by Solange Lopes | Jun 24, 2017 | Career
It’s 10:24pm, you’re finishing up the laundry in the middle of the messy living room, struggling to multi-task to also pack for a conference the next day and keep the kids in bed. This is all considering that your flight the next morning is at 6am, and that you’ll have to jump out of bed by 3am to wash those tangled curls you’ve been hiding up in a bun for the past week. This is what I experienced on many occasions preparing for conferences, with limited time, money or energy. While I was excited to go, there were a gazillion things I had to attend to as a working mom on a strict financial, time and energy budget.
There’s something about dealing with constant chaos that teaches you a lot about getting the best out of the little you have at your disposal. Like leveraging whatever financial, time and resources money you’ve got to pull off decent, if not extraordinary results, out of chaotic circumstances.
Whether in your current field or a desired area of interest, it’s no secret that conferences can be instrumental to your career success. From opportunities to network with influential people, to the sheer amount of knowledge you may get, not to mention recharging and re-wiring your brain, there’s definitely a lot you can gain. There’s also quite a bit you should invest in terms of preparation to have a successful time.
However, it can be challenging to garner all the resources you need, whether in time, money or energy to pull off the “right” preparation. After all, who has time to get all their ducks in a row after getting out of work, packing hurriedly, getting the house and kids organized for the next few days, and fixing your ‘fro too?
If like me, you happen to be preparing for conferences with limited time, money and energy, here are a few unconventional, yet practical ways to make the best out of what you’ve got:
Mentally prepare!
I always say everything starts with mindset! From wrapping your mind around the craziness that laundry is for a family of four (including adorable little toddlers with questionable hygiene), to gearing up for a conference that could spell incredible success for your career, life just gets busy! When aligning two thoughts in a row can be challenging, how do you mentally prepare for an upcoming conference when you still have to find clean underwear to pack?
There’s a trick that many professional athletes use before an important game. Close your eyes and visualize yourself having a successful, fun and positive time at this conference. You can do this in between loads of laundry, at the red light (please open your eyes as you drive off), or even during bathroom breaks at work (yes, I’m that woman who stays extra long in the bathroom stall). The more you visualize yourself acing this conference, the more likely you will!
You can also practice meditation and awareness when you start feeling overwhelmed. All you need is a couple of minutes to breathe in and out to calm yourself, and remind yourself that no matter what, you’ve got this!
Handle The Logistics!
There are a few essential logistical pieces to put together before any conference, that you should get out of the way pronto! These include:
- Researching the event: It’s important to know who is hosting the event as well as other events they may have previously hosted, and what they stand for. This will provide your with a general sense of what to expect and what you can bring to the table. Additionally, studying the conference schedule ahead of time and picking the sessions you’d like to attend can cut down on the time you need to acclimate at the conference. Lastly, take a look at the list of attendees and determine which ones you want to connect with. You can even contact them ahead of time to coordinate schedules.
- Plan for being out of office: Get work done ahead of time to lessen the impact of your absence at work. If you’re able to work in between conference sessions, plan for this ahead of time as well. Inform your team well ahead of time and start delegating responsibilities to be handled while you’re out of the office. Also let your clients know that you will either be unavailable or available on a limited basis. Oh, and don’t forget the out-of-office email and voicemail too!
- Get your promotional materials ready: No matter which conference you attend, make sure to have two things ready before you go: your business cards and your elevator pitch. If you don’t have them already, take time to prepare effective business cards (on a budget) with all yours and your business information. Reserve some time to write out an elevator pitch that succinctly but powerfully describes your brand and mission in 60 seconds.
List Up!
My power tool when it comes to preparing for conferences and other important networking events is using lists. I love listing up what I need and have to do ahead of time, so even in the midst of my usual chaos, I have a reference to go back to.
At least two weeks before the conference, have a list handy for everything you need to do before leaving, including researching the event, setting up your out-of-office message, getting your business cards ready, rehearsing your elevator pitch, etc.
