2B Bolder Podcast : Career Insights for the Next Generation of Women in Business & Tech

#124 Navigating Career Transitions with Unicorn Career Compass Founder Tina Cella

• Tina Cella • Season 6 • Episode 124

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Career strategist Tina Cella pulls back the curtain on what really works in today's challenging job market. From her success at Sixth Sense (growing the company from 150 to 1300 people) to founding Unicorn Career Compass, Tina brings invaluable insights on standing out and landing opportunities when competition is fierce.

The traditional job hunt is broken. Sending applications into the void and hoping for a response simply doesn't cut it anymore. Tina reveals why treating your job search like a strategic sales process with multiple touchpoints is the game-changer most candidates miss. "Multi-threading" your approach by connecting with various people at target companies demonstrates exactly the skills employers crave.

Beyond tactical advice, Tina addresses deeper challenges like ageism ("overqualified" is her least favorite word) and the struggle to pivot careers. She shares practical wisdom on leveraging AI tools, optimizing your LinkedIn presence, and maintaining a positive mindset when rejection feels overwhelming.

Perhaps most powerfully, Tina reminds us that finding your authentic voice is the ultimate career superpower. "Own your story, own your value, own your voice. Your voice is your power," she emphasizes. Whether you're currently job-hunting or simply want to strengthen your professional position, this conversation offers actionable strategies for confidently navigating today's market.

Are you ready to stop feeling rejected and start standing out? Listen now to discover how to become the unicorn candidate companies can't ignore.

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Mary Killelea:

Hi there, my name is Mary Kiloalea. Welcome to the To Be Bolder podcast providing career insights for the next generation of women in business and tech. To Be Bolder was created out of my love for technology and marketing, my desire to bring together like-minded women and my hope to be a great role model and source of inspiration for my two girls and other young women like you, encouraging you guys to show up and to be bolder and to know that anything you guys dream of it's totally possible. So sit back, relax and enjoy the conversation.

Mary Killelea:

Hi there, today on the To Be Bolder podcast, we are diving into the world of job hunting with Tina Chella, a career strategist, recruiter and results-driven talent expert who helps people and companies grow. As the second US talent hire at Sixth Sense, she played a key role in building a high-impact hiring culture, and now, at the Mural Group, she partners with high-growth companies to embed top recruiting talent that drives real results. Through Unicorn Career Compass, she also coaches go-to-market professionals and recent grads, helping them navigate career transitions with clarity and confidence. Focused on both people and performance, tina blends strategy, connection and execution to help individuals and teams thrive. Tina, it's great having you here. Thank you so much for joining me. It is my absolute pleasure. Okay, so we're in a crazy world with so many layoffs and you must be busier than ever, but I'd love to start this conversation by having you give kind of an overview of your career journey and how you got to where you are today. Would you start there?

Tina Cella:

Absolutely so. My main claim to recruiting fame, if you will is I was fortunate enough to fall into a company in 2019 called Sixth Sense. I was the second US recruiter. Prior to that, I'd been in staffing for years, but Sixth Sense is where I really just fell in love with the culture, the people had my first exposure to that high growth. Along with Kyle Urbettino, who was the head of talent at the time. We grew the company from around 150 to 1300 people, along with a 60 person talent team, so we had a lot of help. It was a blast. I was able to go to President's Club with the team. You know. We went to Cabo. Then we all got COVID, but you know that was kind of hard, but really just get to dive in and see, see where these relationships went long term. Towards the end of my four-year tenure at Sixth Sense, all of my hiring managers were actually people I had hired myself, which was a crazy cool experience. I was eventually promoted to oversee customer success recruiting, did that for about a year, had a team of five under me Loved. My favorite thing in the world is passing on something that I've done and then seeing somebody I managed to do it better. So that was an incredible opportunity.

