Velera Wilson: The Courage to go from Corporate to Keynote

S4E7: Velera has taken chances in her career and has now pivoted from corporate to focus on her business, Positive Identify LLC, and career as a speaker and trainer. And she wrote a book! 

http://www.apositiveidentity.com/

https://www.velerawilson.com/book

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the Unexpected Career Podcast, where we share stories of real people and the twists and turns they have taken along their career journey. I am Megan Dunford, and as someone who found myself in the payments industry, largely by accident. I'm fascinated by people's careers unfold and how they've gotten to where they are today. It's also why I'm passionate about reducing the pressure on young people about going to university, what to take in school, and on getting that right first job. My guest today is Velera Wilson, leadership keynote speaker and consultant.

Megan 0:35

Hey, Megan Hi Velera.. How are you? I'm good. That's good. Yeah, I am good. Thank you so much for joining. I really appreciate it. We've never met before, but I've heard so many great things about you and your career from Shemina and so I'm really excited to get into it and hear about your journey and all the really cool things that you've done. Again, thank you for joining.

Velera 1:04

Thank you for having me. I love Shemina, so it's a easy, easy conversation.

Megan 1:09

Amazing. Yeah. Shemina's great. Yeah, I always start way back at the beginning, when you were small. What did you wanna be when you grew up?

Velera 1:21

That is so funny. As a kid, I wanted to be a lot of different things, and I think sometimes that's why environment or access or exposure, what you see is important.

Megan 1:31

Mm-hmm.

Velera 1:31

And so I vividly remember saying I wanted to be a nurse. That was what I said, just because. I don't know what else to say. Right. And then someone say, well, a nurse, why don't you just think about becoming a doctor? I'm like, okay, I'll be a doctor. That's what I said initially. And then fast forward, I started to realize my patterns and behaviors. So as a kid, I would make fake money. And I would pretend to be selling things. I would pretend to be selling things in, in, in our living room and just transactions. Intuitively, I think I was shaping my own desire for business.

Megan 2:07

Yeah.

Velera 2:07

And then I really remember in first grade we had this thing called read, write and illustrate. And so you had to read something or see something, and then you had to either, write about or illustrate it. And so I, growing up as a kid, I was a commercial fanatic. I remember. Every single commercial I could recount all the tunes of the jingles. In fact, it irritated my family because anytime we were all watching tv, I would start singing the jingle when the commercials came on. Like I knew all of them. And I remember seeing a commercial for, toothpaste and so I, as shy as I, I was, I went to school with the toothpaste box and did the jingle in front of the class. So this was my launch into what became eventually my love for business and marketing. But growing up, initially it was, oh, I'll just be a nurse or a doctor, but my habits were saying something different.

Megan 3:07

I think what you're saying is so true when we're small, there's only so many jobs we even know exist. So of course when you're asked that question, you're gonna say something you can see, or those really, what I would call traditional jobs that often show up in like story books and things like firefighter, nurse, doctor, like the very set list. But obviously the world is much bigger than that, but how could we know? But it does show up sometimes in the things we like to play and do. So I love that. Yeah, you were brave and sang the jingle with the toothpaste box in class. I mean, that's really amazing. It's so cute too.

Velera 3:45

Yeah. It's one, one of those memories that stands out as a kid, ironically.

Megan 3:50

Yeah, I can imagine. So, it sounds like that is a direction you went in. So did you choose to go to university and if yes, is that what you took? Did you take business in school or did you decide to take something else?

Velera 4:03

Yeah, so I went to school, undergrad. I got my business marketing degree. So I got my bachelor's in business, but a minor in communications. All things marketing. I also loved to talk as a kid I loved, not as a kid, but even in college, I loved to talk and debate. So I would be in debate classes. I'm sure my husband appreciates that even today. But that was the thing. And then eventually I got my MBA in marketing management as well.

Megan 4:33

Oh, amazing. So yeah, so really focused in on on business and marketing specifically, which is cool. And I love that you took a minor in communications too.'cause I think. That just sort of expands on the concept of marketing and gives another perspective and flavor to it. So I love that you did that as well. What was your first job after school? Did you do your MBA immediately after undergrad or did you work for a bit and then go back and do your MBA?