My favorite is a packing list. I don’t know about you, but I seem to have a knack for forgetting my toothbrush or spacing out on essentials like body lotion, chargers and lens solutions. No one wants to deal with that woman with the cute ‘fro at the conference who skipped her tooth-brushing session, could not see the screen because: dry lenses, and showed up ashier than the Sahara desert…Seriously!
If I don’t do anything else, at the very least I jot down a packing list on some random Post-It note. It’s saved me many headaches at 3am trying to pack at the last minute. You can thank me later for good breath too…
A girlfriend of mine also makes lists of all the contacts she hopes to network with, as well as a detailed inventory of the questions she plans on asking, places to visit, and logistical details to remember. That’s why she’s my conference buddy, of course!
More is less stress!
Not sure whether to take the pink skirt or the black sheath dress? Well, take both….I know what is said about strategizing what to pack for conferences and networking events. Yet to reduce the stress of not having what you need on hand when you need, take a few inter-changeable options with you.
I wouldn’t take your entire wardrobe with you, as tempting as it may be. Just offer yourself a few options, in case the weather changes or you have a few good lunches.
Prioritize comfort!
This is coming from the woman who would only pack five-inch heels and slightly restrictive clothing to conferences. Fast-forward a few conferences, less forgiving calves and a dash of spiritual awakening, things are slightly different…
Whether you’re attending a conference for work or pleasure, there’s a great deal of focus, concentration and presence needed. Especially when attending for work, you need all the mental and physical energy you can muster, and this after packing, traveling, and being outside of your comfort zone. Being comfortable makes all the difference between enjoying the experience and soaking in all you can, versus barely making it through.
This may mean shorter heels, more flowy clothing, and a more open mindset for some. For others, it may be a matter of focusing on what really matters and prioritizing self-care. Whatever comfort means to you, consider including it in your list of non-negotiables when it comes to attending conferences.
Practice self-care!
One thing that’s seldom talked about on the topic of attending conferences is practicing self-care. Conferences and larger-scale networking events in general require a great deal of energy, time and focus. At times, they can be downright exhausting! In between absorbing new concepts, meeting new people, and acclimating to a different environment for a few days, these can be an exercise in self-depletion.
That’s why it’s extremely important to include self-care as part of your conference checklist. I recently attended the BlogHer17 conference, during which each day started with a meditation exercise for all the conference attendees. Led by a spiritual teacher, the whole audience practiced focused breathing for about five minutes before delving into the conference program.
Whether it’s a bonus massage, conscious breathing, sleeping a bit later, or just taking a breather every so often, consider adding self-care in your conference checklist.
Relinquish (some) control!
When it comes to attending a conference, there are some things you can control, like your agenda, your goals, or even how many drinks you’ll be having after-hours. However, there’s always an element of unknown, as with most life events.
As professional and rigid that some of the conferences you attend may be, be willing to relinquish some control and open yourself to the unexpected. That means networking with someone from a different industry, chatting with the hotel concierge (and getting valuable insider information), or stepping out on faith and seizing an impromptu opportunity.
In Conclusion:
- Mentally prepare before and during a conference!
- Handle the logistics!
- Use lists as your power prep tools!
- Reduce stress by offering yourself a few options when packing and prepping
- Prioritize comfort!
- Practice self-care!
