March 12, 2025 • 15 mins
Michelle Connley-Gore is a marketing expert with 23 years of experience in the areas of marketing strategy, communications planning, brand identity, advertising, creative/design process management, digital content management, BIPOC-targeted marketing, community relations, and event design & management.
Michelle earned her chops at global ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide in Chicago on the U.S. Army national advertising business. Michelle then went on to hone her skills at national agency, Carol H. Williams Advertising, working on the General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Disney accounts. Working in the areas of account and event management, Michelle managed TV and print productions, the media planning process, public relations strategy, inter-agency campaign management, and integrated media campaigns.
Following her advertising career, Michelle decided to pursue her passion for supporting underserved communities of color by taking a national brand management role at the KIPP Foundation, working in both their Chicago and San Francisco offices. As the Senior Marketing Communications Manager at KIPP, she led the work in creating KIPP's brand guidelines, national messaging, annual Report Card, affiliate branding and collateral materials, and collaborated across KIPP's 30+ regions to provide guidance and tools to hundreds of staff who now serve 200,000+ students and alumni nationwide.
In 2015, Connley-Gore founded MDC Marketing Group, a strategic marketing and communications firm based in Charlotte focused on ensuring that businesses, government entities, and nonprofit organizations thrive. MDC’s clients include: Mecklenburg County, Charlotte Works, Care Ring, The Belk Foundation, Mecklenburg County ABC Board, Coca-Cola Consolidated, Carolina Small Business Development Fund, Foundation For The Carolinas, University of California San Francisco/The LOOP, Steve Smith Family Foundation, Read Charlotte, KIPP North Carolina, and more.
Michelle holds both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Advertising from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has also participated in Columbia Business School's Executive Education program "Developing Leaders for Nonprofit Professionals."
Michelle earned her chops at global ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide in Chicago on the U.S. Army national advertising business. Michelle then went on to hone her skills at national agency, Carol H. Williams Advertising, working on the General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Disney accounts. Working in the areas of account and event management, Michelle managed TV and print productions, the media planning process, public relations strategy, inter-agency campaign management, and integrated media campaigns.
Following her advertising career, Michelle decided to pursue her passion for supporting underserved communities of color by taking a national brand management role at the KIPP Foundation, working in both their Chicago and San Francisco offices. As the Senior Marketing Communications Manager at KIPP, she led the work in creating KIPP's brand guidelines, national messaging, annual Report Card, affiliate branding and collateral materials, and collaborated across KIPP's 30+ regions to provide guidance and tools to hundreds of staff who now serve 200,000+ students and alumni nationwide.
In 2015, Connley-Gore founded MDC Marketing Group, a strategic marketing and communications firm based in Charlotte focused on ensuring that businesses, government entities, and nonprofit organizations thrive. MDC’s clients include: Mecklenburg County, Charlotte Works, Care Ring, The Belk Foundation, Mecklenburg County ABC Board, Coca-Cola Consolidated, Carolina Small Business Development Fund, Foundation For The Carolinas, University of California San Francisco/The LOOP, Steve Smith Family Foundation, Read Charlotte, KIPP North Carolina, and more.
Michelle holds both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Advertising from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has also participated in Columbia Business School's Executive Education program "Developing Leaders for Nonprofit Professionals."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the iHeartMedia Charlotte Women of Impact, celebrating women
in our community, presented by the Carolina Ascent and New
Hope Treatment Centers.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hey, it's Chelsea here with Michelle Conley Gore from MDC
Marketing Group.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Welcome, Thank you for having me excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We are celebrating women of impact, and you are definitely
one of them. So I'm excited to hear your inspiring
story and your life advice, no pressure. Tell us a
little bit about your background with MDC Marketing Group and
how you got there.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
So I founded MDC Marketing Group in twenty fifteen here
in Charlotte. I'd spent my career prior to that in
Chicago and San Francisco working in a couple of different
ad agencies. I worked at Leobernet Worldwide, which is a
global agency, and then I worked at an African American
agency called Carol H.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Williams.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
And I worked on brands from US Army to Procter
and Gambled to Craft, Disney, Coca Cola, lots of great brands. Yeah,
I think we've heard of the Yeah, well at least
heard of one of those, and kind of got burnt
out in the industry after a while, because it's very grueling,
very time consuming, as you all know from this part
(01:11):
of the industry. But I basically did a stint at
a nonprofit called KIP, which is Knowledge Is Power Program.