Tina Cella:

And then, of course, the tech bubble started to burst a little bit. The talent team of 60, there were layoffs. Ultimately, I was one of a few remaining people and they asked me if I wanted to move into sales, mostly just because I drank the champagne straight from the water hose every morning at 6 o'clock. Now we know we don't really talk too much about family and companies, but at the time it stood for all these things like fun, accountability, mindfulness, and the reason I was so good is because I drank that champagne straight from the water hose. I believed in it and I offered people an amazing opportunity to accelerate their career as I did mine. When that came to an end, I took a break. Actually, I went to Bali, did the unicorn training, the yoga teacher training, which is a huge part of my philosophy in life overall and kind of definitely has a huge impact on how I career consult as well.

Tina Cella:

And then people started reaching out to me asking for help, mostly first within customer success. I had had the opportunity to build that interview flow at Sixth Sense, so they figured I knew what the questions were going to be and how to get them to the process. So at first I was like sure I can help. And at first I was honestly like, do I even have any idea what I'm doing? I was an internal recruiter. Then I realized, oh my God, I have so much value to offer. As I started to help people navigate this process, I formed a company called Unicorn Career Compass and I've developed a process around how to literally get a job in it and not lose your mind. Hopefully, and it's all about you know.

Tina Cella:

I think we all know in this world you have to get referred in right, like I call that your internal advocate. The issue is that most people when they do that nowadays are not giving that internal advocate the actual collateral to get them through the process. They just slam a resume their way and they're like send it to the right person and they kind of go away right and like that's not going to work Things in this market you have to be very intentional and very strategic. So even once you have that internal advocate right, you need to treat the job search like it is a sales cycle. You need to multi-thread that darn thing right. And what does that mean? Coming from you know, overseeing customer success. What that means basically is make multiple contacts at various levels throughout the company, and it doesn't like.

Tina Cella:

Sometimes people are like they're in the interview process for a CS role, a customer success role, right, and they're hesitant to reach out to the VP of success, of the customer success. However, I can't tell you the number of times when I was at Sixth Sense I was interviewing people and we had so many people and somebody would go to the extra mile to do that, to go to the leader and be like, hey, I'm in the process, I'm really fascinated by what I'm seeing, hope to speak to you soon, not necessarily even expecting a response, but doing something to make them stand out. And especially when you're talking about go-to-market roles, right, like sales, customer success, marketing that is the skillset of the actual job too. So if you're not demonstrating that in the interview process in this market, you're not demonstrating that you're the unicorn and you're not going to be able to land the job, that's just, it's not fair. We should be able to put a down application and expect a responsive or qualified. That is the world we should live in. That is just not the reality, right? So we have to play this game and it is possible, and I've found a lot of success.

Tina Cella:

Now I'm also partnering with my former boss, kylo Retino. He has formed a company with a gentleman by the name of Joe Walsh who is one of the principal recruiters at Uber, and it's called the Mural Group, and so now I'm working directly with startups again to place people at these companies. One example is Grok. They recently raised around $650 million, competing with NVIDIA, and we just embedded a bunch of contract recruiters there. We actually just had some converted and are continuing to service them, basically Offering flexible recruiting help to meet startups where they are in the reality.

Tina Cella:

So it's both sides of it. I love helping the candidates navigate it, but I also love helping the hiring teams create a process and actually do it correctly, because there's a lot of analysis, paralysis going on in the hiring process. Right Hiring teams think they can get perfection and misunderstand what a unicorn in a job is. They think it means perfect on paper, down to the tiniest little detail, and we all know from our dating lives right, like perfect on paper does not equate perfect in the actual relationship, and so I think a lot of hiring teams need this guidance that the mural group is offering to create a process, put people through it and make a decision. You know that's what we got to do. So, yeah, I just said a lot and that was a long introduction.

Mary Killelea:

I love it. I love your energy. Believe me, it's infectious and so obviously. Unicorn is your company's name. Tell me how you came up with that, were you sitting in the yoga studio and you put an idea, come through. How did you come about that?

