Meet Jacqueline O’donnell

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacqueline O’donnell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacqueline below.

Hi Jacqueline, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

This question really hits home as a woman in STEM! I think many women struggle with feelings of discomfort and imposter syndrome when they enter a predominantly male-dominated industry. Unfortunately, it’s prevented many women (including myself at points in my life) from exploring opportunities in areas where we don’t see any peers we can relate to, other people who look like us. It’s also been my observation that women often fall into the trap of molding themselves to be “likeable” when they are courageous enough to take up space in these industries. To look, dress, and act a certain way to not “rock the boat” too much and be seen as too powerful or threatening compared to their male peers. A common practice I am willing to challenge.

In a funny way, I feel like life prepared me for this feeling of discomfort with standing out in a room sheerly due to the fact that I have bright red hair. From day one, my natural red hair attracted attention, looks, and comments from people everywhere I went. Paired with being a painfully shy child, this was torturous! I spent many days as a teenager wishing I had straight brown hair like my friends instead of being a “ginger kid” and the butt of the joke thanks to a popular South Park episode at the time. As I was growing into a young woman, I had no choice but to learn how to see this as a power, or continue to suffer in the discomfort of the attention. Once I embraced my red hair as a core part of my identity and leaned into it, it transformed how I carried myself. I taught myself how to style it and find what colors and tones suited me best, and after some trial and error, I felt that I could walk into a room with self-confidence.

When I entered the STEM world as a very bright, feminine, redheaded business-owner, I felt prepared for being a minority in the rooms I walked into. I had practice working through these feelings of discomfort already, but that’s not to say I didn’t still experience imposter syndrome. I think anyone at the forefront of change questions if they belong in the spaces they find themselves in, especially when there aren’t relatable peers in sight. Two main notions helped me work through this: first, that discomfort is a necessary ingredient for change, and second, that the fear of standing out is actually courage when you decide to act despite feeling the fear. Once I realized that these thoughts and feelings were a shared human experience of leaders, it gave me the confidence that I was indeed in the right room! I needed to be there in my discomfort if I wanted to make a difference and be a leader. Reframing my thinking in this way shifted the power back to me and away from those around me. I worried less about being “likeable” and redirected that energy into my work. I work best when I can be my authentic self, which includes my pink blazer and bows sometimes. I wear them with pride because I’m confident in the ideas I bring to the table and me being the only one in the room who looks like me doesn’t make me inferior.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am the CEO and Founder of Math Refresh Education Company with a mission to inspire mathematical mindsets through making math fresh, real, fun, and maybe even cool! Math Refresh reimagines math education through our classroom programming, private tutoring division, and social media content creation. We work with schools to integrate STEM activities into their curriculums through play-based learning. Our program introduces students to advanced math concepts early on through real-world examples and multiple pathways to demonstrate understanding using our published book, “The Ultimate A-Z Math Scavenger Hunt.” I loved writing this book and program because I got to be so creative with how we see math in the world around us! I enjoy sharing this energy and passion with our tutors and students. This makes our social media content one of my favorite aspects of the Math Refresh brand. We create content centered around the beauty and relevance of mathematics. We strive to destigmatize math by showing how everyone already is a mathematician in their own way through our #MathForTheRealPeople series, which exemplifies simple mathematical concepts we can implement into our daily lives to live better. We also use our platform as a voice for women in STEM and hope that our courage to stand out inspires more girls to enter STEM fields.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

My high school yearbook quote is by American Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, reading “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail,” and over a decade later, I feel I still hold myself to live by this standard. Despite the occasional feelings of doubt, I find I naturally gravitate toward options that challenge “the norm” and cultivate a space for me to become a leader. I believe the qualities which have helped me most on my journey are: divergent thinking, a willingness to learn, and the courage to stand out.
I encourage anyone early in their journey to approach the journey with an open-mind. Remember that everything you know was once unknown and all you have to do is have the patience to learn. Once you are willing to learn, you won’t be afraid to set big goals. Use your passion to drive you to achieve your goals. When you are motivated and aligned with your most authentic-self, your creativity naturally will shine through and you will build confidence in yourself and your place in the world. Then, you will have the courage to stand out, even when you’re the only person in the room who looks like you.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am looking to work with education companies, STEM brands, and schools to bring our classroom programming to more students. Our programming is designed for students from third grade through high school and creatively incorporates math concepts into play-learning through a mathematical-themed scavenger hunt. It is ideal for general education students, math clubs, special education classrooms, academic intervention service environments, and even homeschools, camps, and extra-curricular programs. Classrooms often use the program as a preview of math concepts, a method of students demonstrating understanding, as extra credit, or as a whole-class project. It is designed to be completed in any physical environment, not just the walls of a classroom. Our package includes a class set of books, a teacher implementation guide, letters to parents and students, and a thirty-minute consultation with me to create a custom implementation program to suit each individual learning environment. More information about the program can be found at: math-refresh.com/shop-ultimate-a-z-math-scavenger-hunt and folks looking to collaborate with us can connect with us at [email protected] or through our social media networks: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. We also love to hear from other women in STEM!

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