Marketing Happy Hour - How a Personal Brand Can Impact Your Career | Kelly Gordon of Creative People

Starting point is 00:00:00 you're listening to the marketing happy hour podcast where we discuss career and industry insights with our peers in marketing we're here to talk about it all like the ups and downs of working in social media how to build authentic relationships in the influencer and pr space managing a nine-to-five and a side hustle at the same time, how to be productive in your life and career without losing your sanity, and more. Ultimately, we're here to build a community with you because we're all trying to navigate the world of marketing together. Are you ready? Grab your favorite drink and join your hosts, Cassie and Erica, for this week's episode. Hi, Kelly. How are you? I am doing well. How are you guys doing?

Starting point is 00:00:56 Doing so well. We were just chatting and it feels like forever since we were in New York. We loved meeting you in person back in, was that the end of June? Yes. Crazy. I'm like, it's the end of June yes crazy I'm like it's the end of August yes yes a little distraction that's how we mark time by the fun events that are going on I think the next big fun event too is like New York Fashion Week. I know a lot of my friends are preparing for that too. So I'm sure you are as well. I feel like they don't even get Labor Day anymore. They're like jumping right into it. And you can see the city is a lot busier than it was a week ago. Because we're high up and I can see the streets very well in Brooklyn. And there's a lot more people walking around this week. Oh my gosh, that is incredible. And it's so fun to just like watch even, we'll talk about this,

Starting point is 00:01:52 but like your presence online and how you share some of those fun things that are going on in the city and like your own life and stuff. So we'll get into that in a little bit, but first we want to definitely know what's in your glass this afternoon. That's our favorite question to ask. So we need your answer. Um, I am basically drinking straight vodka, AKA my favorite drink, which is an extra dry dirt or vodka martini with a twist. Um, basically a rinse of vermouth, very straight up, but yeah, love my, um, vodka martinis. I can't do the gin. Oh, that's so interesting. Cassie, do you have anything fun today? Um, I mean, if you want to call an energy drink fun, I do. Um, I'm very tired this afternoon, so I needed a burst of energy, but I, I mean, you guys know from listening to the show,

Starting point is 00:02:46 I'm sure I love Aperol Spritz. So hopefully that is in my future later today. Um, and it is hot, so it's the perfect weather for it. But I will tell you when I lived in New York, I got made fun of because I drink them all year round. Um, so it does not matter what the weather is like. I will be drinking an Aperol spritz so frozen to the glass in the winter yes absolutely dreaming of being in Italy and not in freezing cold weather exactly yeah what about you Erica um I actually just have if you're familiar with the brand recess it's one of my favorite brands been one of my favorites for years um they came out with these new zero proof like craft mocktail things and they they reached out to me on Instagram and said hey can we send you some so I was like sure um so shout out to them I'm drinking

Starting point is 00:03:37 classic Cosmo and it's really good I mean it's of course it's really good. It's from recess. So, um, but yeah, that's what I have. Yeah. Those are really good. Um, awesome. Okay. Well enough about beverages. We can talk about that all day. I'm sure. But, uh, Kelly, tell us a little bit about your career journey so far. How'd you end up at creative people? Okay. So I do recruiting. And if I saw my resume, when creative people saw my resume, I'd be like, what is wrong with this girl? It's so nonlinear. I think I am super untraditional in that I have kind of jumped around a lot, but I think I, I think even in our talk that we had at the end of June someone mentioned they look at jobs as kind of like collecting badges and like collecting different

Starting point is 00:04:31 experiences so I actually started on the agency side of the house in creative services so sort of similar but helping kind of manage and run teams on the creative side of the house bringing in a ton of freelancers so hiring for those teams then I was at Google Creative Lab for a few months doing the same thing there I met someone who was starting their own business in gift giving which is a huge passion of mine and they took a bet on me I came on as like the head of merchandising. So I was a professional gift giver for a long time, but I think that kind of solidified my love for brands because all day, every day I was just researching what's cool out there. What would people like? What's exciting? It wasn't necessarily for me, but that's okay. And then I jumped back into the agency world of kind of

Starting point is 00:05:26 creative services, again, project management. And then I actually saw creative people post on LinkedIn, my favorite platform that we'll probably be talking about a lot today. And they were posting about a different role. But I thought how they were talking about jobs and job seekers was really interesting to me. And I was like, I love people. I'm always doing this in my spare time, connecting the dots with, you know, individuals. Um, and so I called outreach to them and it worked, it actually worked. So I, um, now have been at creative people for a little, like just under three and a half years. So again, nonlinear, but I think I was learning a lot about, you know, how brands work, how like what brands are out there and then people in general.