Tina Cella:

So I had coined myself the Unicorn Hunter. At Sixth Sense, I made a name for myself. I wasn't about going I mean, we went through applications but I would go out and find the best person from our competitor and pull that person from the competitor, so so that it came from that. And then, once I decided to form my own business, I was like I want to integrate unicorn in some capacity. And then I was like, hmm, so I basically I took a poll on LinkedIn. I had four different names I use, like chat, gpt, like what else, what's kind of like you know, I want to help people find the career that matters to them. Their journey and compass came. So unicorn, career, compass, you know it's, it's my. My goal is to help everyone find the unicorn within them, and that takes work from them too. And that's another piece of it. Right, like I can't do all of it, which is one thing I've learned as I've taken on more and more clients is that you have to set expectations right, like this is your responsibility. I'll do this for you.

Mary Killelea:

It's a partnership. Basically, is what I've realized? Oh, absolutely, so tell me while we're here about your services that you offer individuals and companies, cause I think it's great that you address both, obviously with your previous experience.

Tina Cella:

Yeah, so through Unicorn I offer services all the way, just from the resume, linkedin redo, so that's just kind of reframing your story right. So that's like a lot of people start with that and then I do full cycle as well, where that includes interview prep, thank you, notes, negotiation, basically help through the entire process, and for that mostly I have some payment up front because I need to pay for my tools and stuff like that. But I know I can get like, if we do this together, I know it can work. So I defer a lot of the payment till after they get the job.

Tina Cella:

Because the last thing I think we're also in a situation where, like there are way too many people getting taken advantage of in a crazy job. Like that's the last thing I ever want to. I give away a lot for free, probably too much, sometimes just because I care, you know, and like a lot of my clients, almost all my clients have come in through referrals people I hired in the past, sisters and brothers and all of that, and so and it's also just at the beginning, at the end of the day, I'm always going to be do the right thing first is kind of my motto throughout life. So take care of people and they'll take care of you, and it comes back to you.

Mary Killelea:

That's awesome. So how do you work with companies? You, that's awesome. So how do you?

Tina Cella:

work with companies, so companies. So that's how I basically I adjust and you'll see my announcement later this week. It's actually really good timing. So I'm officially joining the Mural Group now. So that is with Joe Walsh and Kyle Rotino. Joe Walsh was one of the principal recruiters at Uber and then he moved on and was head of talent at a company called Beho. Kyle was head of talent at Sixth Sense. He hired me back in the day right at a company called Veho. Kyle was head of talent at Sixth Sense. He hired me back in the day right. So that's how I kind of got connected there. And we're working with startups like Grok. We just placed a bunch of recruiters there. Then we also have companies like Figure Markets and Cryptocurrency. So all different areas. I'm working on a really interesting KOL relationship manager role for a company right now where they want somebody basically like deeply embedded in the cryptocurrency space with a large like that has been managing influencers within that space for years, which is a very interesting search. I'll tell you.

Mary Killelea:

Sounds like a unicorn you're looking for.

Tina Cella:

Absolutely, and like they're like he's open to all over the world, which is very interesting. I just need them online two hours a day at the same time as me, right? I'm like all over the world, which is very interesting. I just need them online two hours a day at the same time as me, right? I'm like all right, we can do this. So that's really fun, just getting exposure to all the different. You know we're working with a health tech company. That's really core. One of my real passions is mental health tech, right. So I'm actually working to business development with more of those companies, because I personally would just love to help those companies build like headway, mind, body better up. There's just so many. I think it's such an important issue that they're addressing that I'm hoping that the mural group can help companies in that direction, in addition to all else that we're doing.

Mary Killelea:

I love you. You're blending your passion into your day to day. What do you see being the top issue or problems? I guess, at various stages of the food chain you know from your career to you know people worried about ageism.

Tina Cella:

I get where companies are coming from. When they're like this person is overqualified to some extent. However, I that word is a burning like in my brain right now. I'm so annoyed with that word in life right now, because what does that even mean? Right, if somebody is excited and willing to do the job and has the skillset, like why, how are, why are you the one to say that they're overqualified for that? Like that to me. So I think that's something that a lot of people cause. Basically, people don't want to pay those salaries, either of those more experienced people. So they're like hey, I can get the skillset much, much cheaper. So, basically, just give me people with two to five years of experience. Like, I hear this all the time on searches and I'm just like guys, like that is literally bias, right. So I think that's one thing those people are experiencing.

