Best Career Advice On Success, Confidence & Leveling Up From A Few Of Our Faves

On Polishing Communication Skills

Dimplez Ijoema, who has served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Capitol Music Group and a leading digital marketer, paved her own lane, empowered herself through innovative thinking and leadership, and enjoyed the power of mentorship and advocacy from other senior leaders in her industry. In an interview with xoNecole, she talked about how effective communication plays a role in success:

"A lot of workplace or career challenges literally boiled down to miscommunication — whether it be intentional or unintentional. And as an executive, a woman, and a human, the moment we become better communicators, the less friction we will have."

On Engaging Authenticity

Canvas Beauty founder and CEO Stormi Steele built a brand from the ground up, going from her home-based business to being sold in major retailers. She’s also built a large following on social and real-life communities of supporters and brand-builders. Steele reiterated a key factor in success— for any power woman–that resonates across industries, experience levels, and business journeys:

“Focus on building a community, and not more so just selling a product. So for us, like, I was selling the product, but I wasn’t saying, like, ‘Oh, go buy this’ or ‘buy this.’ I'm more so taking people on a journey with the growth of our brand and I think people resonate with that more so than, you know, just saying sell, sell, sell.”

The same advice can apply to a 9-to-5er working to get to the top of the ladder and join the C-suite of a company. When you can unapologetically be yourself (while doing quality work with measurable results), relate to others, and take an approach of authentic relatability, it can do wonders.

On Empowering Through Service

For TV executive Melissa Ingram, servant leadership has been a common theme that has laid a foundation for decades of success in the entertainment industry. For her, lifting as you climb is a vital boss move that not only enhances her own self-development and advancement but empowers the overall bottom line of any company.

"When you invest in others, they begin to trust you. And it's always been purpose over position for me. Don't get so caught up in a title. Ask yourself, 'What's my purpose in this role? Is this an opportunity for me to serve and bring my unique skill sets to the table to help others?' As a manager, if your team succeeds, you succeed.

On Building Resilience

From pursuing her dreams of being a celebrity stylist to overcoming challenges in the fashion industry to creating her own scripted series, Kandace Banks’ story of career fulfillment is the perfect case study on confidence and resilience.

“You have to expect to work really hard. I didn’t expect to work as hard as I had to. If you go in with the mentality of having to hustle and grind, unfortunately, that’s what you’re going to have to do. People are going to treat you terribly, but you have to be confident within yourself to know that you can't take anything personal. At the end of the day, you have to do your best work and give it all you got and know that you’ve tried your hardest.”

On Prioritizing Strategy And Rest

Nicole Walters, CEO of Inherit Learning Co., is a best-selling author and podcaster, with extensive experience in consulting and working as an executive in Corporate America. She’s poured into other professionals to match their passions and talents with purpose and fulfillment. A big lesson she learned is the importance of being strategic in how we map out our professional plans and finding ways to incorporate rest as part of our success strategy.

“A lot of us think we work hard until retirement hits. I want to progress toward retirement. It is intentionally building out what I know I would like to have happen and not waiting for exhaustion to be the trigger of change.”

On Building Go-Getter Strength

Brittany Yates, founder of Grind on the Go, a premium coffee and tea brand, balanced a 9-to-5 while launching and found initial investors to fund her idea via her network. Her simple but powerful mantra of just-do-it gusto has led to results, allowing her to build a large community and consumer base. There’s a certain amount of faith, audacity, and good time management that allows her to push through challenges to reach her goals.

“My mindset is that if it's something I really want to do, I can do it. [Some people would say] that's over-simplified, but for me, if I want to do something, I'm doing it. Another thing is time management. I time block, in a sense, so I'll say I'm working a certain amount [of time] on this, and a certain amount of time on that.”

Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.