- Relinquish (some) control
What else would you add to this list?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | May 29, 2017 | Career
“I love Mondays!” say very few people. I mean, you just have to look at the onslaught of #mondaymotivation tweets and social media posts around you on Mondays to realize it ain’t winning the Oscar for Favorite Day of the Week. Just sayin’…
After years of waging a very public vendetta against Mondays, I finally started to make peace with it when I started building my own business, side-hustling and freelancing. The simple reason for this sudden pro-Monday niceness on my part is that I realized that there are only so many hours in the day. When your time is literally your most precious commodity, and you have to distribute it between kids, hubby, family and laundry (did I say laundry), then you know you can’t afford to waste a Monday…
So after years of Monday-hate conditioning and celebrating the start of a new week with excessive caffeine, sugar and facial frowns, it was about time to find a way to beat the Monday blues at its own game. Although I’m an avid reader of motivational quotes and other inspiring Monday shenanginans, I had to come up with my own creative strategies to get my Mondays work for me:
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Trick Your Mind to Plan Ahead
You’ve heard it before. Plan, plan, plan, and plan some more…But really, who wants to add planning on top of everything else there is to do? Yes, we know we need to plan, but we’re still praying for some magical trick of the Universe for the house to be magically clean, the laundry washed, folded and put away, and that work report finally completed…
So instead of beating yourself up because you haven’t planned for the time to plan this week, you can trick your mind to get into a “planning” mind. Instead of writing unending to-do lists, think about what you want to accomplish in the course of the week. Now plan according to your goals. I find this a great way to align your goals with you plan for the week, while encouraging you to accomplish your objectives
Recommended Tools:
- Mindmeister: this tool is great to create mind maps to outline your ideas and objectives.
- Evernote: I like to call this app my “second brain”. You can store your ideas and to-dos in individual notes and notebooks that you can retrieve at any time
- Todoist: This app lets you set up simple checklists with due dates and task rankings. It also integrates with Google Calendar and Evernote.
- Moleskin 18-month Planner: This 18-month planner lets you put your brain on paper beautifully.
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Start with the fun stuff (and the stuff you’re good at).
Contrary to popular opinion, there’s something about enjoying what you do. As in, not forcing yourself to start with the very tasks that make you dread getting up on Monday mornings in the first place.
One of the simplest, and most overlooked secrets of productivity, is to have fun. What are the tasks that excite you the most? What are the goals that you’re most enthusiastic about? What are the tasks that utilize your strengths and shine the spotlight on your talents? These will give you the boost you need to tackle the less…fun stuff.
As a blogger, Monday is my content writing day, simply because it’s what I enjoy the most and where my strength is. Creating and writing content inspires and gives me a boost, so I can move on to the nitty-gritty of administrative and technical tasks with more motivation and even a pep in my keystroke. I literally save the best for, wel…first!
Recommended tools:
- Good&Co app: This app lets you determine through a series of quizzes what your strengths are, and what your fit is in terms of career and company
- Spotify: Add some fun to your workday with your own selection of music to help you enjoy your work by creating playsuits that suit your schedule and mood.
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Mind your health
One of the most unsuspected reasons why Mondays are such a drag is that we’re not as healthy as we could be. I mean, if you’ve spent the week-end enjoying your fave snacks and have officially broken up with the gym, chances are your Mondays will be quite rough.
Make your Mondays more productive by keeping up with your health. Whether it’s an earliy morning job, a mid-day walk, or a week-end fitness regimen, being healthier also means being more productive, especially on Mondays…
Recommended tools:
- Sworkit: This app is perfect if you want to get healthy on the go and find an exercise routine that fits your lifestyle. You can easily fit it in on a hurried Monday morning too.
- 5dollarmeal.com: Get healthier by strategizing when it comes to what you eat. This meal planning site helps you create healthy meal plans.
- The VitaminShoppe: Put your health first with the right vitamins to keep up your well-being and productivity
- Headspace: Take care of your mental health by using this app. It helps you learn to mediate and guides you through the entire process.
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Have something to look forward to
The best part of acing your Monday is rewarding yourself after it. You’ll be more motivated to win on Mondays if you know there’s something to look forward to. I usually set a reward for myself on a weekly basis, whether it’s mani/pedi, free time to read, or a new book…
Start your week with a reward in mind, and tackle your goals with gusto, on Monday!
Recommended Tools:
- Tip Yourself: Reward yourself by saving money. You tip everyone else, so why not tip yourself when you reach your goals?
