Work In Progress Podcast

WIPp 027 Brittany Ramsey: From Clinical Therapist to Recruiter and Entrepreneur

August 12, 2020 Dana & Angela
Work In Progress Podcast
WIPp 027 Brittany Ramsey: From Clinical Therapist to Recruiter and Entrepreneur
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Resources


✍︎✍︎✍︎
"I owe so much of my career to just really valuing people and connections."
✍︎✍︎✍︎


From Clinical Therapist to Corporate Global Recruiter to Entrepreneur, Brittany's purpose is to use mindset strategies to help others discover their purpose and pivot into meaningful careers. In 2015, she left clinical therapy and she talked to us about what she learned along the way.

As a recruiter, she cannot stress enough the importance of networking "when you don't have to". In graduate school she took a two-week internship at a real estate developer company and when she met the President of Sales while getting coffee in the kitchen, she debated whether she should introduce herself and make a connection. Most people in the same situation would have passed on the opportunity because this was such a short internship in an unrelated field, but she thought, "I have nothing to lose from this. I'm going to talk to him!"

Brittany introduced herself and turned in her resume even though she wasn't expecting to hear back. Years later, while working as a clinical therapist, she got a call and was offered an unexpected role that she had no prior experience in. This is how Brittany got her foot in the door in recruiting. Today, she is a Talent Acquisition Manager at L'Oreal and an entrepreneur.




✍︎✍︎✍︎

We have more interviews on our podcast! Head over there to check out more interesting stories. 






















Music was used with permission. Credit:
Happy by MBB https://soundcloud.com/mbbofficial
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported  — CC BY-SA 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/Happy-MBB
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/g6swHZbWtRc

Brittany :

It is intimidating. Absolutely. I was sitting next to people that were younger than me that had more recruiting experience. But like I said, at the end of the day, instead of comparing age or years, or whatever, I just put my head down and worked hard, and I ended up getting two promotions within a year and a half.

Dana :

You're listening to the work in progress podcast, and we're your hosts, Dana and Angela. We believe your work and career should evolve with you and it is therefore always a work in progress. In this podcast, you will hear stories of people who turn their careers from something that no longer serves them into something that complements who they are and their life goals. The way I like to think about it is that the careers are growing and stretching just like they are. A goal is to inspire you to get out there and to make the changes you want for yourself. Features though. Let's get started. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening, wherever you are. Thank you for stopping by. And welcome back to the working progress podcast. I'm Dana Angela. And we're really excited to be talking to Brittany today. So welcome Brittany to join us in the conversation today. How are you?

Brittany :

I'm well, thank you for having me this morning.

Dana :

Yeah, thank you for talking to us. It's a little bit early. I know we were just just talking about that. But thanks for stopping by. So Brittany was a clinical therapist, and she worked as a recruiter, and now she's an entrepreneur. So we have a lot of questions for you, Brittany. But first of all, I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about yourself and we'll take you from there.

Brittany :

