From the Founder

Feedback is a gift. And at the same time, it’s important to filter through the noise. Listening to your inner voice, and your intuition is so important as you build resilience and define who you are.

A personal story:

“Drop your shoulders he said, look around the room and try to mirror everyone else’s body language…”

The problem? Everyone else in that room would be a seasoned male leader.

I had deep respect for all of them, including the person who was giving me this advice. But I struggled with that piece of advice from a male colleague and mentor.

I realized as I prepped for that presentation that I needed to be authentic to who I was. Prepared, yes, but I considered that staying true to myself was what had gotten me that far.

If I started to dilute my own brand of magic, maybe I wouldn’t be as successful – and more importantly – it certainly wouldn’t feel authentic and it definitely wouldn’t be as fun.

As I’ve continued to grow, I’ve tried to catalog and pass on some helpful tips that I learned along the way.

Balancing good news with the stuff that may not be going according to plan: Why? Because if you are only ever sharing the good news updates there is risk in losing credibility. You may be perceived as inadvertently (or very intentionally) hiding something, missing the bigger picture or demonstrating you are unable to deal with the issue at hand.

There are always opportunities to improve and learn. Don’t hide behind these moments. Instead, show that you know exactly what's going on and share what you’re doing about it.

Write your new job description: Even when you think it's time for a change, its hard to break the cycle of the day-to-day grind to figure out what's next. Whether for a move internally or to take a leap of faith to a new organization, I have found it to be extremely clarifying to sit down with that blank, white piece of paper and start writing out my ideal job.

By putting structure around what would excite me next, what I wanted to continue to lean in to and what would be a challenging stretch, it helped me confidently search for that next opportunity – or better yet, pitch it.

Make a playlist: Some of my best work and even better days have been when plugging away to music I love. Whether pumping myself up in the car on the day of a big meeting or getting into the zone with a spreadsheet or deck, a good playlist goes a long way to lifting my mood and stepping into a confident and happy work-place.

Check out my recommendations below for some of my favorites.

Wishing you all the best,

Alison | Founder & CEO, unBurnt