- Ebates: Reward yourself with shopping that puts cash back in your pocket (you can try Ibotta too)
Now your turn: How do you turn your Monday into the most productive day of the week?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Nov 15, 2016 | Career
Think about this…If your resume were that killer outfit you’d wear for that coveted social event, your cover letter would be that finishing touch that would seal the deal. Yet, all too often, whether in your outfit or in your cover letter, something may be missing…That intangible something that makes recruiting managers do a double-take and piques their interest among the sea of similar cover letters they receive daily…
And yes, cover letters still do matter, even in the age of social media and selfies! Jobvite’s 2015 Recruiting survey actually found that 63% of recruiters agree that cover letters matter!
You can Google how to write a cover letter, and get about a thousand iterations of what to include, how to write it, etc. What you cannot Google is how to add the one thing that will absolutely distinguish you from any other candidate, and does not require you to have the most credentials or lengthiest work history. It’s the one ingredient that’s missing in so many cover letters: P.E.R.S.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y.
I see you over there, rolling your eyes as you’re reading…What does personality have to do with a professional cover letter aimed at getting you an honest way of paying your bills? And who needs your sassy self to come off the page when you’re trying to land a secure position (and not relinquish your shoe allowance forever)? I mean, do you really want me virtually snapping my fingers at the poor recruiting manager reading my cover letter?
While you may want to keep your cover letter as professional as possible, you don’t want it to be flat-lining your entire application. You can have more degrees than a thermometer, and have more letters behind your name than the entire alphabet. But if your application is lifeless, your chances of getting the job officially go on a diet.
Here are a few ways to revive your dead cover letter and add some personality to your words and stand out:
Define Your Personal Brand.
My definition of personal branding is: “Personal branding is the melting pot of who you are, what you are passionate about, and what you do really well, channeled into a concise, clear and focused message about who you are and how you stand out.”
Using your personal brand is one of the most powerful way to let your personality shine through your cover letter. Who you are, what you’re passionate about, and what you do really well, should all be channeled through your words, in a concise yet effective way.
Are you passionate about helping others? Does your educational and personal background make you an asset to the organization you’re applying into? Are you particularly skilled at writing? Don’t be afraid to be creative and express these in your cover letter. And don’t forget to wrap it all up with strong words and a powerful call to action showing that you intend to follow up on your request.
State the Unexpected.
Do you have a Finance background, but have also been freelancing on the side? Or is your first degree in Fashion Design, before you decided to take on Accounting (yes it happens)? Think of the additional dimension you can add to any job with a prior experience or degree in a totally unrelated field…
While you may want to strictly stick to your professional experience, bringing out some less traditional and more unexpected sides of your personality and life can definitely add that missing touch to your cover letter.
Share Your Vision.
If you can see it, you’re halfway there. “It” meaning the mission and vision you’d have for your role and contribution to the organization you’re applying for. Very few candidates are involved, bold, or frankly care enough to go the extra mile, and actually share their vision.
Do you envision your potential role in that organization as one that would help strengthen the culture of diversity? Do you see yourself bringing about new technologies and ways of conducting business? While you may want to tread carefully in sharing your vision and may want to align yourself with the current organizational culture, it will definitely help in making you stand out.
PS: For more on effective cover letters that stand out, check out my Cover Letter 101 Checklist: 7 must-have ingredients for your cover letter!
How do you add personality to your cover letter?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Apr 14, 2016 | Career
“You can take a sister out of her career, but not the career out of the (corporate) sister.” If you’ve never heard the phrase, it’s because I totally made it up. Yet, if you look around at many of the corporate sisters around you, starting with good ol’ YOU, you’ll notice most of us display some of the same behaviors in our personal lives, as we do…ahem, at work.
Like when we drown in to-do lists for everything from how to separate the laundry by color, to the type of gluten-free bread to buy…Or when you tell the hubby, in your most romantic tone: “Can we schedule our love-making session for a more convenient time?” Or when your kid asks you why chocolate doesn’t grow on trees (which by the way is a perfectly valid question), and you ponder your thoughts for a minute before carefully replying: “Can I get back to you on this? Let’s table it for now.”
