Justin's Podcast
Dive into the captivating world of extraordinary individuals with "Interesting People," the podcast where host Justin Wallin sits down with some of the most intriguing personalities from all walks of life. Each episode unravels the unique stories, challenges, and triumphs of guests who have made remarkable impacts in their fields or led fascinating lives. From trailblazing innovators and inspiring artists to unsung heroes and enigmatic personalities, Justin brings you candid conversations that reveal the human spirit's endless capacity for wonder and achievement. Tune in for thought-provoking interviews, surprising revelations, and a celebration of the diverse tapestry of human experience.
Justin's Podcast
Leadership and Team Dynamics with Angelique Clark
Unlock the secrets of effective leadership and team building with Angelique Clark, Managing Director of Government Services at leading Washington, DC communications firm 720 Strategies. Angelique offers her hard-won insights into the delicate art of steering teams through the challenging waters of government collaborations. With a keen emphasis on empathy and learning from less-than-ideal leadership examples over the years, Angelique shares how she equips her team for success by providing comprehensive training and diverse business exposure. This episode promises to enrich your understanding of how to create a motivated, empowered workforce that's ready to tackle any career decision with confidence.
We also navigate the nuanced world of hiring and personal wellness, highlighting the often-overlooked potential in "overqualified" candidates and the crucial role of flexibility and communication skills. Angelique discusses the growing importance of a social media presence in today's communication-centric roles and reflects on the generational shifts in writing skills influenced by technological advancements. This conversation is a treasure trove for anyone eager to grasp the evolving dynamics of team building and leadership in the modern work environment.
Welcome to Interesting People, the podcast where we delve into the lives and stories of fascinating individuals from all walks of life. I'm your host, justin Wallen, and in each episode, we bring you inspiring, thought-provoking and sometimes surprising interviews with people who are making an impact in their fields and communities. There's only one common thread that the world is more interesting because of them. Get ready to be inspired, entertained and enlightened as we spotlight the extraordinary let's dive in. Today, I am joined by my friend, angela Clark, who is part of managing director. I think it is. What is your title at 720?
Speaker 2:Yes, managing director.
Speaker 1:Managing director. What can I start with? Excellent, and that's how we know each other. We've had. We work together.
Speaker 1:I've had the good fortune of working with her and her team at 720.
Speaker 1:I've worked with 720 for for some years, prior to that, and Angelique does a number of things extraordinarily well, one one of which is working with the complexities of government.
Speaker 1:And I say that without, without animus, I'm not throwing a stone at government, I'm saying it's challenging and it's challenging for those who work in government because it is a complex environment.
Speaker 1:They have a lot of things that are regulatorily required, legally required, and to navigate that and achieve positive output that works for the teams on the government side, works on the business side, works for on the business side, which we're on, it really takes a remarkable degree of, I think, one skill, two, knowledge about the systems. Three, an excellent team which speaks to you directly, and also an extraordinary amount of gained knowledge over the years. So you've done a whole lot of other things and you can speak to that as well, but I think at heart you are a marketer as well as someone who is a large scale project and program expert and you have a keen understanding of client needs and a keen understanding of audience needs, and we're here today to talk about a number of things, but one of them is leadership, and I wanted to start off by talking a little bit about that and your experience with it and some of the key things you've learned.
Speaker 2:Thanks, Justin. I will also echo the great work that our team has done with you. It's always great to have your smiling face and your awesome hats, um added to our um facilitation and other things that the government needs. I also think you know, coming from some of the stuff you were saying. I am good at government work because I was a guppy and grew up in the government space being a military spouse and all of that encompassing with space, being a military spouse and all of that encompassing with being in the marketing and advertising world for so long. It's just really catapulted me to be able to work with government and also bring all my knowledge to my leadership as I'm even growing in my career. I've been doing this now, I think, 24 years and most of it has been in government and just learning along the way.
