MIC'D
HR News brought to you by the Northeast Indiana Human Resource Association (NIHRA).
MIC'D
Women Returning to the Workplace
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Transitioning careers in midlife can seem like a Herculean task, but Judy and Linda from Evolve Me turn this daunting journey into an adventure of self-discovery and growth. Their stories of personal reinvention remind us that it's never too late to pivot, and with their Reinvention Collective program, they're leading a charge to empower women navigating midlife career changes. Their insights into building a supportive community and fostering vulnerability are not just inspiring—they're game-changing for companies looking to retain and engage their seasoned female talent.
Welcome to MICE, the podcast where we empower HR excellence.
Speaker 2One conversation at a time. This month's episode of MICE is brought to you by USI Insurance, and today we have Jonathan Hurst and Jared Sims representing USI, both as partners and advisors of employee benefits. Thank you both for being here. Can you please both let us know a little bit about USI and your roles?
Speaker 3Yeah, good morning. First of all, thanks for having us here this morning. Such an honor and pleasure to be a part of this.
Speaker 3USI is somewhat known as the best kept secret. We are the largest privately held brokerage firm in the country when it comes to employee benefits and really just in the state of Indiana we've got eight offices and even one local here to Fort Wayne right off DuPont Circle. I've been in the employee benefit space this is Jonathan Hurst, one of the dynamic duos here. I've been employee benefits for a little over six and a half years and a partner pretty heavily on everything with here, jared Sims.
Speaker 4Thanks, John. Yeah, Jared Sims here. I've been in the insurance space for eight years and glad to be on the podcast. Thanks, Brittany.
Speaker 2Thank you both. So what are one to two healthcare topics that are trending right now within the benefits world?
Speaker 4Yeah, we see diabetes and weight loss drugs as two topics that are really just driving the cost for insurance plans. And how can the employees get the best possible care at the lowest possible cost For us? We just did a symposium on diabetes and had a great turnout here in Fort Wayne. There are some ways to really manage the spend of health care and help the employees get the best possible care.
Speaker 3Yeah, and really the overarching theme when you look at weight loss medications and GLP-1s and specialty, it's just the cost and the barrier to receive those medications. So it's just working within health benefit plans and your local TPA and pharmacy benefit managers to find the best way and embed in a wellness program that can help remove those barriers of cost and really how to get that medication without it hurting the bottom line and helping the employee's health and bottom line and kind of their out-of-pocket costs as well.
Speaker 2So I'm going to pivot a little bit yeah. The trend of the drug weight loss drugs. It's not new, but it's now like becoming more popular. Why is that?
Speaker 3Multiple reasons. I think we look at it holistically right. I think people want to achieve the results of weight loss, and I think, when you look at folks that have diabetes, part of their journey is losing the weight in order to get to a healthier being, and so what doctors have realized is there are two ways in order to do this, and one is they can go directly through using a weight loss medication which is completely separate than a GLP-1 that has the effect of a weight loss, a weight loss drug which is specific to diabetes, and so we're starting to see health plans take hits on a diabetic medication that is typically used purely for weight loss, and so we're starting to see health plans take hits on a diabetic medication that is typically used purely for weight loss, and so people are realizing that when an employer they work for has a very rich health plan, hey, I can get these medications at a pretty significantly low cost, or at no cost, depending on how that plan's set up.
Speaker 4Absolutely. It's hard to maintain your waistline at times and if your employer can pick up the majority of the cost. Some of these drugs are north of $1,300 a month and if the employer can pick up the cost of that, it's a lot easier to give yourself a shot than it is to be disciplined and really try to lose that weight over a period of time, versus a quicker way with the weight loss drugs.
Speaker 3The important thing when you look at the weight loss GLP-1 diabetic craze, what we're dubbing it is we want the employees to get the results that they want, but it really needs to be a behavioral change versus kind of an instant gratification change. Yes, we want you to lose the weight, but we want you to do it the right way, where there isn't reverse side effects or ramifications that can cause future issues and there's been shown that there are issues down the road. So the right wellness program, the right cost balance and the right plan being set up is imperative in order to make sure your employees get what they need.
