By Natasha Kenyon, Senior Marketing Operations Executive
To celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th, we asked our female workforce: If you could give all the aspiring men and women out there one piece of career advice - what would it be?
Keep on reading to discover the women of Fresh Relevance’s tips for a fulfilling career.
Perseverance is required throughout a career. From the beginning when you’ve no experience and are being told you need some, to later when you encounter problems that might put you off your chosen path. Self-learning and your own projects will help enormously but resilience and perseverance is essential.
One of the most common bits of advice that women still (!) receive is: Most leaders are male. So if you want to get noticed and promoted, you need to act, walk and talk like a man. I disagree with that. It’s definitely beneficial to be aware of the differences in how man and women tend to communicate, process information and bond. But the key to a good career is being authentic. Because people will sense if you’re trying to act like someone you’re not. So instead of copying the behaviour of others, champion what makes you unique and be you!
Don't limit yourself by thinking you can't do something. Trying new things and practicing all areas of design is the best way to improve your creativity and problem solving skills. There will always be aspects of your designs that don't turn out as you'd hoped, but you can't know what works and what doesn't unless you try.
Juggling becoming a mum and a career is challenging, keep focused on what is most important to you through this time in your life. It is possible to keep your career progressing forward and be a good mum, but there is a balance to be found. Most of all, don’t dwell in the ‘mum guilt’ that comes with trying to keep a career going, or in the ‘self doubt’ that can creep in as your career takes a back step for a while. As children get older, it does get easier, and you can review your priorities at any point - don’t be afraid of a change in direction, if that’s what is needed to keep you happy through this life-changing and exciting time.
Love what you do, do what you love. I couldn’t put it more simply. Be passionate and dream big. The only person stopping you is yourself, so reach as high as you can and remember the possibilities are limitless. You are often put in situations that can be out of your comfort zone, take a deep breath, seize the opportunities that you are presented and approach them with confidence.
Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion even if it’s different to everyone else's. Even if everyone doesn’t agree with you, driving meaningful conversations can lead to much greater development and even greater results. Innovation and creativity don’t come from intellectual complacency, but from collaboration and a willingness to learn from your colleagues and network. Often, great minds think differently.
Make mistakes, don’t be afraid to. Negative experience is most and foremost a way to get to know yourself better. Mistakes are drivers for improvement, and are essential to any future progress. After all, they might work out for the best: Columbus was actually looking for India, talk about wrong calculations.
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