Starting point is 00:06:15 Yeah, for sure. And we're excited again to talk more about LinkedIn and just strategies for something like a cold outreach or applying or things like that. But you joined us for our panel in New York. And we talked a lot about how it's never too late to do what you love. So just overall, as we launch into this conversation, just curious what encouragement you can share with our listeners when it comes to career pivots overall. I do think that there's so many sides to this because the job market is really, really hard right now. And even for people that have years of experience, seem like a 10 out of 10 candidate. So when you're pivoting and you feel like you don't even have anything remotely close to what the jobs are looking for out there, you're looking for out there. It's like you're going to feel very overwhelmed. I think I mentioned this on that

Starting point is 00:07:11 call, but I think you need to get really solid with who you are as a person and what you're good at and what you want to be doing in your life. And I'm a little bit woo woo when it comes to this stuff. But I do think you need to be super authentic to yourself, but also have a lot of conviction in a way that's not super, you know, pushy, but that you can basically make this pivot and you can people do when they're looking to pivot. And it's really like getting very solid with what you do day to day on your job. Now list everything out, even when it's like scheduling candidates, which seems just like, Oh yeah, of course you do that. No, write it all down. Then write three things that you think that you are very, very good at, at that job, like what you really excel at or in life too. And then three things that you are very, very good at, at that job, like what you really excel at or in life too. And then three things that you want to be doing in a job next. And this just gives you kind of like, I write it down with my hands because then I can like fully see it outlined on a piece of paper.

Starting point is 00:08:16 And you can start like thinking through jobs that would have those things in common. But I think people do try to pivot and they don't actually know what they want so you have to get really clear on that first oh I absolutely agree and I love that you mentioned that tactic because I think just like you said a lot of people get lost in that what do you think they can do once they have you know written those things down to kind of find the jobs or the new avenues that they want to take in their career yeah I would say I mean nowadays you can use chat GPT for just about anything I find that tool really really helpful

Starting point is 00:08:58 when you feel a little bit lost and overwhelmed you can actually put all of those things into chat GPT and ask it to produce a list of jobs that have like commonalities or are there jobs that need this type of skill set? What are those jobs? It's crazy. And I'm, I'm still a little bit afraid of AI, but I'm trying to use it to my advantage. So something like this, I feel like is a little bit safer. You can, and then I'm, I'm, I feel like I need to get a sponsorship from LinkedIn, but I do think that you can search skill sets and you can see what jobs get produced from that. But when you're pivoting, you do need to do a lot of research. You're going to be competing with people that have grown up in these spaces and have all of the answers, quote unquote. So I think you need to like take this time and do that research, even if it sounds silly. But I would say like chat GPT and LinkedIn are kind of where I'm

Starting point is 00:09:57 sitting these days with my tools. Yes, those are those are really great tools. And it's funny, I've never even heard anyone say chat GPT. but that makes so much sense. Just like plugging in everything in the robot or the AI, it's not going to judge you. Well, it might, I don't know. I don't know, it might judge you. I've seen that trend of like, describe or roast my Instagram in a paragraph or something. I haven't done it, but. No. my Instagram in a paragraph or something. I haven't done it, but I'm like, I don't want it to know anything about me. So anyway, but I think that's a really good tip. And LinkedIn does have a lot of like, I feel like they're coming out with a new tool like every day to like filter the search results for jobs. And so it's definitely fun to kind of explore that. And like you said, put in some of those like key qualifications and skill sets that you either have or want to develop and kind of see where you could land among some of the jobs that are available on the market

Starting point is 00:10:56 right now. And another thing that you can do just to make yourself more marketable as a whole is kind of develop your personal brand on the side or maybe you're in between jobs and that's something that you want to focus on right now. So we want to chat with you about that today as well because you've done a great job at that on your favorite platform and also ours, LinkedIn. So let's just talk a little bit about the impact that developing a personal brand can have on your career. You know, how have you developed your personal brand on LinkedIn and how has that personal brand helped you in your professional life? Great question.

