Day: November 23, 2022

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Kendra Cole of The CryptoMom App On The Five…

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Kendra Cole of The CryptoMom App On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Be clear on who you are and what you stand for. This will be a challenging road to walk and you will often encounter situations that you don’t agree with or hear things said that you don’t like. Are you going to stay silent and go along with it? Or, are you going to challenge the status quo?

In the United States in 2022, fields such as Aircraft piloting, Agriculture, Architecture, Construction, Finance, and Information technology, are still male-dominated industries. For a woman who is working in a male-dominated environment, what exactly does it take to thrive and succeed? In this interview series, we are talking to successful women who work in a Male-Dominated Industry who can share their stories and experiences about navigating work and life as strong women in a male-dominated industry. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kendra Cole.

Kendra Cole is the Co-Founder and CEO of The CryptoMom App, a crypto investment management platform for women, made by a woman. Black-owned and woman-run, The CryptoMom App aims to close the crypto gender gap by providing the tools necessary to make cryptocurrency more accessible and digestible to women and moms. Her work has caught the attention of Amazon, who selected Kendra to participate in its Impact Accelerator for Black Founders, a prestigious program that supports underrepresented startup founders with the goal of building a more diverse cloud.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

I was born in Everett, WA, where the majority of my early childhood memories were spent at my grandparents’ house. I come from a large family of 7 aunts and uncles and so many cousins, so there were a lot of wonderful memories: long days of playing outside with my cousins, cooking dinner with my grandmother, my grandpa reading to me every morning.

At age 5, my mom received a promotion at her job so we moved to Sacramento. This would be the first of many times I would witness the work ethic, difficult decision-making and long hours in the office with my mom. As a single parent, my mom worked shifts at GTE (now Verizon), so I often spent many nights doing homework and sleeping under my mom’s desk. While I’m sure she experienced mom guilt, the only thing I remember is having so much fun being able to go to work with her. At age 8, we moved again to Tampa for another job promotion, where I spent the remainder of my childhood until I graduated from high school.

Even with her unpredictable work schedule, my mom kept me involved in activities that I enjoyed, like dance class, gymnastics, softball and track and field. Being involved in competitive sports taught me so many valuable lessons, from building stamina to achieve long-term goals, to pushing myself to (healthy) limits both physically and mentally. These lessons stuck with me as I built my career and founded my own cryptocurrency startup.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

My career has primarily been in public relations and corporate communications, leading campaigns and events for global and startup CPG and tech companies. In recent years, I’ve had the privilege of supporting ground-breaking women-led businesses that are helping bring visibility to the issues most important to women, such as Black maternal mental health and equitable parental leave policies. As a working mom of three, I’ve had the privilege of having a supportive village that allowed me the space to continue pursuing various interests in my career, one of those being cryptocurrency.

About two years ago, my interest in crypto piqued, as I had heard about it on social media but wasn’t sure how to get involved. After researching basic fundamentals, I built the confidence to buy my first crypto asset but when I went to sign up for various exchanges, I was thwarted at various points, such as being able to verify my identity due to a name change as a result of taking my husband’s last name in marriage. Then, once I was finally on a platform, the technology wasn’t intuitive to me and the products didn’t serve me and my priorities in the various roles I see myself: career woman, mom, aunt, friend, to name a few.

After speaking with other millennial women, I realized that while my challenges were not rare, they were unique specifically to women. The more I looked into this, the more I realized women were being left out of this important discourse surrounding crypto as a means to building wealth. According to the Gemini State of Crypto Report, bitcoin was initially built around encouraging financial equity, but over 75% of crypto holders are men — creating an uninviting culture that gatekeeps women from participating in this $2.2 billion industry. This, coupled with my experience of working with inspirational women-led startups, led me to want to support the 10 million+ crypto-curious women who want to know more, but don’t know where to start.

Unlike any other platform that exists, The CryptoMom App allows women to buy and sell bitcoin, allocate it to meaningful products like college funds, and give the gift of crypto for special occasions. We also provide financial products and educational tools tailored to the lived experiences, careers, salaries, and technology preferences of women to make cryptocurrency investing more accessible and practical.

Financial independence has given me the freedom to live life by my own design. As a mom, I hope my legacy contributes to empowering female investors to take control of their financial destinies, and create financial independence for themselves, their daughters, and the generations to come.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

In starting The CryptoMom App, I’ve been able to bring in my friends and family on this journey with me, which is the most fulfilling part of this. Our business is truly a family affair: my technical co-founder is my husband, my Chief UX/UI designer is my sister in law, my communications lead is my best friend. And our friends and family round is 90% funded by people of color and women. All of this serves as motivation to succeed.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Never take ‘no’ for an answer: There are going to be so many times potential investors or partners tell you ‘no,’ so thick skin is required. You can be open to feedback, but you don’t have to let it kill your dream. When we submitted for a local Chicago pitch competition, it took us three times before we won. Each loss taught us something and helped us sharpen our positioning and our pitch.
Listen to your gut: Women are often told to ignore that little voice inside of you and I would say, NEVER do that. Whether in business or personal, your intuition can save you money or even save your life.
Advocate for yourself: Women, in particular, often suffer from imposter syndrome and for good reason: corporate structures stifle women’s creativity, make it more challenging for women to advance their careers, and certainly discriminate against women of color. Until companies can make major changes to better support women,, it will (unfortunately) be up to you to find the mentors that can guide you to success. It helps to seek companies that have more diverse and supportive cultures.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you help articulate a few of the biggest obstacles or challenges you’ve had to overcome while working in a male-dominated industry?

So while I can identify obstacles that are in my path, I wouldn’t say that I’ve “overcome” them, but rather, that I’ve learned tools and methods to work through them.

I would say the biggest takeaway from working in the male-dominated fintech industry is learning to be OK with being uncomfortable. It’s not ideal, but most of the time when I walk into a room that is heavily crypto-focused, I’m surrounded by men, and specifically white men. Even if there are a few women in the room, it’s almost always white women. I’ve leaned heavily on my foundation, particularly attending Howard University where I gained the confidence and pride in my Blackness, my skills and my worth, to prepare me for situations like this. So while I’m often the only Black woman founder in the room, I’m rarely blindsided by the microaggressions that so frequently pop up in white male spaces.

Can you share a few of the things you have done to gain acceptance among your male peers and the general work community? What did your female co-workers do? Can you share some stories or examples?