So I will go back in time to after college so I went to Ohio State and I always had had an infatuation for people and behavior and understanding how I can better help others with their path when it comes to mental health. So I ended up you know, following that path, it was either law school or learning how, you know, people and so I chose that path. And so I received my master's, I got into the nonprofit world, and I was a clinical therapist. So basically what that means is I was a mental health counselor, and mainly for adolescents. And I was located in Chicago, so I worked in some very challenging environments that, you know, didn't have the support that they needed emotionally. There was a lot of trauma, substance abuse, and depression and anger. And so I did that for several years. And you know, it's interesting Because I loved it, I really did. I loved helping other people. But there was a lot of complexity. You know, I worked with Department of Child Family Services and attorneys. And it was extremely draining to the point where I found myself getting, you know, physically sick, and mentally, extremely drained. And I kind of hit this wall. And I think everybody might have experienced this before where I spent years in grad school studying, I spent a lot there was a lot of money involved. I graduated with $60,000 in debt, and I was only making $32,000. So you do the math there and living in Chicago, and I looked at my life, and I was like, I don't know how much longer I could do this, even though I've committed, you know, in my mind. So that first step was, you know, toughen. So I went from From this clinical therapy world into really networking my way into the corporate world, and from that, that opportunity presented itself that I could move into the corporate world. And I could work for a president of sales for a huge corporate real estate developer in Chicago. And he said, Look, I really like your background. As a therapist, I need half of a personal assistant and half of a person to build out my team as a recruiter. I've never recruited before. And it was a very difficult decision, but I did it. I jumped into the corporate world and I took off I love building out teams. I loved seeing that I could bring people into a company and then the company then builds itself from a sales perspective. So I love that it was almost like to me this endorphin of every person I hired, I saw the value and I saw the value Not only for the company, but for the person I hired and how excited they were. So I figured this is it, let me just stay on this recruitment path forever, right? And so I went into the recruitment agency world. And, and I worked again my way back into the corporate world of recruitment at L'Oreal, and, again, this opportunity that I thought, and I think to myself, wow, I'm just gonna stay forever, this is exactly what I wanted to do. And then COVID hit, and I realized, I want to help people figure it out, you know, take a snippet of my background as a therapist and move it into this, this coaching world. So I started a side business that grew very, very quickly. And now I'm doing you know, one on one coaching, teaching on general assembly from workshops and helping others so it's a very meandering, you know, career path. But there's been challenges and ups and downs along the way. But I'm grateful that I've been open, you know, to the doors that have kind of continuously opened along the way because I was hyper aware of that. So that's a little bit about me and my background.

Dana :

You've made several transitions, but I feel like you've stayed true to yourself, like what I guess excites you. There's like a theme behind every of the roles that you've taken in the past, and it seems to be centering around helping people. And you also mentioned something that I really liked, which is seeing the value in everyone you hired, makes me really happy to hear that because I also do believe that everybody has values, it's important to find that and develop that. So it really does take a different set of skill set and personality to see that so I really, really appreciate that in you. And so you said that COVID head when you were working at L'Oreal When did you start there?

Brittany :

So I, and again, this is part of my career path I was at. I started as a consultant at L'Oreal in 2017. And then another, you know, side life occurrence, I win my contract ended in New York, I moved back to Ohio for six months. I worked at zulily. And then I came back to New York talk about a wild ride. I moved from New York to Ohio and back to New York City in six months, three times. And yeah, I know and, but what happened was in my mind, I thought, okay, my contracts done I'm, you know, I'm going to move back and be closer to family, but throughout that process, there was something inside of me I just knew I wasn't happy. And so L'Oreal called me back and they said, We have a headcount Now we want you back. And so I went back in 2018. So it's been like a, like a pinball, right. It's like been a back and forth process, which has been very emotionally and draining. But again, I follow just that ultimate like Northstar, and I knew that there was a reason for this. So I've been there since 2018. And I'm actually still there and running my side hustle as an entrepreneur. It's a lot of work. But I think the corporate world has taught me a lot. And it's also kind of created my network, you know, so I'm really grateful for that opportunity to at least still be there. And as an entrepreneur, I'm finding myself daily, honestly, it's continuously kind of, I guess, sprouting these new skills. I never had You know, I was, or I'm a recruiter, but I'm also turning into an email marketer and I'm turning into a social media you know, community manager in a way, I am leading workshops. So now I'm a teacher, I am constantly reinventing myself along the way. And if that piece to me, though, is so valuable, and but you have to be open to it, you know, if you close yourself off and just say, Oh, I can only be a recruiter, or I can only be a coach or I can only do these things. You're going to close off a lot of doors and the moment you your mind that you begin to open and welcome opportunity, push yourself and learn. That to me has kind of just created now a new path for me that I never knew I was going to be an entrepreneur and actually running whole side business had no idea I could even do that. And now I am. So yeah, it's these ups and downs continuously, that you have to be resilient, you know, to keep moving through. Because I think sometimes if you over, do over analyze everything that you're doing in life, sometimes it's going to be very draining, and then you're going to stop. So yeah, that's kind of my motto is to keep that resilience. And that open mind of what you can do.