Speaker 2So you both have been supporting Naira for a while. So how exactly does USI support Naira?
Speaker 4Yeah, the last few years we've done a benchmark survey. So we have the largest national benchmark survey in the country. So we have over 13,000 unique employers that participate in that. So we've been able to do that for free for those that want to participate. So that's just one way to benchmark your benefits. Make sure you're competitive. We all know the war on talent right now is crazy. What benefits can we offer, all the way down to the PTO we're offering? How does it compare to our competitors? So that's just one way we're able to do that.
Speaker 3Yeah, for me. I've sat in a management role for a handful of years and had some HR responsibilities not to the extent of maybe you, brittany, and a lot of folks in the HR or in the Naira space, but I appreciate what you do day in, day out. I couldn't do it back in an individual contributor role for a reason the hiring, the firing, helping, retiring and the constant education there's a lot. And so for us, being a platinum level member this year, we were happy to hand that check over because it supports the constant education of Fort Wayne HR and really help HR continue to have a voice, because we know in our roles you've got to be able to speak finance and you've got to be able to speak employees, which is really in the HR side, and HR speaks both. So, however, we can help support that through partnering with Naira. We're happy to do and we're looking forward to this year.
Speaker 2I will say I've been to all the benchmarkings you guys have done so far with Naira and I've enjoyed it. I've learned at least two to three things. Each time you do go over a lot of the same stuff, but it changes throughout the year, so I will attest to that. You guys should definitely go to the next benchmarking that they do.
Speaker 3Thanks, for the plug, assuming you have another one, we will. We'll time that here for the end of the year and hopefully MasterSpas will be gracious enough to host us again.
Speaker 2All right, thank you both. Thank you to USI for being this month's platinum loyal partner for the episode of Mike to this month, and we look forward to continuing this partnership.
Speaker 4Thanks, Brittany.
Speaker 2On this month's episode of Mic'd we have Judy and Linda, two co-founders of Evolve Me. Evolve Me is a career growth consultancy that specializes with women returning to the workforce, women working in midlife and companies that want to advance the women in their workforce. Thank you so much for both of you for being here. Can you please both elaborate a little bit more about EvolveMe, why you decided to start the consultancy and then how it's grown?
Speaker 5Hi, thanks, brittany. Judy and I come from different backgrounds, but very complementary backgrounds. So I had my background was in finance and I had took a career break to care for my children. I took a caregiving break and Judy's background is more in nonprofit and she was making a career pivot.
Speaker 5We were both in midlife and both felt stuck and when we met we were I had just gone back to work and Judy had come to this company and we were contracted to put together a program for women returning to the workforce in the nonprofit sector and after doing that for about a year the company we're working for went away and we had such a we really loved working together and we had also noticed that so many of the things that were coming up for women returning to the workforce also applied to women that were working and just wanted to make a career change and the vast majority of those women were in midlife and at that point it was really a segment of the population that was underserved and neglected, like nobody was talking about women in their forties, fifties, sixties, now even seventies, like that part of the workforce is what is really growing by leaps and bounds and when we were trying, when we were in our own career transitions, we found that process really isolating.
Speaker 5It's very easy to get very frustrated or have your have a real crisis confidence when you're literally trying to Google what should I do with the next phase of my life. And we didn't want it to be that way for women, for other women, and so we created Evolve Me to help women that were in midlife that either wanted to make a change or jump back into the workforce in midlife. And now, at this point Evolve Me, we've run nine cohorts of our signature program called the Reinvention Collective that Judy will tell you a little bit more about and we've also grown to do a lot of work with companies internally, now that we've worked with so many women, understanding what it is that they're looking for in work and what they struggled with at work. So now we go into companies and work with their women's ERG groups to do workshops and programming to help women love their jobs even more and re-engage and want to stay at work.
Speaker 2So what unique insights or experiences do you think that you yourself bring to the role to specialize and work with these women returning to the workforce?
