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What is Perspective Confessions?

Perspective Confessions

Hi! I’m Carlynn creator of Perspective Confessions. Welcome! I’m so glad you are here! The idea of Perspective Confessions was born in 2015. Writing has been a practice in my life starting in grade school and it made sense to create Perspective Confessions to be able to share articles, journal entries, musings, etc. about topics such as career, financial health, and overall wellbeing with all of you. When I write, I am able to connect with myself, unearth hidden truths much more easily than when I’m talking to a friend. Did you know that truth telling = confession? To confess is to tell the truth. Most, if not all of us, don’t stay connected to ourselves all the time. Our lives are filled with distractions and it takes work to get connected back up with yourself to understand how you might feel about something, know what decision to make, or to get connected to what’s true. Writing helps me do all those things. At some point, the writings in my journal shifted from writing just for myself to writing so that others could read it too. The truths that I’ve unearthed for myself I want to share it more broadly because my words might be the words that someone else needs, can relate to, and/or help them think about a situation from a different perspective. By the way, the quote below is from an amazing book, Living Fearless by Jamie Winship. Highly recommend!

“Truth always sets you free. Hiding truth always makes you a slave. If you will not tell the truth, you’re in bondage to the lie, the deception, and the rationalization.” – Living Fearless by Jamie Winship

Coach

As my professional life has advanced, I received my Financial Coaching certification and in my full-time Corporate America job, I am a Leadership Coach. You can learn more about financial health here, and you can read more about my experience with coaching in this post. Whether it be with writing or working one on one with others, the commonality is that I enjoy helping and connecting with people.

Career Confessions

Before I was able to climb the corporate ladder, I struggled mightily. A lot with anxiety. In my mid to late twenties, I went through some big life changes that included moving from a small town to a big city, combating severe anxiety, losing my mom, and divorce. I wrote a full series on my Career Confessions that you can read about here. I share tips about how I found new ways of working with anxiety, shifted my mindset, and slowly climbed the career ladder.

Wellbeing

Yes, writing about all those struggles makes me vulnerable. I hold the belief that we can learn from one another. Sharing helps us not feel alone or like we are the “only ones”. I listened to a podcast a long time ago that said we would not need therapists or counselors if we lived in good, healthy community because that good, healthy community would give us supportive and constructive feedback, come alongside the hard parts of life, share tools to help with life, etc. I believe that is true. The vast majority of us, though, live in isolation especially with today’s technology. And because of that, the need to be mindful and intentional with our wellbeing is paramount.

I’d love it if you’d join me as we learn about career, financial health, and overall wellbeing. Curiosity is key  in exploring differing perspectives…zooming out to see the big picture and zooming in to look at things more closely. It’s the push and pull of these vantage points that we can learn the most. Perspective Confessions is the source for inspiration for those who want to learn and grow. I am continually growing and learning; unearthing discoveries, and sharing truth or confessions I’ve learned along with the way from varying perspectives.. Perspective Confessions is about getting to the root of challenges as it relates to career, financial, and overall wellbeing and creating a toolbox of resources from what’s learned to equip you for the next step. If you want tools to manage your career and finances, value slowing down for a better quality of life, and aren’t afraid of being challenged; then you are in the right place.

If you know of someone that:

  • is struggling with their career,
  • struggles with anxiety or with big life changes,
  • wants to get their finances back on track,
  • wants to find a better balance in their life from the fast track, fast paced life they’re living, please share perspectiveconfessions.com with them!

And by all means, don’t miss any Perspective Confessions posts. Make sure you subscribe!

Financial Health, Career, and Wellbeing

Part 7: Career Confessions From a Small Town Girl in the Big City

Part 7: Career Confessions

If you are just joining this series, catch up here: Career Confessions parts 1-6.

Career Confessions Bonus

Surprise, there’s a bonus! The Career Confessions series isn’t done yet! The story is still unfolding. As I was originally writing the Career Confession series back in 2023, I received an offer for a new job within Chevron. This time the position of Leadership Coach. In this role, I would coach leaders. Brand new leaders, influential leaders, seasoned leaders leading new teams, and any individual contributor that would like to take part in coaching. Each one of us has a leader within capable of learning leadership behaviors, and exercising them for lasting, sustainable results at work.  