Dana :

You mentioned that you networked into corporate when you first started working for the president of sales at a company. Talk to me about networking. And you also mentioned that later, so I wanted to kind of know your perspective and how you how you do it. How do you get started even?

Brittany :

Yeah, so my tips for networking, there's two things you have nothing to lose. And so often so many people are worried about what they're going to say or how They're going to show up, and you really have nothing to lose in a conversation with someone, right? If you go and put yourself out there now it's all in a virtual world. back years ago, when we were able to get, you know, in front of each other a little bit more, you know, I was networking in person and I, you have to have that confidence that you're not going to annoy someone. And even if they say no, then that should give you more, you know, fuel to keep trying, because you're going to be told no along the way you're going to be told and what I mean by no is no sorry. You know, I don't have the time or not interested. Right. So that's, to me is the first thing it's that mindset. Go into it with nothing to lose. And then another tip I have is network when you don't always need to network. So often, a lot of people wait Until they need a job, or they wait until they've been laid off. And networking is like anything in life like you can't band in all these relationships and then expect to pick them back up. Networking is there for you at all times and when you use it and when you connect. Networking is about connecting to people. It's not about gaining something, or getting a job. It's truly about a network and all the little dots along the way, create your network. So when you start looking at it, as I'm not networking for something, I'm constantly networking to build who I am in my, my circle, that is the beauty of it. So those are my two tips. But going back to your question, and I wanted to preface with those because it really starts with your mindset of those two things. Once you overcome those, what I've done, and yes how I've landed some answers Like some of my jobs in corporate is because I'm not afraid to have those conversations. So what happened was back in grad school I attempt because I'm, I'm all about any opportunity I can get to get my foot in the door. I'm taking it. So, in grad school, I worked a lot of side jobs to, you know, I was going to school, I nannied, I did research at DePaul. I then also tempt and a corporate setting, which was this. It's a huge real estate developer. And I'm like, Oh, this is a really cool opportunity. A lot of people would have turned it down. It was only two weeks and they needed someone to, I think do like admin work and cover someone. And again, I think most people would have been like, why would you take a two week job, but I'm like, this is an opportunity for me to be in an office with corporate executives. I'm taking It. So and again, don't forget, I was still in grad school for being a therapist at the time. So it made no sense. It really didn't. But I was in the kitchen, and I was getting coffee. And so I always tell everybody, like, I owe my coffee drinking habit to so much because I'm always like, always getting coffee. And I was in the kitchen and I ran into the President of Sales again, who is an executive and I'm a nobody. I'm a two week temp. And what did I do? Again, I had that mindset, I have nothing to lose, I have nothing to gain from this. I'm going to talk to him. So I introduced myself and I told him I was in grad school for you know, being a therapist. And he thought it was fascinating. And you know what he asked for my resume, and that was it. But then I got a call a long time later, which is when I again I became the therapist. I was a nonprofit and I got an email from him and said, Hey, I know I'm going to help build up my team, I was really impressed with you. So that just exactly that goes to show that there's these moments in our life, that if you think of it as a seed, continue to plant like your seed in who you are all over, because it will come back and grow in so many ways that you never thought. So for me if I wouldn't have, most people would have, like I said, Never even said hi to someone at that caliber, let alone introduce themselves. And so you have to take that risk. And you have to just look at it as we're all people. And I just wanted to connect with him and introduce myself. So that's my story of how I got into, you know, the corporate world through coffee.