Starting point is 00:11:33 I actually think this is perfect for this chat because the first time I posted on LinkedIn, I actually was forced to do it by creative people because we use LinkedIn a lot. And it was like, congratulations on your first post. That was three and a half years ago. I had never used the platform really before, maybe to scope jobs out. But I kind of took a liking to it.

Starting point is 00:11:57 And my market really likes it as well because I work a lot with marketers and marketers tend to kind of like LinkedIn. But that was my first post. And I was just kind of talking about what was going on under the hood here. Like we post a lot about the jobs that we have on our plate, but I was kind of seeing this huge discrepancy of how social media individuals were talking to me. I was doing a lot of social roles and then what brands were asking for. And I was like, I do feel that there is no one speaking up for these individuals or they feel like almost disenfranchised or just like they didn't have the power to or

Starting point is 00:12:40 platforms to be like saying these things to a broader audience. So I just started kind of like talking about the problems I was seeing in social, what my candidates were looking for. And I kind of chose an audience that was more of the underdog audience versus like trying to do like thought leadership. I don't feel like I have a ton of thoughts that people need to be following, but more so I was trying to share what's going on in our industry and give more of like a peek under the hood. And it really took off for me. I think, um, the brand, my personal brand is very true to me. I kind of act the same way across all of my social platforms, sadly. Um, so I'm just trying to be as authentic as possible on LinkedIn I'm

Starting point is 00:13:28 very laid back as a human being I work really really hard and I also am like I would say like very multi-dimensional in the fact that I also think this job market has a lot to do with like the self and the conviction that you have for yourself, the spiritual work that you do for yourself, as well as being just a very curious person. So I try to like meld all those things into how I'm speaking to my audience. And it's kind of taken off for me, which is funny. I still laugh about it and I get embarrassed when people are like, what do you do? I'm like, I'm a LinkedIn influencer. I love it so much. And you are so much a LinkedIn influencer that even your Instagram is Kelly from LinkedIn, which is hilarious to me. It was a joke, but I love it. And it starts a lot

Starting point is 00:14:18 of, it's a good conversation opener because people are just catching on to the powers of LinkedIn. Yes, yes, absolutely. And we're going to get into kind of how our listeners can start to develop some of those, you know, parameters around what they're even chatting about on LinkedIn and how you don't have to really have it all together and things like that in a bit. But I want to know if there are any like key relationships that have come from your online presence that like were really instrumental in getting you to where you are now, or even just like having peers to chat with about what you're doing on the day to day. Yeah, I think LinkedIn really does build people's credibility and not in a way that's like, oh, this person has so many smart things to say. Again, I'm not trying to post any type of thought leadership. I think what it shows is like, I am really passionate about what I do, the field I'm in. And that has led me to be

Starting point is 00:15:19 able to speak with a ton of candidates that honestly are really hard to get a hold of. I work with a lot of people that are being hit up all the time. And I think half of my LinkedIn presence is just trying to be like, I'm real, I'm a human, I understand where you're coming from. So for me, personally, it's allowed me to speak with like the best of the best within the marketing world, which is awesome. Because, again, I'm in the business of the best within the marketing world, which is awesome because again, I'm in the business of trying to get people jobs and a lot of these companies can't get ahold of those people. Um, and then I also think like even like three days ago, I got two inbound clients reaching out asking if like, I would be helpful for hiring a, like a freelance

Starting point is 00:16:04 content creator. So I think the more I'm showing up on people's feed and showing them that I know what I'm talking about just gives me credibility so there's not like one key relationship but I do think it's just helped people understand like who I am and I'm not just like an email if that makes sense well so I'm curious too because there's a lot of professionals I know that we've spoken to that are like, I want to do it. I don't really know how to start. Like, how do I just kind of jump into it? So any tips for getting started building your personal brand on LinkedIn? Like what should we do as a first step, whether it's profile wise,

Starting point is 00:16:41 starting to think about content and posting, what do you suggest there? Yeah, I think from your, I like hardly even look at resumes. I really love looking at people's LinkedIn because they have a lot of features that can just give full story to you. So I would definitely fill out the about me. I would add a photo. I would add the location you're in. I would give a few bullet points under the jobs that you've done as well, because you can honestly do the same thing that's on your resume on LinkedIn. That's not a big issue at all. But I think like give yourself some color, show who you are. When it comes to posting, I think that's when people feel the most cringe, nervous, like do people care