Speaker 1Sure, I can talk from my perspective. I have a complimentary story to Linda's. I had a long career in the nonprofit sector. I was with one organization for 15 years. I came there right out of graduate school and I had a very successful career there and I saw 50 coming up on the horizon and I knew that I wanted a next chapter. But, as Linda said, googling it does not prove to be very productive and that's what I was doing.
Speaker 1But I knew in my heart of hearts that other women might be feeling the same way, so we want to make it easier for women. Because we went down this road ourselves and my experience, I think, of feeling like I could figure this out. Look, I focused on in my work women's leadership development and girls development. I can figure this out. Why can't? If I want to create a next chapter, I should know how to leverage my skills. I should know how to redo my LinkedIn and create a personal brand, but these are things that we're not taught and nobody like to say. Nobody even talks to you after you're whatever 12 or 13 about what you want to be when you grow up.
Speaker 1And I really resonated, I think, with a lot of women out there who are in one industry for a long time and felt can I really do anything else? Can I leave this industry, this sector, and am I ready to do that? That would be a big identity crisis and am I ready to do that? That would be a big identity crisis. And when I did go through that myself, I took a leap and I left without having a job lined up, not knowing what I wanted to do and was social impact. I started to feel lighter and I started to feel like, wow, like there's other people like me who have ambition in midlife, who just don't know how to channel it and don't know the steps to take. And so I became more energized around the idea that, look, I went through this, I struggled.
Speaker 1I know that it takes the support of other women to get to the other side of this and I saw how impactful it was when Linda and I, when we started doing these cohorts that she mentioned, we really I think what we add is we have the background, our complimentary backgrounds, but we also have the personal experience, me as a career pivoter and Linda as a career returner.
Speaker 1So we're like we are that empathic, like best friend type of coach that really women can open up to become vulnerable, and then that's when the magic starts happening, when you start sharing your experiences and, especially, learning from each other across industries. So I think that being able to resonate with other women's experiences is what makes the magic happen between the dynamics, especially with Linda and I, because we cover so many bases, the two of us, because of our differences. Like I'm living in the city, linda lives in the suburbs. Linda has older children, I have teenagers, younger children. Our backgrounds are different, but there's enough similarities with women who are going on this journey that it really really creates a wonderful community when they come together. That's unlike other things that they've experienced. That's what they tell us.
Speaker 2So you say that you're more like a friend, an empathetic coach. Do you feel that for you, in the career that you have chosen now, that is what works best with the women that you deal?
Speaker 5with. I think that the issues when we're working with group either women, one-on-one or groups of women, which is again that we work with. When I mentioned the reinvention collective, we tend to bring together about 15 women and they go through a 12-week program that really brings them soup to nuts through everything they need to reinvent their career. So it's starting with figuring out what you want to do, getting back your confidence, reworking your professional toolkit, your LinkedIn, your resume, and then working on interviewing skills and networking skills all that, so it's like a comprehensive program. So in order for that to work, to stick, you have to be able to be really vulnerable and authentic with each other, because it takes a lot of deep digging, deep as to, especially when you're dealing with like, why am I having imposter syndrome? Why am I nervous about taking this leap? Like, why don't I feel like somebody would hire me to do this? Because you have to get pretty, and so it takes.
Speaker 5You have to be working with people that you trust, and one thing that Judy and I are very careful to do is build a very safe space where women feel that they can be brave and vulnerable, and when you do that, all of a sudden you realize that everyone else is having the same feelings and struggling with the same things that you are and all of a sudden, that's how you regain your confidence, because there's a lot of feeling like especially I know for myself, returning when I had been out of the workforce for a little while there's this feeling that you're the only one, that you're the only one that can't figure it out, that can't figure out what you want to do next, that nobody's going to hire you.
Speaker 5All I know how to do is unload the dishwasher. At this point there's all these things that go on your head and you feel like you're the only one. So when you do this career work with a group of other women and a couple of people to lend it some structure and programming, like you just feel so much you can. You take on what's the word. You see how great you are through other people's eyes and you get so much more confidence back and the things that you've been fearing everybody else has been too. So that takes that down a notch.
Speaker 2But what kind of methodology would working with women who are reentering the workforce do you use?