Velera 5:01

I had a very winding road I'm from Southern California, so during the summers of college, I interned at a company that I eventually got an offer from once I graduated, but here comes the unexpected or the shift that I decided to make. I decided to relocate to Detroit, Michigan at the time I had family there. And so that meant going from having a job already lined up from school to basically starting from scratch. I don't know what, I think this explains a lot of the pivots that I've made in my own life and career. It just started then I just learned to adapt and to make changes. But, I was on a job search for a while. And so I talked to a number of people and, and that I knew their family members and started to get interviews with things that had quote, unquote, nothing to do with my degree. And eventually I got a job. Teaching business out of all things at a charter school. So I taught seventh graders the principles of business. Wow. This, this particular charter school was focused on business. And so I will tell you after that one year, I kissed the ground my teachers walk on. I believe that they deserve well more than what they get paid because it was a very demanding job. But that was my first job out of college, full-time job.

Megan 6:27

Wow. So yeah, business adjacent.'cause you're teaching business. But with seventh graders, that's, yeah, that must have been, yeah, I can imagine. I worked in a preschool for a few months and that was the most exhausting job I've ever had. So I can only imagine with seventh graders who have a lot more questions and are at that stage in life of starting to push back and question everything. So. Everything but such an interesting way to start of teaching something. And I can imagine that must give it like a completely different perspective as well of having to explain it to others rather than just a studying it or doing.

Velera 7:14

Yes. And I think it's so interesting to have started my official career teaching, and essentially that's what I do now. Mm-hmm. So I'm a speaker and a leadership development consultant. So I train leaders in organizations, or I speak at events. So it's come full circle. I believe everything that we do eventually, it lines up the way it's supposed to for a reason. And you leverage those skills in the future. So I did that for a year. I said, definitely not for me. It was great, but I'm done. And so eventually I ended up, this was the day in the Yellow Pages, so I'm showing my age. I was calling every company I could think of. I was literally spending a whole day going through the Yellow Pages, calling organizations. And so I happened to find a nonprofit in Michigan that. I started just, which is why community and conversations is good. I was talking to a friend and she says, well, maybe you should think about maybe volunteering somewhere to see if you can get your foot in the door. And so obviously as a teacher, I had the summer off and I told the other teachers, I said, I'm not coming back. They're like, yes, you are. I said, no, I'm not. I am not coming back to this. So I went gangbusters on finding the next and so I was calling and I called a nonprofit and I started with, Hey, may not be hiring, but I'd love to volunteer. And so I went in and signed up to be a volunteer. Lo and behold, you would have it that they said to me, he just, hired someone for this last role. We just offered them the role. I said, no worries, I'll still volunteer. They came back to me before I could even volunteer and they said, Hey, unfortunately that person cannot take the job. We can't offer them a job. I guess maybe their background check or something didn't work out, and they said, well, we love the interview conversation with you even as a volunteer, would you'd be interested in joining the organization? I said, absolutely, and that was the pivot into getting back into organizations and doing organizational work. And I did that role for about four years. It was a great role. I learned a lot. It was one of the most well run nonprofits I've ever been around. And during that time they had a program where if you went back to school, they would pay 50% of your tuition. Oh, wow. So I was able to go back to school and get my MBA working for a nonprofit, which, you know, means nonprofit. I wasn't making as much, but it offset the fact that they paid for my graduate degree. So I went back to school, got my MBA and was off to the races after that, not long after getting it, I did work there for a little bit longer, but yeah, so it's it all worked out.

Megan 10:02

That's amazing. And I love that, that's such an example of almost serendipity of they didn't have a role, but you were willing to volunteer and you put yourself out there and support anyway. And then actually life had a different plan and then the role did open up. It's funny how things can work that way and so, you know, having all the answers or not asking is. The fastest what? It, it's not something to hold us back like we should just ask a question. What's the worst case? They say no, but

Velera 10:36

absolutely. I'm a huge believer in that. Now just ask if they say no. Okay, what? What if they say yes? What doors await you? If they just say yes, and you only need one person to say yes, so you might get a ton of nos, but the one that says yes. There it is.

