By Beth Mach, WIA Board Member

Every year, as the weather warms and calendars begin to loosen, there's an almost unspoken permission to slow down. Meetings get postponed, inboxes become sprinkled with out-of-office replies, and conversations shift from deadlines to vacation plans. Summer has a way of changing our pace, and after the first half of a busy year, most of us welcome it.

But over the years, I've noticed something interesting. The women whose careers continue to grow year after year don't necessarily spend their summers working harder than everyone else. In fact, many of them do the opposite. They unplug. They travel. They spend time with family and friends. They recharge. The difference isn't how much they work. It's how intentionally they use the space that summer creates.

The pace of our industry rarely gives us time to think. We're constantly moving from one initiative to the next, solving problems, leading teams, managing change, and keeping up with technology that seems to evolve by the day. Before we know it, we're halfway through the year and already talking about budgets, planning cycles, and what's next. Summer offers something we don't often make time for during the rest of the year: perspective.

It's the perfect opportunity to step back and ask a few questions we tend to push aside when life gets busy. Am I spending my time on the work that matters most? What skills do I want to strengthen before the end of the year? Are the relationships I'm investing in helping me grow? And perhaps the most important question of all, am I still building the career I want, or have I simply been keeping up with the pace around me?

I've found that some of the biggest career breakthroughs don't happen during our busiest seasons. They happen in the quieter moments when we finally have enough space to notice new opportunities.

This summer, I've had the chance to spend time with marketing and business leaders from around the world. What strikes me isn't how often our conversations revolve around quarterly goals or market trends. Instead, they center on curiosity, relationships, and what's next. Some of the most valuable insights don't happen during the keynote presentation or the scheduled meeting. They happen over coffee, while walking between meetings, or during a conversation that wasn't on anyone's calendar.

It reminds me that careers are rarely built through one big moment. They're built through hundreds of small ones.

• A conversation that turns into a mentor.

• A new idea sparked by someone with a different perspective.

• An article that changes how you think.

• An hour of uninterrupted reflection that gives you the clarity to make a decision you've been avoiding.

Those moments are easy to miss when every minute of every day is spoken for.

That's why I think summer can become one of the most valuable seasons of the year, not because everything slows down, but because it creates room for us to be more intentional. It's a chance to reconnect with someone you've admired, finally read the book that's been collecting dust on your nightstand, explore the latest developments in AI, or simply block an hour on your calendar to think instead of react.

None of those things feel particularly significant on their own. But neither does exercising once or saving a few dollars. It's the consistency of small investments that creates meaningful results over time.

As women, we're often incredibly good at investing in everyone else. We mentor our teams, support our colleagues, advocate for our families, and solve problems wherever we see them. Summer is a wonderful reminder that investing in ourselves deserves a place on that list, too.

So yes, take the vacation. Spend the afternoon by the water. Enjoy the backyard barbecue and the extra daylight. Those moments matter just as much as the work we do.

But before summer slips away, ask yourself one simple question: What could I do over the next two months that my future self will thank me for?

The answer probably won't require a complete career reinvention. More likely, it will be one meaningful conversation, one new skill, one thoughtful decision, or one hour spent thinking about where you want to go next.

Sometimes that's all it takes to turn a season of slowing down into a season of moving forward.

Beth Mach, WIA Board Member, has a passion to challenge the status quo and deliver value for all stakeholders while fostering an inclusive and empathetic culture, a competitive and rewarding workplace, and a sustainable and scalable business model. She also leverages her diverse skills and interests as a public speaker, an investor, a mentor, a volunteer, and a voice artist to empower, inspire, and connect people across categories and geographies.