Empowering Women Through Personal Development
Speaker 1That's a great question. Linda, I think, mentioned our DARE method. We'll talk a little bit about that. So that's a method that we curated specifically for women in mid-career, midlife transition, and DARE it stands for Discover, amplify, refresh and Embark. And it's no coincidence that it's called DARE because, as Linda was referring to, women come to us with very low confidence, even if they've had a very accomplished career. So it takes courage and it takes bravery to embark on this journey. So, yes, daring, that daring quality definitely comes through.
Speaker 1So the way that our model works, our method works, is that it starts with the internal work and then it goes to the external work. So we have four different steps to the method. The first one is discover, and that's all about starting with that inner work. That is really hard to do on your own. Nobody wants to sit on their own and write down what are my strengths, what are my values, what are people come to me for, what gives me flow, like all those things that we just like don't have time for or it doesn't pop up in our day-to-day work. We create the space to really tap back into your strengths, what lights you up, your passions, your interests, things that maybe you forgot about from years ago, from childhood, like things that you dream of, that you're like, oh one day, things like that. And then all of that work really helps to clarify direction or possible directions that you might go in. And then we move on to amplify, which is getting that confidence back.
Speaker 1So we talk a lot about imposter syndrome and how to address it and so much of it is everybody, as Linda was saying, becoming vulnerable and sharing. Yes, that's me Like I felt like a fraud, I felt like I wasn't qualified enough or I had to get that you know that certification or nobody's going to listen to me or whatever it is. And when you hear all these like talented women saying that, it feels like normalized and you feel like, okay, it's not just me, and this is the thing, it's not just me. So we do a lot of work around that and then we actually go through a process where we have women create their own pitches, like pivot pitches, so that they are feel confident going out into the world to amplify their voice because they have something that they could fall back on that explains their strengths, what they care about, the direction that they want to go in sorry and their impact that they want to have and that's great for networking and starting to make new connections.
Speaker 1And only then, after we do this inner work, do we go to refining your resume, really creating a targeted resume for the role that you want, not a laundry list of everything that you've done since you graduated from college. It's really hard for women to do that because it means lobbing off big pieces of your experience, sometimes to make it targeted. And then we go into the LinkedIn profile and creating like your personal brand so you can stand out and be more visible as you continue on your journey, and then embarking on the things, the skill development that you need around interviewing. What does interviewing look like? These days we're more virtual and hybrid and also networking.
Speaker 1So it's a very comprehensive approach and we give women the resources in the program to do this with their cohorts and have accountability as well, because it's not easy work but it's worthwhile and rewarding work and they also take a lot of the resources with them afterwards and start to implement it on their own and are supports for each other in the process. So that's the magic is that they hold each other accountable and they come out with real results. We have many women in the program who have landed really coveted roles, who have started their own businesses, who had create side hustles kind of opportunities before retirement. Thinking five, 10 years down the line, it's transformational. And it's also super rewarding for us to see the transformations because we were there and now we're on the other side. So we were bringing other people along with us and paying it forward in that way to get them to the other side too with us and paying it forward in that way to get them to the other side too.
Speaker 2To touch on your comment about imposter syndrome, so at first when this became like one of the buzzwords, I was like I do not believe in this, this is not real. And then one day it hit me and I had an imposter syndrome moment. So how often do you run into those cases where you're working with women and maybe they're like me and they're like this isn't real or they don't want to own up to they've had an imposter syndrome moments?
Speaker 5Well, a lot of times it might be imposter syndrome, which agreed, it gets to be a word, but they're not, just they're not recognizing it as such. There's a lot of things that a lot of different forms that imposter syndrome can take. For example, if you're somebody that feels like you have to do everything yourself all the time, like that's a tendency that a lot of women have, right they don't want to ask for help. A lot of that is imposter syndrome. Because you don't want anybody to find you're afraid of asking for help because then somebody's going to find out that you can't do everything yourself and you're really nervous for anybody to find that out and so you don't ask for help. Or being a perfectionist, being so afraid, crossing every I and every T because you're so afraid that somebody is going to see that you're human right. So there's just there's a lot of different forms of imposter syndrome that it can take that are less obvious.