Speaker 2:As a leader, I definitely believe that empathy is a huge skill that leaders should have, and I also believe that not everyone is set up to be a leader. Leadership is a title that you have to really take serious and I have done that in the past. You know probably eight or nine years and really working to your point. Like you said, building a good team getting all of that together. I've learned lots of lessons along the way as well, so I don't know, you know, what are the topics that are interesting to talk about? Because it is a big thing. You see, everybody has a book of leadership now, it seems, and I'm like, well, there's a lot of nuance that a book really doesn't tell you.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about that a little bit. I think it's a very good point. I mean, books are extraordinary. They're the foundation of one half of our knowledge, right, and the other half is experiential, maybe not exactly half, but books do only go so far. So maybe we could talk a little bit about the nuanced nature of leadership, and if you have any stories to share, anything like that, that can illustrate that, it'd be terrific.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think and this might be cliche but in order to be a good leader, you've had to have a bad leader.
Speaker 1:I could not agree with you more.
Speaker 2:That's a pretty good question and I had a very bad leader and I learned you know, when you're in the throes of it it's the worst thing that's ever happened to you. But once you're able to get out of it and look at it with a different lens, you're like, oh my gosh, that's just making me a better leader today. And I think the you know I am an empath. I lead with empathy. I make sure, sometimes a little bit too much to my own default, but I make sure my team is good. I'm checking in on them. What do they need?
Speaker 2:And I think one thing that has stood me apart and I've heard this from my team members multiple times is I'm always looking to the future.
Speaker 2:Today's important what you do. Everything is very important, but I want to set my team up for the future, for whatever that may be, to make sure they have their training and make sure they know what's going on with the agency or the client, and I really want them to be a part of this journey so that they can understand you know where they can go. Give them the pie in the sky, because they're going to be turning their own horse. For instance, one of my junior employees I brought her along with me in everything I've done. She knows business development, she knows the budgeting, she knows everything. Because I want her to make that decision where she wants her career to go and I think by doing that for her, it already sets her up to want to work harder, better and just more comfortable with me. So I think that's one key piece that I found is really helpful for team members. You know setting them up for excuse me success.
Speaker 1:I love that. And there's another, there's another component to it, right? Because, um, there are leaders, uh, who I've encountered and I'm sure you've encountered them as well uh, who do invest in the folks that they work with, but there is an expectation, um, that they never leave, and and I, you know, I uh obviously never seen that with you you, you nurture and tutor, and nurture and tutor and mentor folks, and the hope is, of course, first and foremost, we do this for our own good. We do want them to excel when they're working with us, but it's also more than that, right. I mean, you want them to excel as human beings, regardless of their professional association with you in the future, right? Isn't that a key component of truly transformational leadership?
Speaker 2:Oh, 100% and talk about full circle, because I have had the joy in having one of my leaders who was my mentor. Now he works for me.
Speaker 1:I love that and it's just beautiful.
Speaker 2:He's happy, I'm happy. It's like, wow, you've seen me grow, now I'm able to bring you along on different things. So just the transformational aspect of it is so amazing because it is a small world. You know, with advertising and marketing, a lot of people you meet. You're going to see them again. So it's just keeping that top of mind when new projects come up, just so you know a project comes up, you know I'm thinking, oh, can Justin help us with that, or can so-and-so help us with that? And just being able to do that really sets you apart as not only a leader but a connector, and I really think that's super important when it comes to marketing and advertising, because this is what we do best we speak and connect and build those relationships.
Speaker 1:And build those relationships when you're looking at building a team, what are some of the hard skills you're looking for and some of the soft skills that you prioritize as well?
Speaker 2:I think something that's very important is when I'm looking at resumes. I will never look at a resume of someone and say they're overqualified, because you never know what their life is giving them right now. Their resume may say they're overqualified, but they want a job that's not as busy or not as hectic and they're looking to take a step back. So I'm definitely looking, when I do interview people, as long as they've got the skill set. I want to talk to them and I think some of the I'm also a big work from home proponent. In this day and age it's really hard in this DC area to commute, so I definitely look for someone who's very flexible and has that ability. Communication, of course, is important that they'll be able to communicate with others, because if we are gonna be remote, then we need to be able to have those communication skills. Trying to think of anything else right off the top of my head that usually I check off. I kind of laugh at this.
