WOMEN IN EVENTS

One thing female event marketers should never do.

Be in constant competition with other women. When you see a woman who has done something that you admire, let her know. When we support another woman, we’re ultimately helping us all. And also—don’t be hidden. Make your accomplishments known.

Favorite motto or motivational quote.

I was watching the Oprah Winfrey Network, and she was interviewing Arianna Huffington, who brought up this quote from the poet Rumi, “Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.” I’ve been practicing this and saying it to myself—that the universe has my back.

Best career advice, given or received.

Surround yourself with people who tell you the truth, whether it’s people in your life, a colleague, family, friends. It changes everything, and it’s like having your own personal board of directors who you know have your best interests at heart. I’ve been following this piece of advice for years.

What’s the most important skill an event marketer should have today?

Now, more than ever, we have to challenge ourselves creatively, and we also have to bring everybody else along with us and work together to figure out how to do what we do best in this new world.

A discovery you’ve made about yourself during the pandemic.

That I was exhausted pre-pandemic. I never slowed down, because in this world we travel a lot and we go from one event to the next. There are so many great things about this business—the adrenaline, experiencing new cultures, new people, all these reasons that we do it—but I feel like I hadn’t been home in 12 years, so this year was kind of a reckoning moment where all of the sudden I had to slow down.

Have a home office hack to share?

I get up an hour before anyone else, sit outside, write in my journal, pick three things I want to accomplish that day, have my coffee. Give yourself that one hour a day before your brain gets yanked in a million different directions.

One thing female event marketers should never do.

Ignore her instinct. It’s a gift that women have; therefore, using it in business is just as valuable.

Best career advice, given or received.

From Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, former president of Spelman College, my alma mater: When you make a mistake, there are only three things that you can do: own it, deal with it, and keep it moving. 

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be.

Academia needs to hone in on event marketing being a well-defined discipline. There are unique skills required that most entry level marketers acquire as on-the-job training. However, young talent could be much more prepared if there was formal education.

Something you’d tell your younger self if you could go back to when you started your career.

It would be to seek out more male mentors… believe or not. Most of my mentors are or were accomplished business women, but I think young women do not feel as comfortable having those types of business relationships with men. A better-rounded sphere of mentors could also foster better-rounded career opportunities.

Favorite female role model and why.

My mother because she was the original teacher of resourcefulness. I still cannot figure out how she did so much with so little.

Pets, plants or kids—and your hack for managing one of three?

I have two handsome toy poodles, Apollo and Zeus. I play smooth jazz or classical piano music to keep them mellow when I have to focus while working from home daily during the pandemic. I must admit that it does not work 100 percent of the time, but it works well enough to be a good solution.

A discovery you’ve made about yourself during the pandemic.

I have discovered how the bustle of professional life gets in the way of personal connections that I once cherished. I have had conversations with people that I have not spoken to in years.

One thing female event marketers should never do.

Honestly, I don’t think gender should define what we do or what we don’t do. I don’t think there’s anything I should never do that’s different from anyone else in the industry.

Favorite motto or motivational quote.

I’m sort of the antithesis of work hard, play hard. I think that we should work smart and live well.

Best career advice, given or received.

Be kind to everyone, your relationships are everything. From personal experience, you never know when your intern could become the decision-making client in the future. Everyone started somewhere.

The book, podcast or TED Talk that’s made the most impact on your professional life.

“Setting the Table,” by Danny Meyer. At its heart, Intersect by Lexus is about omotenashi, which is the Japanese philosophy of hospitality, and I’m fortunate to be working for Lexus which is a company that strives to treat every customer as we would a guest in our own home. 

Best way to boost confidence before a meeting or event.

I think every person in event marketing knows this, but be prepared, and know what you want to achieve at the end. And then, have a great team with you and be ready to deal with any contingencies and stay calm in the moment— 2020 has shown that a lot.

Have a home office hack to share?

My neck and shoulders will tell you get a proper monitor instead of hovering over a laptop, but if possible, try to create a separate workspace so that you’re creating not just physical space but the mental space between work life and personal life. 

A discovery you’ve made about yourself during the pandemic.

That I’m comfortable running a business makeup free and in yoga pants. Of course, I still love getting dressed, but I think we’ve all changed our uniforms for daily life.

One thing female event marketers should never do.

