From Corporate Marketer to Own Business

From Corporate Marketer to Own Business Success Story > From: Job To: Freelance From Corporate Marketer to Own Business “I had to fight with my 'rational' side that raised concerns about leaving a great job and salary behind for an uncertain future.” * From Corporate Marketer to Own Business Anna Lundberg had squeezed all the juice from her full-time marketing job and knew it was time to move on. In an all-or-nothing move, she took a long-desired sabbatical, started her own business, and moved to a new country. Sound too good to be true? This is how she did it. What work were you doing previously? My first job after finishing my master's degree was in marketing at Procter Gamble in Geneva, Switzerland, where I stayed for seven years. I started in 'traditional' marketing in the perfume department and gradually took on more responsibilities in digital marketing specifically. I eventually headed up digital across the Prestige beauty organisation, as well as consulting on other mainstream brands. What are you doing now? I've started my own business, providing digital marketing consulting to brands and agencies, and I'm also a freelance writer. The main difference comes with the freedom of running my own show, the variety of working with different businesses, and the flexibility to work on other projects. I'm dedicating more time to my writing, both blogging personally and for the business. Why did you change? In the seven years I was working at Procter Gamble, I'd had a good range of roles, from design through to business delivery and finally digital marketing. I thrive on new challenges, continuous learning, and new environments, so there was an overall sense that it was time to move on. I had also ended up at PG 'accidentally'. I had studied international relations and development. Initially I had in fact been aiming for a role at the UN or at an NGO, and now I wanted to make a more intentional career move. On a personal level, I'd been in Geneva for nine years, and although I loved it, it's a small city. Many of my friends had either married and settled down in the suburbs, or left Switzerland altogether. When was the moment you decided to make the change? I had been thinking about leaving for a long time, half-heartedly sending off a few job applications now and then. I had also been talking about taking a sabbatical and travelling to South America, again not really taking any action. After a lunch with a colleague that left me convinced that I should do something to realise my plans, I resolved to ask my boss for a sabbatical. She said yes immediately, and off I went, having the most amazing time. Halfway through the trip, my boss contacted me about possible assignments for my return. This was a critical moment. I knew that if I came back to another role in Geneva, I would again get comfortable and stay on for another few years. After a lot of soul searching, and discussions with family and friends, I finally handed in my resignation. Are you happy with the change? Absolutely! As soon as I had made the decision, I felt relieved, empowered, and inspired to make things happen. Deep down, I had known it was right all along, but I had to fight with my 'rational' side that raised concerns about leaving a great job and salary behind for an uncertain future. I love consulting. It means that I get to work with a range of clients with different objectives and challenges. I'm applying what I already know while also learning about new businesses, and how to run my own business. It's also opened doors to other opportunities, such as providing mentoring to start-ups and running trainings for different organisations. Throughout all this, I have the flexibility to manage my own time, to focus more on my writing, and to spend more quality time with family and friends. What do you miss and what don't you miss? I miss my colleagues, the big off-sites and Christmas parties! I don't miss the competitive atmosphere that is inherent in a company that ranks its employees against each other, and I don't miss the rigid Monday to Friday schedule. How did you go about making the shift? It didn't happen overnight. When I returned to Geneva from South America, I had to arrange for all my things to be shipped to England, which I would use as my base until I knew where I wanted to go next. Even then, I was thinking about what my next step should be: I went to job interviews set up by recruiters, I planned a trip across south-east Asia, I considered taking a whole year to focus just on my writing… I made small decisions along the way, and after about six months I had created my current set-up of consulting and freelance writing. How did you handle your finances to make your change possible? I was lucky to have had a well-paid job in Geneva and, although the cost of living is also high, I had sufficient savings that I knew I could manage for a year or more without any income if necessary. What was the most difficult thing about changing? It was all psychological â€" the comfort in maintaining the status quo, being surrounded by people like me, not knowing what was out there. Taking the sabbatical was a huge help, in moving me one small step in the direction I wanted to go and making the final leap much easier. What help did you get? Since I made the decision, friends and family have been incredibly supportive. My sister and brother in-law have given me invaluable advice on working freelance, sending invoices, and managing the accounts for a limited company. I've also discovered a large support network of friends and former colleagues. They have cheered me on as well providing useful contacts and ideas. What have you learnt in the process? I've learned to trust myself, my own decisions. In the past, I've tended to look to others for reassurance and confirmation that I was making the right choice. In the last year or so though, I've made big decisions that have come from my own intuition, and with each decision, I've become more confident in my own path. What do you wish you'd done differently? I don't think it's useful to question how I acted in the past, why I didn't make certain decisions sooner, or why I ended up on a particular track in the first place. I made choices based on who I was, and how I was feeling, then and there. Sometimes you need time for ideas to mature in your mind, to get your head around a particular change, and to prepare yourself psychologically. Everything I've done has led to where I am now, so I really can't complain! What would you advise others to do in the same situation? Do it, whatever it is! If you've been thinking about the change for a long time, you obviously have the passion and the determination to make a go of it. You can do things to make the shift easier. Cut down on your spending to save a buffer of six-twelve months, talk to people who are doing whatever it is you want to do, find out if you need a particular skill or qualification. Then make the change! You'll only regret it if you don't try. Worst case, you'll always find another job. What resources would you recommend to others? I love to read, and I've devoured books like The Escape Manifesto, How to Find Fulfilling Work, The 4-Hour Work Week, The Art of the Non-Conformist Life… all with corresponding resources online. I also encourage you to read success stories, like this one on Careershifters, as it really is a huge boost to see that others have gone through the same doubts and come out at the other end. With that in mind, try to meet people from other walks of life, people who aren't in the same corporate culture and mindset. Go to events, go travelling, go out and 'find your tribe'. Eventually, though, you need to stop making excuses and just do it! YoucanfindoutmoreaboutAnna's business at CrocusCommunications.com What lessons could you take from Anna's story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.