The work that I do for The CryptoMom App is not to gain legitimacy or acceptance from male peers. In the words of the great Shirley Chisholm, “if they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” To put it plainly, I do this because it’s time women claim their long overdue right to financial equity. We’re creating a platform that is truly different from anything else out there: It’s secure, not predatory in nature, and we are driven by the heart of our mission, which is ultimately the betterment of women and their financial present and future. Not everyone will like me or want to hear what I have to say and that’s OK. That’s not a ‘me’ issue; It’s a ‘them’ issue.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

First, it has to start at the top: C-Level execs must actively seek out a solution for this. Demand that DEI be a part of the company culture and priority. The fact is, we need white cis men to solve this problem, but you need the RIGHT men. It’s going to take the right people from all backgrounds to extend their networks to bring more diverse people, thought and experience to the table.

Ok thank you for all of that. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Be clear on who you are and what you stand for. This will be a challenging road to walk and you will often encounter situations that you don’t agree with or hear things said that you don’t like. Are you going to stay silent and go along with it? Or, are you going to challenge the status quo?
Make your voice heard. In male-dominated industries, there will always be some guy talking louder, speaking AT (instead of to) people, or cutting you off. So be confident, clear and assertive when you speak. Make them hear you and make them listen.
Find a supportive circle. You’re going to need people who you can laugh with, commemorate with and celebrate your wins with so having a core group of friends is going to be key to your success. Finding or establishing employee resource groups of like-minded individuals will bring you additional support. Bonus if it’s a few people or even just one person who works in the same organization as you.
Get involved. It’s not all doom and gloom! Find ways to make the organization more fun, impactful and supportive. Maybe it’s getting involved in the office softball team or coordinating a book club. Finding or creating affinity groups allows you to learn more about your co-workers and also bring more value to your work life.
Be a student of life. Remaining curious allows you to be open to new ideas, new people and new perspectives. It will also keep you interested in your chosen career and industry.

If you had a close woman friend who came to you with a choice of entering a field that is male-dominated or female-dominated, what would you advise her? Would you advise a woman friend to start a career in a field or industry that’s traditionally been mostly men? Can you explain what you mean?

For any career, go into it with passion and excitement. Don’t let other people’s poor or negative experiences keep you from pursuing your interests. That said, make sure you research any company that you’re interested in working or interning for.

Have you seen things change for women working in male-dominated industries, over the past ten years? How do you anticipate that it might improve in the future? Can you please explain what you mean?

There has been a major shift and focus on supporting women in the workplace, particularly in the STEM and FinTech industries. Conferences for female youth that celebrate individuality and providing opportunities and access to resources and education. As more women come into male-dominated industries, as leaders and as founders, there will continue to be changes in how we work in these environments.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Sara Blakely is an entrepreneur that I admire and would love to share mimosas with. I love her story of being a solo founder that was scrappy, creative and truly disrupting an industry. She has paved the way for so many women and it would be an honor to meet her.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Kendra Cole of The CryptoMom App On The Five… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Bobbie Collies of Coterie Insurance On The Five…

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Bobbie Collies of Coterie Insurance On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Understand gender biases exist and are not going away. You have to manage your behavior within an organization and expect other people to have gender biases. It’s not about getting rid of them because that’s impossible but focus on a better awareness around them. Understand that as a woman, you’re going to be in a more difficult position than your male peers and you’re going to have to work harder to get where you need to go. That’s a fact.

Bobbie Collies is an insurance junkie that comes from an extensive background in commercial underwriting and P&C insurance carrier leadership. She is Chief Growth Officer at Coterie Insurance and a passionate servant leader who loves to help drive strategy and execution. She is a champion for innovation, customer experience, and a change agent. Some might describe her as a “intrapreneur,” always looking for ways to improve the organizations she works with by bringing new ideas to the table, and more importantly, seeing those ideas come to life.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

I started as a underwriting trainee out of college, working in various underwriting and underwriting leadership roles for different insurance carriers. Then in 2016, I was tagged to do a strategic research project at the company I was working for about how technology will impact the future of the independent insurance agency channel.

Delving into discovery and research about insurtechs, what problems they were solving and how they planned to solve them, enabled me to get a deep dive look at how the insurance industry was changing. I pulled multiple data points together to see where our overall industry was going and how insurance carriers would need to change their strategies to stay relevant.

The project brought me to the realization that the insurance industry was going to have a revolutionary change in how we do business. I had been in the industry for 15 years at that point and nothing had changed. The way we transacted business, acquired new customers, underwrote risk and serviced policies had been almost stagnant for a decade and a half. I had a unique opportunity that allowed me to see over the horizon and I wanted to be a part of the change wave.

Instead of sitting and observing, I wanted to be in the driver’s seat and get ahead of the future changes. I kind of became an insurtech junkie which ultimately led me down the path of joining Coterie Insurance.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Assertiveness — a lot of the time women are not comfortable with assertiveness in male-dominated workplaces. I tried to not hold back even if it was uncomfortable if I felt what needed to be said was best for our team or for our company. It is unfortunate that assertiveness can sometimes be perceived as aggressiveness, particularly for women. That said, I have worked hard on a delicate balance of the amount of assertiveness for any given situation, but it was and continues to be a learning process.

Emotional intelligence is something I worked really hard on improving over the years because that skill in and of itself is a very high predictor of success. Investing development in your emotional intelligence is one of the best investments you can make as a leader. It will serve you tenfold not only personally for your own development but also in the development of those on your team and any mentorship relationships. I continue to spend time working on emotional intelligence so I can be a better leader. That said, it’s been more difficult to exercise high levels of EQ in a virtual work environment. Common social queues are not as easily read through a video conference and the level of effort it takes to stay self-aware is much higher.

Lastly, a high level of curiosity. I always want to know and understand more which leads me to successfully executing on plans and developing strategies for success moving forward. Take the research project I worked on in 2016. Prior to that, I had not taken the time to really consider the impact technology was going to have on our industry. As soon as I was able to dig in, I realized how large the opportunity was and that forever changed the direction of my career.

Early on in my career, the largest obstacle was finding female mentors and leaders to aspire to as insurance was very male dominated. I was super fortunate when I first became a leader to have a female leader as my direct boss. That said, there was a lot of trail-blazing and breaking through male-domination earlier in my career. That was super challenging, as there were not a lot of other examples to follow. I had to figure it out as I went.

At points in time, I understood accomplishing a goal was more important than having an idea be mine. I would intentionally seed ideas with male leaders to take my idea and then present it so the idea would receive the respect and consideration it deserved. There were countless times when I would call a male leader to ask him to bring up an idea of mine because I truly felt it was best for the business. Sure enough, he would do so and the idea would be accepted when before, I wasn’t listened to when I brought it up. While not ideal, keeping my eye on what was best for the business served me well.

This might not have ever been intentional as to me, it’s more about what is the right thing to do to get results. I focused my energy on being the leader that my team needed to set them up for success.

