To celebrate 30 episodes of the UNprofessional podcast, I’m sharing some of the best pieces of advice with you straight from our amazing guests. From overcoming insecurities to knowing how to handle uncomfortable conversations in the workplace, here are 10 excellent pieces of advice to inspire growth in your career, business and personal life:
- “It was actually fitness, getting in shape when I was in college and weight training that really helped break those barriers of insecurity and shyness. Doing things that build up your confidence, finding things that truly excite you—maybe it’s painting or maybe it’s contributing to the community—whatever it is for you, do those things. That’s how I was able to break out of the mold I created for myself and invented a new narrative of ‘Hey I’m not this person anymore.’ This is who I am now. I have no time and energy to care about what other people think. I’m going to do what makes me happy, and that’s going to be it.”
-Caitlin Logue, CEO of 5280 Coffee Co. Link to the episode with Caitlin here.
- “Every single person has a gift that they can share with other people as long as they want to serve other people. The gift doesn’t mean talent, and you’re not necessarily born with it. To me, a gift is value that you can give and that can be learned, as long as you care about helping others. Once you help one person, you can help 10, 100 or even thousands of people. You can step up and say you want to lead this change even if it’s just for one person. That feeling you get is indescribable, and that’s how you build momentum toward whatever impact you want to create.”
-Giovanni Marsico, CEO and Founder of Archangel and Emmy Award-winning producer. More from this episode here.
- “What I love about my current role is that we talk about people experience. I always say it’s like customer experience, and we are obsessed about it. I’d hope all companies would be obsessed with it too. I think it should be the same with employee experience, from the moment you see an ad for a role on LinkedIn to the moment that you leave one day. If the whole experience is great, it can last forever.”
-Bianca Stringuini, Head of People Experience & Engagement at KPMG in Singapore. Link to this episode here.
- “A lot of times we’re supposed to have all the right answers as a leader. It could be an entire organization or just a small group. Maybe it’s just a group of friends who are going out to dinner together and you’re supposed to be the one ordering for the group. It’s okay for me to say ‘I don’t know what the right answer is.’ The idea that I might look silly, that I might not have all those answers and I’m supposed to have it all together isn’t realistic. The reality is that nobody has all the answers.”
-Lee Prosenjak, Igniter with Simon Sinek, Operator for Valentines Resort, Partner at Hesse Partners and Coach for LynchPyn. More from Lee’s episode here.
- “Business is how we make our money, so I didn’t want to thwart my career to go work in an area where the money wasn’t. And I reached a point where I said, “You know what f*** it. I’m going to lean into what I believe my purpose and passion is and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is my business and where I feel like I’m making a difference. Now I’m making money doing what I love, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t take the chance to make it happen.”
-Emily K. Graham, Chief Equity & Impact Officer at Omnicom (NYSE: OMC). Link to the episode with Emily here.
- “I really believe that ultimately it doesn’t matter what your resume says about you. If you are being called to something, then you should just do it because it’s a telltale sign that that is what you should be doing with your life. I remember laying on my pillow at night in my very good career at the time and I would come home and be so discontent. I was sad because I knew I was being called to do something different with my life, but the truth is that I was too afraid to make that shift. That’s why it took me so many years to finally get to the point where I had to make a decision. And it turned out to be a really awesome time for me.”
-Susan Ramirez, Founder and CEO of the Austin Angels Nonprofit. More from Susan here.
- “Most of us take years to say ‘I want to write a book. Yes, I do want to write a book.’ I was at a program one year, and I said to myself: “I am going to write a book by next June.” And now it became not this thing I just said at parties, but it became a reality. I then needed to ask myself how I would actually do this and then live up to my own words. I finished that book the following year.”
-Robert Glazer, Founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, a four-time international bestselling author and host of The Elevate Podcast. Link to this episode here.
- “I see my staff as people. They’re humans. They have lives. They have families. They have career aspirations. You’re leading them. You’re leading their future. Their families might be affected by what you do to them at work. By supporting them overall at work, you’re supporting their family at home too. I just take a lot of heart in that: how I can affect not just people at work, but my staff, the humans that I work with.”
-Joe Corna, host of Honda Mindful Minute and Honda Federal Credit Union Branch Manager. More from Joe’s episode here.
- “There are different levels of entrepreneurship. First, you have to cover the income from your current job. I call these types of businesses freedom vehicles: a job that you do to cover your living cost. It’s a stepping stone to get where you want to go. The only job that your freedom vehicle business has to do is keep your income flowing while you work toward what you’re really passionate about. Then, you’ll have the time to come up with what you’re going to do next or what the big idea is.”
-Cathryn Lavery, Founder and CEO of Best Self Co. Link to this episode here.
- “One thing I think a lot of people share—regardless of their vaccination status—is the feeling uncomfortable with those conversations, finding a way to articulate their point of view and also finding a way to remove themselves from those conversations. The news often brings out negative emotions in people, so I advise people to stay away from it when they start to feel down. Communicate with your team about mental health, and offer a self-care day. Don’t feel guilty about exiting the conversation or distancing yourself by saying ‘talking about this makes me uncomfortable.’ People do things because they feel comfortable doing them. Sometimes you have to remind people that conversations that are comfortable for them might not feel the same to you. And sometimes just calling out what it is that bothers you can help people change their minds on what’s appropriate.”
-Courtney Branson, Company Culture Designer/Consultant. To learn more about “How to Navigate Vaccines in the Workplace,” click here.
I’m excited to bring in more amazing humans to share their expertise and experience as guests on the podcast. Thank you so much for your ongoing support!
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Our community of UNprofessionals is growing every day, and I’m looking forward to how we can change the world together.
In love and respect,
Hilary Corna