Starting point is 00:17:22 what I have to say? Okay, I'm not comparing myself to an artist. But a lot of the times I have a lot of friends in the art world. And we always talk about like, are you making this art for someone else? Are you making it for you? And I think you can look at LinkedIn in that way where you can post whatever you want. I right now suggest if like you're scared to post, why don't you just post about something you thought was really cool, like a campaign that happened or a new website that launched and you love the design of it, just showing like what you're actually interested in and what gets you excited. Or if you have a question, like maybe no one will respond, but at least I'm, I know that your brain is moving up

Starting point is 00:17:59 there and you have thoughts and you're excited about the industries that you're either in or want to be in. That's such good advice. I heard that on a podcast actually yesterday where someone was like, you know, my leader gave me the best advice ever and said, create what you want to create because chances are someone else out there is looking for the same kind of content. And I think too, when you develop content from this point of passion and interest, right, it shines through and it comes out a little bit more authentically and a little bit more, there's a lot more rich, I guess, elements that you can apply to that specifically. So that's such great advice. I love that. I'm curious too, with like networking on the platform. So let's say our profiles are built out.

Starting point is 00:18:47 We're good to go. How do we build authentic connections on LinkedIn? Because I know right now the platform is inundated with salespeople and people just reaching out and saying, hey, I want to connect with you. And there's no context there. Like, how do we make that first impression really stand out, but also authentic again to kind of what you were talking about? I would say one, if you're trying to get invested in a certain network or you want to switch the type of career you have or you're just like trying to really lean in onto the market that you're in. I don't think that you should honestly be like connecting with every single person. Um, it kind of like muddies your feed and you also can hit follow. So those people will show up, but we were told like, I don't do product design. So I don't really like connect with a ton

Starting point is 00:19:42 of product designers because I want my feed to reflect the market that I'm in. And it makes it just feel more, uh, me, I guess I just, I'm not going to be able to help a salesperson right now. Truly. I'm just not. So I've tried to connect with people in my network that I'm going after. I think cold outreach is really hard and I I'll give an opinion from my point of view I don't think it some people like this either, but um I like when people give a little bit of a message like hey, i'm a marketer I'd love to just join your network like whatever that is I don't think it's always necessary, but I don't think you need to be writing these long long paragraphs like a cover letter

Starting point is 00:20:22 Hey, I love the the content that you're putting out just wanted to be in your network Hey, I love the content that you're putting out. Just wanted to be in your network. Hey, I love the brands that you've worked with. I admire the campaign you made. Like you don't need to like jump in to like hope to get the conversation going right off the bat, maybe like slow roll it a bit. It's almost like dating. And I think that has worked well for some people reaching out to me where I'm like, you're scaring me almost like you're too eager. Oh, my gosh, I totally agree. And I think to a lot of times they'll start out messaging about like, hey, do you want to try this like free service or like, hey, do you want to hop on a call to like get coffee or like, Hey, do you want to do this? And like, I get it. Like you are trying to be out there and, you know, uh, putting yourself forward and everything, but it is so hard being on the other, like receiving end of that, just being like, Oh my gosh, I want to help so many people, but there's so many people reaching out and I don't know what to do. And sometimes

Starting point is 00:21:18 you get paralyzed and that's where I just log off of LinkedIn for a while. But yeah, so I really think that's good advice. But it is good to include like something, some reason why you are connecting at all in the first place, because I'll get a lot of like really, really random, like not associated with marketing at all in any way. People just like requesting to be connections on LinkedIn. And I'm like, why, why do you want to connect with me? And a lot of the times if I approve them, for whatever reason, they'll reach

Starting point is 00:21:52 out with a sales message. And I'm like, oh, goodness gracious. Okay, I could have avoided that. But no, I totally, totally think that everybody should at least give like one sentence of like, hey, just love what you're doing. You know, we're in the same industry or like we have some mutual connections. We'd love to just like follow along with what you're doing and, um, be here to support in any way. If you need anything, I always think it's a good thing to, to include. Um, I also want to chat with you a little bit. I know we kind of touched on this already, but do you have any kind of words of encouragement for people who might think they're not the right fit to develop a personal brand?