It wasn’t intentional for me to say I need to get acceptance; I did what I thought needed to be done and the right thing for the business. Things fell in place for a result.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

It’s more about once women are in the door, how do you develop them? I love the idea of having female leaders mentor male high-potential leaders so they experience a balance on leadership between the genders. There is a different style women bring to leadership, and a style that can benefit every employee no matter their gender.

From a recruitment perspective, it’s difficult for a female to come into a male-dominated leadership team. You almost have to start with developing from within for higher roles, as well as making a concerted effort to recruit female board members, and then everything from there will fall into place.

If the entire senior leadership team and the board of directors are men, it doesn’t feel like there’s a clear path or career into senior leadership for women.

Understand gender biases exist and are not going away. You have to manage your behavior within an organization and expect other people to have gender biases. It’s not about getting rid of them because that’s impossible but focus on a better awareness around them. Understand that as a woman, you’re going to be in a more difficult position than your male peers and you’re going to have to work harder to get where you need to go. That’s a fact.
Having a male mentor as an advocate is important. In a male-dominated workplace, it’s critical to get the information you need to advance, and to have a better lens into how the leadership is functioning. Having a male champion that truly believes in developing women is key. Also, we must understand that men play a huge role in helping women in advance in male-dominated industries.
Get a female mentor to help you navigate through gender biases and their experiences so you’re not making the same mistakes they made. A female mentor provides guidance that a male mentor cannot. Not only can a female mentor be a safe haven, a woman can problem-solve specific situations unique to women.
Confidence — looking over my career, I’ve never let being the only woman in the room get to me. I lead knowing what I have to say or do is just as important as anyone else. Confidence tells me to keep raising my hand and to keep contributing because what I have to say is just as valuable as my male peers.
Assertiveness — women in both professional and personal relationships don’t always advocate for themselves or say what they need or want. We’re conditioned to get along. Women are less likely to negotiate their salary, putting them at a financial disadvantage. Being assertive means standing up for yourself and your ideas, and not being afraid to ask for what you want.

I don’t think it matters. I would advise her to chase her dreams — if the field is dominated by one gender, that’s circumstantial. If you’re truly passionate about the field and you can immerse yourself into it, do it. There will be different challenges in both paths. The way the world is going with more of a focus on DEI, there might be more opportunities in male-dominated industry. That shouldn’t be a trigger for the decision, however. Consider what you want to do, then find the right people to surround you. I highly recommend a personal board of directors. This is a group of people who can help you, coach you, call you out, and build you up in your career. That’s been key to my success.

I see more women in insurance having a seat at the table. The improvement in the future is seeing women expand their influence on decision-making, strategy, and leadership at their organizations. Just because women have a seat at the table, doesn’t mean there is true influence on direction of company. As more senior level women gain credibility over time, female influence in decision-making will increase.

Sarah Blakely who is the CEO of Spanx. She’s a fabulous human being, her leadership for her organization and her investment into women in general is admirable. I’d love to have coffee with her and talk through challenges, and understand her story at a deeper level.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Bobbie Collies of Coterie Insurance On The Five… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Mark Wolters Of Wolters World On Five Ways For Influencers To Monetize Their Brand

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Just be kind to each other and pack a bit of patience no matter where you go. You never know what other people are going through, and showing a little kindness and patience with people could make their days a bit easier.

As part of my series about “How Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Wolters.

Mark Wolters is an award-winning travel vlogger and educator. With a keen eye for honest travel advice Mark has been producing travel videos and blogs for over 14 years. His Wolters World travel YouTube channel has over 210,000,000 views and 920,000 subscribers. When Mark is not traveling the world with his family, he is a Teaching Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was recognized by Poets and Quants as one of the top 50 undergraduate business professors and has received numerous other teaching awards. On his Professor Wolters education channel Mark strives to make marketing and social media education accessible to all people.

<a href="https://medium.com/media/c5708575615a4f173aaacb1e6e5dc8e6/href">https://medium.com/media/c5708575615a4f173aaacb1e6e5dc8e6/href</a>

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is your “backstory”? What brought you to this point in your career?

I have been traveling the world since I was 16 when I was an exchange student on a ranch in Australia, and have spent the last 30 years doing my best to see as much of the world as possible. I did my undergrad in the US, my masters in Germany, my PhD in Portugal and I have taught business in a dozen other countries around the world. I have always loved getting to know about new cultures, and I have used that as motivation to make numerous YouTube channels where I educate people on a variety of topics, from travel to business to food to languages.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you in the course of your career?

You know, whenever you travel with your friends there is always some way that you will be humbled. I was in New Orleans with two of my best friends from high school, and we were wandering around the French Quarter and this lady came up to me and said she was a fan and loved our videos. So, we spoke for a few minutes then another lady walks by and screams, ARE YOU WOLTER?! And I told her yes, and she also said she loved our videos and that she was a huge fan. We took pictures and went on our way. The entire rest of the day my friends kept saying how much they love WOLTER, and that they were also huge fans. The thing is, my name is Mark, but people will assume that my first name is Wolter since our channel is called Wolters World, even though in every video I start with “Hey there fellow travelers, this is Mark from Wolters World.” So my friends to this day, when they want to put me in my place tell me, “I’m your biggest fan… WOLTER.”

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I love to teach, and in my videos I want to help people learn. It doesn’t matter if it is learning how to have a great vacation, or how to run your business’s social media, or how to discover true local foods around the world, I want to help people learn to do things on their own. It is all about the democratization of education, if I can help other people learn, I feel I should help them learn. That is why I put so much content out on all of my YouTube channels. If I can help a mother start a part-time business to help support her family, or help a young family take their first trip with a new baby, or just help to put a smile on someone’s face, I want to do it.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

Realize that being successful online via social media is not about “getting lucky” or “going viral.” It is about having a long-term vision on what you want to do with your online presence. It takes a long time to make it in any industry, and as people tend to only notice YouTubers or Instagrammers when they are already huge, they forget that that success took time to build. Don’t start a podcast or YouTube channel thinking you will be quitting your day job in a few months. It can take years to build up the following that affords you the income that allows you to not keep that day job.

None of us can achieve success without a bit of help along the way. Is there a particular person who made a profound difference in your life to whom you are grateful? Can you share a story?

I would say that my wife has been both a protagonist and antagonist along the way. She told me once I was making too many videos, and not enjoying our travels. It seemed to her that our travels had become more of a job than a fun experience. This really got me to refocus on how and what I film and produce. Instead of making 12 random videos about various topics in each city we visited, I focused on making three thorough videos on that city. That helped me really change how our travels worked. I now film in the early morning while my wife and kids are getting ready, and when I come home from filming, we go back out and explore the cities we travel to as a family instead of the family waiting for me to film another video. It is funny how sometimes one off-the-cuff comment can have such a profound effect on you.

