In this series, professionals share their words of wisdom that made all the difference in their lives.

The best advice I ever received came from my parents, who encouraged me to work hard and pursue my early love of math. This was great advice for two reasons.

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First, it led me to do something I really loved. In my experience, in work and in life, there are lots of smart, talented people out there. But talent alone is never enough. One of the things that distinguishes those who truly make a difference is passion and hard work. There is truth in the expression that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. And the passion that drives hard work comes from doing something you really love.

The second reason this was great advice is that it steered me toward a career in engineering at a time when few women were pursuing work in science, technology, engineering or math – fields that, collectively, we now call STEM.

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