That’s All Folks (for now)
It’s intimidating to say the least to hear about all the success stories from people in your field just a few short months before graduation. Despite the looming fear of “what’s next” it’s also nice to hear stories about how people got to where they are, seeing that it’s not always a linear process is comforting. At the same time, navigating the field and interviews in the middle of a pandemic still makes me feel like a headless chicken.
Throughout the last couple of months I’ve had the pleasure of listening to several speakers talk about their journey’s and the lessons they picked up along the way. Two of the things that have stuck with me are the importance of networking and data.
Blair Roebuck’s presentation highlighted the importance of marketing science. Personally I never thought twice about the value of data until it was highlighted in these speaker series. The job of a marketing analyst is to set measurable goals by optimizing data to achieve a desired ROI. Working as a marketing analyst allows you to work in every aspect of marketing by being able to analyze different components. They translate these results in order to assist in planning, whether it’s an entire campaign or smaller portions of the marketing strategy.
George Brown Alumni Danielle Humilde, shared her story and the part networking played. Every speaker reminded us of the importance of networking and how it affected their career paths thus far. Danielle’s journey allowed her to work within different settings, companies and develop transferable skills across her varying clients. What stuck with me from this presentation is that it’s okay to change your path as long as you don’t stop learning from every experience and every person you come across.
No matter how many times I hear it, it always makes me feel better considering I’ve changed my path one too many times (and sometimes still think about changing it). Continuously trying to improve your personal brand and your personal skill set will surely pay off if you keep working towards your goals, whether thats landing a new job or exploring new skills. Maybe you’ll even find yourself in a field you never would’ve considered.
Each speaker brought their own experiences and personal stories to these sessions, each with their own value and I am grateful for all the tips and advice they’ve been able to give us these last few months. It’s also been comforting to hear from people, just to know that it’s going to work out and we’re all going to be able to find our place as long as we keep working.
The one thing, dare I say the most important thing I’ve learned from listening to each speaker is that you have to keep an open mind about everything. Whether its about a specific job or any other aspect of your life, just because one thing doesn’t work out for you doesn’t mean there isn’t something more suitable coming next. If you’re open to every opportunity, whether it’s meeting new people or attending events (whenever we’ll be able to do that again) something positive will always come of it. You’ll always be learning something new, which I find is the most important aspect of a career in marketing. You’re not limited in your career options in marketing. Luckily its such an ever-growing field and you never have to be stuck in one spot, you can learn and move throughout different sectors.
This class warmed me up to sitting and listening to speakers and reflecting on my own work. I have since signed up for a number of speaker series from people who have started their own companies or work in different sectors of the marketing field. A particularly interesting one I signed up for through Klaviyo was for Naturalicious. The founder, Gwen Jimmere, started the brand from the ground up. She did the entire marketing and branding for her product when she first started out and she shared the highs and lows of marketing and building a business.
It’s interesting to hear individual stories since no two are the same. I learn marketing techniques but I also learn about people and how they’ve been able to navigate the field and their own lives. I’ve also spent a bit more time on LinkedIn than I typically do and I’ve been able to gain some new connections from these series as well as from personal freelance ventures.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have stayed in touch with many of my mentors throughout high school and university. One in particular has been very attentive to my growth in this field and has taken a chance on me. Having run his own agency for many years I’ve been able to go to him with questions about any sector and share my interest for the field. I’ve kept in touch and regularly shared updates on my progress within the program and my own personal brand through my website and freelance ventures. With my interest in the creative aspect of marketing I’ve been able to develop creatives for several clients for him. For their email marketing campaigns or their social pages and its proven to be more rewarding than I expected. Each brand has its own persona and when building these creatives now, through what I’ve learned from the program, I’ve been able to develop creatives that are more tailored to the individual brands with a specific voice. One of the best practices I’ve learned along the way is to keep creating and learning, as was mentioned in one of the later series, marketing is like a T shape, the top line is knowing a little bit about everything and the drop down is specialization in a specific sector. It’s always beneficial to expand your knowledge and with marketing, everything is constantly changing so you have no choice but to be on your toes.
It’s easier said than done but it really is all about trusting the process. It’s not realistic to expect to be ready for your dream job overnight but the steps to get there are just as rewarding, you learn about yourself as a professional but also as a person. What kind of person are you? What do you truly believe you’re capable of and what are you doing to get to that point? Who are you bringing with you and who is endorsing you for this role?
MORAL OF THE STORY IS