Speaker 2:But we're in a social media world and if I'm interviewing you for my team and we're doing communication, social media, and you don't have social media, I don't know. I don't want to say direct fly, because some people are very private. I don't want to say direct fly, because some people are very private, you know. But when we're in some kind of you know world, of that aspect, I would like to see some type of social media presence. I know a lot of big corporations are really deep into the social media. I'm not that much per se because we do run small teams, but I am looking for someone who has kind of grown in their career, you know, not as much stagnant in one role, I think, to build my team and I enjoy different personalities and I'm not all like oh, this person needs to be like me. I actually thrive in an environment where people are not like me, so that we can have different views and opinions, generational whatever it is. You know, I'm definitely open to build a team that way because I think it definitely makes it stronger.
Speaker 1:Yeah, diversity comes in a lot of shapes and flavors, right, you know, different thoughts, different opinions, different approaches.
Speaker 1:One of the things that and sometimes I talk to as you go through a career, you tend to have a number of people who are younger and getting started off on their careers that reach out to you for whatever reason.
Speaker 1:They're referred to you, they run across you, whatever it might be, and they're looking for insight, direction, sometimes just to talk, sometimes to network, all these kinds of things of that, not also just hiring folks, but by virtue of that I do run across a lot of folks who are embarking on that first stage of their career and over time there are things that I really like and there are things that I find that are distinct challenges generationally. One of the challenges that I found that has been ongoing for about 10 years and has not seen any shown any sign of abating, is a broad, widespread lack of an ability to write, and I didn't mean to write like Woodhouse or like Gibbons, but to put together a sentence right or a paragraph. And that's really challenging for me. And when I find somebody who's younger, who's able to write, I find it to be truly a distinction that is valuable to them. My first question was that is that something that you see as well, or is it different? I mean, I could certainly be off.
Speaker 2:That's interesting because a lot on my side of what I've experienced is social media content and writing and things like that, which is short, sweet to the point, and we want it to be not as perfect because it's supposed to be social. But for the government side of things they're very more technical and you have to be plain language and things like that. To your point, I can tell you most of my copy editors, copywriters, are not in the younger generation, so maybe that's just a dying skill because of AI, now that a lot of people don't think it's necessary. They'll just run it through their chat member and it'll do it for them. So maybe, to your point, that's where we're seeing the, the disconnect and as far as right, I, I'm a poet, so I love to write, so I, I love writing um, but you love words.
Speaker 1:That's another topic we're going to get to in a moment.
Speaker 2:And and uh yeah, I think I do see that as well. I hadn't really thought about it in that aspect, because I'm not really. You know, gone are the days where they're like please submit us a manuscript, right when we're interviewing you. I've not seen that anymore. Maybe I'm just not as attuned to it. But yeah, I think you're right. And not even like writing, typing, typing per se, like actually handwriting. That's my mother. Oh, she would get so upset. She won penmanship and when she sees myself or my children's writing she cringes. You know, it hurts her soul.
Speaker 1:I'm totally guilty of the same thing. I cannot handwrite to save my life. I've been typing since high school and it shows it's so sad, but that's life. It's one of those skills that changes. And you're right, it could be that in the world of business, in the world of government, in the world of operations, really, which we're working, that particular skill is not going to be as useful because we've got proxies that really do a good enough job and will do a better job over time. So it may find that it ends up being more and more into the world of the arts, which we saw, by the way, in engineering 30 years ago, as CAD became more ubiquitous and folks who kind of had that unique style of drawing a civil engineering project which can be beautiful, right, you could have a culvert and an improvement that's drawn really with a special hand. It comes full circle.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Don't be surprised. I remember doing research, maybe about eight years ago, where Gen Z it was really people in Gen Z coming into the workforce and it was. They don't want emails, they want to save it in their mailbox and actually get the letter Right and we're like what it's true. So, who knows, it may come full circle again where you know writing is more personable and people want to see that that came from you. So it could become a hard skill again. That's necessary.