It's at National Charter School Network because I really want
to figure out how to parlay my marketing skills into
an organization that's really helping kids of color and underserved
communities around the country. And so I did that for
(01:31):
six years doing kind of national brand management and supporting
the schools across the country. And that led me to
me and my husband in North Carolin, sorry in San Francisco,
which then led me here. We decided to move to Charlotte,
and that's when I said, you know what I've had.
I've been in the industry in different parts of marketing
and advertising for fifteen plus years, doing TV, radio, print, events,
(01:58):
kind of everything under the sun. And I can bring
that level of consulting expertise to all kinds of clients.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
But guess what, I get to now pick my clients.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
And so that's what made me really, you know, decide
and get the confidence to really start my own agency
in twenty fifteen here and so we do branding and
marketing work for local and you know, outside of North Carolina,
nonprofit government and corporate.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Clients thinking of empowering the next generation of women. Which
character traits do you think have been the most instrumental
to your success?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Number one is relationship building. I mean people always say that,
but it's true. If you cannot build relationships and leave
a lasting impression on somebody, you're not going to be
successful within your organization and with partners you know and
others that you work with. Marketing and communications is a
very communal business, and you've got to collaborate and be
(02:55):
able to work with people, and you never burn bridges either.
So it's like you've got to build relationships and even
if you're leaving an organization, leave on good terms, go
to the next organization and bring your skills there. But
I think my relationship building has gotten me pretty far,
particularly for my consulting business now, where ninety five percent
of my business is referrals. One client's like you did
(03:17):
a great job with XYZ. I told somebody else about you,
who then told somebody else about you. So we've been
able to really thrive and grow for ten years now
because of relationships. Another thing is just confidence. I think
as a woman in the business, and you've got to
stick your knock out there, and if you really believe something,
(03:38):
or feel strongly about something, or feel like you know
the right path, put your you know, put your your
thoughts out there in a big meeting, even if you
know men can sometimes tend to dominate conversations. You've got
to really be confident in your abilities, and if you
really believe in something, say it. The other thing is
curiosity and just kind of exploring the unknown. So again,
(03:58):
when you start your own business, there's a lot you
don't know, a whole bunch of stuff. I had to
learn about, you know, payroll and taxes and.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Definitely getting accounting.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
To anybody out there who's listening, if you start your
own business, particularly if you're paying people and have payroll,
get an accountant who knows small business taxes because it's
so important. I didn't have that for probably the first
five years, and I was relying on like H and
R block and tips I found online and yeah, no,
don't do that, But being curious and like trying to
(04:27):
figure things out. I found new tools that helped us
with our timelines. And planning and you know, you know
QR codes and just all the different technology that we
need in the marketing business, digital marketing, you got to
kind of be curious, and that's really important.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I think often young people struggle with what they want
to do in their careers. I certainly did when I
was younger. There's so much pressure to figure it all
out when you're young. What are your thoughts on trying
to figure it all out in the beginning.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Yeah, I mean there's no way you can have anything
figured out right in the beginning. You're just trying to learn.
And I tell people who are in college, are about
to go to college, do internships and whatever you're looking
to go into, particularly in the marketing and advertising space.
They don't really care if, like I came out with
a master's degree in advertising, I got an undergraduate degree
in advertising from University of Illinois. I got a master's
(05:17):
from University of Illinois. So that gave me a fellowship.
I said, let me just say and get it. I
didn't really need it. It probably helped me get a
little bit more starting income, But in terms of the
knowledge of the business, had I not done internships at
different agencies in college, I would not have understood how
it works, what the day to day life is like,
how you have to multitask and again build relationships with
(05:40):
different departments and different folks to get your work done.
