Interview with LavenderHere

Interview with LavenderHere

Interviewer: @Izzy274
Interviewee: @LavenderHere

Izzy: Lavender has been a listener here since August 2020, and in that time they have been an amazing part of our community, through helping to lead the Care Team and Listener Verifier’s team, as well as mentoring new listeners and being a consistent friendly face in the chatrooms. They have also constantly worked to be a supportive, kind presence to both listeners and members 💜.

Izzy: Hiya Lav, thank you for agreeing to do this interview with me and taking the time to answer our questions!

Lav: Woah that's an awesome intro, I'm flattered hehe. Thank you so so much for interviewing me hehe. And of course, looking forward to what this lovely interview has in store for us!

• Here’s an icebreaker to start: Since we really enjoyed reading your glass jokes, what is your favourite joke to tell?

Lav: Woah you remember the glass jokes thread- yay. And I'd have to think a bit…*racks my head* So this is one of my all-time favourites, a chemistry joke hehe

• What led you to begin your journey as a listener on 7 cups?

Lav: Okay my answer to this one is a story common to many many lovely listeners here but I'll say it anyway- I got great support here as a member during hard times, and that motivated me to sign up as a listener and support others. I've always wanted to volunteer and help others, so here I am.

• What inspired you to become a leader within the 7 cups community?

Lav: Woah that's a difficult one. Umm honestly it sort of just happened hehe. Frankly speaking I didn't exactly intend to be a leader, or plan or work towards it. It kind of happened, that's how life often is. Things just sort of happen, life brings new paths you haven't imagined yourself in. I just wanted to be a friendly face that listeners can reach out to if they need help, and I still try to help out wherever possible, and I am really happy for all the opportunities and learnings here.

• What has been your favourite part about being a listener on 7 cups so far?

Lav: My favourite part is being able to help someone. Be it helping someone get verified, supporting someone as a CS/PS or simply listening to members in the PMs or forums, the fact that I could ease someone’s difficulties even a bit makes me happy, and that’s my favourite part about being a listener here.
And I love being on 7cups and doing stuff here…ok *stops being diplomatic* My favourite part is supporting and listening to members in forums or PMs (sometimes rooms too).

• Do you have any tips/ words for newbie listeners starting out on 7 cups?

Lav: For new listeners, me has one important thing to tell (which I didn't know when new) that there is an entire listener community out there to support you. Most listeners you meet here have gone through a time of not knowing what they are doing, feeling unprepared and lost, and each one of us understands how you feel. We have trained leaders and mentors here to help you. So if you are having a hard time here as a listener, please don't hesitate to reach out, we are all here for you. We all are always happy to help you in any way we can.

• What skills and qualities do you think being a listener on 7 cups has helped you to develop?

Lav: Being a listener has made me become more introspective and empathetic, which is very important in maintaining interpersonal relationships. I also learnt the different types of boundaries, and their importance as well as how to be assertive (not aggressive but assertive) about them. Though admittedly I still need to work on being more assertive hehe. But that's okay, what matters is we're working to help others and ourselves, we learn and grow and support each other together.

• One final question for you Lav: What are the challenges you have faced as a leader on 7 cups and how have you overcome them? :)

Lav: One big challenge I faced when I got into leadership roles was being carried away. It's very easy to take on too much, very easy to lose focus of what you want to do, easy to mess up your priorities. There's so much to do and lots of excitement, but it is important to focus on yourself and your offline life too.

I worked on them by recalculating time commitments and priorities, checking my capacity to do stuff and stepping down here accordingly. I also reevaluated my interests here and checked if my roles were really helping me meet them, and am I actually doing each role with the dedication and time it deserves.

Note to all- It is always always alright to reevaluate and rethink roles and figure out what you want.

For example, my major interests are in the quality domain and member support (in all parts of the site) so I have taken on roles accordingly.

If you are unsure what to do, you can take roles here and there, try out and follow what you love, but remember your time commitments. Everyone you're donating your time here, it means a lot but please budget your time properly (since time is money hehe)

Izzy: Thank you for sharing your answers Lav, it has been an amazing experience to understand your passions and growth as a leader, and a real inspiration to chat with you about your leadership roles.

Lav: Thank you so so much Izzy for preparing these lovely questions and interviewing me. I'm honoured to be a part of this program. Also one big thank you to @Fristo for organising the living with leaders initiative.

Living with Leaders Interviews Taglist: @rrretsuko @Smilingfuture @blindHeart12 @HealingTalk @blissfulForest7074 @FallenStarss @Moonlemon48 @Izzy274 @Zahraa000 @imaginativePear6493 @BeautifulSun298501 @ShapeshiftSystem @EmmaE @GoldenRuleJG @Helgafy @AveryLove @Adeline12345 @WhiteRoses25 @KrystalRose01 @ouiCherie @Brightfuture82 @MilaAvery @lovelyWaterfall2170 @DLynn88911221 @adventurousBranch3786 @Prachi9876 @VaryingCloud @DonaldDraper @Erato @avasoftandsimple @Zarram77 @TheAutumnWitch @HealingBrokenWIngs

This interview is part of the Living with Leaders Interview Series. Learn about the series here