May 22, 2024 • 38 mins
Karen Parisi, CMO at CentralReach, joined Tara Thurber to share her career growth, professional development and insights on women in leadership roles. Together, Karen and Tara delve into the Top5 Ways to Succeed as a Woman in Leadership.
Top5 Ways to Succeed as a Woman in Leadership
1. Try Everything
2. Authenticity
3. Don’t Hesitate
4. Hire Smarter
5. Team Culture
ABOUT KAREN: Karen Parisi is the Chief Marketing Officer at CentralReach where she oversees all marketing efforts for the company. In this role, Karen is responsible for developing new growth strategies and building the company’s brand across the autism and IDD care space.
Prior to CentralReach, she founded and led Oodi, a software platform for marketing agencies to manage their end-to-end operations. She previously held a number of other marketing roles at global technology companies, Thomson Reuters and iCIMS.
Karen holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Minor in Japanese from Villanova University.
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Episode Transcript
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Karen Parisi (00:00):
Hey everyone, welcome back to Top5 brought to
you by DefinedTalent. We are aresults driven service working
with clients to connect themwith quality talent, as well as
working to make an impact withinthe recruiting industry. We talk
straight about today'sprofessional world with real
world professionals, experts inrecruitment, job seekers and
business owners alike. Have aquestion for us. Send it in and
(00:24):
you might spur our nextconversation. I'm Tara Thurber,
co founder and director oftalent partnerships here at
DefinedTalent. And joining metoday is Karen Parisi, Chief
Marketing Officer at CentralReach. Hi, Karen, how are you
today?
Hi, good. So excited to be here.
Tara Thurber (00:42):
Welcome, welcome.
Let's dive in. And would you beable to just give myself in the
audience a little bit about yourbackground?
Karen Parisi (00:50):
Sure. So I'm a marketer now, I wasn't always a
marketer. Actually, in school, Istudied finance, I had a minor
in Japanese. After school, Isaid, if I don't go to Japan
now, I never will. So I actuallymoved to there for about a year
and a half to teach English. Andas soon as I came back, it was a
(01:10):
terrible time to find financejobs. So I was actually at work
for 18 months, I worked as areceptionist, while I searched
for a job in finance.
Tara Thurber (01:22):
Right.
Karen Parisi (01:22):
And then, you know, one of the things that I
kind of discovered early on wasmy passion for other things
beyond the finance world. And aspart of that process of looking
for the next step in my career.
Tara Thurber (01:37):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (01:38):
I decided I had this love for marketing, I
always wanted to try, it didn'tnecessarily have any skills or
experience in marketing beyondwhat I learned in school.
Tara Thurber (01:45):
Right.
Karen Parisi (01:46):
And so I found this internship at a company
called iSense. And at the time,they were much smaller than they
are today. They're a hugecompany today. But I applied,
and I was able to get the job.
And so during that internship,there was no promise of a full
time job. But I said I'll dowhatever I can, it wasn't paid,
but I had the opportunity toreally learn some new new
(02:09):
skills, I did a lot of selflearning during that time to
understand, you know, differentthings that I hadn't done
before.
Tara Thurber (02:22):
Right.
Karen Parisi (02:22):
And I used my colleagues to kind of learn the
job, and to the point where Iwas able to master those skills
pretty quickly. And within twomonths, I was offered a full
time job in their marketingdepartment.
Tara Thurber (02:37):
Wow!
Karen Parisi (02:38):
So it was a great way to get my foot in the door,
get to know people, you know,and learn a new set of skills at
the same time that I knew that Icould do.
Tara Thurber (02:45):
Right.
Karen Parisi (02:45):
I just needed the opportunity to do it.
Tara Thurber (02:47):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (02:48):
So from there, I wore many hats. So I at one
point, I was doing a little bitof their PR, and then
eventually, I kind of moved intoa demand generation role where I
was responsible for ProspectMarketing at the time, as well
as some customer marketing. Andit was within that role that my
(03:11):
career really accelerated. Soeventually, I was promoted to
manager. And then that led me tomy next company, which was
Thomson Reuters, where I wasresponsible for beyond just
demand generation, I kind of rantheir demand generation team,
but also worked closely with theCMO around our marketing
organization, and how we couldoperate better, more efficiently
(03:34):
and more effectively. And sothat was a great kind of
milestone in my career where Ireally got exposed to efficiency
and workflow within themarketing organization that has
kind of helped me in my roletoday.