Tina Cella:

I think younger people just entering the job market are putting in applications and like, oh my God, what in God's name is wrong with life? Like what is happening right now, like you know. So I think that's a huge issue. Like, and then they go to their parents and their parents are like go check Craigslist and they're like what? Like, so it's they don't know how to you. You have to teach them how to network Like that was the only way Right, and that is something that I don't think a lot of college career centers are teaching. They're stuck in this old mindset of how the job search works and they're giving that advice and that's not getting these kids where they need to go.

Mary Killelea:

What I find with because I'm older. I have people in my peer group who have worked at careers successful and are, as you might say, overqualified, but they're also willing to take less pay, pivoting into a new direction that maybe you know. They went from tech sales into wanting to do something more with philanthropy Yep, yep. And yet they don't get a chance because they look like they would be too demanding.

Tina Cella:

We're in what I call a plug and play market.

Tina Cella:

That's why pivots are so hard right now. And it's funny because I actually just helped a girl make a pivot and from a personal development she'd been in personal development for about seven years and we pivoted all of her experience into an executive assistant and she actually I introduced her to Maggie actually at the time and she's now at Falcon X, love and life, you know. So she did do that, but we had to reframe her LinkedIn. We reframed her resume to demonstrate that she had done the job. So I think if you want that those pivots take work and they take more time and you're going to have to lean into personal connections there and people that really understand your work ethic and your experience and that are willing to take a little bit more of a chance on you.

Mary Killelea:

How do you approach identifying or educating a person? Because you get so close to yourself and what you do and what you're good at that you lose track of how it could be applied to something else, and so you feel stuck.

Tina Cella:

I start with a conversation on clarity. You can go to your values. There's so many. I have actually a whole course that I'm putting together on how to find career clarity right and like get unstuck, basically Because I think that is a huge problem.

Tina Cella:

You know that people feel like they can't make these changes when in actuality, it's mindset that is blocking them and not the reality that, yes, the job market is difficult and crazy and hard. However, you can overcome it. It's all about to like structuring it like the job search is a job. So how are you doing that? And like what are you counting as your wins? Because I'm going to tell you you're going to get the job once. You know. So if you're waiting for wins to get that darn job, you're going to be a very sad, depressed person and sad, depressed people are not going to interview.

Tina Cella:

Well, you know, I'm just like it's, it's all about, like I do these. You know some sounds kind of silly, but like happiness tricks in the morning. You know like this is the happiest day of my life. Or you know like hey, like you know, jump up and like get those, get that. You know endorphins going like let your brain work for you. I've learned that through yoga too, and I integrate a lot of like psychology actually into how I help my clients coaching right.

Tina Cella:

Like I refuse, you do not prep until the last minute of an interview. You make sure that 30 minutes before you free your damn brain, right, you get all that prep in right, but then you give yourself that that moment right, because, like our brains need to decompress, to to get creative again, right. And so I think sometimes people like one of the struggles, I think, is people they spend so much time getting the opportunities and then not have to prepare for them, or they're really good once they get the opportunity but they don't know. So it's like they can't and it's like you have to get all of it in this job market, like you have to be able to close every single step of the way and have someone closing for you, that internal advocate within, in all honesty someone closing for you that internal advocate within, in all honesty, Right?

Mary Killelea:

So let's take a minute to have you define the job market two years ago to today and where you see it going in two to three years.

