What do the founder of a blow-dry company, a social media entrepreneur and the VP of Business Development, Sponsorship & Media Sales at the NFL have in common?
They all give awesome career advice.
At a September 17th event sponsored by Citibank and Marie Claire, The Li.st's Rachel Sklar, Drybar's Alli Webb and the NFL's Renie Anderson sat down with Marie Claire's Features & Special Projects Director Lea Goldman to discuss what they'd learned in their respective fields.
Here are seven important lessons we learned from them:
1. Fake it 'til you make it. While the panelists suspect that bravado might come more easily to men, they agree that confidence will take you far. "You figure it out," Anderson said. "You get to a moment in time where you can't fake it at a certain point."
2. Accept that you can't micromanage everything. "It's so hard to let go of all these different areas. I just want to have my hands in everything, said Webb. "It's a control thing, I assume... but you have to get people who will help you manage."
3. Don't settle. Sklar shared one experience where she was told that she was so "lucky to have a job" in a bad economy that she didn't ask for the compensation she deserved. She advised: "I would tell everyone, '[the company] is lucky to have you.' Start from that point, and then work forward."
When your employers tell you that you are lucky to have a job, remember that they actually lucky they have you. -@rachelsklar #profwomen
— Elizabeth Plank (@feministabulous) September 18, 2013
4. Make sure that the people you work with are growing and learning alongside you. "You grow your business by growing your people," Anderson said. No woman is an island.
5. Networking isn't about what other people can do for you. Consider it an opportunity to meet amazing people and learn from them, Sklar advised.
6. Know when to check your emotions. "Anything you care about, it's easy to go to emotion vs. profession," Anderson said. "If you get an email you are outraged about... step away before you respond and take a break.
7. Always remember to address your own needs -- and don't feel guilty for doing so. In the wise, wise words of Rachel Sklar: "You are allowed to have a nap. You are allowed to have a drink. You are allowed to have a snack."
Amen to that.
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