Sell yourself short. Know who you are, know what skills you bring to the table, and be fully comfortable articulating those even when not called upon. 

The book, podcast or TED Talk that’s made the most impact on your professional life.

“Dare to Lead,” by Brené Brown. Having a commitment to authenticity, to bringing your full self to work every day is something I find empowering, inspiring, and frees me up because I’m not bogged down with the should haves and the could haves.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be.

I would get rid of the word exclusive. I do not feel like the word exclusive equates premium. I think that it’s in direct contradiction to everything that any brand should ever stand for. For me, certainly, and for our team, and the projects we work on, we approach everything from an inclusive lens.

Something you’d tell your younger self if you could go back to when you started your career.

Be you 100%, all of the time, and if opportunities don’t come your way and you show up as your true self, then they weren’t meant for you. It’s going to be alright. You’re fine.

Favorite female role model and why.

My grandmother was the first black graduate from Harvard Divinity School in the 1940s and she taught me what humility means and what unapologetic intellect is. She was brilliant and never apologized for it, she stood up to things I can’t even imagine and she was successful because she knew who she was and knew what she brought to the table.

A discovery you’ve made about yourself during the pandemic.

That I don’t have to be constantly moving in order to be productive. Kinetic energy is something I’ve always connected to productivity, and I’ve had to reframe that. There are secrets in the stillness. And had it not been for the pandemic, I probably wouldn’t have embraced that.

Favorite motto or motivational quote.  

The journey to achieve the end result is as important as the result itself. What this means to me, is ways of working really matter. Things such as working with integrity, efficiently, or collaboratively to realize the best results possible are a must for me and make the great results achieved that much more special.

The book, podcast or TED Talk that’s made the most impact on your professional life.

“Into the Magic Shop” by Jim Doty is a book that taught me how to be mindful, how to be present which is hard to do in a distracting world, and how to connect. I think all of these traits help make the work I do special, unique and enjoyable. 

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?

Am I allowed to say lousy food? It’s what first comes to mind. I think I’d change, or at least challenge, the status quo in terms of how an event is set up. I’m speaking more to traditional events such as hotel conferences and events. I don’t think you have to fill the hotel ballroom with row after row of dirty-seated chairs or big round tables where only four out of the ten people have a good view. There are other ways to bring innovation and excitement to an event. 

What’s the most important skill an event marketer should have today?

Hands down—creativity. I have been allowed to be wildly creative with the Visible brand in how we execute events and position our experiences to consumers. It’s been refreshing and invigorating to have a company be supportive in this perspective, because it’s so very important to be creative and stand out.

Have a home office hack to share? 

My small hack, if it can be called that, is I put a sticky note on the outside of my office/bedroom door that says, “DO NOT ENTER OR NO CANDY OR IPAD FOR A WEEK,” when I have a very important call or meeting. It’s been highly effective for not only keeping my kids from interrupting, but my sweet-toothed husband as well. This hack is used sparingly, because if I’m honest with myself, I love the interruptions. 

One thing female event marketers should never do.

Lose what makes you unique as a female event marketer. As marketers, we tend to think about the message we want to get out. Female event marketers can often be more in tune with what people are wanting to hear.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be.

More openness to the sharing of ideas. Sometimes we think that if we talk to any other marketer about our idea, they’ll take it and run. Collaboration makes ideas better.

Pets, plants or kids—and your hack for managing one of three?

I have two small children and advice that I was given years ago by a boss was that as an event marker, try whenever you can to incorporate the kids. I’ve been lucky enough to do that in some of my events and programs where they’ve been able to see them and experience them. And so when I say, “I need a minute to make a call,” they get it because they’ve seen the outcome, they’ve seen the end result, they’ve gone to an event and understand it.

Something you’d tell your younger self if you could go back to when you started your career.

Speak up to advance your career. Advocating for what you’re worth does not mean you’re expressing displeasure in your job—it just means you believe in yourself.

A discovery you’ve made about yourself during the pandemic.

I have learned to ask for help more. I’ve been bad at it for years. I’ll take on the world if I have to. During this year in moments when I literally couldn’t do it all—taking care of kids, trying to work, trying to undo events and trying to figure out new events—it was a forcing function to teach me to ask for it.

Favorite motto or motivational quote.

Dr. Brenè Brown said, “There’s no innovation or creativity without failure.” We have to take a chance in order to discover something great.