Megan 10:57

And sometimes this opportunity started as just a little like. Opening in the door, but then the door completely opened unexpectedly, which is cool. And such an amazing opportunity to, have support for school and be able to do your MBA and have that partially covered. That's pretty unusual in general, but to have that opportunity with a nonprofit and being able to learn so much on the role as well at the same time is pretty cool.

Velera 11:29

Yeah, definitely don't take it for granted.

Megan 11:33

So what did you do after the mba? You said you stayed a little bit longer at the nonprofit, but then you did move on.

Velera 11:40

So then we took another pivot and I went into, I'd always, at the nonprofit, I had done event management essentially. So the nonprofit did a lot of community events, a lot of corporate events because we had a lot of partner, corporate and government. Community partners. So that was my thing. And so I love the process of events, the details, the outcome, the checklist, all the things. And so I actually, here we go again. So I was looking for my next, and I knew I wanted to go into events and so I thought how do I figure this out? And so I said, well, I know a lot of corporations do events and they have event plans. And so I just started to call around or talk to people in some kind of way. I don't remember it. I think this was definitely well before LinkedIn. I came across someone that worked at American Express that was in their corporate events department.

Megan 12:38

Mm-hmm.

Velera 12:39

And so they were saying, Hey, no, we don't have anything. But we work with these companies called Destination Management companies. And they're all around the world and they essentially, whenever we, our feet touch the ground to any city that we're not aware of, our clients aren't aware of, they plan all the events from the moment you get off the, the flight to the time you get back. I said, that's interesting. This person actually sent me a spreadsheet of every single destinations management company that American Express worked with, like with the email addresses of these people.

Megan 13:11

That's amazing.

Velera 13:13

So they sent me the entire list. So what did I do? I sent an entire email blast to every one of those DMCs around the world with my resume that said, Hey, I've been doing events for some time now. I've got my graduate degree. I'd love to see how I can score. I'm open for opportunities. I got one response back. Remember, all you need is a one. Yes. And it happened to be the one destinations management company that was based in Arizona, but wanted to open a Michigan office. Well, actually they had a Michigan office, but the person before me was leaving and so they said, Hey, the owner replied and said, Hey, would love to interview you. He got on a flight, interviewed me at the airport, like in the gate area, and then got back on the flight and went back to Arizona. Wow. And then offered me the job. And so I did that for two years and that was another layer of experience that I carried me today around the importance of details that relates to events. As a keynote speaker, details are everything in working with clients and so I can speak to what they need most and what they're looking for. I'm not just the speaker. I used to be in the weeds of planning events. So that was what I did for two, two years. And then eventually I was doing so much there. I was the GM general manager, so I was doing everything from hiring mm-hmm To the logistics, to the events, to sales. And I was wearing a lot of hats. I was essentially the business owner.

Megan 14:41

Yeah, yeah.

Velera 14:42

And did that for a couple years and then I was like, okay, I'm ready to really get into the larger corporate space. And that's when I found an opportunity at AT&T and joined their leadership development program. And that's what took me around the country to lead different business units and move around to different states, which eventually brought me to me to Atlanta.

Megan 15:05

That's really cool, like great opportunity to, travel the country and first of all, to basically run the business and I can already hear all these early lessons that apply to what you're doing now, which is amazing. And then, the opportunity to travel around the country and then find your eventual home through that process as well is also just an amazing experience. So you said now you're doing keynote speaking and coaching, if I've got that correct, training.

Velera 15:40

Yeah.

Megan 15:41

Yeah. Training. So maybe share a little bit of that journey that got you to that, of now owning your own business really, and speaking and training and spoiler, I know you wrote a book that, journey from AT&T into, to what you're doing now. What did that look like?

Velera 16:02

Yeah. So the journey. So I started and I've started with AT&T, moved to Cleveland, did that for a year, moved with them to Chicago, moved. Then they moved me to Atlanta. All leading different parts of the business and leading teams. And it really gave me a really strong exposure to operations and just how organizations run.

Megan 16:30

Mm-hmm.