Speaker 2Yeah, mine was definitely the first one. I want to do it all, and I don't want you to know that I can't do it all One day. It just hit me and I was like I think a girl bossed a little too hard hit me and I was like I think a girl bossed a little too hard.
Speaker 5One of the most interesting, the really interesting things about imposter syndrome that Judy and I have found and you know a number of people have borne this out is that it's almost to a woman. The more accomplished woman, the greater the imposter syndrome, and it's because somehow they feel like they've been elevated or given a certain amount of responsibility or credentials or something. And now they're sitting up here and somebody's it's the whole business with imposter syndrome is being afraid that somebody is going to find out that it's all a sham. So the more powerful, the more elevated, the more credentialed, the greater the fear is what we've generally found. You can find quotes from Meryl Streep.
Navigating Career Transitions for Women
Speaker 5People like on that High profile people yeah, yeah, tina Fey like all these women, these incredible women, and they're saying, oh, just hope nobody finds out what's really going on behind the scenes. So it's real. But the way that you can address it is again by talking about it, acknowledging that it's there, because otherwise you're sitting there thinking I'm the only one that feels this way and because I'm the only one that feels that this way, that means it's true and it's valid. But when you realize everybody feels this way at one point or another. That normalizes it and it might not make it go away, but at least it makes it something that you can deal with and you can put a name on it and then put it to the side and move on.
Speaker 1Yeah, one thing we've also seen that works and we do this in the Reinvention Collective programming too is to take stock of your accomplishments, because so often we forget our accomplishments from earlier in our career. We even forget our accomplishments from like last month or last week, right. So keeping your like a win book or a going kind of record of your accomplishments helps. When you feel like, oh, nobody's going to want to hear from me or what do I really have to add, then you can look and you have evidence, right. So it's like stacking the evidence and that helps you boost your confidence and kind of get over yourself.
Speaker 2So what are some common challenges that women face when returning to work? And then how do you two help them navigate and overcome those challenges?
Speaker 5So, as somebody who took a career break, my biggest challenge, honestly, was just figuring out what to do. I knew what I didn't want to do. I had loved my finance career. Now I was just like a different person than I was in my 20s and I was early 50s. I think I started thinking about this in my 40s and I, just because I didn't have some structure, I kept putting myself on the back burner and something will fall in my lap, something will fall in my lap. And then I got to.
Speaker 5For me, what was my crisis point was my oldest was getting ready to go to college. I'm like I've got to address this now, but my problem, my real issue, was not having any clarity of direction. And so that's when Judy says going through. So I'd say that's one big one. And then the other big one is maybe you have a good idea of what you're you want to do, but you don't have the confidence to go ahead and do it. And then there's a third category of women that we work with that maybe they've got a pretty good idea of what they want to do. They pretty, they're, they have the confidence to do it, but they need to be repackaged because right now. Their resume speaks to something else, to who they used to be. Their resume, their LinkedIn and even the way they talk about themselves speaks to what they used to do and doesn't speak to the next chapter them. So I would say those are the three main categories.
Speaker 5The bulk of the women really fall into the. I just don't know what I want to do next. And it all goes back to taking a minute, taking stock of what your values are. What are you good at, what gives you flow, what do you like to do and what are your motivators and what do you want your day to look like. Now that we've come out of the pandemic, it's almost a little trickier, because before it was like, okay, I'm going to go and get a new job. Now the world of work has exploded in so many different directions so there's almost too many options because now we can work. Remote is great because you can get ideas. Different people from different industries are going to look at your background and see you in an objective new light. So that might help you think outside the box of what might be possible for you to do next. You might not even know. I felt like I didn't even know what else was out there at all.
Speaker 2How do you help them when they're listing skills during their previous history? What they want to do, how do you help them navigate into okay, it's probably best or a good idea, like you, focus on this kind of path or this path. How do you help them navigate that?