Speaker 1:so it'll be very interesting to see where it goes in the next, you know, couple of years um, any other thoughts on on leadership and and key takeaways, uh, for those who are building a team, uh, or building an organization, before we move on to the next topic, sure, um, I would say never stop learning, and if that's through books, which are still great to lead your leaders and I think that's super important to make sure the leaders in your organization or the leaders you work with you know you all help each other out.
Speaker 2:No one is better than anyone else, and just giving that little extra to the leaders could make a complete difference to them. You're already doing it for your team, so reach across your org chart instead of down, so I think that's a great lesson for anyone to take.
Speaker 1:Agreed. I want to talk about you personally. You do a lot of things. I know you've got some really interesting personal interests and this may dovetail into that, but how do you maintain you? How do you maintain you? Know I'm going to use words that may not be right, but how do you remain centered, how do you remain healthy, not only physically, but mentally, emotionally? The world we live in is stressful. What are those secrets for you?
Speaker 2:Well, it's a daily practice, for sure, and it has changed. You know the whole season aspect. Every couple of years I catch myself doing something different or looking at a different, or looking at my life through a different lens. Right now I'm in the season of hey, retirement is not that far away, so you need to make sure you know you and not get caught up in.
Speaker 2:I'm only employee X. I have a personal life. I do like nature, I do like this, I do like that and I think that's a priority For me. I really even in the past couple of years for my team, I've been able to say, okay, the team is built, they've got it. I trust them, let them go and spend more time executing a strategy, things like that, which then offers time to explore things that help nourish myself. Mindfulness practices I hike with a hiking group. I have um women's retreats I'm actually going on next weekend super excited to to do that and I'm very tactile. I like to make things with my hands. That kind of keeps me centered and grounded and, honestly, sleep sleep matters yeah, I'm really um, you know it is.
Speaker 2:It is. I'm in perimenopausal age and learning how important sleep is for us women when we're dealing with this. Definitely a game changer, getting those seven to eight hours of sleep and I know a lot of the big gurus will say the same thing, but it is true For sure.
Speaker 1:It's one thing to say, it's another to prioritize it right, Because time you know it'll get consumed by whatever you allow it allowed. To consume it and to prioritize it, it's critical. Um, you also have a passion for books. You do something really neat with books. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Speaker 2:So actually, um, it started a friend of mine, um, unfortunately his mother had passed away and he had his whole basement filled with books and he was like, oh, I need to find a company, take these off my hands, I don't know what to do with them. And I could just really see him lamenting and struggling on what to do and I'm like you know what, I'll go ahead and take those books off your hands. You know, I'll find a home for them. I'll, you know, do something. And literally, I kid you not, it was like 10 boxes filled with books, and this was two years ago, and this was two years ago.
Speaker 2:I brought them home and sat with them and I said, you know what? I'm sure there's places that these books can go, that someone's going to love them. And I just started thinking, man, I should really start putting the books together in sets, or I do paperback swap and just different things for people who really want these books. And so I said, hey, this is kind of fun. So I started a little side project called the Book Angel, where, if you have books in your house, sometimes a loved one passes away, you can't even go into the room. I will come in, I will take them off your hands and no questions asked. But one thing that's been really awesome is, as I've been going through these books and I open every book, I look at every book I have found books that people have lost and I've found their owners.
Speaker 1:I think that's amazing. It's so cool.
Speaker 2:You know it could be a Bible that was written to somebody and I look them up and I find them and I give them the Bible back, making people so happy. There was a school I had something from like 1950 from their school and I gave it back to the school for their archives. So it's just getting books into the hands of people who are going to love them and cherish them, instead of them sitting in a box in a garage or on a shelf. So that's been really something I've enjoyed, not only from giving, but the adventures in learning about the books and the people and so many really good things just looking through these books.
Speaker 1:It is a beautiful project. I really love it. I love the fact you've reconnected people with parts of their past, their family's past. Books are more than just paper and a cover. They really are. It's been an absolute pleasure, angelique, thank you so much for joining me, thanks for sharing part of your story and I hope we can have you back again. It's been truly a pleasure.
Speaker 2:All right. Thank you so much, Justin.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to Interesting People. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast on your favorite platform. And don't forget to follow us on social media for updates and behind.