Imposter Syndrome

With any new job, feelings and thoughts can surface that say “I’m not qualified”, “I’m not good enough”, “I don’t know what I’m doing”, “why did they pick me?!”, “what if they find out I can’t do this?!”, “what if they find out I don’t have the skills?!”, and on and on the fearful thoughts spiral. I am not and was not immune. I had many of these exact thoughts when I was selected for this opportunity. This experience has a name, it’s called Imposter Syndrome. It’s not only limited to work…you might experience it if you are a new parent or in a new season of parenting. You might experience it when caring for an aging parent, or a new volunteer opportunity. Anything that gets you out of your comfort zone could have you experiencing imposter syndrome.  

My new job as a Leadership Coach had me all in imposter syndrome. Anxiety had taken center stage a few times and I was battling through it. Remember the anxiety I wrote about experiencing in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. Well, I was experiencing it again, but in a different way. I have tools to combat anxiety, and it was time to use them. I began thinking about Moses. Yes, Moses, the guy that God chose to be the spokesperson and leader of the Israelites. I felt that God had called me to this Leadership Coaching job and had created a way for me to do this job even if I felt over my head at times. I looked up the passages in Exodus and prayed through it. This is one way I battled with anxiety and imposter syndrome. I knew that if God had appeared to Moses in a burning bush and Moses said, “no, not me” to God, he must have had some serious imposter syndrome. I found comfort in knowing Moses felt less than, felt he wasn’t worthy, felt he didn’t speak well, felt he wasn’t up to the challenge. God doesn’t make mistakes and Moses had been chosen. This is how I prayed through scripture. 

Praying Through Scripture

Scripture: Exodus 3:10-11 – So now, go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 

Prayer: Lord, how many times have you called me to action? How many times have I not heard or chose not to hear? Fear standing between you and me and what you are calling me to do. I am thankful for your word and for Moses. He doubted his worth. He doubted you, Lord. He doubted his capabilities. 

Scripture: Exodus 3:12 – And God said, “I will be with you…” 

Prayer: And yet you were patient and reassured Moses. 

Scripture: Exodus 4:1 – Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me.” 

Scripture: Exodus 4:10-15 – Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” 

Prayer: Even with your reassurance, Lord, Moses still doubts. 

Scripture: Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite?” I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you and will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.” 

Prayer: Lord, you were resolute in your choosing of Moses for the Israelites’ spokesperson. You pursued him. You were steadfast. May I remember this when I feel your calling of me. Thank you for your word that shows the imperfection of people. There is comfort in the human disbelief…that it’s not just me. Your calling is intentional. You teach, walk beside, and equip those you call. You never forsake. Thank you, Father, for showing me in your word that imposter syndrome is not new; that doubt is common in human flesh. May I apply this wisdom to my life. Hide this teaching in my heart. Grant me courage to overcome the doubt and fear to step out in faith. Help me, Father, to humbly obey and follow you. Thank you for your grace and your patience with me as I continually work to train my ears to hear your callings amongst all the worldly noise. Give me sensitivity to your whispers and nudges. Amen 

Tools to Battle Through Imposter Syndrome

Sometimes falling on our knees in prayer is the exact right way to battle. Did this prayer make the imposter syndrome go away? No, it didn’t. However, it kept me showing up to each meeting with each leader. It led me to pray before each coaching session and invite God into that conversation. These scriptures were a reminder that God equips who He has called. He doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. I knew by showing up even with the discomfort of imposter syndrome, I was going to gain more and more confidence. I was going to make mistakes. I was going to learn from them. I was going to be better because I was scared and sometimes being scared is a great motivator. It’s motivation to learn quickly so you don’t feel that way anymore. God was equipping me through the fear and through the imposter syndrome.  