Velera 16:30

And, which was great because, and I didn't understand at the time, because I remember when I started with the organization, I said to them, I really want to be in marketing. That's what my undergrad and grad degree is in. I wanna get to that place. And I know you all have a huge marketing department. I wanna be there. The part of the leadership development role was to learn the business in key areas of operations. Mm-hmm. So like network operations, customer care, all these things. Consumer strategy. So I said, okay, I'm signing up for that as long as I can get to marketing. What I didn't realize is that once I got to marketing all those other experiences would be what really, really helped me be a extremely sharp marketer. I'm not saying that because it's me, but it was because marketing can touch a lot of different aspects that people don't realize. And so to be able to speak with a 360 view with putting together campaigns when launching products. When, all those types of things, it only served me well and it served me well even when I left the organization because I was not just looking at marketing just from one angle. I could sit cross-functionally and talk to people about all the things, the steps leading up to a launch product, technical, all the things. And so I did that for you know, I was in corporate roles for probably, what, 20 years nearly. Across different industries and always in some type of product or demand. Not product marketing, not product marketing, but more of demand generation and product launches. And so from there is where I really honed in on the skill of selling. And because demand generation is about you gotta drive leads, that's what demand gen marketing is. And so I was always partnered with sales and that really helped me to really look at metrics and revenue. Pipeline and all the things that drive a business. And so that over time across all the roles, I realized regardless of the role, I love to see people being developed. I love when I could see the light come in someone's eyes because something started to make sense, or they're owning a process and they're growing and they're developing and they're leading. And I love to champion my team that way. I love to step into business units and say, okay, you all are the experts. And I learned that starting out in Cleveland, I had to step in so many organizations being the new leader with an experienced team, people that were older than me, literally like could be my parents that have been at the organization that were been there for 10, 20 plus years. And so I learned to feed into what their strengths were and help them to move forward even better and just be the roadblock. I used to call myself the chief roadblock remover. That's my role as the leader and just to let people do their jobs and to promote others and promote my team and see them advance, that made me excited even more so than the roles themselves at a certain point. So I began to realize that and then couple that with my own background and knowing where I come from. To where I was. I wanted to help someone learn the lessons much sooner than I did. And so that's when eventually I wrote the book,"Your're Absolutely Worth It: How to Release Self-Doubt, Embrace Confidence, and Own Your Yes". And that book was really the catapult for what I do today. So I launched the book during COVID. I wrote the book and launched it during COVID and I did a virtual global tour. And over time I had such incredible partnerships, incredible relationships, incredible tribe, you know, people that you and I both know that were part of that tribe that really supported that book and really put me in the forefront. And so I began to get speaking opportunities. I began to get opportunities to do training. And that's when I realized, you know what, going back to all the things I had done as a kid. Playing with, uh, you know, and Toastmasters and speaking, all those things came to light. Like, oh, this is what I really want to do. And so here I am today now doing that work as this keynote speaker and leadership development trainer. I'm doing it full time now.

Megan 20:41

Just listening to that journey, and you said it earlier actually as well of there's sort of a 360 moment, but it's more than that. There's all these different things you picked up along the way that I can imagine really made you ready for this opportunity when it came. Starting out as a teacher and so now training, there's that 360 moment, but you essentially were running a business, back in Michigan. That's extremely important'cause you're now running a business. The debate classes, the Toastmasters, now being a speaker, like I love how it's just so clearly. But I imagine at the time it was hard to see how that was all gonna work out.

Velera 21:31

Oh yeah. I think you're absolutely right. You don't see the dots being connected while they're being connected. Until you look back what they say. Hindsight is 2020 it all makes sense now. Even the jobs that I didn't enjoy serve their purpose today to help me be the best version of me and walk into what I think is purposeful work for me that I'm very passionate about.

Megan 21:55

I love that. So continuing in that, sort of looking back in hindsight is 2020 vein, when you look back, what are some of the through lines or common threads that you see through, what, on paper maybe looks like a very winding career path.