Tina Cella:

I mean two years ago. That was about when the recruiting like everyone was hiring recruiters, like there was a real freaking tomorrow, like, it was insane, like the amount of money that we paid to hire sources and recruiters at Sixth Sense during that period was crazy, right, um, so that was the market. Higher, higher, higher, grow, grow, grow. Now it's like where's the money? Show me the money. How are we being efficient? Like, and so it's now. It's like every dollar needs to be accounted for. Um, and so it's just a lot tighter, right, like you need to sell your value, you need to make yourself memorable every single step of the way and you need to brand yourself. Like I think everyone needs a personal brand and that's kind of where the job market's going. That's where I see it. In two years, it's already. You're already starting to see it, and that's what I do with my clients as well. But even more, you know, like most, now every, every job application has, like do you have a website?

Mary Killelea:

And like that could be a thing, right, yeah, and cause I'm a firm believer of having a personal brand and that's what I focus on with customers or clients. It's because it is so true. I mean I to me that's that's the future, that's how you come across on and off stage and it's fun.

Tina Cella:

Yes, and that's what I get with my client. I'm like, well guys, we're going to make this fun. Like this does not have to be torture. Like who told us that the job search has to be torture.

Mary Killelea:

How much do you use AI in job search? Oh, constantly. Okay tell me more.

Tina Cella:

Okay, so I am one of those people that, like I geek out on the tools, like I just love going and I'm not saying I'm good at all of them, but I will go in there and explore, like there's one of my recent favorites is there's this PowerPoint AI tool called Gamma AI, which I'm using for, like, all the social media and everything like that. I've used every different resume tool out there and then I ended up using some of what they say, then using my own brain to edit it down, then going in and having AI run through it again make it crisp, more precise, more clean. I've like trained my chat GPT. His name is Chad. We have a very close and personal relationship and so he actually like speaks in my tone and things like that.

Tina Cella:

I use it for research, like when I'm recruiting for a company. For example, I'm helping out. Addition Wealth is another company we're working with and they have a bunch of engineering roles I'm working on. I'm helping fill a project right. So I'll go to chat GPT and be like this is the company. Can you please tell me you know 20 top fintech companies in this area we might want to pull engineers from? And then I'll say, but please don't have that, please have this and please don't have that, and I'll just. I have conversations with AI all day like to be quite honest.

Mary Killelea:

I always say please and thank you, because we don't know where we're going with this.

Tina Cella:

You know like one day they take over the world. They're of the people that you help. What percentage do you see embracing AI themselves? I? I demand it in a large part in my clients because you're going to get left behind. It's using it with authenticity and personality and if you don't, it's just like I. I understand why some people are a little weary, weary of it, and my dad's't. It's just like I. I understand why some people are a little weary, weary of it, and my dad's the old school like lawyer. Who's like don't have Alexa, they're all listening to you and I'm like dad at this point, like we're all screwed. It just doesn't matter, right?

Mary Killelea:

Right.

Tina Cella:

Absolutely, it's all out there. Um, so I, I, I encourage it, you know, I say always use it with a brain Like please do not just punch something in there, take it out and then just punch, like that is not a good look, it's people can tell right. But to not use it to check things is ridiculous too. Like you know, like how does anyone have a horrible typo anymore? If you cause you could should be able to check all that. So I use it to check everything. I use it to help me be more creative with posts.

Tina Cella:

I use it to check everything. I use it to help me be more creative with posts. I use it to brainstorm. I mean I use perplexity, chat, gpt, enhanced um, gamma, like I could go on and on and, and I enjoy it, you know. And now they're all like slack has an AI thing that's starting to get built in notion I, we use notion at Miro group and like they're integrating. So it's kind of cool to see, um, how it's all. I'm kind of a sucker for any tool that I see, honestly. And then I'm like, oh crap, I just have like 25 trials that I forgot to cancel.

Mary Killelea:

So there's so many tools out there and I spend a majority of my time on LinkedIn because I'm fascinated about how few people actually optimize their LinkedIn or how they don't.

Mary Killelea:

Real estate. It's unbelievable Real estate, real estate, literally. And how they're? They just lurk and they don't join conversations or they don't have a thought, leadership thought for themselves and post it because of fear of judgment. Those are all things people have to overcome. So I want to talk about LinkedIn, but I also want to talk about some other sites, job seeking sites that I think people I guess. I guess my question is are other people using Indeed, other you know, Handshake and some other things?