Angela :

That's so wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing that I think. I guess I kind of personally have something quite similar not maybe not to the level You know, talking to an executive and then getting calls, like, months later about an opportunity, but something quite similar. But I do want to kind of bring us back to your, you know, your, I guess, first entry into the corporate world or as a recruiter, because I think that's definitely a lot of people's career paths or what they're starting off doing. And I guess what I'm most curious about is, it just sounds so different than what you were trained to do as a clinical therapist. And I think a lot of the times when people are, you know, faced with an opportunity or even just the thought of doing something they've never ever done before, they kind of just freeze and they don't think they can do it. Did you have that kind of problem internally or maybe you were able to kind of train your mind to not be you know, so intimidated by like the the idea of doing something that you don't have experienced or don't have a degree for and then you just went for it. How did you overcome that if you had to talk to at all

Brittany :

what I You're right, it starts again with this mindset of being confident in your strengths. And I knew my strength was going back to Dana, I think it's what you said in the beginning about being perceptive. I really do feel one of my strengths is I am able to listen and assess other people. So that translates in a lot of different ways. I'm able to assess people from, you know, a mental health capacity, right, I'm able to diagnose, but then I'm also able to assess someone and understand their talent and how they could fit into a greater company. So but at the bottom of that, that strength to me is just about empathy and listening and being able to see someone for all that they can bring to a you know, whether it's a company or all that they can bring in their life. That's what I focused on. And you're right. I didn't have the skills Didn't know what went into recruiting their systems involved. There's the goshi ating. I didn't have any negotiating skills. It's fast paced. It's challenging because you, if you make a bad hire, that doesn't sit well with a company, you know. So there was a lot of things I had to learn quickly. But like I said, I had this underlying factor, and I encourage others to see that in themselves too, is that, you know, you might not have the A, B and C bullet points of the job that you want to move into. But I guarantee you have some type of strength or transferable skill underlying, and you need to leverage that. And you need to capitalize on that because the moment you allow yourself to say, Well, I don't have XYZ, then you're going to continue to go down that path. You're going to continue to focus on all the things you don't have and then you're going to take your Eyes off what you do? And so to me, I always focused on how do I leverage 80% of my strength with that, maybe 20% of learning opportunity that is a weakness. You know, those are areas that I need to improve on. But I'm going to always come back to my strengths. So I hope that's helpful for like you and others to realize that, you know, there's so much in all of us that we that we have, but so often we focus on the things that we don't. So that's what I want to encourage people that are looking to transition to really hone in on those skills.

Dana :

When you first started working in recruiting, were you worried that because you didn't come from recruiting? Were you worried about that or nervous when you first started?

Brittany :

I think I was so interested in figuring out recruiting itself that I just jumped in and learn to extremely fast and I didn't have time to think about, you know that I wasn't a recruiter. But you're right. I didn't kidding. I mean, this is the intimidating part. I in a very few short years, I went from being a clinical therapist being in a corporate setting into an agency agencies at any capacity, whether you're on a brand or digital side or recruiting agencies are extremely competitive. You are on commission, you are talking to people non stop. There's no time to sit and sulk and say, Well, I'm not a recruiter. I didn't have time I literally I got in there and it's sink or swim. So I, I either could go into that recruiting agency and work insanely hard, which is what I did, or I could have taken a step back and been overwhelmed and come prepared myself and felt fearful of that, you know, you can take those two paths. I chose the opposite. I chose that I'm going to keep going, I'm going to learn really quickly and I'm going to swim because I refused, you know, to fail. So it is intimidating. Absolutely. I was sitting next to people that were younger than me that had more recruiting experience. But like I said, at the end of the day, instead of comparing age or years or whatever, I just kind of put my head down and worked hard and I ended up getting two promotions within a year and a half. So, you know, I for others out there that are worried about comparison when you shift. Again, it's really about keeping your eyes on your path and not being so caught up in that comparison.