Scripture: James 1:2-4 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

I was only going to get through it by walking through it one step at a time. He used this opportunity to hold up a mirror to show me all the things I had the capabilities to do and had not recognized in myself yet. He was showing me that I was equipped all along, but I needed a nudge (or push) out in the middle of the ring…to feel exposed to grow into who He made me to be. I can’t tell you how many of the leaders I have coached that have told me about their imposter syndrome too. No one is immune. We are all fallible human beings. We are all capable of learning. We are all capable of growing. We are better by showing up and doing it scared. Don’t let the anxiety or fear prove you right. You prove the anxiety and fear wrong. Prove the imposter syndrome wrong.  

If you know someone that has recently changed jobs and is experiencing anxiety or imposter syndrome, please share this blog post and this series with them.

Part 6: Career Confessions of a Small Town Girl in the Big City

You can read the original publication of Part 6 of the Career Confessions series in the Tishomingo County News linked here.

Part 6 of Career Confessions

If you have read parts 1 – 5 yet, make sure to catch up. Find them linked here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

Back in 2006 I had no idea of what life had in store for me. To be honest, I’m glad I didn’t have a crystal ball to predict what would happen. It would have scared the heck out of me and I’m sure I would have run away to hide, at least for a while. The older we become, the more perspective we have, but we still don’t know what the future holds. Only God holds the whole picture. If He revealed the whole picture of our lives all at once, I’m pretty sure we would all run and hide. In His wisdom, He gives us one day and one moment at a time. My career has had many challenges AND there have been many successes. It’s easy to focus on the negative unless you remember there are peaks AND valleys along the way. It’s easy to forget how far you’ve come unless you look back to where you started. Hence a theme throughout this series has been context is everything and hindsight too. 

One could assume that I moved away to the big city and I’m living the high life. It’s easy to make assumptions about what someone’s life might be like. We live in a world where we have filters for the pictures we take and we post about the best parts of our lives. What if we pulled back the curtain to look at the parts that aren’t quite so polished? What about the not so neat and tidy parts? Life is rarely wrapped up in a neat little bow. To be honest, I am a little freaked that I’ve pulled back the curtain to write about the not so polished, neat and tidy parts of my life. Regardless, I think it’s more important to share so others might not feel alone or feel as though they have fallen short. Don’t be ashamed of the struggles because they lend themselves to building character. And my oh my what character I have built! 

The last question I asked the students at TCHS is, “how do you define success?” What does success mean to you? The shortest path between two points is a straight line. Start and finish. Success is rarely completed with a straight line. It’s much like a map with construction, detours, and can take much longer than anticipated. All those twists and turns and sometimes falling off the path completely means learning and gaining wisdom (aka context and hindsight). Don’t let the world tell you what success should be. You decide and pursue it. Success doesn’t have to mean lots money or fame. It could be getting married and having a family or paying off debt or buying a house or spending more time with friends and family. Success is measured by how you are fulfilled and progress, not perfection. My definition of success is to keep going, to learn from my mistakes and do better once I know better. I want to continuously be a better daughter, wife, sister, friend, Christian, stepmom and employee.

Every one of the “if I could go back and tell my younger self” advice included in this series…well those aren’t just for my younger self, it’s for me right now today too. Writing this series has been humbling. A few tears shed too. Sometimes writing it down causes you to think about it more thoroughly and thoughtfully. I didn’t get this far by myself. There have been people woven into this journey that have encouraged, reflected, come alongside me, cared and loved me through it. I would be completely remiss if I didn’t recognize God’s hand in all of it too. He has walked with me and guided me. Knowing that I am a shy, introverted girl, and yet I have a spirit of boldness that could only be explained as a gift from God. So I am going to keep going and I’m taking all the context, hindsight and life tidbits with me that I’ve learned along the way. My prayer is that you keep going too otherwise we may never get to our destination called success.

Part 5: Career Confessions from a Small Town Girl in the Big City

This article was originally published in Tishomingo County News, linked here.