Blamestorming Other Telling Signs Your Organization is Siloed Marla Gottschalk

Blamestorming Other Telling Signs Your Organization is Siloed Marla Gottschalk Photo by Jim Witkowski on Unsplash I speak with organizations who have every intention of being collaborative. However, their collective actions tell a very different story. They envision functioning as a seamless, multi-functional entity â€" working in concert to satisfy clients and achieve organizational goals. But in reality, this is quite difficult to accomplish. Unfortunately there are obvious, telling signs that they have missed the mark. By and large, silos develop within organizations to protect valued resources. This is often fear-based â€" and building these proverbial walls can become the kiss of death for any organization that intends to remain agile. Wed all like to think of our organizations is immune to this condition. However, it is easy to slip into protective mode. In some cases, weve acquiesced into a silo-ed state without recognizing the malaise. Here are a few signs: Lack of a consistent constructive cross-functional conversation. Lets be brutally honest â€" there really isnt a lot of communication going on cross-functionally. Your customer/client process doesnt really dovetail with other functional groups and sadly, no one seems to be alarmed that this integral step is absent. Customers are no longer central to the conversation. Your teams are so busy putting out fires and keeping up with demands, that your clients are no longer central. When the tail (the acute issues) starts wagging the dog (being longer-term smart), its time to slow down and take another look. You are unsure what other functions are really doing. Processes and procedures can evolve quickly. You can lose site of the roles that others play in the larger scheme. As result, your team really doesnt have a grasp on how to effectively interface with other parts of the business. Rampant blame-storming. Joint ownership of processes and procedures is non-existent. If issues seem to be more like hot potatoes of blame than a call to arms to improve â€" take this an ominous warning. If everyone seems to point a finger, yet no one is venturing to say we take responsibility, you may have a real problem. Separate cultural identities. If each functional group is more akin to an independent pop up shop, take note. You might blame each other for the current problems or snafu, but its really the lack of shared vision thats the offender. Time to re-group and get on the same page. Things are portrayed as a zero sum game. If your group seems to feel that if they give up responsibility of tasks (even if tasks are best moved to another team), your organizational presence would be minimized. Scope of work should be assigned to the group best able to deliver the end-product of the highest quality. Youve given up trying to become a better organization. Many siloed organizations arent happy with the status quo â€" yet their employees feel that effort to change the dynamic would be fruitless. If you are so frustrated that you feel things cannot be improved, this is a telling sign that your group needs help. Have you seen this operating in your organization? What did you do? Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist who starts conversations about work life core stability. She also writes as an Influencer at LinkedIn.