Angela :

Yeah, and when you first started working as a recruiter, Obviously, for sure you worked really, really hard. And, you know, how you got there was through recruiting? Did you find any value in kind of, you know, also obviously making friends with your colleagues and trying to learn from them. And then, you know, like networking with other recruiter peers at the time to learn how they were able to kind of like, you know, craft their skills and you know, be really good at what they did.

Brittany :

Absolutely, yeah. So, there's, I always say my advice is this fine line of inspiration versus comparison. And so what I just talked about was that comparison trap, that you don't want to go down in the sense of, you know, comparing every little detail However, you do have to learn and be inspired. So yes, I would sit next to, you know, our president of recruitment and learn from her and how and how she talked to candidates and I was hyper aware of what worked and what didn't And then I took that information and applied it to myself and my strengths. So that's super important is to learn from others, of course, as you're transitioning into a new career or job and, and then take those bits of information and work them into like I said, you know, how can you be different you know, you don't have to be the same marketing manager as that person or you don't have to be the same product developer as this other person. You can create and cultivate your own kind of, you know, persona in itself. But along the way, I will say, going back to your point about like this network and friendship. I actually I was reading recently did a post on this the other day about your seven times more likely to stay in a career path. If you feel like a sense of belonging, and so I do think that's so important along the way, you know, there's, again, this balance of keeping your eyes on your own path, but then being open to just connecting to people. And I owe so much of my career to just really valuing people and connection and because that sense of belonging to me comes from those friendships and learning and people. And I value that I really value that I learned from others. And to me, like, so much of my career, I still stay in touch with people from many years ago, because I value that you know, and so, you're right. I think along the way, I continued to just automate my network to make sure that not only I'm learning, but I'm just keeping those relationships and those are valuable for for the future.

Dana :

Yeah, it's not Just about forging new relationships but also about maintaining the ones you have. That's very, very important. Yes. I'm very curious. So how did you get into coaching?

Brittany :

So, what happened was, I, I've always been obviously a motivational person. And in the midst of my career as well, side note, I've been a fitness instructor for close to and I started not currently I'm not doing this because I unfortunately don't have the time balancing that company and another job but I always had this you know, inspirational, I guess presence and so yes, for many years through grad school and onward, I was a fitness instructor. And you know, that takes a certain kind of coaching and presence, right. That's kind of a part of who I am and it shows up in everything. I Do so what what happened was during when COVID hit, a lot of people came to me and said, I don't know, like I said, I'm feeling lost. It was it was more even about not even finding a job but also figuring, like their lifestyle. And it was a continual trend for a month, like so many people were reaching out to me and I was like, why don't I turn this into something, you know, how I have all this knowledge of how to hire how to get a job, how to navigate a corporate setting, how to land an opportunity. And I I'm a trained therapist, it's a very, you know, it's, it's, it's a unique combination of traits, you know? And so I kind of thought about it and decided to just start I'm start coaching others and really, you know, with my Master's in clinical counseling, I've obviously had a lot of experience studying people and understanding motivators and empathy. And then like I said, I have this whole other corporate experience. So, yeah, so I started my own side company, and it's grown, you know, significantly because of that authentic experience that I don't think not a lot of coaches might have had. So, um, and then it's through referrals. I mean, because of my work that truly connects to people because I approach a career with mindset and purpose. And then the career strategy. It's unique. It's not, I don't think everybody's, you know, initial thought when you're thinking of, hey, let me find a job. And so, me as a coach has just emerged and revealed it You know, through through that process. So it's been really exciting. And I'm excited to see how else it's going to grow.

Dana :

Yeah. And when you said people approached you with questions, how are they approaching you?

Brittany :

Yeah, I mean, they anything from LinkedIn, I get a lot. I have like 11,000 followers on or connections on LinkedIn. And so my inbox was just so many people reaching out. I would get some, you know, friends of friends would get my Texas or emails. And then that like I said, I was like, this is an opportunity for me to say more than just helping one person. And then that's when I started my Instagram, my blog, I started workshops. And that's when it truly grew exponentially from workshops and Instagram and then on LinkedIn, I, you know, post blogs. So, this information is getting out there. And then you know, people are reaching out that by

Dana :

what is the number one thing your coaching clients struggle with?

