Category Archives: Work Life

What is your why?

16th May 2011

A little over a week ago, I had the opportunity to attend Chick-fil-A Leadercast, an all-day event in downtown Atlanta that brings together some of the best and brightest in leadership thanks to my amazing coworker, Lindsay Reene and her friends at the UGA ILA.

One of the best questions of the day for me was “What is you why?” Not your what, your why. Why do you do what you do? Not what do you do. It’s tough question, a year out of college, my answer should probably be, to pay the bills, but it’s not.

Dave Ramsey shared a few thoughts on finding your passion in your daily workplace that I feel we can all challenge ourselves with, and hopefully find our why in the process.

1. Dreams matter: Remember when you were little and there was no doubt in your mind that you were going to be a ballerina despite having no dancing capabilities (maybe that was just me). Think like a kid again, set lofty goals and stick to them, things don’t have to happen tomorrow.

2. An excellent team matters: Luckily, I have an amazing team who teaches me every, single day. Take the time to learn about those around you, learn how you can grow from them and how you can help them grow in return, you never know where a small gesture will take you.

3. Slow and steady wins: It’s not always about big numbers, big clients, or being the boss, sometimes just sitting back and taking your time is all that you need to move forward.

4. Be generous: You never know when going the 2nd mile will make the world of difference. Go the extra mile on to touch up that powerpoint document, or put the extra thought into the brainstorm and don’t forget about the people who need your help along the way.

5. A higher calling matters: Take the steps to ask the way, to find where you want to be, because that’s how you will get through the tough days.

Finding why you have made it to where you are and where you see yourself going in the future is no easy task. It’s not a sudden realization but a series of baby steps, and I hope I can continue to apply some of these types of leadership to my own professional journey and live that way everyday.

365 Days In

9th May 2011

It’s been exactly one year since I became a University of Georgia alumna, yet it certainly doesn’t feel like 365 days. A lot has happened in the past year and I could not be happier with path I have started down.

Graduation always seemed like a terrifying step, and indeed it was, but as with everything else in life, it always works out just the way it’s meant to. To the class of 2011, (or any other class for that matter) here’s a little about what I’ve learned so far during my first year of the real world:

  1. Follow your gut: I know, cheesy right?  It’s true. Don’t settle for the first job offer, or the tenth, if it doesn’t feel right. The job market is tough, I’m sure everyone has heard that a time or two, but the right fit is out there for everyone.
  2. Be patient: Following your gut may take a while, but in the end, it will be worth it, promised.
  3. Make life a priority: If working in the non-stop agency world has taught me anything, it’s that I could literally work 20 hours a day and not run out of things to do. Sometimes it’s hard to leave the office at six or resist emails on a Saturday, but do it. Your body, your mind and your boss will thank you when you are rested and can work at your fullest potential.
  4. Step out of your comfort zone: If anyone had told me a year ago I would be attending new business pitches to talk to total strangers, I would have told you you had two heads. Sometimes trying something totally terrifying can lead you to discover a passion you never knew had.
  5. Build relationships not connections: Business cards are great. Getting 20 at an event and not remembering a single conversation isn’t. Make connections by building relationships with others, it’s harder, but it will pay dividends in the future.
  6. Keep learning: For me, sometimes this is as simple (or difficult depending on the day) as checking Twitter. Find out with other people are up to and learn from them.
  7. Have fun: If you’re going to be at work for at least 40 hours per week, have a little fun while you’re there, even if this means YouTube video breaks in between meetings with the DIG team.
  8. Learn what other people do: Sure, I’ll probably never know how to build an iPad app, but learning what other people bring to the table helps to understand the company and constantly be amazed by how much smarter everyone I work with is.

I’m 365 days in and I know I certainly have a long way to go to really make the list above a reality for my professional life each and everyday, but the excitement is in the pursuit. I cannot wait to see what the next year, or 40 bring for my career and all of the amazing people around me that I have been blessed to have along share it with.

Chick-fil-A’s Approach to a Multifaceted Campaign

23rd March 2011

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak on a panel for AiMA’s monthly social SIG luncheon about one of our clients at Engauge, Chick-fil-A, and their recent Spicy Chicken Biscuit launch. Rather than speak directly about a social media case study, our team decided it would be interesting to present how Engauge, along with our agency partners at Chick-fil-A, BrightWave Marketing and Foundry approached the campaign from social media, email marketing and website design respectively.

When tackling the prospect of a campaign or in this case a product launch, it’s important to take a holistic view of the goals, objectives and desired outcomes, rather than just see the project through our eyes as the social component.

The success of this particular product for Chick-fil-A did not lie in awareness across many mediums, but cohesive engagement throughout many mediums.

As an agency partner it can sometimes be difficult to separate your work from another’s, but integrating aspects of social across channels is crucial to campaign success.  For example, a call to action to participate in a poll on Facebook within an email gave our fans a reason to react and a directive to react to, not just multiple visuals to consume from each medium.

As marketers continue to build multiple communities across the web, it’s important to not only think about the success of an individual channel, but also how each channel can build upon and create an unforgettable experience for each and every subscriber, fan and future customer as well.

Disclaimer: I serve as the social strategist on the Chick-fil-A account at Engauge and helped to develop and execute this particular campaign. However, it is also true that I love the Spicy Chicken Biscuit just as much as the next raving fan, even when I’m away from my desk.