Are Professional Conferences Worth It? How to Find, Fund, and Make the Most of Them

Why Food Is Destroying Your Budget and What to Do About It: Grocery Tips, Meal Prep, and Eating Out Strategies for Women in STEM

If you have ever said "I don't really spend that much" and then looked at your bank statement and saw how much you spent on food this episode is for you. Food is the number one budget buster I see with almost every client I work with. And for high achieving women in STEM it hits differently because you are exhausted, you are stressed, and you deserve a good meal after the day you just had. The problem is when that becomes the default every single day. I am sharing how I was spending over $900 a month on takeout as a single person, and the client spending over $2,000 a month on DoorDash for just her and her husband. Neither of them knew until we looked at the numbers together. What we cover: * Why food spending is so hard to control for high earners * How stress, mental load, cultural ties, and social media all drive the number up * Grocery shopping strategies that actually save money without the misery * How to freeze food in portions so you never eat the same thing twice * The adult lunchables method for fast satisfying meals without cooking * How to handle social pressure around not eating out with coworkers * How to enjoy eating out intentionally without guilt or overspending This is not about eating less or enjoying food less. It is about being intentional so one of life's greatest pleasures does not quietly become your biggest financial leak. Search Engineer Her Path on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow the show and leave a review if this resonated with you. LinkedIn: ⁠⁠@engineerherpath⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/engineerherpath/] Sign up for my ⁠⁠email newsletter⁠⁠ [https://engineerherpath.kit.com/cdc989db8f] Visit my ⁠⁠website⁠⁠ [www.engineerherpath.com] ⁠⁠Interested in coaching with Sandra?⁠⁠ [https://calendly.com/sandraparkfc/30min?month=2026-03] ⭐ Love the show? Share it with a friend and please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more women in STEM find this message.

Coffee Chats: How to Network, Build Relationships, and Advance Your Career Without Asking for Anything

One of the best pieces of career advice I ever received came from a fellow engineer early in my career. Learn your job first. Then start having short 30 minute conversations with people around you to learn about their world. I have been doing coffee chats my entire career and in this episode I am telling you everything I know about how to do them right. Coffee chats are not just for job seekers. Engineers, employees, and business owners at every stage should be doing them. They are one of the most powerful and underrated tools for building a career and a network that actually works for you. What we cover: * What a coffee chat actually is and why most people do them wrong * How to find and reach out to people for virtual and in person chats * What to say and what never to say when you ask for a meeting * How to show up, what questions to ask, and how to make a real impression * Why you should never ask for a job in a coffee chat * The one question to ask before every chat ends that opens doors * How to follow up in a way people actually remember * The best coffee chat I ever had and how it turned into a lasting friendship * The weirdest one I ever had including the person who asked for my address to send a Christmas card and sent a love letter instead LinkedIn: ⁠@engineerherpath⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/engineerherpath/] Sign up for my ⁠email newsletter⁠ [https://engineerherpath.kit.com/cdc989db8f] Visit my ⁠website⁠ [www.engineerherpath.com] ⁠Interested in coaching with Sandra?⁠ [https://calendly.com/sandraparkfc/30min?month=2026-03] ⭐ Love the show? Share it with a friend and please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more women in STEM find this message.

Pay Transparency: How Women in STEM Can Research Salaries, Negotiate Confidently, and Know When to Walk Away

If you are a woman in STEM wondering if you are being paid what you are worth, this episode is for you. Pay transparency laws are changing the game and there is more publicly available salary data right now than ever before. In this episode, financial coach Sandra Park breaks down how to research your market value, handle the salary question with confidence, counter an offer strategically, and know when to walk away. Plus, the real story of how mentioning a competing offer led to a same day salary bump without ever having to show proof. What we cover: * How to research your market value using LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and public job postings * How to handle "what are you looking for?" without leaving money on the table * Why the first number is never the final number and how to counter * Negotiating benefits when base salary stalls — signing bonuses, vacation, remote work * Walk away power and why having multiple offers changes everything * How every negotiation today affects your earning trajectory for the next decade LinkedIn: ⁠@engineerherpath⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/engineerherpath/] Sign up for my ⁠email newsletter⁠ [https://engineerherpath.kit.com/cdc989db8f] Visit my ⁠website⁠ [www.engineerherpath.com] ⁠Interested in coaching with Sandra?⁠ [https://calendly.com/sandraparkfc/30min?month=2026-03] ⭐ Love the show? Share it with a friend and please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more women in STEM find this message.

Are Professional Conferences Worth It? How to Find, Fund, and Make the Most of Them

Just got back from a conference and already fielding the same questions is it really worth it? How do you pay for it? What do you actually do while you're there? In this episode, financial coach and Engineer Her Path host Sandra Park breaks down everything you need to know about professional conferences for women in STEM from finding and funding them to networking strategies that actually work before, during, and after the event. You'll learn: * How to find professional conferences through organizations, LinkedIn, and Eventbrite * How to fund conference attendance including employer sponsorship, volunteering, speaking, and group cost sharing * Why women in STEM struggle with the ROI question (and why that's the wrong way to think about it) * Networking tips for introverts: how to work a room, skip business cards, and use LinkedIn QR codes * What to do after the conference so the momentum doesn't die * How one conference decision led Sandra to land her first remote job just four months later Whether you've never been to a professional conference or you need help convincing yourself it's worth the investment this episode will change how you think about showing up for yourself. LinkedIn: @engineerherpath [https://www.linkedin.com/in/engineerherpath/] Sign up for my email newsletter [https://engineerherpath.kit.com/cdc989db8f] Visit my website [www.engineerherpath.com] Interested in coaching with Sandra? [https://calendly.com/sandraparkfc/30min?month=2026-03] ⭐ Love the show? Share it with a friend and please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps more women in STEM find this message.

Why High-Earning Women Still Struggle with Money: Mindset Shifts That Actually Work Sandra Park on This Is How You Think with Jule Kim

I had the honor of being a guest on This Is How You Think, the podcast hosted by executive leadership coach Jule Kim, and this conversation got real fast. If you're a high earning woman in STEM or a high pressure career wondering "why can't I save money?" this episode was made for you. Jule and I get brutally honest about our own money mistakes, the mindset traps that kept us both stuck, and the shifts that finally helped us stop overspending and start building real wealth. From Jule's near daily Amazon orders during her time at Amazon, to my multiple real estate moves, to the powerful "I deserve this" mentality that derails so many smart, successful women, we unpack it all. In this episode we cover: * Why making more money often leads to more money problems * The "keeping up with the Joneses" trap in corporate environments * Retail therapy, stress spending, and entitlement mindsets * Why women outsource financial decisions to the men in their lives and why we need to stop * The mental load gap and why women want simpler finances * Sandra's order of operations for getting your money right * The spending category that destroys most budgets * One 30 day exercise that changes everything * When to get help instead of figuring it out alone Connect with Sandra Park: * Website: www.engineerherpath.com * LinkedIn: Sandra Park Connect with Jule Kim: * Website: https://adviceactually.com * Podcast: This Is How You Think on Apple Podcasts * LinkedIn: @julekim * Instagram: @itsjulekim * TikTok: @itsjulekim If this episode resonated with you, share it with a high-earning woman who needs to hear it and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your support helps more women find these conversations.