Brittany :

I will say two things. The first is this level of competence and mindset. And it can be mindset to me can absolutely close you off from your capabilities if you allow it to. And so often when I start working with people, I start working on your internal, like value strengths and purpose first, because so many people are, like I said, very scared to take that first step or unsure, but they're completely capable. They just are nervous about it, and then they get in their head. So I work a lot on that internal work and mindset. First, because that's a common theme. So that's probably the first main thing that I see constantly in all my clients. And then the second piece, the most common is truly this networking piece right now, because we are in a very competitive job market. There's millions and millions of people right now that are looking for jobs. And then from an applicant setting, there's hundreds and hundreds of very viable talented candidates. So you're going up against what could be another hundred people that have very similar experience as you so how do you stand out? So a lot of people are overwhelmed in that way. You know, how, how do I stand out? How do I network in a virtual world because like I said, You can't just bump into someone getting coffee anymore, unfortunately. So there's a lot more obstacles right now to figure that out. And so those are Kind of the two main themes that I find constantly emerging and I really work with people on that.

Dana :

Yeah. And tell me how was it? I mean, how is it right now that you're working but you also have a side hustle? How do you balance that and do talk to your co workers about it?

Brittany :

It's it's a lot I, I work a lot and um, I guess for right now, I'm trying to balance not burning out, but it is an extreme passion of mine. So a lot of my co workers do No, I have like a side business. And at L'Oreal, a lot of people. There's a lot of marketers that have side businesses too, right. They freelance or they're bloggers, they're influencers. I think we live in a world where people just have side hustles and multiple businesses. And sometimes the more I talk to people at work, I find out that they also have some other side businesses whether it's like owning You know what pizza shop or like something on the side. It's fascinating. So I'm going back to your question about balance. Hi. It's not easy, but I think because I'm so beyond passionate about the work I'm doing. It doesn't feel like work. Honestly, like it really does. And I do work a lot. I work on weekends, I work during nights. Organization helps I work with a business coach as well. She helps me organize my week so that when I'm working for L'Oreal, I'm present and I'm working hard, but then when I'm working with my clients and my side business, I'm also working hard. So you know, it's about Yes, organization and coaching and all of that, and just trying to be aware, I have to listen to my body. I think there's certain nights where I am like, I can't move. You know, I need a minute and I take it And so I think that's important is to like, Listen to yourself, but, but I love what I do. And I just, I, I like the work, you know.

Dana :

Yeah, that sounds like a lot of work because it's not just I mean, on top of the 40 hours, you also have to write or blog or do a bunch of other things and those things take a lot of time. So it's not easy.

Brittany :

No, it isn't. It's a lot of late nights and weekends, like I said, but But honestly, because of COVID I think a lot of people have had a little you know, like, it's, I was supposed to travel a lot more and now I'm not, I'm not commuting, things like that, right. So I capitalize on those times. I try to not watch like a lot of TV and but I also balanced it out, you know, with Like I still value family and friends like I'm not a type of person that as you can tell I talk a lot and I still value like friends and family so much in my life it's not like I'm heads down working you know 20 or like 15 hour days and not talking to you know anybody else so yeah, I you just kind of make it work right for for the time being and you take a day by day and see what happens.

Angela :

I love what you said earlier about, you know, like try not to network when you have to so you kind of have to make that into your habit have always been networking. Do you have any tips or advice or like any kind of a, you know, three factor or three step kind of process for people or you know, who are listening and our listeners to always be ready to network for those like, almost water cooler but coffee time, kitchen, work kind of conversation. I think a lot of the times, especially I work, I feel a little conscious if I'm trying to network as I don't want to come across as being a little overboard, because you're at work. So technically you already have a job there. And you know, but you kind of want to balance out the desire to like, learn and get to know people and kind of like, let your skill set and your I guess your work shine at work settings. Well, yeah, I don't know what your advice is for them.