Starting point is 00:22:31 That's something that we encounter a lot because our podcast and our community has a lot of listeners and members who are starting out in their career and they kind of think, oh my gosh, I have nothing to say. I have no voice to share. I have nothing to contribute to any sort of topic. And I think that's just so not the way to look at it because you are an individual and you have a voice no matter who you are. And so I would just love to hear your perspective on like, if someone's out there going, okay,

Starting point is 00:23:04 this is great advice. And I really kind of want to do that. But maybe I don't think I'm in the right place to do that yet. Any kind of words of encouragement there? One, it takes time. Like I, not even just with LinkedIn, but people who develop their personal brands. I really, really think people need to stop thinking about what their audience wants versus what they want to share. You have opinions as an individual. It

Starting point is 00:23:31 doesn't matter if they're right, if they're wrong, if you're the smartest person in the room, if you're the dumbest person in the room. But I think the thing about LinkedIn and why I get attracted to certain people on there is because they're super curious and they're just constantly sharing things that they think are interesting and cool. I don't follow everyone on LinkedIn. I have a few favorites, but that will always be the case because we're all different human beings. So I you have a voice. You should not be posting to try to gain a huge audience. Like that just will never work across any platform. So just start slowly, like again, post a commentary on someone else's feed.

Starting point is 00:24:12 Like you don't have to just focus on your feed either. Like you can start saying like, wow, congratulations on your promotion. You guys did a sick job. Can't see what, wait to see what you do next. And then, you know, that person's like, Oh, that was so nice of that individual. I'm going to go check out their profile. So there's a lot of like linking and building quote unquote on LinkedIn. So I, again, you have your own, like your, I mean, it's like so hard to stress, but it's like, you are you and not everyone's going to like you. I get a lot of trolls all the time. And I'm just like, I don't really care what they have to say because it's resonating with other people. So just post what you're curious about and what you're excited about. It could be a magazine article. It could be a freaking tweet or like an X or whatever they

Starting point is 00:24:58 call it now. But just start posting about things that you're interested in. Yeah, such good advice. And kind of on that too, we speak to a lot of people who are like, I'm afraid what my employer is going to think if I start posting all of a sudden. Are they going to think I'm trying to leave and find a new position? Any encouragement around just that in general and being conscious of the current position that you're in? Yeah, well, definitely don't feel like I'm so open to work and I hate this job so much. But I do think that like as an employer,

Starting point is 00:25:32 I would be thrilled if my team was really excited about what was happening in their market or in kind of like the industry that they're in. I don't, I would almost be like, why would an employer be freaked out about that? Like this kind of gets more eyeballs on you and your team in general and kind of, you know, brings you guys to the forefront. My team is like so highly encouraged to create their personal brands because it opens doors for us and we're in the business of connecting. But I would maybe just be mindful, like it still is like a networking platform.

Starting point is 00:26:08 So maybe you don't post like, I don't even know if I'm allowed to curse, but like shit posts or whatever, but maybe that's you. And that's the kind of the industry that you're in. So it's totally fine. But I think just start slowly and see how they react to it. But it could, again, just be your interest in the market that you're in. And if that's a negative on you, I would start thinking differently about the leadership and the teams that I'm on and why they care. Yeah, no, couldn't agree more. I mean, if there's insecurity there among your leaders about you posting, I mean, that's a whole nother

Starting point is 00:26:42 conversation. I feel like we touched on that at the panel. But I want to ask to kind of as we close out here, if you were to hand off one main piece of advice for the job search process or job hunt, what is something that you would pass along today? Okay, it's a really hard market right now. So this can always evolve. And I welcome people to, you know, reach out to me. But I would say that the people that I'm drawn to that reach out to me or that I'm working with, I think they just show the most curiosity and excitement about what they're applying to or speaking about and that can come like you do not need a long cover letter by any means um but I do think I can tell when someone's just like putting a resume into the ether and it's really hard like it's really really hard people apply to like 70 jobs now and don't hear back from anyone but I think doing that exercise in the beginning of getting really strong on what you want and how you can like market