Whether we realize it or not, or admit to it or not, work seeps into our daily lives in both small and big ways. Even when we think we’re totally unplugged from work (with the exception of your work phone, you never know if a really important email that would change your entire career comes in the middle of the night), we’re taking some of our work habits with us. From list making to crucial family meetings and other personal “executive” decisions, there’s always something out there giving away the corporate sister in us…
Luckily, even if we sound slightly annoying to our anti-corporate (and anti-paycheck-or-personal-hygiene) cousin twice-removed, there are some great advantages to bringing some our career’s structure to our lives. Especially after your brain cells retired after baby number three, or when being “politically correct” is the only way to preserve any family ties. So for all those among us who don’t have time to switch off our brains between work and home, here are 7 career principles that can make your personal life much easier (and did I mention preserve family ties):
- A to-do list will save your life (and your laundry): You know the woman who’s methodically crossing items off her checklist at the supermarket? Yes, the one whose cart is not filled with last-minute impulse-shopping items like triple-chocolate-filled OREO’s? Yes, that one…While some things should be spontaneous (like falling asleep on the couch in the middle of 20/20), others are better planned, written down and organized, so nobody loses their mind (or has to eat load of triple-chocolate-filled OREO’s for days)! Just sayin’…
- Speak up! In your personal life as in your career, your ideas and insight need to be heard. Like when everyone wants to do pizza night when you’re craving sushi. Or when the house schedule could use a serious overhaul, so we’re not known as the “always fashionably late” family. For all those times when it comes down to business at home, keeping in mind this powerful career and life principle can seriously make a difference.
- Be visible! One of the hallmarks of success in Big Corporate is visibility. Are you visible enough to make an impact on the power players at work? Are your contributions known? In the same way, are you present in your personal life? You may be there for everyone, always ready to lend a hand, but do people know how much of an impact you have?
- Fake it ’til you make it! Now that’s my motto! It’s not about being unauthentic or not being authentic. Instead, are you projecting your ambitions and desires into who you are now? At work you can dress for the position you want, volunteer for challenging projects, etc. In your personal life, this could translate into carrying yourself a certain way, as well as adopting winning mindsets that set you apart.
- Stay “on brand”! Whether you’re known as the “Challenger”, or the “Hard Worker” at the office, you can build your own personal brand in your every day life as well. It helps people understand and bond with you better, while you get to hone in on your natural talents and skills.
- Learn from your mistakes! Everyone messes up, in the office or in real life. But when we really miss out, is when we don’t learn from it to get better. There’s a reason why you work is reviewed and scrutinized by management! And there’s also a reason why admitting your mistakes in real life and working to better yourself can take you a long long way…
- Take the initiative! Initiative is strongly rewarded at work, and should also be praised in real life. As you’re starting projects and initiating positive change in the workplace, why not do the same in your personal life? Not only will it add a greater dimension to your life, it will also inspire others.
Do you apply career success principles into your personal life?
To your success,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 18, 2015 | Career
7 things your wardrobe can teach you about re-evaluating your career at year-end
Year-end is when I do my annual wardrobe overhaul. You know, that dreaded time for fashion hoarders like myself, when you pick and choose between the clothing pieces you want to keep and the ones you want to keep let go of. If you’re like me, then you know you always want it all, the 60’s dress and the new mod pair of culottes (yes, there’s such a thing). But you know that in order to build a bigger better wardrobe, you need to periodically re-evaluate the one you have, re-assess what you’ve got, what you need and where you’re going with all that fashion stuff (in addition to considering you may have to ask your bestie for storage room).
The same goes with your career: every now and then, you need to take stock of where you are, what you have, and where you’re going. Except your career tends to pay the bills your wardrobe creates. But I digress….
For many of us, it’s especially timely since year-end is also when we perform our own self-assessments at work. Many employers use this time to conduct year-end performance reviews, or generously hand out year-end bonuses
(which can also be used to patch your wardrobe overhaul, but I digress again…).