So what are the most exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

I have started a new series called, “Ugly Tourists In” and the series focuses on the little things that tourists do that upset locals in various cities and countries around the world. It is funny because we are pointing out the little things that tourists would never even realize they were doing that annoyed the locals. It has been one of the most fun projects I have worked on, and the comments we get on those videos almost always have me laughing.

What are your “Top Five Ways That Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand” . (Please share a story or example for each.)

Influencers come in all shapes, sizes, ages, nationalities, genders, and more. However, there is one thing that, no matter, if they are an influencer on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter that they all worry about — how they can make money with their social media following. There are dozens of ways that influencers can make money online and offline, what I have here is a list of five of the most popular ways that influencers make money and use their influence to help pay their bills.

Platform Based Advertising:

The first way influencers can make money is basic advertising revenue that is run and supported by the platform they have their content on. The name varies by platform, but the overall scheme is the same. The influencer creates content for the platform and the platform places ads on said content. For example, YouTube has their Adsense programs. The program places ads before/during/after videos on YouTube, then YouTube splits the ad revenue with the influencer in a 55/45 revenue split.

Influencers can also make money by placing advertisements on their blogs as well. These can be in programs such as Adsense from Google or Mediavine or a number of other companies that supply advertising opportunities to brands.

Pros of Platform Based Advertising:

Influencers do not have to do much, the platform takes care of finding, curating, and placing advertisements on their platforms. Influencers can focus on content creation instead of searching for brands who want to advertise with them.

It is a passive way to monetize an influencer’s content.

Not every influencer is appealing to brands to set up brand deals, so this may be the only way for some influencers to monetize their content.

Cons of Platform Based Advertising:

The platform takes a percentage of the advertising revenue. This may be as little as 5% or as high as 55% or more.

Influencers may not have a lot of say in what type of advertisements show up with their content, and may have a negative impact on the influencers overall brand.

Some platforms require a certain level of production in order to join their program.

Affiliate Marketing:

One of the most profitable and lucrative means for influencers to make money online is to join affiliate marketing programs such as Amazon Associates. These programs incentivize creators to promote and sell products from the brand that has the affiliate marketing program. This way an influencer may get a percentage of the sales that come directly from their content. This could be an Amazon link to a product they featured in a post or a link to book a specific hotel from their website. The key thing is that influencers are affiliating themselves with different brands and those brands reward them for sales or traffic that comes to the brand’s own business and website.

Pros of Affiliate Marketing:

Many companies use affiliate marketing in order to entice creators to promote their products and services, so there are numerous opportunities to join affiliate programs.

The payout for bringing in sales to a firm can be substantial. Many influencers see double or triple or more the revenue from affiliate marketing programs over platform based advertising.

Influencers can choose which brands they want to work with so they can have brands that align with their business and their values.

Cons of Affiliate Marketing:

When influencers overuse and oversell affiliate marketing products they can be seen as a sellout, especially if the product they are trying to get people to buy does not align with their audience or the values that their content promotes.

There is no guarantee that the influencer’s audience will be enticed to buy the affiliated product, and thus the influencer earns no income off of an affiliate program if they do not sell any products.

The placement and use of affiliate marketing products can be stressful in finding ways that truly integrate the product into traditional content.

Crowdsourcing:

Some influencers are able to obtain funds from their audience directly through crowdsourcing. Platforms like Patreon or the YouTube Membership program allow fans of influencers to pay a fee in order to support their favorite influencers. This allows influencers to focus on creating content without having to work on brand deals or affiliate marketing programs.

Pros of Crowdsourcing:

Even small influencers can make money off of crowdsourcing. All it takes are dedicated fans who are willing to financially support a creator.

Microtransactions from as little as $2 a month can add up if the influencer can develop a large enough crowdsourcing community.

It helps influencers better connect with their core fans through additional paid engagements and websites.

Cons of Crowdsourcing:

Some crowdsourcing platforms require or at least request that influencers provide something extra for their paying fans. This may be merchandise, bonus content, live streaming events, or other services. These “freebees” may actually cost more time and money than what the crowdsourcing income brings in.

Not all influencers feel comfortable with a form of digital begging to their fans.

Brand Deals & Sponsorships:

With brand deals and sponsorships brands themselves may reach out to an influencer in order to work with them. The brand may pay the influencer directly for brand specific content or may want to just be associated with the influencer via a sponsorship. This may be a project where the brand pays a certain amount of money to be featured in one video, two twitter posts, and an Instagram story. Brand deals tend to be shorter than a sponsorship. Sponsorships may not directly require integration into content, however they may just want to be mentioned in a video or a post that the the content was sponsored by said brand.

Pros of Brand Deals & Sponsorships

They can be very lucrative if the influencer has the right audience that the brand wants to target.

Brand deals and sponsorships can help influencers’ credibility in the marketplace as they are now associated with established brands.

Brands may come with ideas for content that they think would work with integrating their brand with the influencer’s content.

Cons of Brand Deals & Sponsorships

Brands are very particular about how their brands are dealt with in brand deals. This may lead to numerous requests or changes in the finished post, certain rules that may change how influencers can use the product in their content, or who influencers are allowed to work with for a certain period of time after the brand deal content is released.

Not all brand deals fit with influencer’s content or audience. You may see this when an influencer is using a product or service that has little to no relevance to their main content theme, it is just because they were paid to use the product in a post.

Some firms want brand deals to be set up like an affiliate marketing program where the creator creates content for the brand, but only receives payments if the content drives sales for the hiring brand.

Merchandise and Digital Products:

Every influencer loves when they see their logo on a t-shirt or on a cup or a drink huggee. Merchandise can be a nice revenue stream for influencers as well. However, it is not as lucrative as the previous monetization programs in most cases. Thus it is important for influencers to choose which merchandise options fit best with their audience and change the merchandise offerings often so that fans go back to buy new merchandise. Additional to traditional merchandise like t-shirts and bottle openers influencers can develop digital products as well. These may be workbooks, worksheets, online courses, or other digital materials that their fan base would purchase.

Pros of Merchandise and Digital Products:

Fans become billboards for the influencer. The fans help spread the word of the influencer and their business.

It offers a way for fans to support their favorite creators and receive something tangible in the process.

Nothing beats the feeling of walking down the street and bumping into someone wearing your swag.

Digital products can be scaled to large numbers without having to deal with excess inventory.

Cons of Merchandise and Digital Products:

Supply chain issues and inventory management for merchandise. Where is the merchandise created, stored, and delivered from?

Headaches from lost orders, incorrect shipping labels, and merchandise returns.