7 Ways to Use Your Long Commute Time Productively - Classy Career Girl

7 Ways to Use Your Long Commute Time Productively In a jet-set world where you’re constantly wishing you had more than 24 hours in a day, certain daily activities simply challenge our patience. Like buffering on a super short Facebook video, and commuting to and from your workplace. Both make us helplessly watch precious minutes from our life waste away.   While the former is not really in your control if you aren’t Mark Zuckerberg, there are lots of ways in which you can make the latter situation better. If you wake up in the morning all fresh and energized and, with some help from that motivational podcast, pumped to take on the day, only to find your energy and sense of productivity lagging because you have to endure an hour long (or longer for some) journey before you can even start working, listen up! You can make those hours productive too. Here’s how: 7 Ways to Use Your Long Commute Time Productively 1. Look into Carpooling or Using Public Transportation This might sound counter-productive to saving time instead of driving to work by yourself, but those extra few minutes spent on carpooling actually helps you utilize the whole chunk of commuting time better for the productive hacks mentioned here. Plus, you get to network with people from different fields and contribute to the environment by saving fuel. Use apps like Waze Carpool and Uber pool for a hassle-free service. 2. Use The Time to Sort Out Your Thoughts Usually, our mornings are a blur of rushed activities. Getting dressed, getting the kids dressed, meal prep, etc. â€" there’s hardly any time to pause and breathe. Use the time spent commuting to gather your scattered thoughts so you can start the day with a centralized focus. You can also plan out minute details regarding the project you’ve been working on, or any hustle you might be engaged in (shout out to the over-achieving go-getters of the world!). Take the time to deliberate about things often helps create solutions to complicated problems you might be dealing with for some time. 3. Plan The Day Ahead With your thoughts and ideas sorted (or if you’re already the sorted-out type), you can now move on to plan the day before you start it. Almost all successful people in this world start their day with a clear plan in mind and on their workbooks because it helps them get more done within the day. Isn’t that what’s productivity all about? Doing this on the commute helps you get straight to work when you reach the office. Use apps like Evernote to make to-do lists and to keep journals. You can also use its voice note option to dictate your tasks into it if you’re driving or riding. [RELATED: 36 Life-Changing Productivity Hacks to Streamline Your Life] 4. Listen to Self-Improvement Podcasts and Audiobooks It’s ideal to start a day on a positive note to get the maximum productivity out of yourself. If you haven’t already done this after waking up in the morning, now is a good time. Listening to audiobooks is, of course, not the only option for people walking, driving, or riding to work. However, drivers should be extra cautious even when listening to audiobooks. 5. Preplan the Phone Calls That You Can Make During Your Commute Get casual and regular phone calls to friends and family out of the way during this time of the day. It will be a task off the to-do list for the day, however insignificant it might be. You can also set up a telephonic meeting at this time, but make sure you’re not in a very noisy place. 6. Schedule an Online Course Take your commuting productivity to the next level by taking an online course. However, this only works for those who spend a good amount of uninterrupted time on the move, because you really need to be attentive or you won’t learn anything at all. Taking a half-hour class each day for a month can teach you a new skill! 7. Learn a New Language If an online course sounds too ambitious to you, learning a language is a much simpler alternative. Knowing more than one language is, for many jobs, important and helpful if you’re a travel junkie (which most of us seem to be these days). Duolingo is a very efficient app that takes you from zero to sixty in simple and easy-to-master techniques. Alternatively, you can also use this time to do things that make you feel guilty of doing because they eat into your work hours, like social media or makeup tutorials by your favorite Youtuber. Remember, time is valuable only when you add value to it.