And so that's just really key. But I think the
biggest thing is starting in whatever field you think you're
interested in and being okay with the fact that it
could evolve again. After about eight to ten years of
working in the advertising space, I decided to go in
into it work at a nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
I had no background in education.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
I just wanted to help underserve communities, but I had
marketing skills and they needed a marketing supervisor, and so
that's kind of what I am brand manager, and that's
kind of how I parlayed into that. But I learned
so much about education there and stayed in it for
six years, which is a good amount of time these days.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Because people switched up so fast. So I think you
just got to be okay. I have a you know,
they have the quarter like quarter Life Crisis, which.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Is a book about how kind of your mentality can
change around twenty five. I think around your thirties, after
you've been working for close to ten years, you might
get a change of heart and decide you want to
completely do something different. I started a business in my
mid thirties, so and I did not think you would have.
I would have never believed if you had told me
(06:49):
at twenty three that I was going to be an
entrepreneur started business.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That wasn't my goal.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
But I realized after a long period of time in
the industry and being able to do kind of what
I wanted to do, and that I had again had
the confidence to say, you know what, I have enough
skills that I can bring to somebody, that I've worked
in enough areas of the industry they could use my advice,
and you kind of have to be It's not being cocky,
it's just being confident. You don't know everything, but you
(07:14):
at some point you could know enough to really go
out on your own. And so I said, you know what,
let me just take the leap, let me try.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
And that was ten years ago. That was ten years ago.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, based on the lessons you've learned from your experience,
what would you say if you could go back in
time and speak to your twenty year old self, would
you do anything differently?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
I feel like everything I've done has led me on
the path to where I am now. So I don't
think i'd change anything major in terms of my decisions
to hop to different jobs or to change industries.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I would tell myself, you know, you got this.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Be confident, because again, especially when you're younger and a
woman in these big rooms, there's a lot of men
and women who are just more senior, and sometimes you
might feel like, oh, I don't really want to say that,
or even if I have an opinion, I'll share it
privately later or whatever. But I do think it's important
to just, you know, for me to have told myself
(08:09):
you got it, it's everything's okay, and you are a leader.
Because I was okay being I don't want to say
a follower, but I was fine like working, you know,
kind of at a lower level, and I knew i'd
eventually get promoted. There were definitely times when I felt like,
you know what, I should be promoted at the next level.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Why haven't I.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
I ended up kind of switching to different areas, like
I went from account management in the advertising industry to
I wanted to manage events, and.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I did get promoted there.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
But you kind of have to also figure out where
are your best skill sets lie and kind of go
that way. So I think again I wouldn't change anything
anything other than tell myself to really dream big and
tell myself at a young age that I am a
leader or I can be a leader.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Have you experienced barriers in your career? And how have
you broken those down? And I probably should say what
barriers have you experienced in your career? Because I feel
like just as women, of course we have how have
you broken down the barriers you've encountered?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Again, I think there was one job where I just
had a difficult director. Again it was a man, and
just you know, there was just things that I kind
of ways that I a direction I wanted to go,
and he wanted to take our business of different direction.
And you know, I also realize you have to you
(09:29):
have to compromise. So there's some things that you know,
even if you're not going to get everything you want
in that moment, you kind of have to just Okay,
put again your opinion out there, be confident, say what
you feel, don't shrink and complain about it later to
somebody else. Say it and say it in a meeting
or to that person and then realize also look from
look at their perspective and see why they might be
(09:53):
pushing X y Z, And so I think sometimes, you know,
there were situations where I was like, you know, I
just this is not the right area for me in
our organization, and so I moved to a different area.
But there's other places where I had realized I needed
to ask for what I wanted.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
And again that's how I moved.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
In one of my agencies, I left the account management
area and I went over to events, and I really
had to pitch my case. I had to go into
my director and say, no, I have not done professional
event planning, but I've done all this nonprofit event planning
for the Urban League in Chicago and other organizations like
major these are like five hundred people events.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Here's what I have done.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Here's some of my work, and this is how I
can take my account management skills into events.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
And so I really pitched my case and they gave.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Me the opportunity to move over and I got to
plan my Black Is Beautiful tour for Procter and Gamble,
which is cover girl Ola. We met Queen Latifa, Angela
Bassett like some major people, and we took that around
the country to different markets, including the Essence Music Festival.
We did the Cadillac Jazz Lounge in New Orleans and
Chicago and lots of fun places, and I was able
(11:04):
to really be more creative versus just be on the
business side of advertising. And again I had to really
if I had not set up a meeting with my
director to say I feel really strongly about this and
I would like to go this area, they would have
just left me in the same area and I would
have kind of just been a little bit frustrated. So
just ask for what you want. I just think that's
(11:25):
really important. Promotions as well. Ask for a promotion if
you feel like you're deserving of that, and then also
you have to have, of course the information to back
that up.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Right. Why do you deserve to get promoted?