Tara Thurber (03:51):
Right.
Karen Parisi (03:52):
After that, I went on to actually start my own
company. It was a softwarecompany for basically project
management for marketingagencies. And you'll hear me say
this, I'm sure many people haveheard me say this before, wasn't
a success financially. But itwas success in so many other
ways in terms of what I learnedin that role, and what I was
(04:13):
able to accomplish therelationships I was able to
develop, and then just myoverall business acumen that
came from that. After that, Icame here to Central Reach,
where I am now the ChiefMarketing Officer. So when I
first started at Central Reach,we were about to focus on the
marketing team. And so I wasreally responsible for building
(04:35):
it from the ground up.
Tara Thurber (04:36):
Right.
Karen Parisi (04:37):
And we are thriving and scaling and growing
fast today.
Tara Thurber (04:41):
So amazing what a story to go to be going to
school for financing completelycome into a totally different
world over the course of yourprofessional career so far.
Karen Parisi (04:55):
Yeah. Yeah. And I think I kind of started to say
this a little bit before.
Tara Thurber (04:59):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (05:01):
At the time, I thought I didn't have the skill
set to learn these new roles.
But the reality was I did. WhenI was in Japan, I was teaching
English, I was responsible forgetting new students enrolled in
the school. And marketing playeda huge role in that. And so a
big part of you know, when Iapplied for that marketing
internship was showing that,hey, I may not have that direct
experience, but I can definitelydo this role, and here's why. So
(05:23):
I think that played a huge role.
Tara Thurber (05:26):
I just got goosebumps, because, you know,
nowadays, we're talking to somany young professionals that
are getting out of school, andmaybe they weren't in for what
they wanted, or they're kind ofstruggling to figure out their
next steps. And that outsideexperience is so important. So
(05:48):
important, the projects, theoutside projects that one does,
or the experience, because that,essentially, that outside work
brought that fire that passionto life for you, in a totally
different way.
Karen Parisi (06:02):
Yeah, and it gives you exactly and it gives you a
different perspective too. Oneof the things when I'm looking
for when I'm hiring for my teamis I don't always necessarily
look for do you have you havethat exact experience, or is it
from that industry? Because thereality is that some of the best
ideas I've had, or have come tome come from folks that are
(06:24):
outside the bubble that we thinkof that we have to hire for.
Tara Thurber (06:27):
Right.
Karen Parisi (06:28):
And so that's something that has always played
a role, I think in in mysuccess, and I think people that
are nervous about going for arole that they've never done
before, or that is outside oftheir current experience, I
would just stress that you'vegot this. Just think about your
transferable skill set, and howit applies to this new role.
(06:51):
And, you know, articulate thatwhen you're when you're speaking
to the manager or whoever you'respeaking to.
Tara Thurber (06:55):
Right. So amazing.
When we're talking about womenin leadership, in your opinion,
what are some of the most commonchallenges that women are facing
in leadership today? (laughs)
Karen Parisi (07:11):
You know I hate to state the obvious on this one.
But honestly, I think, when youthink about the biggest
challenge that women face isthat these biases that occur in
the workplace, that are just soingrained in the workplace, and
(07:32):
how companies operate, that areoften you know, outside of
women's control.
Tara Thurber (07:38):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (07:39):
And so when you think about that, if someone has
certain expectations of how youshould act, or who you should be
in the workforce, and they putthat on you how do I help them
overcome that?
Tara Thurber (07:51):
Yeah, Right,
Karen Parisi (07:51):
And why is that my job to help them overcome that
so that I can kind of show that,hey, I can do this job, I can
lead this company, I can helpyou accomplish what you need to
accomplish? And I think as I'vethought about my career, I think
that's been one of the biggestchallenges that I've faced is
how do we how do we change thesystemic biases that we face at
(08:14):
work? And honestly, I think wehave made a lot of progress. But
when you think about it,obviously, women and workforce
in the labor market and duringWorld War Two, but it really
wasn't until the 60s with thefeminist movement, where you saw
this kind of greater influx ofwomen in the workplace.