Brittany :

Yeah. So I mean, I think there's a few different parts here is you have your own in, in company, like where you're at now, right? You can network at your own company. And then there's a second piece of external networking. So if we're going to talk first about this internal networking piece, like you said, Oh, I don't want it to take away from my job or whatever. But I think actually a lot of companies value that because this is what happens. And I work with a lot of people on just moving their own career at their own company. Because if you say you're in on one team, and you're working really, really hard, and that team of 10 people know you, but there's also how many other people in your company that have no idea, you know that you're a hard worker that you have the strengths and these values, and maybe there's an opportunity, you know, one day down the line for you to transition and be on 13. But if you don't make those connections, how will they know? How will you stand out? And so, I think a lot of people don't network within their own company, but you absolutely should. Because that if anything, that's the common denominator, and it's easier to network with, you know, within your own company. So, I always approach it in a way of, I really want to learn more exactly. You know about what you're doing, how you do it, and learn about your you know, career path because everybody Has, especially nowadays everybody has such a cool career path. If you just ask I guarantee people are so excited to tell you about it. So that's my first tidbit for like internal networking do like, absolutely do it and capitalize on it. Because then also, if one of those people that you've networked with, has left the company, now your network is expanding, right? So continue to think about that is those like I said, Those seedlings, those little dots along the way, continue to make sense. So keep that in mind. And for those that don't have a job right now, and are kind of overwhelmed with where to network externally. I always suggest, in a way like, Don't conquer don't feel like you have to conquer the world through networking all at once. Take your time, do your research, really look into companies. And as you look into companies on LinkedIn, I mean, this is a perfect place to go, you will start to find certain connections and certain themes and you might click on someone that wow, they went, you know, went to your college, or they know someone that knows someone. It's actually a really cool exercise. And I challenge someone to do is, like I said, just start going down a rabbit hole of clicking on people and learning about their trajectories. And before you know it, you will probably come across someone that you have some type of common denominator with. And those are the people that you want to network with. You want to start there, you want to start with people that you can say, Hey, we went to the same school like I went to Ohio State. Honestly, most people that who's ever listening to this, anyone that went to big 10 I'm all about it. I'm like, great. That's so cool. Would love to help Connect or for you, if it's not a college? What is it? Is it that you guys both have some type of, you know, certificate from General Assembly? Or is it that you both worked at some type of agency years ago? Find the common denominator, that is where you want to leverage on because if you do just go with this cold calling, hi. I really want to work at your company kind of approach. I'll be transparent. It doesn't necessarily work. So keep that in mind.

Dana :

Yeah, actually, you brought up a good point. I really like that you said that network based on maybe your school or something? That's a really good idea. I honestly have never thought about that. I think that if I go like in that perspective, or use that as a way to network, I'm gonna be way less awkward when in network.

Brittany :

Right, right. Do you have something authentic to talk about and when exactly and again, whether it's grad school or on undergrad. It's such a common denominator that as we know, most people are super excited to connect with someone from college or an alum because you have that you get it, you know, you get where you went to school and that connection. So definitely utilize that.

Dana :

Do you have any other tips like that? That's awesome.

Brittany :

I have many, many tips in my toolbox, but I always suggest that one and like I said, then if it's not alumni, then think to yourself, switch it around. If someone messaged you with a comment nominator what would that be? And then utilize that right so for me like I said it would be Ohio State, or for me It might be something about my background, right? Like I maybe it's a volunteer because I have a lot of things on my LinkedIn about volunteering. So I'm a big like pet rescue. Again, pre COVID, I would love to help certain organizations in New York City with pet rescue. So maybe again, it's that common denominator with some someone's reaching out to me with a common theme. And it's almost like, Look, I'm not on dating apps, but it's like that, right? What What is connecting people and it find that, so it's kind of a challenging exercise sometimes. But you really, once you find it, it clicks and it makes sense. And then your likelihood of connecting with someone is going to be much higher than just like I said, a cold call reach out of, hey, you work here would like to learn more?