Velera 22:16

Yeah, it was all necessary. I was. I think that if I were to, it, you summarize it, you know, you've connected the dots. Just list me. But they all did connect. I think to your point of when I did the work as a teacher it's connected now to what I do now. I try to simplify things and make it as simple as possible for people to understand and most importantly apply when I'm doing training. And that could be from. Mid managers to senior executives. Gotta be simple. I learned that in seventh, 6,7th grade. The other thing I would say is business being really under understanding the 360 of business, all the operational components. It's extremely important for me to understand that. Now there's things I'm doing in my business today, I'm like, oh my gosh, I learned this 15 years ago. And so that's a part of it. And then just the love for communication and marketing. It's definitely critical in the business I'm in now, so I've gotta know how to market myself. Definitely have to know how to market myself as a speaker. And so the things I did to launch products and campaigns and all the things serves me now. And obviously being able to communicate effectively so that minor in communications and Toastmasters, all the things, it served its purpose, but you don't, again, you don't see that then. So I'm grateful for every what looked like a winding road, and even sometimes setbacks because I went from having a job ready right outta college to not having a job. And trying to figure out what was next, moving to a new state. And so one thing I would say about that though is that it taught me resilience. It taught me it, it taught me a skill set of being able to adapt and to be extremely creative and how to problem solve and how to just figure things out and make it work and get to a place of success. And that's a skill, a life skill that is the difference between survive a surviving life and thriving I think,

Megan 24:18

yeah, a hundred percent true. And something else I have heard, and correct me if you disagree, but. It seems to me there's something about listening to your gut. So even as a small child of, being fascinated by commercials and knowing all the jingles and being brave enough to get up and sing the jingle with the toothpaste in class, a lot of times we don't listen to those instincts, but that kind of through line of marketing and connection to marketing has been there throughout. And so I think that's quite. I'm maybe speaking for myself here, but unique of actually listening to those really early instincts from childhood almost and being like, oh, these are my patterns. These are the things that I was interested in when I was young, that are telling me something. And then just seeing where that takes you.

Velera 25:12

Yes, I would agree. I don't I can be honest and tell you I don't remember how I even learned about marketing. I really don't. I just remember. Finding me some kind of way, and it was like, Ooh, this is what I wanna do. And maybe it's because I associated marketing with advertising. Advertising was a huge thing back in the day. That doesn't seem like that so much. I mean, it's kind of taken on a different, life of its own with social media. But advertising, I mean, you used to have those huge advertising agencies that were activating all these cool campaigns and so that was intriguing to me because again, the jingles, but then I started to realize, oh, advertising is just one aspect of marketing. In fact, when I started, when I was in college. I remember vividly understanding because of the internship that, oh, the agency side isn't the side I wanna go on because I worked on the corporate side and I saw how the agencies got treated. So it's like, Nope, I'm gonna pass on that. Let me be on the, the client side. But I don't remember how I heard about marketing. It was just something that found me and it made sense when I heard about it, like, this is it.

Megan 26:22

Yeah. That's great. Continuing in that looking back. Perspective. What do you think 15-year-old, 16-year-old, you would think about what you're doing, what you're doing now?

Velera 26:35

I think she'd be amazed like, wow, you figured it out. How did you get there? Like how did you get there? I'm proud of you for figuring it out. Yeah, I think that's what she'd say. Yeah,

Megan 26:48

I love that. Figuring it out.'cause yeah, when you're that age, everything feels completely unknown. I love that perspective. If you could go back in time, whether to that age or at any point really in your career journey, is there a piece of advice you would love to go back and give yourself? The advice I would give myself

Velera 27:09

would be, it's so interesting when I think about that question because I think things happen in life for reasons in a season. Mm-hmm. And nothing's wasted even when we think it might be. And so I don't think I'm behind schedule. To be doing this full time. Now, some might say, oh, you could be have been done doing this 10 years ago. But I wasn't the same person. I didn't have the same experience, didn't have the same insight. And I think that the time that I have allowed myself to evolve and grow and develop in my corporate roles has only served me to be even more fo focused in what I do now full time as an entrepreneur and speaker. And so the advice I would give myself. Would be to just keep going, to learn all you can and can all you learn. That's the thing I would say is to just to do that and just to enjoy the moments and know that you're gonna be exactly where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there.