If you missed the previous 4 parts of this series, find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

At the beginning of this Career Confessions series, I wrote about visiting the Career and College Readiness classes and the football team at Tishomingo County High School (TCHS). That visit has been the inspiration for these articles. Growing up, I never thought about working for a company like Chevron. Honestly, I’m not sure I knew what Chevron was when I was in high school other than as a gas station. There isn’t much oil and gas activity in Iuka, Mississippi. Because of that, I wanted to share this wonderful company that I have worked with for 14 years. I wanted the students to know that if I could find my way to Chevron, it wasn’t out of their reach either. 

My sister and I at Tishomingo County High School

The students and I discussed economics at a high level. Oil and gas are commodities and are publicly traded on the open market. The market sets the price along with other global economies. Since many of these students drive, they understood the price of gas when filling up their cars. We talked through a recent big change in prices at the pump and how the pandemic impacted supply and demand. Demand dropped dramatically when the world shut down. Supply was in excess for the demand which drove down the price of gas. As the world opened again, demand increases but supply lags since it had been reduced to meet low demand during the pandemic. This caused prices to increase. This happened in many industries and many products because of the pandemic. 

Because Chevron is an Energy Company, I shared with the students about Chevron’s mission to provide affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy to the world. Chevron recently created Chevron New Energies, a section of the company that is investing in products to advance a lower carbon future, such as carbon capture and hydrogen. This part of the company is where an entrepreneurial spirit is encouraged because these projects are forging pathways in the energy transition. What a great place for outside the box thinkers and problem solvers. It was important to share with TCHS students the many opportunities within Chevron they may want to consider as they graduate, pursue higher education and/or careers. 

As described in previous articles, my career journey has been multifaceted, and I think that’s an accurate description of my career within Chevron too. I began working at Chevron in late 2011 after obtaining a job with a staffing agency. This job was a Technical Assistant with major capital projects. I became a Chevron employee in 2013, this time as a Senior Administrator to a General Manager named Dave. Dave was and still is my favorite manager. Dave had high expectations for his department including myself. It felt, at times, higher than what I was capable. He challenged and mentored me to being a better employee. But most importantly, Dave cared about his employees. Dave gave me a great start to my career at Chevron. Chevron’s tagline is Human Energy meaning Chevron is successful because of its people. Dave is one example of working alongside some of the best and brightest.  

For the first 7 years at Chevron, I was a trusted advisor and support to several General Managers. None of those jobs required me to have a college education. Not to say it didn’t help me, but it wasn’t mandatory. That’s another relevant point I wanted to make to the students at TCHS. Don’t let perceptions hold you back. Make the most of every job, even if you are only in supportive roles. I’ve had some of the most incredible experiences. For example, I’ve attended weekly meetings with executives and their leadership teams (this is the epitome of learning from the best and brightest); I’ve flown on Chevron’s corporate jet several times to Midland, TX; and I’ve also travelled on Chevron business to Calgary, Alberta Canada; Covington, Louisiana; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’ve had a bird’s eye view of business strategy, worked on diverse teams, problem solved and executed projects. It has been exciting, challenging, competitive, exhilarating, and has grown me to new levels. My experience at Chevron has been incredible! I am so thankful for all the opportunities and excited for the future.  

Because the Energy industry is driven by market prices and global economies, that means I have also faced market downturns in my career. At the publication of this post on my blog, I’m currently facing a restructuring of the company. This could be viewed as a negative, but I view it as an opportunity. These downturns have created movement in my career to gain exposure and experience in other parts of Chevron’s business and I wouldn’t trade any of it. Context is everything and hindsight too. If I could go back and tell my younger self anything and emphasize to the students at TCHS, it would be, “What appears to be a challenge very well could be an opportunity. Don’t discount your job title. You can make it what you want. Don’t be afraid to ask for and explore new opportunities. Own your career.” 

So, what happens next? Only 1 article left! Next week I’ll wrap up this series. Stay tuned and I’ll unfold the last story of this Career Confessions series from a small-town girl in the big city. 

Career Confessions From a Small Town Girl in the Big City: Part 1

This article was originally published in Tishomingo County News. See link for published article.

Early in 2022, I visited my alma mater, Tishomingo County High School, to speak to the Career and College Readiness classes and to the football team. The football coach during that time had created a wonderful program to bring back alumni of Tishomingo County High School to speak to students, share their career journey, work skills, and life tidbits. It was called Wednesday #ROW Above the Line Character Education and Real Talk. It was an absolute honor to be invited to participate.