Starting point is 00:27:50 yourself in this like one elevator pitch and then bringing that to life whether it's through an insanely well-crafted email or you make a portfolio that showcases just like how creative you are you have to show that you're curious and you are eager to be at the company somehow and like tell your story more so than just like throwing a resume into the ether and I know I can give so many different points of advice it kind of depends on the industry and the jobs that you're going after. So I don't want to blanket statement it, but I do think it's really important to have some type of document or your LinkedIn or something that just showcases a really good story about you as an individual and your creativity and your excitement for the space that you want to be, I guess, getting a job in. Yeah, such good advice. I know it's extra work to kind of put together those different elements, but to your point, it goes a long way. So it's important to do

Starting point is 00:28:50 if you're really eager to find your next step. So great advice there. Well, we have to ask you our favorite question on the show. One of our favorite questions, I should say. But what do you know now that you wish you knew earlier on in your career? It's a loaded question. I really don't, I don't want to be like negative at all, but I will say I used to throw my resume everywhere. Like I would be like, Oh, I can apply to this like social media role. I can apply to this creative director role. I did not realize just how many other people are applying to those with the actual skill sets that these people are looking for 10 out of 10. And that can be really discouraging.

Starting point is 00:29:35 But you are competing with so many people right now that you cannot take it personally if people are not getting back to you or you know you don't get the job even when you're like shooting your shot I just like you I get like 400 applicants in two days for a social media role and again the market's wild and crazy but I really want people to like I I wish that I was like, not so hard on myself when someone wouldn't get back to me or thinking super negatively, like the universe does have your back. And, um, I hate that because again, it is really woo woo, but I just kind of never realized how big the pool is. And I would always blame myself and it's not you it's the larger candidate pool of people

Starting point is 00:30:26 out there but I have so much so I'm like people can talk with the dms the dms like I'm open to chatting um and it's just a really hard market right now and I don't like to be negative about it but it's I'm like you guys should manifest and you should read like self-help books to be honest. It's very important that you channel the energy into positivity versus like what's wrong with me and like a sparsity mindset. Yeah. Yeah. It's so hard and I completely empathize and understand your mind going in that direction. But to your point, you can't let yourself get there because I think that takes motivation and drive away from the process, which you need nowadays. So yeah, it's super important. I mean, just in life in general,

Starting point is 00:31:15 take care of yourself, take care of your mental health and like stay positive. Again, it sounds silly, but you, I mean, you have to. So like I have books and recommendations and podcasts and things like that. Maybe I'll do a post on that because people need to be more. Yeah, absolutely. I'm excited to read your list too, because we all, we all can use some extra, a little extra push here and there. So that's great. Well, Kelly, speaking of that,

Starting point is 00:31:45 where can we connect with you online? And then also please tell us how we can learn more about creative people. We love creative people. We love what you guys do. We refer so many people to you guys. Um, so just want to know more about, uh, how we can send more people your way. Yes. So definitely connect with me on LinkedIn. Um, you can, I'm, I'm Kelly Gordon. I think you'll find me. I'm standing with a black and white photo. Um, creative people follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. We also have a website to be honest. It's super, super, super backed up right now. Like everyone's looking. So hopefully we get back to you soon, but you always get put into our system. So as jobs come across our plate, we will reach out to you. Um, you can also follow me on Instagram.

Starting point is 00:32:30 I have a whole other personality out there and I'm Kelly from LinkedIn, which is whole joke in itself. But, um, yeah, I am always trying to open my networks to go as far as possible. And I'm excited to kind of, um, you know, continue to work with your guys's network. You guys are the most fun. And I love, love, love this like relationship that we've all built over the past year. Oh my gosh. Likewise. We could not agree more. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. I feel like we need to do like a every other month or so, like check in with Kelly, get some updated insights and advice. So we'll, we'll talk about that internally and set something up like that. But thank you so much for sharing all of

Starting point is 00:33:10 your advice with us today. Thanks, Kelly. Thank you. Bye. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Creative People. Creative People offers a human first approach, the recruiting process for both brands and talent to help build best in class product design and marketing teams for the world's most disruptive startups. If you're looking for an excellent partner to assist you in searching for and hiring your next team member, head to creativepeople.com to get started. Don't forget to tell them you were referred by Marketing Happy Hour.

Marketing Happy Hour - How a Personal Brand Can Impact Your Career | Kelly Gordon of Creative People

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.