Speaker 4 (11:36):
What have you done to this point to deserve a
pay raise but a title title increase?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
If you had the ears of young women in Charlotte,
which you do, what advice would you give them as
they set out on their careers.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
We've covered a lot a lot of that.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
What I said, be confident, you know, ask for what
you want. Also take the time to really listen and learn.
I do feel like, you know, I'm on the edge
of Gen X and millennials I think are a bit
like this, but even the generation after that, what is
a Gen out or something gen Z? I guess it's
Gen Z and then there's Gen Alpha. But I think,
(12:12):
especially with a lot of young entrepreneurs out there, you
got to take time to really get experience in the business,
get your feet wet, go work for other people, and
know that you're going in there and not knowing everything,
and that is okay. You're not expected to know everything
coming out of college at twenty two, twenty three years old,
just starting. So just get your feet wet, learn, soak
(12:33):
it all in and also be flexible. Know that everything
might not be the exact path that you, you know,
thought you would take, but there's some blessings in that,
and you never know what you're what you're going to do,
who you're gonna meet, what's gonna what opportunities are going
to come to you just because you took that different path.
(12:54):
One other just quick thing I just thought about was,
you know, I left a global agency, Leo Burnett, to
go to an African American agency, which was the largest
female owned agency, black female owned agency at the time,
Caro Lage Williams. But I took a risk doing that
just because I knew I had a good path that
(13:16):
Leo Burnett could have continued to rise there. But I
really wanted to get other experience. And that was such
a blessing that I chose to do that, because I
got to work on so many brands that I wouldn't
have been able to touch at Leo Burnett because they
would have probably kept me on a couple pieces of business,
particularly the Army. It was a huge piece of business.
And so I just had so much experience. And one
(13:37):
cool thing we got to do was we worked on
Disney and they flew us to a Pixar. We got
to fly to Pixar studios in the Bay Area and
consult on the movie Princess on the Frog.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
So they showed us.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
We actually watched the movie at Pixar in the It
was kind of the sketch basically drawings and you're watching
that it moves, but there's no color. There is audio
because they do they record the voice tracks first. But
we got to consult on how that movie would be
perceived in the black community and just the idea of
(14:11):
doctor Facilier and the voodoo and there's a lot of
interesting pieces to that that being said in New Orleans.
But it was just like such a cool opportunity again
that I got an opportunity to do because I moved
over to that agency where it was a little bit smaller,
and just I was able to kind of wear a
lot of different hats versus just kind of one hat.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
What an amazing experience.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, it's really say that your voice was actually a
part of it was heard in that you know, that's.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Where they finished things right. Yeah, really cool.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
So say, and my daughter loves It's one of her
favorite movies, Princess on the Frog. So every time we
watch it, it's just it's like it's just such a good
memories of just being able to see it on the
kind of the cutting room floor before they finished it.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
That's awesome story.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Any other words of wisdom that we left out, You've
been fantastic, So thank you.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Just you know, everybody out there, just go for it.
Take the chance against take the time to learn and
really understand your craft, meet with people, find mentors and
people that can really help you move forward and give
you some guidance and advice, but it's really just one
of those things where you just got to go for
it and listen to people.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
But if you have a different way that you would like.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
To go about it, just take that chance and try it,
and again, be flexible throughout your career. You may make
a complete career change at thirty five and that is
completely fine.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Well, this has been great. Thank you so much, Michelle,
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
iHeartMedia. Charlotte Women of Impact celebrating women in our community,
presented by the Carolina Ascent and New Hope Treatment Centers,
This is the iHeartMedia Charlotte Women of Impact, celebrating women
in our community, presented by the Carolina Ascent and New
Hope Treatment Centers.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hey, it's Chelsea here with Michelle Conley Gore from MDC
Marketing Group.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Welcome, Thank you for having me excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We are celebrating women of impact, and you are definitely
one of them. So I'm excited to hear your inspiring
story and your life advice, no pressure. Tell us a
little bit about your background with MDC Marketing Group and
how you got there.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
So I founded MDC Marketing Group in twenty fifteen here
in Charlotte. I'd spent my career prior to that in
Chicago and San Francisco working in a couple of different
ad agencies. I worked at Leobernet Worldwide, which is a
global agency, and then I worked at an African American
agency called Carol H.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Williams.