I had lots to share being a shy girl that moved to the big city. And let me tell you, I did not have a career trajectory when I moved to the big city. Nope, not at all. I wanted to share my story with students at Tish County. I wanted to share my messy path to the career I have now. If I’d had someone share with me back when I was in high school that life doesn’t always look the way you think it will, that it’s ok to make mistakes, to figure it out one step at a time; then maybe I wouldn’t have been so hard on myself. Spoiler alert, I wouldn’t change anything about my messy path because it got me to where I am now.

In fact, in 2006 I moved to Houston the day after graduating from Mississippi State University with an undergraduate degree in Finance. I was not recruited by a company in Houston and the real reason I moved so suddenly was because I was married to someone that had a job offer in Houston. I followed, obviously, however his success with a career did not measure up to the opportunities I had. Nope, in fact, I STRUGGLED mightily to find my way, or to even find a job. I stopped counting the job applications after I surpassed 100. No calls, no emails…crickets. I knew no one, had no contacts, nothing. I think a lot of people might find themselves in a similar place. You have a college degree or experience and yet no job offer, not real leads, nada.

So what did I do? I started with what I could find…a temp job which was a receptionist in downtown Houston in one of those gigantic skyscrapers. I remember it so vividly and don’t even know how I had the gumption and fortitude to ride a metro bus into downtown, walk to the right building, and then find my way to the appropriate floor. I remember my job was to answer the phone and connect the calls to the right people. The calls that came in were from people that had foreign accents, asking for people that I didn’t know how to pronounce their names. I asked the people on the phone to repeat themselves quite often and prayed as I connected the calls. I began to sweat at the front desk from the pressure of the phone ringing. I survived, though, even if the temp job only lasted a couple of days. If I could go back and tell my younger self anything, it would be, “there’s no pressure with a temp job that’s only 2 days in length. Relax! You are doing great!”

I found another job shortly thereafter, this time working at a staffing agency. I worked closely with a girl named Courtney. We were about the same age, our birthdays were both in April, and she attended Ole Miss for about a year. Small world and I was so glad to find someone with a Mississippi connection. I made it about 2 weeks in that job. I didn’t get fired, I quit. Why would I do such a thing? I struggled so much after I moved. I began having what I now know were anxiety attacks. Not being able to breath, crying uncontrollably, unable to calm myself. It was horrible and I quit my job. I was incredibly embarrassed and my already fragile self esteem took a major hit. The worst of it all was I felt like I let down my new friend, Courtney. I couldn’t find the words to tell her what was going on and I left without an explanation. I still feel terrible about it to this day. I felt like something was wrong with me and like I was a failure which only pushed me further into the anxiety.

Context is everything and so is hindsight. Looking back and reflecting has helped me understand that the only way I was going to get through that horrible time was to walk through it as hard as it was and as much as I felt like I wasn’t going to make it. Putting one foot in front of the other and yes, sometimes taking two or three steps backward. I needed to give myself some time to adjust to the big life change of uprooting myself from everything I’d ever known. And yet I needed to work and make money. Life doesn’t stop and neither do the bills! They weren’t going to pay for themselves. What did I do next? Stay tuned and I’ll unfold the story as this is the first part in a career series from a small town girl in the big city.

Career Confessions from a Small Town Girl in the Big City: Introduction


In 2022, I wrote a series about my career journey for Tish County News. The series was inspired by an invitation. I was invited to speak to the Career and College Readiness classes and to the football team at my alma mater, Tishomingo County High School. The message I wanted to convey to those high school students wasn’t about my job and current life. It was about the journey that it had taken to get there. I was not and still do not have a high profile job or career. My life after high school took some ups and downs and winding roads. I wish someone could have given me the 30,000 foot view when I was in high school because I was experiencing it all at ground zero. It would have been helpful to have insights and perspectives along my journey after high school. The invitation to speak to high school students was a chance to fill in the gap I wish I’d had. Writing this series was another opportunity. I hope you will follow along for the next several weeks as the story unfolds. There will be tips and tidbits shared as I look back with the wisdom that only hindsight can bring. I’ll share what I would tell my younger self. Back then, I struggled with extreme anxiety. I had low self-esteem and low confidence. At times, I felt altogether lost. I walked through big life events like my mom’s passing, divorce, and multiple job changes. Now is a great time to subscribe if you haven’t done so yet. Don’t miss this series! It’s packed full of actionable insight no matter where you are along your career journey.

