ICYMI, Natalie Cantave and I have started a new, future-proof network for women in marketing (aptly called MKTG WMN — sign up here).
On March 26th, we held our first event on overcoming career roadblocks. Here’s what we learned:
We intentionally run our group rather informally. Afterall, we have full time jobs, and we recognize the rest of the group doesn’t need fancy bells and whistles to get the most value out of MKTG WMN. What they need is community and conversation.
That’s exactly how we operated our first event — keeping things light and discussion-based. We ended up with over 20 women on the call, which we kicked off with a few high-level learnings and then dove into breakout groups. Was it scrappy? Sure. Was it valuable? Our post-event survey seems to think so. It’s all about community.
Shoutout to Meghan Keaney Anderson, CMO of Wanderlust Group for this share (this advice has been paraphrased). Megan talked about how important it is to take your wins and stumbles and weave that into a story. Show the before and after. Take people on a journey.
In addition to telling your story, ask yourself, “What would Chad do?!” as Liza Dube of Good Dube Consulting put it. Every woman out there knows the answer: Ask for more money!
Shoutout again to Liza for this knowledge. As you move into people management and leadership roles — your greatest aspiration (and hopefully success) should be to get other women paid.
Women of all races earn on average 82 cents for every $1 earned by men of all races, and that gap deepens for women of color.
Be an advocate — even before you’re a people manager. Advocate for internal change, peer growth, and direct report salary bumps. A rising tide lifts all boats.
One topic that cropped up was around new job best practices — how to make the most of your first 90 days.
Laura Camila suggested the book The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter (buy it local in Boston here).
Another member suggested digging in and meeting with senior execs and various stakeholders to understand what motivates them and begin to build trust.
One of my newly coined expressions coming out of December 2020 is the concept of a career “bat phone” — who are the people you call I.C.C.E. (In case of career emergency)? Sarah Bedrick was one of my most treasure bat phone calls that led me to the role I’m in now.
Make sure you have a bat phone list before any emergency crops up and nurture it well in advance, checking in with folks and building that rapport so they’re there when you really need them (and vice versa!).
Natalie and I are psyched to see what more this community can bring to marketing women all over the world.
Here’s what events we tentatively have scheduled next:
Make sure you get an invite by joining us here!