#53: Tips to Advocate for Yourself and Advance Your Career
Have you thought about creating your own personal brand? How about creating your own elevator pitch to help open the conversation? We have all been on those Zoom calls, waiting for the meeting to get started and making small talk. This is the perfect time to introduce yourself and make an impression. In today’s episode, I’m talking to Maisha Hagan who gives us a few pointers about turning that small talk into a little question with a big answer.
You may feel uncomfortable talking about yourself at meetings, conferences, or on Zoom calls but there is no better person to advocate for you and your skills. Maisha has some tips on how to achieve that self-advocacy whether you are an introvert or extrovert. You may want to listen in before you step on that plane for the next conference.
Here are some highlights:
- Maisha’s career path. 1:34
- Why are we so afraid to advocate and promote for ourselves? 3:44
- Advocating for ourselves as women. 6:31
- Create your personal elevator pitch. 8:07
- How can we use the leadership skills we developed at our firms, to help our own personal careers? 11:14
- What are some methods of self-promotion we can begin using today that help us reach our next career goal? 19:45
- #1 piece of advice for marketers new to the industry. 24:12
Maisha Hagan, Beauty & the Boss
Maisha Christian Hagan helps women in the A/E/C industries position themselves for promotion or pivot to new industries. She’s helped dozens of marketing, HR, and accounting professionals strategize, act, and negotiate their way to better pay, better opportunities, and more meaningful work.
Prior to starting Beauty & the Boss, Maisha spent 15 years climbing the ladder from Administrative Assistant to Marketing Director and Executive Team member. Throughout her career, she’s managed proposal/RFP responses, digital & traditional media marketing, and corporate branding. She also led culture, hiring, and employee engagement initiatives. She’s worked for general contractors, architects, transportation engineers, specialty subcontractors, developers, and construction management firms. Even a home builder! All this to say, she knows the A/E/C/ industry firsthand.
Maisha has a passion for people, a mind for business, and a gift to teach and has used those strengths in mentoring and teaching opportunities. In addition to creating and facilitating mentorship programs for SMPS and WTS, she’s also taught at Arizona State University, her alma mater (Bachelor of Science in Marketing). She’s a proven public speaker and presenter for professional associations and women-facing employee resources groups across all industries.
Links mentioned in this episode:
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