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How Your Dad Influenced Your Career

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese How Your Dad Influenced Your Career Tomorrow on my Blog Talk Radio show, I'm going to interview Dr. Stephan Poulter, who I wrote about last week regarding his take on how mothers influence us in both our private and professional lives.I thought it might be helpful to also look at a story I did with Poulter a couple of years ago, when he wrote about how fathers influence us in our careers. In his book, The Father Factor: How Your Fathers Legacy Impacts Your Career, Poulter says there are five kinds of fathering styles that create the father factor. Those are: Superachieving: Its all about looking good. The fathers work really hard, and they have kids that are very responsible and very driven, Poulter says. But theres also the shame factor children of these fathers never feel good enough. Time bomb: This dad is often alcoholic or very volatile and heavy-handed, Poulter says. The kids learn early on how to read people in order to survive. As workers, these people often avoid conflict, yelling and expressing any degree of anger or frustration, emotional tension or dealing with unresolved conflict in the workplace. These workers often have a lot of anxiety, and suffer from low self-esteem on the job. Passive: This father showed his love through his actions. He was very responsible and stable, but lacked courage and motivation, Poulter says. As a result, these children become workers who are emotionally distant, which is difficult in todays labor force where employees may change jobs or careers many times, and need to be able to connect with people again and again. These are the kinds of kids who grew up with a father that was asleep on the couch and theyd say, Is he asleep or is he dead? It was hard to tell because he was so passive. As a result, in the workplace these people have a hard time relating to other males. Absent: This is the father who is not involved in a childs life, Poulter says. When the first man we love leaves our lives, it often produces an angry or aloof employee in the workplace. He stresses that a fathers death is a loss, but his involuntary departure versus a voluntary exit creates a different effect on children. Absent fathering from indifference to physical abandonment will lead to a coping with profound sadness or to anger issues such as violence, criminal behavior and white collar crime. Compassionate mentor. This is where we all want to be, what we should all work toward, Poulter says. These fathers help a child find a roadmap and help center them. In the workplace, these are the children that grow up to motivate people around them, and empower others, as they were as children.del.icio.us

High School Writing a Resume

High School Writing a ResumeIn high school, you were a student in class, a student in the classroom, and it is very important to know what kind of student you are. It's always a good idea to know if you have the right attitude, and there are ways to determine that, such as your writing a resume. Remember, this is a life-long process, and the best way to learn about yourself is by writing a resume.When it comes to writing a high school writing a resume, there are certain factors to keep in mind. These factors include, what kind of student you are, what you want to achieve in the future, and what kind of educational background you may have.If you want to get ahead in life, you will want to make sure that you take advantage of all of the personal growth opportunities that are available to you. Of course, your strengths will help you get that direction. If you have the skills, you can go to college or go to an advanced school, or even find your way into the work force. Your talents will assist you in the course of your education.When it comes to writing a high school writing a resume, you should be sure that you talk about your talents, your abilities, and that you do not leave anything out. When you write a resume, the more you list, the better, because employers will know that you're interested in getting out into the world, and your goals are to move forward. You will want to make sure that you take advantage of any opportunities that you have and that you take the time to learn everything that you can.When it comes to writing a high school writing a resume, there are many things that you should include in your curriculum vitae. You should look at the general things that you have done in the past, the things that you've accomplished and you should take the time to elaborate on those things.In addition to showing your talents, a high school writing a resume should also be focused on you and your goals. You should write about the highlights of your life, your acco mplishments, and also talk about your future, how it is going to change. That is how you'll come across as being very ambitious, and you should be aware of that.You should be aware of the professional way that you conduct yourself, how you prepare for things, and you should also be aware of what kind of personality you have when it comes to talking about your dreams and career goals. The best advice is always to write your resume without any hesitation, but you should also be prepared to write a resume with confidence.If you are looking for a way to begin building your future, a high school writing a resume can be the answer. You should do whatever you can to make sure that you present yourself as a person who has an interest in moving ahead. No matter what kind of high school writing a resume you need to write, you should take a step back and focus on yourself, what you want to achieve, and how you want to get there.