Tara Thurber (08:31):
Right.
Karen Parisi (08:32):
And that's not that long ago.
Tara Thurber (08:36):
It's not that long ago at all.
Karen Parisi (08:39):
No. And so when you think about it, it's just,
we still have so much progressthat we need to make around some
of these systemic biases that weface. And I think when I've
thought about this, how do weovercome that? Right,.
Tara Thurber (08:52):
Right.
Karen Parisi (08:55):
A big part of overcoming that challenge is, I
think, for men and women and allpeople to recognize that we need
to continue to address that weneed to continue to be aware, if
we're putting expectations onhow a gender or non gendered
person should act, or look, orto accomplish or be a leader,
that we need to challengeourselves to think a little
(09:17):
differently of, well, maybe Ishouldn't be putting those
expectations on that person. Youknow and I think the last thing
I'll say with that is I'm awhite woman with privilege. The
uphill biases that black andminority women face are even
more astounding. So, you know,again, I think we need to just
(09:37):
as leaders ourselves, ascompanies, ourselves, even the
most progressive ones, we justneed to constantly remind
ourselves of what expectationswe might be putting on other
people.
Tara Thurber (09:49):
Absolutely. I love that. Just the focus on its the
expectations and perhapslimiting the expectations and
letting these individuals, thesewomen grow and evolve. And I
think also women supportingwomen is huge. And as we
(10:12):
continue to help raise eachother up, we're able to raise
ourselves up too. So it's thatconstant it's that constant
flow, it's that give and takewith one another, in order to
help make a bigger impact.
Karen Parisi (10:24):
Yeah. And I think you, that brings up a good
point. So I have a little bit ofa story that, again, some folks
have heard, but we as women alsoneed to support each other, and
then again, check ourselves too.
Tara Thurber (10:39):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (10:40):
Early on in my career, I had a manager who was
a woman, and I was passed overfor a promotion, because I was
considered too nice for the roleand the expectation was that
that would not be a good fit fora manager role at the time. And
I took that as an opportunitynot to say, Okay, let me let me
(11:02):
figure out how to be a jerk orwhatever.
Tara Thurber (11:05):
Yeah (laughs).
Karen Parisi (11:05):
But rather just lean into who I am, I don't want
to be that person, I don'tthrive in that environment. I
like being nice. But I also likebeing smart. And I know, I'm
smart. And I don't think the twonecessarily have to be at
conflict with one another. And Ithink I can do both to lead
people successfully. Andhopefully, I am the use case, or
(11:26):
the story or the example forthose that are similar to me,
that you can succeed by beingauthentic to who you are, which
is really going to hurt myselfhere. But yeah, one of the
things that I hold very dearly.
Tara Thurber (11:39):
The authenticity rings, so true to my core, and
the fact that you didn't stop,you kept going. I feel like a
lot of individuals may take thatcomment. And some people may
take that and go, you know, witha negative approach, and lessen
(12:03):
themselves, or change themselvesto be something that they're
not, whereas you took that as anopportunity. And I think that's
so important for, for womennowadays, to really understand
that, the authenticity of beingwho you are, allows you to grow
as a better leader and allowsyou to flourish and raise the
(12:27):
the energy that surrounds youdifferently. Because you're
holding your truth, right?
You're holding your own trueself in a role. And if you
believe in yourself, and you canpick yourself up after a comment
like that, or really just growconfidence within it. The sky's
(12:47):
the limit, and proof is in yourstory, where you went from that,
and you didn't stop you kind ofsaid, Okay, thank you. And you
stepped it up a little bit more,and stepped it up and stepped it
up. So I mean, congratulationson taking it that way.
Karen Parisi (13:08):
Yeah.
Tara Thurber (13:09):
But so important for individuals to know and hear
that.
Karen Parisi (13:13):
Yeah, absolutely.
And just so for anyone outthere, it took me a second to
get there.
Tara Thurber (13:19):
Right (laughs).