Yet in the middle of all the (late) Christmas wrapping boxing (ain’t nobody got time to wrap), how do we find the time, resources and energy to re-evaluate something as big as our careers, when some of us have a hard time deciding between the mock neck black dress and the red pencil skirt for Christmas dinner (did I digress again?). How do we pinpoint exactly the aspects of our day-to-day work that keep us motivated, those that bore the heck out of us, and where we honestly picture ourselves in the next 12 months (other than laying on the beach in Punta Cana sipping on some blue shade of tequila…)
Since I do have to tick to my wardrobe re-assessment this year, I might as well share these 7 tips that all this clothing overhauling year-end business can impart on your own career. Plus it’s more fun to think of your career as a big giant closet of fashion goodies, than your own disorganized, overflowing overhead cabinet at work (you know you have one).
Thing One: Start with asking yourself this question: Is your career (or your wardrobe) still making you happy? Is it still fulfilling you, make you jump out of bed (or at least stop hitting the snooze button for the tenth time)? Or do you think of work like you think of that unfortunate handkerchief dress your aunt wore last New year’s eve? The point is, start by honestly assessing how you feel today about the work you are still doing. If this question is making you break in hives, go to Thing 2…now!
Thing 2: Review Your Career Goals. Just like your wardrobe, you must set intentions in your career (believe it or not, fashion has a purpose, including projecting an image of who you are, promoting yourself all the while having an insane amount of fun). What were the goals and intentions you set for yourself this year? Did you achieve them, or did you fail miserably? Did you modify your goals and take a different direction? Or are you planning on modifying them this year? Pay attention to what you come up with when asking yourself these questions. You may just as much realize you’ve reached a career milestone, or that your closet does not at all represent who you are today.
Thing 3: Review Your Year. Just as you may re-play in your minds all your favorite styles you’ve sported all year long, you may want to replay in your mind the accomplishments you’ve realized this year. Or the ones you’ve unfortunately missed. What new skills have you learnt? What opportunities have you taken advantage of, and which ones have you miserably let pass you by? In other words, are you better today than you were 12 months ago as related to your career? And as it comes to your wardrobe, do you like it better today than you did 12 months ago, floral prints and gladiator sandals and all?
Thing Four: Assess where you stand. You know how you look at your wardrobe, and suddenly realize you’ve been living in the 80’s for the past year or so. Yes, it happens…In the same way, take a look at your career as it is right now. Where are you in your career? Are you where you should be, or are you still living in the same entry-level world you’ve started in? Are you happy with where you are, with your current employer and your current responsibilities? Or are you noticing a load of factors that have hindered (or helped) your career growth? What strengths and weaknesses are you aware of?
Thing Five: Picture Your Future. After all the analyzing-yourself-and-putting-yourself-in-perspective, now comes the fun part. Just like you would envision a brand new, maybe more sophisticated, less 80’s, more professional wardrobe, you would envision the kind of career you would see yourself striving in. What do you want to do more of (or less of) in your career? What’s the next step in your career? Where do you see yourself in the next 12 months, 5 or 10 years?
Thing Six: Determine your career action plan. Now let’s get to work. What will you do to get the wardrobe, or the career, of your dreams? What do you need to get yourself ready for that shift? How should you position yourself to get to the career (or wardrobe) of your dreams? The same way you may need to start shopping at Ann Taylor instead of Forever 21, you may want to consider whether you need to switch employers, departments or even fields.
Thing Seven: Share the Vision. It’s one thing to have a clear vision of where you want to go, in your career or fashion-wise. Yet it’s another to really assess whether your plans are feasible or not. And part of this process is to share your vision so others can act as sounding boards to your dreams. Meet with your mentors, or even a trusted manager or colleague, to discuss your current plans and get additional advice as to how to make it all happen.
So tell me, are these 7 elements present in your Year-End Career Re-evaluation Checklist? And if you don’t have such a checklist, no worries, I’ve prepared one for you here!
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR CHECKLIST!
Now do me a favor, and add a comment below letting me know if you have any additional steps to add to this list, or if you’re having difficulties with any of these.
Now I have some wardrobe analysis to go do…
With Love,
The Corporate Sis.