Tina Cella:

Handshake is a cool one. Handshake I actually touched when I was at Sixth Sense, like for college students. I think that is still a really good one. Like internships, things like that students I think that is still a really good one. Like internships, things like that. Indeed. So I used a lot of like Indeed, monster, career, you know all of those back in the day when I was in staffing. I did not. I have not really used Indeed at all since I started within tech. To be honest, the stuff is there. I just don't see it as the most user-friendly. I just haven't gotten a lot. I love LinkedIn. I live on LinkedIn, but then I also go to venture capitalist job boards. That's one thing I offer my clients. I also apply to like insane number of newsletters.

Mary Killelea:

I'm guilty of that too.

Tina Cella:

Yeah, everything under you know cause I. I love information, right, and I, but it's data is, it's so interesting. So I'm working on these two roles for this other company called arc data Centers, and the guy says all the time data is the new oil, right, like data is the new oil Right, and so it's. But if you don't know how to use it and it's not used in the right way, it's overwhelming Right, like even in my, when I'm working with a client on a full cycle. We'll do the best we can to use data analysis right, because I'm like we're going to, at the end of every week, go back and look, hey, what's worked, what hasn't, but we're not using a tool yet. I'd love to get there at some point, right, we're just kind of doing it, but you have to right, and what's working is the networking. That's what works.

Mary Killelea:

Well, that's the thing. I think too many people just ignore it once they get a job, and then, when they're caught off guard with a layoff or they hate their job and now they need to do it, they've just like been so detached from it.

Tina Cella:

Yeah, yeah, and they don't know how to, they don't and they don't.

Tina Cella:

It's a lot, too, to like go, but it's actually like that's. One of my favorite things, though, is because what it serves when you write this resume, when you go through and write and you metricize things and all that it serves as a reminder of everything that you've accomplished, and it actually is a part of finding that clarity is going back and looking at all the freaking amazing shit that you've done that you forgot about, right, and reminding yourself of it and pulling upon those things. You know, and it's, it's, it's actually like it's an exciting opportunity to to reframe your life and to try new things. Like that's what happened to me at Sixth Sense, you know, like it was the perfect time for that to end for me, because my life went in the coolest directions, you know, and now, like personally even like I have a boyfriend and I'm settled, I'm near my family, and I'd been like stuck in California and everyone had moved, you know, so it's like it all happens.

Tina Cella:

It does all happen for a reason, if you let it right. It's. The struggle is hard. It's hard, though, and that's why I have a job.

Tina Cella:

It's because it's hard, you know where you've been and we feel rejected. And that's the thing too. I tell people. All the time people like they start to feel rejected. They put applications in rejection, rejection, rejection. And then I asked them okay, so what are you doing? And they're like just applying. And I'm like that's it. And I'm like, okay, I'm like, well, you haven't even entered the arena of the game, you haven't been rejected, like no one's seen that damn thing. I'm sorry, but that's just the reality of the matter. So stop sitting in a corner feeling rejected when you haven't entered the game.

Mary Killelea:

I'm like um, give me three tips that someone can help their improve their chances of being seen on linkedin um leaning into.

Tina Cella:

Like personal, you mean being seen or getting a referral and getting a job getting a referral and getting a job okay, leaning into personal connections that know you really well.

Tina Cella:

So I talked to one girl the other day and she was just telling me about her job search and she was saying she applied for six months nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. And this girl's good, you know, like a good candidate, account manager, strong background, all of that. And then she decided, okay, screw this, I'm not stop applying, I'm just going to lean into where I have really really close personal connections and she had a job in a month, you know. So it's like it's that is the big thing is leaning into those people who really know who you are and understand your work ethic and can truly, truly advocate for you. Also, stop targeting jobs, start targeting companies. Start targeting companies that are growing and that are going to have multiple roles in that arena Right and then come up with, like with my clients, that I do full cycle, we're applying to jobs, but we also have a target list of 20, like top companies that we would like to work at.