Two Crucial Things You Need To Set Up Your Home Office

Two Crucial Things You Need To Set Up Your Home Office When working from home it is always best to have a designated workspace so you are comfortable and have quite surroundings to get your work done. When setting up your workspace there are a couple of things you should have and set up to make sure you are comfortable when working. Here are two items to get your office setup for comfortability to help you work as hard as possible. A Suitable Desk A crucial part of your office will be getting the right desk. You need to decide on how big a desk you will need based on what you will put on it and also how long you will be working at that desk. There are desks out there that you can use for standing so if you have been sat to long you can move the desk up to allow you to work while standing. When choosing a desk you need to make sure you are getting one that fits in the room you have chosen for your office, if you need a large desk and have a fairly small office then it is best to get a corner desk so you have space and it fits in the room. When choosing your desk you also need to make sure that it is right for the computer you will be using so if it’s a laptop then it is best to have it lower as the keyboard is built in and if it is a desktop PC then think about getting a desk with a pull out shelf for the keyboard or enough space for the PC and the keyboard on it without it being cramped. The Right Chair Picking the right chair may sound unnecessary and any chair will do the job of being sat on but when you think about it, you will be in that chair for large portions of your day and if it isn’t comfortable then you are going to end up with a backache and shoulder pain from the posture you are being forced into. There are different types of chairs you can get for your office, some have cushions built in and others don’t, some recline and some are rigid. There are many to choose from so it firstly comes down to budget as with many things, if you want comfort then you will need to pay for it. It can be hard choosing the right chair and knowing that you are parting with your money for the right product, there are a few sites that can help you decide on a back-friendly executive chair and break it down to compare costs and also attributes of the chair to make sure you come away with the right one. Once you have decided on these two main items for your office then it is about making it a comfortable space to work in, so make sure you decorate it right and put in the right things to keep you motivated but not distracted. Making sure you are comfortable is the main thing when setting up your office so with these tips you should be well underway to having your office setup.

Whats in my work bag - Cubicle Chic

What's in my work bag - Cubicle Chic What’s in my work bag? Corporate Life, How To Wear, Uncategorized February 19, 2016 0 CommentsI’ll be the first to confess that “finding the perfect work bag” is something that’s made me click on that “order” button online many, many times.Yet, this quest seems to be a never-ending journey! Today, though,  I wanted to share with you my favorite work bag so far in my 5+ years working in the corporate world. It’s the Banana Republic Larkin Tote!Here’s a quick view of what I usually carry in my bag… and all the links for where you can find them!I always have to have my Chanel Sunglasses with me. Being in Southern California and a 90 minute commute everyday, it’s brutal to go without sunglasses. In terms of the content of my cosmetic pouch, I have a lip balm, a tube of Tylenol, a mint oral spray, a NYX matte lip color, and a little leather pouch if I need to run out for lunch so I can grab some of my ID’s and credit cards for quick access. Lastly, I just have my car key and my Louis Vuitt on French wallet.There is something that’s a little different about my work bag though, something that I am sometimes a bit bashful to share with people.  It’s absolutely adooorable, makes me smile everyday when I look at it. Not the most professional accessory in my bag, yes…. but something that makes me happy It’s my TOTORO ID CASE, Ta-DA!!!   Equipment Get Sale Alert Kensie Get Sale Alert White House Black Market Get Sale Alert Equipment Get Sale Alert Eddie Bauer Get Sale Alert Laundry by Shelli Segal Get Sale Alert What’s in your work bag?? What’s something that is unusual??Before you answer that… check out what’s in some of my stylish blogger friends’  work bags!Sanam @ Stylish at Work Belinda @ Snapshots of My Closet Janise @ Mama in Heels