She teaches us the way how we should get a job, and we know that her jobs and upbringing. the way of getting a job is more process than I thought. She taught us it is in American style, but I thought it would go well with the Japanese style. I also heard her experience story about why she started the business.

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I found that both women leaders did change their jobs many times. Before I heard that story, I had a negative image of changing jobs many times because it is not normal to change jobs very often. However, after listening to their stories, I changed my mind and I think it's okay to change jobs several times. Shinobu-san used to work at a candle company. After that, she worked at a travel agency, and then she entered Panasonic. I was impressed because she said,” By changing jobs, we can experience a lot of things and think about different perspectives, so it is a good thing! “

Also, it is interesting that she was doing pen pal with international students when she was young. I had never heard about “pen pal,” so it is interesting for me because now, everyone uses texting and chat apps, but a few years ago, letters were more common. I found those differences interesting.

Chihiro Kamei