Tina Cella:

How do we form that target list? Well, we look at where we know people, we look at companies that are growing and then look at what you're excited about, because stop applying to jobs you don't want guys, because that comes through, like it comes through in the interview, right, if you're passionate about something and you can add it's all about alignment in the stock market, and if you can create alignment, in addition to the role, with the mission of the company, with the leadership team, with all of those things, those are that's how to get hired. Now you know, and thank you notes, follow up. It's marketing yourself. You know it's a sales cycle, like I said and like it doesn't make it easy, but it also is doable and that's the thing I want people to know. It is doable, it is still doable. It takes more strategy and intention. Now, sorry to interrupt.

Mary Killelea:

No, no, no. I think that's great for people to hear that. You know we talk a lot about it's deflating or it's exhausting, but it's still doable. And you know, working with coaches like you definitely is what a lot of people need to invest, even though I think they fear that they don't have money or that the job search is going to go too long, you know. But now let's talk about the same thing with LinkedIn, but being visible.

Tina Cella:

Now let's talk about the same thing with LinkedIn, but being visible. Okay, being visible, I think content, like having valuable content to share and branding yourself around topics, I think is a big thing. To be fair, though, I didn't do that. I kind of just. I have now just kind of organically, but like when I, after Sixth Sense and I, you know, really focused on my LinkedIn, I just kind of used it as a support system and wanted to support others and that was my focus, right. So I think that's one way. But like, if you want to like have like certain topics you discuss, right, like hiring challenges, some people you can even be like post about hiring challenges one day, something funny one day, something like come up with a little content. It doesn't have to take more than 10 minutes of your morning, like it's not as time consuming, and one of the things I give my clients when they enter my program is a whole packet that has suggestions five minute activities on LinkedIn, 10 minute activities on LinkedIn.

Tina Cella:

You know quick little ways to move the needle. Start commenting on the target companies that you're going after, look at the leadership there and start commenting on their posts and engaging with them and having conversations with them. Try to bring those conversations outside of the actual posts and privates. Like that's how you start really getting people to notice, like having meaningful conversations and making people laugh. Like some of my best posts are a joke.

Tina Cella:

Yeah, you know, like it's somebody said I made a post about this the other day Somebody wants, cause I have a very, you know, peppy personality, right, and so I I've been known to talk a lot, and somebody once said to me you know, you should only talk if you have something important to say. And I'm like well, who, who, just who the hell decides what that is. Though, Like what's important, right, like what's important to you may not be important to me. The reverse Someone might think what I have to say is important, someone might not, but if I impact one person positively, that's enough for me, Right. But I think in general, it's like engaging. Engaging.

Mary Killelea:

See, and I think that's the differentiator, that that helps your brand attract people that want to work with you. Your willingness to take a stance and make that, to me, is the new way to be successful.

Tina Cella:

Yeah, well, I applaud you on that.

Mary Killelea:

So what does to be bolder mean to you?

Tina Cella:

Um. I think it means not asking permission to show up as you are, um, and to follow you know it sounds cliche follow your heart, like. Like, do what you think is right, do what makes you happy. Don't be afraid, um, to reach out, like so many people are afraid to reach out to people in certain ways, like they're so important, like what, how do I matter to them? Or whatever.

Tina Cella:

Own your own, your story, own your value, own your voice. Your voice is your power. And like we have to know that. And like taking a little personal step like I you know I had health issues in my twenties and things like that, right and like it took me a second to find my voice, right, it took me a second to find that. And now that I have, I feel so much more empowered to help others because I I feel like I know, I, who, I know who I am now, and like, but I had to find my voice. So it's like just being comfortable and doing what it takes to find your voice too. Sometimes that means, you know, trying new things, like going outside the box, you know.

Mary Killelea:

I'm such an advocate of that because, like it, I took longer to find my voice, but I found my voice through creating and and and doing this podcast and you know, and having these you know, wonderful, successful women come in and just be as real and authentic and vulnerable was so enlightening to me and then feeling like my voice mattered. It's been a full circle beautiful thing, and so I like to help other people who you know, no matter what age you are, find their voice. So I I I've so aligned to that.