Finding the right merchandise producer can take a lot of trial and error.

Digital products may be copied and made available for on the internet without the creator receiving any income.

Looking at these five ways influencers can make money online it shows you that there are numerous opportunities available for influencers to use their influence to help pay their bills and keep creating content to make their fans happy. Do not think that these are the only five ways influencers can make money. See our bonus video below for 20 Ways Influencers Can Make Money.

Bonus Video: 20 Ways Influencers Can Make Money

https://youtu.be/fVSJ76Kk4j4

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Just be kind to each other and pack a bit of patience no matter where you go. You never know what other people are going through, and showing a little kindness and patience with people could make their days a bit easier.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this. 🙂

Joseph Rosendo from Travelscope on PBS. He is a true traveler and wants people to see the world, so they can be inspired as well. He has inspired me to visit many destinations around the world, and I would just love to have lunch with him to talk about travel, culture, and how he got to where he is today.

What is the best way our readers can follow your work online?

They can find me on a few different YouTube channels. Our main travel and culture channel is www.youtube.com/woltersworld or if you want to know what you should eat while you are traveling the world you could find us at www.youtube.com/woltersworldeats. Though if you want to learn about marketing, business, and social media you can find us at our business education channel, www.youtube.com/professorwolters. If you just want to chat on social just find @woltersworld and we will be there on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Mark Wolters Of Wolters World On Five Ways For Influencers To Monetize Their Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Deborah Potter of Metal Supermarkets On The Five…

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Deborah Potter of Metal Supermarkets On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Have a clear focus on the end result. Set goals for yourself and always have growth in mind. By knowing what you want, it’s easier to set a clear path to success. My goals have helped me identify what positions I want to work up to while also preventing me from being stuck in a job or role that was no longer serving me. Setting a plan, owning it and going after promotions will help define your career path and ultimately, help you grow.

Deborah Potter is the Chief Growth Officer of Metal Supermarkets Family of Companies. With more than twenty years of experience in product development, brand management and integrated marketing with franchise and industrial brands, Potter is a high performing leader who thrives in collaborative, fast-paced environments. Prior to joining Metal Supermarkets, her previous experience includes executive marketing roles at Concrobium (a Rust-Oleum brand) and Hallmark.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

I was born in Quebec City, Canada to an American father (from the Bay Area) and a French-Canadian mother. When I was three, we moved to the south shore of Montreal. The area we moved to was predominantly French, so I only learned to speak English when I started school at about five years old, but most of my education was in all French until I graduated high school. After high school, I attended Vanier College in Montreal where I studied business and psychology and then went on to get my degree in psychology at McGill University.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

The journey to my career path was a bit of a fluke. When I graduated from McGill University in 1995, my plan was to take a gap year and from there, I would get my master’s in psychology. At the time, my cousin had just taken over his family business — a welding and industrial distributor in Montreal — and was growing so fast that he needed immediate help with purchasing. He asked me if I could help him for the summer and I accepted on a whim.

The day after I graduated, I started as a purchasing agent at his company. I had never worked in an office and knew nothing about purchasing. I made so many mistakes in the beginning that I am sure the office staff wondered what he was thinking bringing in someone with no business experience. But, within a month I had mastered the process and was “cranking” out hundreds of PO’s a week. By the third month, I started implementing process improvements and by the time summer was over, I decided I liked working in an office environment and found I had a mind for business after all. Back then, there was less of a focus on your degree being aligned exactly with your career path, so it allowed much more flexibility to pivot. In early September I was offered the position of purchasing manager and accepted it.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

It is difficult for me to judge what stories people would find interesting, however for me the once-in-a-lifetime (at least so far) experience of being part of an executive team at Siamon’s International (Concrobium) during an acquisition by a large US company like RPM (parent company of Rust-Oleum) was certainly interesting and eye opening. I had been through an integration before at Hallmark when they closed down most of the Canadian operations, but an integration from an acquisition was very different. It was very much like a relationship. First the courting; information gathering such as: looking at our financials, assets, marketing collateral and the skills and experience of the team. This took many months and no stone was left unturned. Once the purchase was finalized (marriage) the focus was shifted on integrating all parts of the business and how we would work and together as one company. Of course, we could have no interruptions to the business and all this had to be invisible to our customers. Once the year-long integration process was complete and the dust settled, the reality set in that we were then part of the big corporate machine, with very little influence and impact on the future of the brand. That is when I knew it was time to move on (divorce).

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

The number one character trait that has always been instrumental to my success is being a good communicator. In the past I’ve had leaders who would go weeks — even months — without communicating in-person or by email. I saw how their poor communication quickly eroded their teams’ motivation and found that if employees don’t know what their leaders are trying to accomplish, there is very little engagement. From those experiences I’ve learned to be an open, honest and very transparent communicator. I naturally want to communicate with my team on a regular basis. When I start a new position, I try to communicate the vision and goals of the department as much as possible, setting up weekly meetings in my first three months of a new role. Not only do I communicate my goals and ideas, but I am there to help my team. I build a sense of trust in a number of ways by listening, helping and getting to know details about each person and asking them what I can do to help them in their job and career development.

When I started as a product manager at Hallmark, I had a small team of four and immediately implemented regular team meetings and one-on-ones. I quickly realized that the team was dysfunctional, disengaged and all around unhappy. One team member in particular was on the cusp of being let go by the previous manager and was very disgruntled. After meeting with her regularly and listening to her story, I realized she had been blamed for a very costly mistake that, in my opinion, the manager should have taken some responsibility for. Once I had her trust and she felt the psychological safety we built, she became my top performing employee and was promoted the following year. If I had not been open to listening to her, I would never have uncovered this incredible employee, and she wouldn’t have improved.

The second character trait that has been instrumental to my success is my determination and grit. If I’ve learned anything from my career, it’s that feedback is not personal, it’s business. If you feel like you’re not being supported in something you believe in, you need to keep at it. If you pitch something to your team and they don’t seem on board, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. Their initial doubt gives you the chance to go back and identify what’s missing. Sometimes you need more data and facts, or sometimes people simply need time to absorb your idea. I like having a team that challenges me and plays devil’s advocate. In fact, I encourage it because they become my voice of reason and motivate me to go back, reanalyze and work with my team to gather more information that can get us to the next level. If my ideas are initially turned down, I make sure to keep the conversation going. If you don’t have that determination, your voice will never be heard.

Lastly, I am very results-driven. As a leader in the business world, you need a result-driven mentality to properly grow a business. Being focused on results keeps you focused on the big picture, otherwise you get bogged down by the process and the minutiae which often becomes an unnecessary distraction. Focusing your attention on the goal and taking action will result in success. While you may not have all of the answers right away, you will be able to move forward more efficiently.