Speaker 4 (00:49):
And I worked on brands from US Army to Procter
and Gambled to Craft, Disney, Coca Cola, lots of great brands. Yeah,
I think we've heard of the Yeah, well at least
heard of one of those, and kind of got burnt
out in the industry after a while, because it's very grueling,
very time consuming, as you all know from this part
(01:11):
of the industry. But I basically did a stint at
a nonprofit called KIP, which is Knowledge Is Power Program.
It's at National Charter School Network because I really want
to figure out how to parlay my marketing skills into
an organization that's really helping kids of color and underserved
communities around the country. And so I did that for
(01:31):
six years doing kind of national brand management and supporting
the schools across the country. And that led me to
me and my husband in North Carolin, sorry in San Francisco,
which then led me here. We decided to move to Charlotte,
and that's when I said, you know what I've had.
I've been in the industry in different parts of marketing
and advertising for fifteen plus years, doing TV, radio, print, events,
(01:58):
kind of everything under the sun. And I can bring
that level of consulting expertise to all kinds of clients.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
But guess what, I get to now pick my clients.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
And so that's what made me really, you know, decide
and get the confidence to really start my own agency
in twenty fifteen here and so we do branding and
marketing work for local and you know, outside of North Carolina,
nonprofit government and corporate.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Clients thinking of empowering the next generation of women. Which
character traits do you think have been the most instrumental
to your success?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Number one is relationship building. I mean people always say that,
but it's true. If you cannot build relationships and leave
a lasting impression on somebody, you're not going to be
successful within your organization and with partners you know and
others that you work with. Marketing and communications is a
very communal business, and you've got to collaborate and be
(02:55):
able to work with people, and you never burn bridges either.
So it's like you've got to build relationships and even
if you're leaving an organization, leave on good terms, go
to the next organization and bring your skills there. But
I think my relationship building has gotten me pretty far,
particularly for my consulting business now, where ninety five percent
of my business is referrals. One client's like you did
(03:17):
a great job with XYZ. I told somebody else about you,
who then told somebody else about you. So we've been
able to really thrive and grow for ten years now
because of relationships. Another thing is just confidence. I think
as a woman in the business, and you've got to
stick your knock out there, and if you really believe something,
(03:38):
or feel strongly about something, or feel like you know
the right path, put your you know, put your your
thoughts out there in a big meeting, even if you
know men can sometimes tend to dominate conversations. You've got
to really be confident in your abilities, and if you
really believe in something, say it. The other thing is
curiosity and just kind of exploring the unknown. So again,
(03:58):
when you start your own business, there's a lot you
don't know, a whole bunch of stuff. I had to
learn about, you know, payroll and taxes and.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Definitely getting accounting.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
To anybody out there who's listening, if you start your
own business, particularly if you're paying people and have payroll,
get an accountant who knows small business taxes because it's
so important. I didn't have that for probably the first
five years, and I was relying on like H and
R block and tips I found online and yeah, no,
don't do that, But being curious and like trying to
(04:27):
figure things out. I found new tools that helped us
with our timelines. And planning and you know, you know
QR codes and just all the different technology that we
need in the marketing business, digital marketing, you got to
kind of be curious, and that's really important.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I think often young people struggle with what they want
to do in their careers. I certainly did when I
was younger. There's so much pressure to figure it all
out when you're young. What are your thoughts on trying
to figure it all out in the beginning.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Yeah, I mean there's no way you can have anything
figured out right in the beginning. You're just trying to learn.
And I tell people who are in college, are about
to go to college, do internships and whatever you're looking
to go into, particularly in the marketing and advertising space.
They don't really care if, like I came out with
a master's degree in advertising, I got an undergraduate degree
in advertising from University of Illinois. I got a master's
(05:17):
from University of Illinois. So that gave me a fellowship.
I said, let me just say and get it. I
didn't really need it. It probably helped me get a
little bit more starting income, But in terms of the
knowledge of the business, had I not done internships at
different agencies in college, I would not have understood how
it works, what the day to day life is like,
how you have to multitask and again build relationships with
(05:40):
different departments and different folks to get your work done.