Megan 28:09

Yeah, that, it's so true and I love that, motto as well. I think that's a great perspective because, and we were talking about it before all these things you learned throughout your journey have been so beneficial and make what you do now possible or easier or whatever, it depends on the lesson and the skillset and capabilities that you've gained along the journey, but they all really add to it. And that 360 view, and again, we talked about this before as well, but that 360 of not just the marketing side, but the operations side and the things you learned from each role really make a difference. Because a lot of times as an entrepreneur, I think it gets a bit glamorized. I think lots of jobs get glamorized, but being an entrepreneur is really hard and you're doing all the jobs by yourself. And so to have already learned how to do some of those things before you're. You know on your own doing it and wearing all the hats and responsible for it completely on your own, for yourself, I think would be very extremely valuable. So, kind of that trust the process and you'll be where, at the right place at the right time.

Velera 29:27

I think exactly what you said, trust the process. Trust the process. And you're right, because now being here in this seat. There are many hats that I have to wear. And so just little things that you, that I remember, oh wow, okay, this, I remember doing this and maybe I can use this approach in my, in my business. And there it is. It works. It helps. And also the other part of this is. Having been a leader in organizations. And so even as I think about my business and continuing to build it, you know, I've got people on my team.

Megan 30:03

Mm-hmm.

Velera 30:03

Obviously as a small business, but understanding how to put people in seats and what I'm looking for and how to communicate and how to, so that becomes important too. All of it's shaping, again, all of those experiences are shaping what I do today as a business owner.

Megan 30:19

Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. And I think that's just such great advice and good perspective as well. I love that. Obviously we spent quite a bit of time looking backwards but if you look forward, what are you excited about? What are you hoping for the future, whether that's tomorrow or five years from now? What are you excited about?

Velera 30:45

I'm excited that I am doing exactly what I love and exactly what I believe on purpose to do. That's what that's what excites me. That's what gets me up every morning, whether it is to do a virtual keynote or training, or whether it's to do or be on a stage in front of thousands, whether it's to be in a small room with, you know, someone, or to hear someone talk about the impact that something that I said has on not just them, but I've had people tell me it impacted how they, they're gonna take the information and share it with their spouse or family member. So those things are what excite me. And I don't have the crystal ball on how it's always going to shape out and what it's gonna look like from year to year. But the goal is to just keep getting better and to keep making a greater impact. That's the goal, and that's what excites me.

Megan 31:38

I love that. And so exciting and amazing to find impactful and purposeful work and be able to make that your, your job. I'm excited to see where it's go, where you go. I've read your book. It's been a couple years now since I read it. But yeah, it's great and. I have not yet had the chance to see you on stage, but hopefully I do get to someday in the future. As long as you love it and wanna keep doing it, I can imagine there are going to be amazing things to come and to continue coming. Velera, thank you so much. I loved this conversation so much and I think for me, I was really excited to hear that journey,'cause I know a little bit of what you do today but knew you came from a corporate background, so just understanding that journey and how those things fit together and how you then out of all that experience, create what you're doing now. I was so excited to hear that and understand that journey and so many great lessons I've learned from your journey about how things connect and to just lean into the things that are interesting and fulfilling. And use those as little alarm bells of, what does that mean? Maybe, you know, lean in there a little bit more. So, thank you so much for sharing. I really appreciate it.

Velera 33:03

Yeah, thank you so much for the conversation. Hopefully something that I've shared helps. to pivot to What they wanna do or whatever they're considering doing next.

Megan 33:15

Awesome. Thank you.

33:16

I was completely inspired by my conversation with Velera. A few of the things that I took away from that discussion were one courage Throughout Velera's journey, she has shown these incredible moments of courage. As a shy kid, she sang a jingle in front of the class. She had a guaranteed job after university, but decided to go to Detroit instead. And when she wanted to move on from teaching, she just started calling businesses in the Yellow pages. Not to mention sending an email blast when she got an email list of DMCs. As Velera said, it only takes one'yes'. Two, nothing is wasted. All your experiences, including setbacks, help prepare you. Don't regret those things that didn't work out or the jobs that you hated. They help make you ready for the next thing. Three. Openness. I heard so much joy in the way Velera talks about what she's doing now, but also gratitude for the journey. And what really struck me was her openness along the way and the openness and optimism in the way she expresses her approach for the future. Lastly, the advice to just keep going to learn all you can and can all you learn is so powerful. thank you for listening to The Unexpected Career Podcast. Please follow, share, and rate on your favorite podcast provider. The Unexpected Career Podcast is produced, edited, and hosted by me, Megan Dunford. See you next week.