The biggest obstacle I encountered early in my career was not being heard. I’ve had countless experiences where I share an idea in a meeting and no one reacts, and ten minutes later someone else says the same thing and it’s the “best idea ever.” From those experiences, I’ve learned to repeat myself, take ownership of my ideas and own my place at that table.

I have also had to overcome gender stereotypes. Early in my career, I was a senior manager at a company where there were only 3–4 other women. We were subconsciously expected to take meeting minutes and order food for the team due to gender stereotypes. One day we said, “Okay, we’re not taking minutes anymore, it’s your turn,” and stopped. Be aware of when gender stereotypes start to creep in and know when it’s someone else’s turn to handle a task. Remember: it’s okay to say “no.”

Being a working mother was also a big challenge to navigate. Early in my career, a lot of men at my job had stay-at-home wives, so they didn’t have the extra responsibility of taking care of their children like I did. Thankfully, my husband and I split the responsibility, but the men at my company didn’t understand what it was like to take on that role. While this is handled much differently today, it’s surprisingly still an issue that many working mothers face.

Simply put, the main thing I have done to gain acceptance among my male peers is by working hard. You need to show people you are committed to the company and that you will do what it takes to get the job done. People will respect you when they see you’re putting in the time and the work.

Also, be sure to keep your skillset up. This can be challenging when also balancing family and work but showing that you’re constantly learning goes a long way to earn people’s respect. Several successful women I know have taken the time to earn additional certifications because they felt there was a gap in their knowledge base, and they continue to grow and thrive in their careers because of it.

But, all in all, my recipe for respect is as follows: work hard, be determined, have a goal in mind, have a strong support system, have confidence and go for it.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

If you work in a male-dominated organization, you have to make a conscious effort to recruit women. Obviously, don’t hire someone who is not fit for the job, but try to find women for specific positions, even if it’s challenging. Men and women often approach things differently so it’s good to have a mix of those traits on a team. And, the same goes for any minority group. The best teams I have worked on were a mosaic of people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Another way to enhance recruiting efforts to attract more women is to have a group within your organization dedicated to female empowerment. The group can host guest speakers and provide an environment for women to talk openly about empowerment in the workplace. If there are clear examples of ways you support the growth of women in your organization, they will be more likely to want to be a part of it, especially in historically male-dominated industries.

A supportive partner. I would not be where I am today without my husband. If you want to be successful in business, you need to have people in your life who unconditionally support you in your career and ambitions.
Own your confidence. To succeed in a male-dominated industry, you need to build your confidence. As women, we tend to stay in jobs that aren’t supportive of our personal or career growth because we don’t believe that we have other options. I have made the difficult decision to move on in my career because I didn’t feel I was valued and my skillset wasn’t being used. Women need to have the confidence to say to themselves, “I can do better.”
Have grit and determination. As I mentioned earlier, having grit and determination is essential to anyone’s success, but especially for women in a male-dominated industry. It can be incredibly intimidating for anyone to ask for a promotion — it takes a lot of grit. However, if you know that you are ready and deserving, you need to stand up for yourself and take control of your professional development. Most of my promotions I had to ask for and ended up being more respected and valued for doing so.
Know how to own your place. Knowing how to own your place in the company goes back to the notion of being confident in your abilities. A lot of women are often hesitant to share their opinions or ideas, but by withholding these thoughts you’re not only hindering yourself, but you could also be taking away opportunities for the company to grow. Have confidence in your work, ideas and opinions and don’t be afraid to speak your mind.
Have a clear focus on the end result. Set goals for yourself and always have growth in mind. By knowing what you want, it’s easier to set a clear path to success. My goals have helped me identify what positions I want to work up to while also preventing me from being stuck in a job or role that was no longer serving me. Setting a plan, owning it and going after promotions will help define your career path and ultimately, help you grow.

Some women work better in female-dominated industries. However, if the friend was like me and was thinking about entering a male-dominated field, I would advise them to go for it. I have worked for industrial companies for most of my career and am often the only women at the boardroom table. I personally enjoy working with men, especially because it provides me the opportunity to help other women who want to work for that company or in that field. On that note, I would advise my friend to purposefully recruit women to her company, build a support group and provide mentorship opportunities.

As for her personal development, I would tell her to be herself, don’t overthink, speak up, be patient and have confidence. I’d also advise her to build relationships with her team members. The people I work with — male or female — are my peers. By getting to know them, they see me as “Debby, chief growth officer,” not “Debby, my female boss.” This takes away the male/female hierarchy, and I haven’t noticed gender differences being an issue like they might have been in the past.

Yes, I have absolutely seen things change for women working in male-dominated industries. While there are certainly still challenges, the younger generation of women don’t have the same barriers I had when I started my career. Women are more educated than ever before and have so many great role models to look up to.

60 years ago, women had the mental capacity to achieve what women are achieving now, but they didn’t think logistically they could do it. Now, that’s hardly a thought in a young woman’s mind. My 22-year-old daughter never thinks, “How am I going to balance work and home life when I have kids?” But, a few decades ago, that may have been what prevented many women from following their professional dreams.

Marisa Thalberg, the executive vice president and chief brand and marketing officer at Lowe’s, has always inspired me. She is very career-oriented, yet she’s not afraid to show her personal, “human” side.

She makes an effort to create opportunities for team building and facilitates “feel good” empowerment projects for women in her company and has won many awards for her accomplishments, including being named to Forbes’ CMO Hall of Fame. Overall, Marisa is not just an incredible leader, but she is an outstanding role model.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Deborah Potter of Metal Supermarkets On The Five… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women Of The C-Suite: Tricia Montalvo Timm On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior…

Women Of The C-Suite: Tricia Montalvo Timm On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The Importance of Networking. Growing up, my parents told me to keep my head down and work hard. I thought that if I did that, I would be successful in everything I did. While it is important to work hard, that is not the only thing that matters. Building relationships is vital. Every opportunity I received was from a prior relationship. It was either a referral from an old boss or former colleague, a client, or even a mentee. It is important to build relationships with everyone around you as you build your career and don’t forget to nurture them along the way!

As a part of our interview series called “Women Of The C-Suite”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tricia Montalvo Timm.

Tricia Montalvo Timm is a first-generation Latina board director, venture investor, speaker, and author. She rose through the ranks of Silicon Valley advising high-tech companies big and small, culminating in the sale of data analytics software company Looker to Google for $2.6 billion. Tricia is one of the few Latinas to have attained the triple achievement of reaching the C-suite, joining the boardroom, and cracking the venture capital ceiling. She is on a mission to inspire anyone who has ever felt like an “other” in the workplace to embrace their true selves, own their identity, and achieve success and fulfillment in their life and career. You can learn more about her at triciatimm.com.