And so that's just really key. But I think the
biggest thing is starting in whatever field you think you're
interested in and being okay with the fact that it
could evolve again. After about eight to ten years of
working in the advertising space, I decided to go in
into it work at a nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
I had no background in education.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
I just wanted to help underserve communities, but I had
marketing skills and they needed a marketing supervisor, and so
that's kind of what I am brand manager, and that's
kind of how I parlayed into that. But I learned
so much about education there and stayed in it for
six years, which is a good amount of time these days.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Because people switched up so fast. So I think you
just got to be okay. I have a you know,
they have the quarter like quarter Life Crisis, which.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Is a book about how kind of your mentality can
change around twenty five. I think around your thirties, after
you've been working for close to ten years, you might
get a change of heart and decide you want to
completely do something different. I started a business in my
mid thirties, so and I did not think you would have.
I would have never believed if you had told me
(06:49):
at twenty three that I was going to be an
entrepreneur started business.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That wasn't my goal.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
But I realized after a long period of time in
the industry and being able to do kind of what
I wanted to do, and that I had again had
the confidence to say, you know what, I have enough
skills that I can bring to somebody, that I've worked
in enough areas of the industry they could use my advice,
and you kind of have to be It's not being cocky,
it's just being confident. You don't know everything, but you
(07:14):
at some point you could know enough to really go
out on your own. And so I said, you know what,
let me just take the leap, let me try.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
And that was ten years ago. That was ten years ago.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, based on the lessons you've learned from your experience,
what would you say if you could go back in
time and speak to your twenty year old self, would
you do anything differently?
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
I feel like everything I've done has led me on
the path to where I am now. So I don't
think i'd change anything major in terms of my decisions
to hop to different jobs or to change industries.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I would tell myself, you know, you got this.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Be confident, because again, especially when you're younger and a
woman in these big rooms, there's a lot of men
and women who are just more senior, and sometimes you
might feel like, oh, I don't really want to say that,
or even if I have an opinion, I'll share it
privately later or whatever. But I do think it's important
to just, you know, for me to have told myself
(08:09):
you got it, it's everything's okay, and you are a leader.
Because I was okay being I don't want to say
a follower, but I was fine like working, you know,
kind of at a lower level, and I knew i'd
eventually get promoted. There were definitely times when I felt like,
you know what, I should be promoted at the next level.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Why haven't I.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
I ended up kind of switching to different areas, like
I went from account management in the advertising industry to
I wanted to manage events, and.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I did get promoted there.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
But you kind of have to also figure out where
are your best skill sets lie and kind of go
that way. So I think again I wouldn't change anything
anything other than tell myself to really dream big and
tell myself at a young age that I am a
leader or I can be a leader.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Have you experienced barriers in your career? And how have
you broken those down? And I probably should say what
barriers have you experienced in your career? Because I feel
like just as women, of course we have how have
you broken down the barriers you've encountered?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (09:09):
Again, I think there was one job where I just
had a difficult director. Again it was a man, and
just you know, there was just things that I kind
of ways that I a direction I wanted to go,
and he wanted to take our business of different direction.
And you know, I also realize you have to you
(09:29):
have to compromise. So there's some things that you know,
even if you're not going to get everything you want
in that moment, you kind of have to just Okay,
put again your opinion out there, be confident, say what
you feel, don't shrink and complain about it later to
somebody else. Say it and say it in a meeting
or to that person and then realize also look from
look at their perspective and see why they might be
(09:53):
pushing X y Z, And so I think sometimes, you know,
there were situations where I was like, you know, I
just this is not the right area for me in
our organization, and so I moved to a different area.
But there's other places where I had realized I needed
to ask for what I wanted.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
And again that's how I moved.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
In one of my agencies, I left the account management
area and I went over to events, and I really
had to pitch my case. I had to go into
my director and say, no, I have not done professional
event planning, but I've done all this nonprofit event planning
for the Urban League in Chicago and other organizations like
major these are like five hundred people events.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Here's what I have done.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Here's some of my work, and this is how I
can take my account management skills into events.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
And so I really pitched my case and they gave.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Me the opportunity to move over and I got to
plan my Black Is Beautiful tour for Procter and Gamble,
which is cover girl Ola. We met Queen Latifa, Angela
Bassett like some major people, and we took that around
the country to different markets, including the Essence Music Festival.