Subscribe Today!

Mississippi Girl

Small Town Girl in the Big City

Article originally published in Tish Co News, linked here.

“You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the girl.” True story when it comes to this small town girl. I moved away from Iuka, Mississippi in 2002 to go to school at Mississippi State University and had no idea that it was a foreshadowing of a much bigger move in 2006 to the big city of Houston, Texas. Moving to such a big city was a culture shock and even though I’ve lived in Houston for 19 years now, my heart still yearns for the slower pace of the small town life.

Work brought me to Houston all those years ago. Anytime I run across someone in Texas with Mississippi roots or someone comments on my southern twang, I light up to talk about where I was born and raised. Mississippi is at my heart, a part of who I am at my core. Texans who have travelled through Mississippi have commented to me that “the trees are so tall in Mississippi”. I never noticed the contrast in tree heights until said co-workers marveled at the difference from Texas to Mississippi. And I hurriedly chime in to tell them the other differences between these two places. 

Any car you pass in my small hometown, the driver waves acknowledgment as you drive past. Concrete stretches for eternity in Houston, but back home in the ‘Sip, rolling hills, green pastures dotted with cows and horses, rows of soybeans, corn, and other crops are the eternity stretcher. Somehow words lengthen and shorten all at once with a southern twang accent, which only highlights the character of this place. Mississippi is always depicted as hot and humid in movies where the characters glisten with sweat. That isn’t wrong necessarily, but hello we have air conditioning! In Houston, neighbors live 5 feet away from your front door, but in the ‘Sip there might be a field between neighbors.

I travel back to Iuka 1-2 times a year to visit my family. I find that it takes me a few days to downshift from the fast pace of corporate America and city life. Every time I come home, I always leave with a greater appreciation. That’s the blessing of coming home, seeing the differing perspectives of where I currently live and contrasting it with my hometown. It’s not only about who is around the table with you sharing a meal, but the hands that made the homemade dishes. Who made the jelly or jam or canned vegetables and it’s all different names. It’s a community nourishing each other’s tables and families. Iuka and small towns like it have a sense of community that isn’t found easily in the big city. In fact, I would say that Houston might be one of the hardest cities to find community. Everyone is so spread out and traffic makes it challenging to get across town to a friend’s home. A 30 minute drive in Houston doesn’t equal 30 miles…more like 30 minutes equals 10 miles on a good day. And when I go to the grocery store in Houston, I never see anyone I know…which is sometimes a good thing, because I don’t have to worry about makeup, or fixing my hair or care what I’m wearing. It’s far from the truth in Iuka where you shop with all your friends and it’s a rare occurrence to not run into someone you know.

Mississippi will never be just a place on a map to me. It will always mean home. Mississippi built me. I once was on a phone call with a Midland, Texas based co-worker. During the conversation I mentioned I was from Mississippi and said, “like many southern women, I am thoughtful, sweet and hospitable, however, there’s a flip side of being a southern woman who can also be assertive when need be”. I think I scared the man on the other end of the phone call because he asked, “should I be concerned?” I laughed and told him, “no, sir, not at the moment.”

All kidding and jokes aside, one of my greatest strengths in my career is the ability to not only work with many types and levels of people, but to really connect with them. If I trace this strength back to where it comes from, it would be what I learned growing up in my small hometown. Authenticity, humility, grace, manners, shaking hands and looking people in the eyes when speaking are uncommon these days. But I know a place where it still stands true and that place is my home town, Iuka, Mississippi. I might live 12 driving hours away, but my heart never left…it’s right where it belongs. The small town will always be in this girl.