<a href="https://medium.com/media/3fe67e1654a32751eecc465b7376c3a3/href">https://medium.com/media/3fe67e1654a32751eecc465b7376c3a3/href</a>

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

My parents were both immigrants to this country and wanted to create a better life for me. My mom was from El Salvador and my father was from Ecuador. They worked multiple jobs and prioritized our education so that we could live the American dream. Growing up, my mother would tell me that I could someday become a lawyer just like her grandfather and I believed her. I eventually graduated cum laude from UCSB and Santa Clara University School of Law.

I started my career as a corporate securities attorney working at a large corporate law firm in Silicon Valley. My practice entailed representing a wide range of companies from start-ups to large global public companies. After a few years, I transitioned to working as an in-house attorney for high-tech companies. When my kids were little, I decided to pivot from corporate life and stay home for a year. During that time I started a legal consulting business to afford me the opportunity to continue practicing law while having a more flexible schedule. Within one year, I grew that small business to over $1 million in revenue. After my daughters were both in elementary school, I returned to the workforce as general counsel. My most recent role was as the general counsel of Looker, where I led the company through a successful exit to Google for $2.6 billion. I am currently on the board of Salsify, a top B2B SaaS software company and a limited partner in several venture capital funds as well as an angel investor. I also just wrote my first book Embrace the Power of You: Owning Your Identity at Work which chronicles much of my life as the only Latina in the room in corporate America.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

There are many interesting business stories, but I think the most interesting thing I experienced in my career that I did not expect was the power of authenticity in the workplace. I kept my ethnicity and being a working mom under wraps for most of my career for fear that it would hold me back. I did that for almost two decades and eventually, the toll of hiding was too much. After some self-examination, I realized that in order to truly belong, I needed to accept myself first and come to the workplace as my authentic self. Once I started doing that, my career soared! I did not realize the impact of being my authentic self would have on me and others. My life’s work is now to mentor, support, and inspire others. That is something I never would have dreamed of when I started out as a young lawyer almost thirty years ago.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

During my first year at the law firm, a partner asked me to write a legal memo for a case he was working on. He asked for the traditional kind of memo with the “To” and “From” headings and lengthy legal research and analysis. I spent weeks on this memo. I wrote, edited, and reviewed it more times than I can remember. I wanted to get it just right and without any errors.

When I finally felt like it was in perfect condition, I walked into his office and handed it to him. He looked at it and asked me to sit down. He glanced at the first page, looked up, and said, “Is this your best work?” “Yes,” I answered confidently. He glanced down again and then handed the memo back to me and said, “When you hand in a memo to a partner, the first thing you need to make sure is that you spell his name correctly.” I looked down and noticed that I had misspelled his name! I was shocked and embarrassed. But, then it got worse. He then continued, “And… you need to make sure you spell your name correctly.”

The lesson learned here is that sometimes we need to see the forest through the trees. When you first start out in your career you will find yourself overly focused on getting all the little details done “right” or “perfectly” and may forget to step back and see whether you addressed the big things. You don’t want to get stuck in the weeds!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

When I was a second-year law student at Santa Clara University, I participated in their on-campus interviews. Given its proximity to Silicon Valley, there were a large number of law firms participating and I was thrilled to take advantage of this program. Since I was top of my class I received almost a dozen job interviews.

Of the twelve firms that I interviewed with, only one firm sent a woman to interview me. All the others were white older men. In interview after interview, my confidence in my abilities lessened and lessened with each man I spoke to. They were all accomplished and very nice men who I am sure had the best intentions but I could not relate to them. We did not share the same interests or hobbies and we had very little in common. The conversations felt very awkward and I blamed myself for not being able to establish a connection with them. With every interview, I tried to change myself a little bit more to try and make myself more relatable to these men in hopes that this would make a difference.

Ultimately, my efforts in trying to pretend to be one of them did not pay off. I did not receive a single call back from any of the firms that sent male interviewers. What was more heart-breaking for me was to see that while I was being rejected, my white male classmates with less stellar academic records than mine were getting multiple callbacks. I felt like a failure.

I had one interview left. This last one was with a prominent Silicon Valley law firm that specializes in high-technology companies. By this point, I had created a visual in my head of who was going to show up. Older white men with dark suits. To my surprise, two ladies in more casual but professional attire greeted me. I couldn’t believe it. We immediately connected. We shared stories about ourselves and our upbringings. I told them about my internships and what I had learned. We laughed and enjoyed getting to know each other. I felt so much more like myself during this interview and was so grateful for the environment that these two women had created for me. In this more comfortable setting, I was able to demonstrate the value I could bring to the firm.

Out of the twelve interviews, this is the only firm that called me back, and ultimately I got the job. While I still had many challenges ahead as the first or only in the room, I often think back to that day. If that firm had not sent those two women to the on-campus interview that day, my life would have turned out differently. That position gave me the experience of a lifetime — IPOs, M&A, venture capital financings, public company experience, and much much more. It opened up a path for me to eventually become a general counsel working with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and investment bankers.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?

As a lawyer, I can tell you that making a difficult decision was almost a daily occurrence for me. As the general counsel, it was my job to provide advice and counsel to the CEO and the rest of the management team on which path to take when faced with risk. We were almost always in the ”gray area,” meaning there was never a clear answer. Each decision entailed taking some risk. It was my job to help weigh the possible consequences against the benefits of a decision and help the management team make a decision. Over the years, I learned that when representing a start-up company, it was important to keep moving things forward and that some risks were actually healthy risks to take. It doesn’t do anyone any good if I have negotiated a perfect risk-free contract if the business eventually goes bankrupt because we did not move fast enough to sign up customers.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?

As an executive, you have the responsibility to not only establish the strategic vision but to set the culture. Not only are you trying to keep the business going and thinking about long-term growth, but every day you have to keep your team motivated and engaged. I believe that culture is becoming increasingly important to a company’s success and a CEO’s actions and the type of culture and values the company follows are now a strategic imperative.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive? Can you explain what you mean?