Speaker 1Yeah, we have many tools that we use to help them kind of plot their skills and their strengths and opportunities against what the market opportunities are externally and those types of things. So that those exercises are very helpful to clarify their thinking, because you need some structure to be able to think through this, as opposed to just listing everything. And then we really encourage them to pick, not to just to resist the urge to pick one thing right in the beginning, so to choose maybe two or three potential areas of exploration and go do the homework. So, before even thinking about redoing a resume to align to any of these opportunities, really think about what it feels and looks like to be in these roles or these industries, especially if they're making a pivot. So we would recommend them talk to people who have those jobs, get informational interviews.
Speaker 1Ask people, especially in your first degree network, to somebody who works in this field can I talk to them?
Speaker 1Ask for a coffee chat, things like that. Do your research, see what industry groups are having free conferences, things like that. Do your research see what industry groups are having free conferences, free webinars there's so much for free, right, virtually now learn by doing and inserting yourself in those areas, because sometimes things sound really good on paper and in your head but then when you're going out interacting with people who are in those fields doing those jobs, you're like, huh, I don't know if I want to spend five or six hours a day thinking about X and that's fine. We say that knowing what you don't want to do is as good as this first step as knowing what you do want to do. So if you can cross things off the list and experiment your way in the first part of this transition, you're going to be better off. Stay open-minded, experiment with a few ideas and then cross things off your list and go deeper in the things that really speak to you, and know that it's a process that can take some time.
Speaker 2So how often is it that the women returning to the workforce end up going back to the same kind of role or industry they were in before they left?
Speaker 5I think a lot of times it depends on how long they were out, or how their industry has changed, or if their life situation has changed so that they want a different work style. So, for example, for me, I was in investment banking. I was working 16 hour days. I loved it, but that just wasn't. But I was living in Manhattan and didn't have any children. Now I'm living in New Jersey with three children. That's just not. It's not reasonable for me anymore, and even with my children out of the house, I just don't want to work like that anymore. It's just, and my values have changed. But I was also out of the workforce for a fair amount of time.
Speaker 5Somebody that's only been out had a career break. That's maybe three or four years. They might've just taken a career break, a brief childcare break or for health reasons or what have you, and they're not done doing what they wanted to do in that industry, so they might hop back in there. So I think that has a lot to do with it. We also, though, have had women come through our program that had long career breaks and went back into the same area, like one woman that was in marketing. So she was in marketing and PR. She had a fairly lengthy career break. She still loved that field.
Speaker 5She was afraid of going back into it because it had changed so much. Because instead of having lunches and everything being magazines and print and TV, now everything was digital and social media and she just didn't know if that was going to be for her or if she would be well-received or if she could come back into that industry. So what she did was something that I think Judy alluded to was. We talk about micro-experimenting. So she did some upskilling to do some research and learn, and she did some to just learn some about digital marketing. And then she took on a smaller part-time role. Sometimes you can do these roles as a volunteer for an organization. I think hers was actually more of a part-time role where she just got her feet wet to see if she would even like PR and marketing as it is today, and the more she learned, the more she loved it, because she was growing and learning more things. It could have gone the other way and then she could have said I'm going to take my skills and do something else.
Speaker 2In your experience, what are some effective strategies for women to build or rebuild the professional networks after they've been on a career break, whether it be short or long?
Speaker 1We always like to say that the people that knew you when you were in that role, even if it was years ago, they will remember how awesome you were. You go back to the people that you worked with, even three, five, 10 years ago, and ask them for coffee chat, ask to check in with them. If the more about what you're looking for, the better, but you don't have to have it all buttoned up before you ask for a coffee chat. You can explore where they're at, you can share a little bit about what you're thinking about, get feedback, things like that.
Speaker 1And then what we recommend is that your most kind of productive connections are going to be, if you think about, like an onion, like the outermost rings or layers, rather, of the onion. So it's not your first degree connections, it's like your second, third, fourth degree connections. So it's like your friends, the friends of the friends, your friends, your colleagues and friends, your family members, friends and colleagues. But start where you are like, start reconnecting with your innermost circle, and then work your way out. And that happens by showing up, going to events, going to online events, in-person events, and when you have informational interviews or coffee chats, always leave by with asking for another connection and that's a great way to to build that outermost kind of layer of the onion, because those people are not going to be in your realm and having people that are not in your industry or field also could be very you might.