Tina Cella:

And girl like, I think a lot about it with, um, so my, my health struggles I had an eating disorder when I was in my twenties completely recovered and um, I think a lot about how much, how important it is for us to teach our girls to find their voice and to understand that it's. You know, even in today's society, girls, it's too much about what you look like, right, like you, you're allowed to talk, you're allowed to be loud. Sometimes you're like, you know, it's like when a guy I remember being at Sixth Sense and you know like guys would be throwing footballs back and forth, yelling, no one ever said shut up or calm down to them. You know and like, but and even though it was a good culture, you would still see like if a girl was, it was just like a little, it was a different vibe and like, why? Why is that? Yeah, you know, I like to ask those questions and I think we need to be asking those questions and exploring those things together.

Tina Cella:

I'm having conversations like and that's why I love I can see it in you the authentic, the true desire to connect and understands people. Yeah, that's what makes me thrive in life. Like, that's what gets me out of bed every day. Like you know, life's too short and I've experienced that and I, you know, I experienced what it was like to wonder maybe I wouldn't get to live as full of a life as I'd, like you know, and now I'm just so grateful for every opportunity I have to talk to someone like you or to help somebody and just like learn about people, um, and how we can help each other be successful, because, like that's I mean I could like seriously, like that's what makes me happy is being successful with other strong, good human beings, like that's why I love maggie so much, for example well, this is such a beautiful place to to end, um, and I, and I think I guess in closing, I'll ask for you to give words of encouragement to someone who's listening, who's been looking for a job and feeling a little deflated.

Mary Killelea:

What words of encouragement do you have before we go?

Tina Cella:

Yeah, take a moment with yourself and think about your past successes, think about your values, think about what really matters to you and just take a step back for a second. It's okay to do that, like it's okay to take a step back, to take a step forward and then come up with it can be, it, doesn't? You don't need to hire a coach necessarily. Come up with a plan yourself. Use ChatGPT. Hey, chatgpt, give me a job search plan for this week. You know, like, these are my target companies. This is how much I want to do Set goals and create wins for yourself in the week.

Tina Cella:

Because it's not you, that's the biggest thing. I would say. It is not you, it is them for sure, like, totally them. But this is the game we're in and just stop. You stop, don't feel rejected, because you haven't been rejected. It's just a new arena, a new game and you can learn how to play it and be successful in it.

Tina Cella:

But it takes time and that's OK. That's the biggest thing I want people to know. It's OK for it to take time and I know it's stressful. I get it Money, all of that, I understand, understand that.

Tina Cella:

But at the same time, like, do you want a job that you're going to be in the same situation two months, or do you want to find a job you love and a job that's going to uplift you both personally and professionally, and sometimes that takes a little more time. So don't just don't give up. Look in the mirror and remind yourself every day of who you are and keep going. Keep doing it and if you need help, ask for it. There are resources out there tons, including like me. I'm always happy. Any introduction, you know. Reach out to me. I'm always happy to make introductions to anyone I see. If I can, I'm happy to facilitate that. So, yeah, just start having conversations, you know, and you'd be surprised at how many. The job search is very isolating and you'd be surprised at how many people are in your exact same shoes and guess what? We're in your shoes and now have jobs they love.

Mary Killelea:

It has been such a pleasure having you on the show, great to meet you and you gave some wonderful, insightful advice, so thank you for being on the show.

Tina Cella:

Thank you for having me. I really truly appreciate it. It was such a joy to meet you. Thank you for having me. I really truly appreciate it.

Mary Killelea:

It was such a joy to meet you. Thanks for listening to the episode today. It was really fun chatting with my guest. If you liked our show, please like it and share it with your friends. If you want to learn what we're up to, please go check out our website at 2BBouldercom. That's the number two little b bouldercom. That's the number two little b bouldercom.