Yeah, I was raised to be that way. But it's also just me. I left almost everything behind from how I was raised - racism, fundamentalism, politics, left the South. But not that. I still enjoy smiling and seeing someone smile back. Helping someone who dropped their packages because they don't look like they can bend down.
As a woman who was in the military and law enforcement, I learned that the quality of my work got me where I wanted to go. Yes, it had to be better than everyone else's. I made sure it was.
As far as adversaries go, it's always better to be underestimated. If a coworker saw me as a sweet girl who couldn't possibly compete for that promotion, he was a fool. I never competed with another woman. There weren't any.
The same thing applies to physical confrontations. Women are always underestimated because of size. And if they're pretty for some reason. That's good. I used it to my advantage.
What I'm saying is that I didn't have to change who I was. I just had to make who I was work for me and for the careers I chose. I like people who are different from me. I just can't be them and they can't be like me.
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