I believe that some may think that the office of the CEO is easy. You get paid well, can make all the decisions, and have lots of resources. What can be so hard about that? But, in fact, it can be a very lonely position. As the CEO, you have the weight of the entire organization on your shoulders. You need to deliver value to your shareholders, answer to the board, and the lives of your employees are in your hands. Not knowing whether the strategy you chose or the decision you made is the right one can be very difficult. But you don’t have to make those decisions alone or in a vacuum. Successful CEOs have established a team of trusted advisors to support them. From a strong, cohesive team of executives to outside advisors, these people can help guide a CEO through the most challenging times.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Here are 5 challenges faced by women executives that are not typically faced by their male counterparts:

Men are usually presumed to be qualified for a position, while women often have to prove they deserve the position. That puts an extra layer of work on women that men may not have in demonstrating the value they bring to the job.
A woman’s leadership style may not conform to traditional norms. For example, a woman may be a bit more reserved or thoughtful in her approach, or she may lean towards collaboration and these traits may be construed as weak or as “soft skills” when in fact these skills can be very effective. You don’t have to be loud and aggressive to be a good leader.
Men tend to do a better job at self-advocacy. They are not afraid to let others know they are interested in a promotion or the next stretch project while women may stay quiet and wait to be recognized for their hard work. This type of “waiting for permission” holds women back from getting that next promotion.
Women commonly face microaggressions at work which start eroding confidence over time. Being mistaken as the assistant, constantly being interrupted, or being made to feel invisible are common experiences faced by most executive women in the workplace. This often leads to imposter syndrome.
If you are a working mother, you may have the additional burden of proving that you care about your career. Constantly being asked whether or not you are returning to work, whether you need more time to work on a project, or being passed over for a promotion to make your life “easier.” You are repeatedly trying to prove to everyone around you that you are committed to the job despite having children. Working fathers don’t face this issue nearly as often as working mothers.

What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?

I did not think there would be so much math! I didn’t particularly like math in high school or college and thought that by pursuing a legal degree I would avoid having to make sense of numbers. But, in fact, there is a lot of math in corporate law. From cap tables to dilution, to financial statements to SaaS growth metrics, it is imperative that you get well-versed in the financial metrics that impact the company you are representing. In order to provide good sound legal advice, you need to understand how the company operates.

Is everyone cut out to be an executive? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?

No, not everyone is cut out to be an executive. I think to be an effective executive leader you need to be resilient, strategic, and have empathy. Leading a company will have its ups and downs and you need to have built resilience to navigate through the hard times. You also need to have a strategic vision for your company and be willing to hire the right team and then let them lead. You have to let go of the small day-to-day things and focus on the long-term vision of the company and always be planning for the unexpected. Lastly, you need to be a good manager of people. I think having empathy for your workforce and prioritizing a culture of belonging is critical to a successful company.

Someone with a fixed mindset who thinks there is a right or wrong way of doing things is usually not a successful leader.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

The Importance of Networking. Growing up, my parents told me to keep my head down and work hard. I thought that if I did that, I would be successful in everything I did. While it is important to work hard, that is not the only thing that matters. Building relationships is vital. Every opportunity I received was from a prior relationship. It was either a referral from an old boss or former colleague, a client, or even a mentee. It is important to build relationships with everyone around you as you build your career and don’t forget to nurture them along the way!
Creating Boundaries at Work. Starting off at a top-tier law firm as a young associate in the late 90s meant that I had no work-life balance. I was trained that way and it took me decades to realize that in order to be great at my job, I also had to have joy in other parts of my life. Working without a break was not the answer. Learning to set boundaries was an important part of that. One boundary that I am grateful I created was never missing family dinners. Every night no matter how busy we all were, the whole family would sit down at the table (phones away) and have a meal together. It was the one time during the day that we could put aside all the distractions of the day and connect with each other.
Belonging Begins with Self-Acceptance. As a first-generation Latina and perfectionist, I was always striving to be accepted by others. I judged my value based on how others perceived me. Over time, that eventually leads to frustration, bitterness, and burnout. Now I know that in order to have a sense of belonging it begins with accepting yourself first. Showing up as your authentic self and not trying to change or mold yourself into something else. This takes time, but it’s worth it.
Follow your Passion. Parents, counselors, and friends all have an idea of what you “should” be doing. The job that makes the most money or has the most prestige. But, often if you follow a path that does not align with your passion or values, eventually you feel lost or without a sense of purpose. My advice is to follow the job, cause, or activity that brings you joy. The job where you might be working hard all day but not realize the time went by because you were enjoying what you were doing or who you were doing it with. Your career should not be painful. It should be a place where you are excited to be growing and learning.
Find your People. When you are climbing the corporate ladder, you will hit roadblocks. In those times, you will need to have the right group of people around you to support you. Whether you need a mentor for career advice, a partner to pick you up when you fall or a colleague that reminds you of the impact you made at work, you will need all of these people to help you navigate through challenging times. It is especially important to find people who have similar lived experiences as you because you might have something unique about your life that only those that have experienced it can understand. Being able to have someone to turn to and who can really “see you” and understand you is vital.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I am deeply passionate about creating spaces of belonging. I think leaders and corporations who are not focusing on inclusion and fostering a culture of belonging at work will struggle to retain employees in the future. Right now two things are forcing corporations to reevaluate the workplace: the pandemic and Gen Z. Following the pandemic, employees started to rethink their lives, careers, and purpose. They are looking for more flexibility and fulfillment in their lives. Gen Z employees are among the most diverse in the workplace and are not afraid to speak up and ask for what they want. They are purpose-driven and looking for that in the companies they work for.

As leaders, we should be striving to create a diverse and inclusive workplace that represents the demographics of our country. In particular, I think that corporations are not seeing the value that Latinos could bring to the workplace. Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S. and are a driving economic force in our country contributing over $2.8 trillion to GDP, which if it were a country would be the fifth largest country. Yet, Latinos are the least represented in the C-Suite, the boardroom and in venture capital. This is a huge blindspot in corporate America right now. Imagine if companies started bringing more Latinos into positions of leadership that could identify this market opportunity, and create and design products to serve this market. Not only would revenues and profits increase, but we would be lifting up a community that has been underserved for so long.

I would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with Brené Brown. Her work has had an enormous impact on my career. After two decades in the corporate world, I started suffering from anxiety and had reached burnout so I decided to seek help. My doctor actually “prescribed” me Brené Brown’s Ted Talk on vulnerability. My transformational journey began that day. Starting with The Gifts of Imperfection and all of her books after that, I slowly began my own journey toward self-acceptance. During this time of self-discovery, I had the opportunity to meet Brené Brown briefly at a women’s conference. I entered one of my stories in a Storyteller Contest (and won!) just to get the opportunity to get a ticket to this conference so that I could watch Brené speak in person. I somehow ended up backstage with her as I was waiting to receive my storyteller’s award and she was waiting to give the keynote speech. I couldn’t believe it! I asked to take a picture with her and she signed my book and wrote “Stay Brave. Keep Storytelling.” Two years later I decided to write my own book about my journey and to inspire others who may feel like they don’t belong in the workplace. I would love to share this story with her and let her know the profound impact her work has had on my life.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.

Women Of The C-Suite: Tricia Montalvo Timm On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.