We did the Cadillac Jazz Lounge in New Orleans and
Chicago and lots of fun places, and I was able
(11:04):
to really be more creative versus just be on the
business side of advertising. And again I had to really
if I had not set up a meeting with my
director to say I feel really strongly about this and
I would like to go this area, they would have
just left me in the same area and I would
have kind of just been a little bit frustrated. So
just ask for what you want. I just think that's
(11:25):
really important. Promotions as well. Ask for a promotion if
you feel like you're deserving of that, and then also
you have to have, of course the information to back
that up.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Right. Why do you deserve to get promoted?
Speaker 4 (11:36):
What have you done to this point to deserve a
pay raise but a title title increase?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
If you had the ears of young women in Charlotte,
which you do, what advice would you give them as
they set out on their careers.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
We've covered a lot a lot of that.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
What I said, be confident, you know, ask for what
you want. Also take the time to really listen and learn.
I do feel like, you know, I'm on the edge
of Gen X and millennials I think are a bit
like this, but even the generation after that, what is
a Gen out or something gen Z? I guess it's
Gen Z and then there's Gen Alpha. But I think,
(12:12):
especially with a lot of young entrepreneurs out there, you
got to take time to really get experience in the business,
get your feet wet, go work for other people, and
know that you're going in there and not knowing everything,
and that is okay. You're not expected to know everything
coming out of college at twenty two, twenty three years old,
just starting. So just get your feet wet, learn, soak
(12:33):
it all in and also be flexible. Know that everything
might not be the exact path that you, you know,
thought you would take, but there's some blessings in that,
and you never know what you're what you're going to do,
who you're gonna meet, what's gonna what opportunities are going
to come to you just because you took that different path.
(12:54):
One other just quick thing I just thought about was,
you know, I left a global agency, Leo Burnett, to
go to an African American agency, which was the largest
female owned agency, black female owned agency at the time,
Caro Lage Williams. But I took a risk doing that
just because I knew I had a good path that
(13:16):
Leo Burnett could have continued to rise there. But I
really wanted to get other experience. And that was such
a blessing that I chose to do that, because I
got to work on so many brands that I wouldn't
have been able to touch at Leo Burnett because they
would have probably kept me on a couple pieces of business,
particularly the Army. It was a huge piece of business.
And so I just had so much experience. And one
(13:37):
cool thing we got to do was we worked on
Disney and they flew us to a Pixar. We got
to fly to Pixar studios in the Bay Area and
consult on the movie Princess on the Frog.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
So they showed us.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
We actually watched the movie at Pixar in the It
was kind of the sketch basically drawings and you're watching
that it moves, but there's no color. There is audio
because they do they record the voice tracks first. But
we got to consult on how that movie would be
perceived in the black community and just the idea of
(14:11):
doctor Facilier and the voodoo and there's a lot of
interesting pieces to that that being said in New Orleans.
But it was just like such a cool opportunity again
that I got an opportunity to do because I moved
over to that agency where it was a little bit smaller,
and just I was able to kind of wear a
lot of different hats versus just kind of one hat.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
What an amazing experience.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Yeah, it's really say that your voice was actually a
part of it was heard in that you know, that's.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Where they finished things right. Yeah, really cool.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
So say, and my daughter loves It's one of her
favorite movies, Princess on the Frog. So every time we
watch it, it's just it's like it's just such a good
memories of just being able to see it on the
kind of the cutting room floor before they finished it.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
That's awesome story.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Any other words of wisdom that we left out, You've
been fantastic, So thank you.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Just you know, everybody out there, just go for it.
Take the chance against take the time to learn and
really understand your craft, meet with people, find mentors and
people that can really help you move forward and give
you some guidance and advice, but it's really just one
of those things where you just got to go for
it and listen to people.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
But if you have a different way that you would like.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
To go about it, just take that chance and try it,
and again, be flexible throughout your career. You may make
a complete career change at thirty five and that is
completely fine.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Well, this has been great. Thank you so much, Michelle,
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
iHeartMedia. Charlotte Women of Impact celebrating women in our community,
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