Speaker 1It might sound counterintuitive, but it's very productive because they will. They can give you insight from where they sit and see things in you that maybe you can't see what happens in the cohorts, and also they'll know people probably in the industry that you're looking for if it's tangential or adjacent to what you're doing. Never discount people. We say, just say yes. If you are in this exploratory mode, say yes, go for the coffee. There's always like a nugget of insight, wisdom, connection that can be had. So, especially in the beginning, it's like saying being open-minded and staying open and just saying yes.
Speaker 2Does the personal branding, specifically like LinkedIn, play a big role in that too?
Speaker 5Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, that all goes back to why we get to LinkedIn and resume after doing all that inside work because you want to take the time to think about what you want to be known for, what skills you're trying to bring forward, what it is that you're looking to do, what your vision is for the future, so that then you can establish that persona on LinkedIn and so that people that see your profile have a very clear idea of the value that you bring to the table and what you're looking to do and who you serve and what your strengths are. And one little trick on LinkedIn for sure is realize that as you're connecting with people on LinkedIn and commenting, think about the people that you want to know or that are interesting to you, and start following them, commenting on their posts, following those industries. When you do that, you want to make sure you've got a good.
Speaker 5It doesn't have to be a professional photograph, but it should be like we've all got these right, these take really nice pictures. So just get somebody to take a really nice professional looking photograph and then in your headline you want to look at the first couple lines that are going to show up above the thread so that if you comment on somebody's post, make sure and see what it's saying about you, because that's what everybody's seeing if they don't go to your profile. That's what the quick snap of what people are going to see about, and then remember in that about section and then remember in that about section. Linkedin, that is your, that's your place to shine. That is where you get use all of that space and really create your career story of who you are and what you're looking to do and the value that you offer.
Speaker 2I've seen a few people on LinkedIn argue back and forth about it's not the bio, but it's the little tagline that's by or underneath your name. So people see the headline or like, yeah, and I've seen people go back and forth of it shouldn't be your job title, right, it should be something to grab people's attention or something about yourself. I just lost my question and you're in your opinion. Do you agree with that? It shouldn't be your job title, it should be something catchy. And then how do you approach that in navigating with these women, how to make it catchy? So it's something that people will notice is that they'll see and they'll get a glimpse of who they are as well.
Speaker 1Now 100%. We agree with you that you should not just use your job title and that LinkedIn headline is your opportunity, as Linda was saying, to elevate your personal brand. So it goes back to some of the work that we do early on, the inner work, where you're thinking about your strengths. What do you want to be known for? What's unique to you? What's your unique differentiator?
Speaker 1Think about the roles that you've had. What are the common themes across those roles? Maybe you're a connector, maybe you're an avid team builder Whatever those things that stand out for you. And, yes, think about some creative words. There's people use ninja and things like that, whatever speaks to you.
Personal Branding and Career Opportunities
Speaker 1But there's also an opportunity to highlight other areas of your life too. Perhaps you are a board member, a corporate board member, a nonprofit board member. That could go up there. Maybe you are a foodie or you're really into hiking or whatever it is. You could also give people a glimpse of who you are and your personality up there, because LinkedIn is more of a 360 view of you. Your resume is rather flat when you compare it to LinkedIn.
Speaker 1This is an opportunity to show more of who you are, to really to shine, to grab people's attention, because you never know that people might be drawn to something that you say about yourself in a personal way and then it can open doors to talking about career opportunities. The more of you you bring to the table, the better. And for some of us who are people say, like corporate refugees or things like that, like you're not, you're not encouraged to bring your personality into your work assets. I think that's changing a lot, especially in post pandemic, and we've seen a lot of each other's lives and at home and on virtual things like that. But I think that it takes sometimes it especially for mid-career, midlife women. It might be a muscle that you have to grow to show your personality and be more creative, but it's when you do it's really, it's really energizing and people pay attention to that. Thank you for listening. Stay tuned for our next episode.