Dana :

Yeah, absolutely. And do you have any tips or I guess, advice for developing a career during COVID?

Brittany :

Yeah, there's a I did a whole workshop on this for an hour. I'll try to condense it and I like it. It says balance of, you're going to have to get over your mind in a way of trying to not make it that you're the only one, a lot of people have lost their jobs. A lot of people are in a situation that is not the best with COVID. So, get over that in your head, you have to work through those mindset. You know, things that hold you back and you have to shift, it's called a mindset shift, you have to start there. And then you know, with COVID, I would say it's continuously. I always say spend more time if you're looking for a job right now spend more time as much as you can. I'm trying to have more conversations versus more applications. And I can't emphasize that enough. A lot of people get really bogged down by the numbers of Okay, I'm going to apply to 40 jobs. I'm going to apply to 30 and then what happens if you don't hear? It's very difficult to sit with, right? You're sitting with? I'm not good enough. Why did why are they not calling me back? I was perfect for that job. I actually have a client that this individual was so focused that they didn't hear back from a company that they thought they were perfect for. And I agree, I said, you know, yes, you are really good for that job. But so are another 200 people, right? So instead of spending more time on those applications, and getting bogged down by that continue to be resilient, and continue to try to have conversations with people to expand that network, because, you know, the moment like I said, you stop and you really go down that spiral and ruminate on all the negative happening around you. It's going to be very tough. My last tip is celebrate small wins. And this seems kind of silly, but I work with my clients on this, that repetition Writing down small wins along the way. And it literally could be like, I got a response from someone for, you know, a recruiter or networking, or I got an email back about a job or something, it could even be as small as you updated your resume for the day. These are really small wins that you might overlook. But look along the way, a small win plus a small win all along the way are going to add up to be a really, really big one. And at the end of say, a month, you're going to look back in your notebook or wherever you've written them down. I have a whiteboard, and you're going to smile and be really proud. So remember that it's not an easy linear trajectory forward in your job search at all. There's going to be ups and downs. So remember those small wins along the way.

Dana :

Yeah, thank you. You You have a lot of good advice in this area. Um, so if people want to learn more about your coaching business, or your advice, where can they find you?

Brittany :

Yes. So honestly, I'm very accessible on LinkedIn. And that's where I post a lot of my workshops that I leave like I said through General Assembly or my own so make sure to connect with me you know, it's it's Ramzi on LinkedIn. And I post a lot on there so you can easily connect with me there. And then also on Instagram is where I have my you can find me at be well underscore mindset. And this is where I post a lot of job tips or mindset tips. I really talk about how to drastically shift your career with like I said, different themes that I continuously post about. So that's kind of where you can find a little bit more on on the blog, side and inspiration. side. But yeah, I'm excited to connect with you all and, you know, feel free to DM me I'm very accessible, or message me on LinkedIn.

Dana :

Right. Thank you. I think that's about it in terms of our questions. So Brittany, thank you so much for stopping by. It was such a good conversation I learned so much from you, especially about the networking tip. Maybe now I'm gonna be not awkward.

Brittany :

Thank you. I'm so glad it's helpful, and thanks for allowing me to tell my story and hopefully, you know, help others along the way as well. I appreciate both of you for having me today.

Dana :

Yeah. Okay. Well, I thank you so much for your time.

Brittany :

Thank you both. It was nice virtually meeting you.

Angela :

Thank you.

Dana :

Thank you.

Introduction
Brittany's Core Values
How Brittany networked into a career in which she had no experience in
How Brittany started coaching
Brittany's advice on networking
Brittany's tip on networking
Where to find Brittany online