Karen Parisi (13:20):
It may take you that second together may take a
week or two to say Oh, right. Ishould take this that way. And
that's okay, too. It may notcome instantly.
Tara Thurber (13:27):
Yeah, totally.
Karen Parisi (13:29):
Cool.
Tara Thurber (13:30):
You know, Karen, also going into this age of this
work life balance that's outthere now. I mean, whether
you're fully remote hybrid, orback in the office full time,
how do women or how should womenprioritize or balance self care?
(13:53):
Family responsibilities,hobbies, work, I feel that it's
so much harder for for women toown all of their roles within
this work life balance, and Idon't even call it a work life
balance anymore. I call it moreof this life blend that we're
all in now. What are yourthoughts around that?
Karen Parisi (14:15):
Oh, God, I wish I had an answer for this.
Tara Thurber (14:18):
(laughs)
Karen Parisi (14:19):
I think you just got to do your best. Some days
you're gonna have that perfectbalance where you get everything
right, you finish your work ontime you get home, you need to
go to the gym in the morning.
You have dinner with family andyou get everyone to their
activities on time. And then andbecause prioritize all the right
way.
Tara Thurber (14:38):
Right. Right.
Karen Parisi (14:40):
And then the next day, something will come up and
it will go downhill fast.
Tara Thurber (14:45):
(laughs)
Karen Parisi (14:45):
I'm almost 40 I have three kids I still struggle
with with balancing it all. AndI have a feeling that I when I'm
in my 50s or 60s. I'm going tostill struggle to balance it
all. We're human. And I think noone has work life balance
figured out perfectly or, again,they might have it perfect on
one day, and not so perfect onthe next day. But I think it
(15:07):
doesn't mean that when you falloff the horse, and things are
hard, that you can't get backon. And so the trick that I've
used for me is just hopingcommunication, and especially
with my partner, my boss, myteam making it clear when I need
help, or I might need a littleextra time on something, or I
(15:28):
need to get home for dinner orwhatever it might be. And then,
and that open communication,constant communication has been
critical and kind of helpingthose kind of tough days that I
don't have it figured out. Andthen a little grace. I think, as
your whether you have a ton ofactivities or not, think,
(15:49):
again, we're it's hard tobalance, and it will forever be
hard to balance. But you willfigure it out. And it's okay,
you're doing your best. And sojust, tomorrow's a new day.
Tara Thurber (16:02):
I love that feedback, Karen, because in
speaking to a lot of differentpeople throughout the years, and
most recently I think there'sthis stigma around females and
women in the workplace where,oh, well, of course, they have
(16:23):
to leave early because they haveto do this and take their kids
and of course. And I think as,as a mother of two that two
children that are extremelybusy. It you're right, it's that
communication. And it's thatopenness to say, hey, team, Hey,
(16:45):
boss, this is our schedule, orthis is what I need to do today
and not feeling guilty about it.
I think a lot of women hold thisinternal guilt when they have to
leave right at five o'clock oneday. And it's not noticed if
they stay or are working untilseven, eight o'clock, nine
o'clock or they leave early atfive and then they're logging
(17:08):
back in at eight or nine o'clockto wrap up their day. It's
definitely that communication.
And it's it's the the leadershipand the flexibility. I think
that's most important. And thenfor women prioritizing. I
strongly believe we all needmore self care. Nowadays,
(17:31):
there's so much around burnout,there's so much around, just
breakdowns. And I think as weneed to, we need to put it on
our calendars, block time forourselves, and not forget that
if our cups aren't filled, thenhow are we going to do that for
(17:52):
the rest of our team, for therest of our company, for the
rest of our families? So I feellike that's also, you know, it's
hard to prioritize, because Ifeel also that a lot of people
are moving very, very fast rightnow, because there's so much
coming at them at once. But ifyou can just take a step back
(18:15):
and breathe and know that notevery day is going to going to
be perfect, right? Not every dayis going to be getting the kids
to where they need to on time,dinner on the table, whatever
the case may be. And being okayin that space. I think is really
important for individuals toknow that it doesn't mean that
(18:36):
you failed for the day, itdoesn't mean that you're
failing. It's just a matter oftomorrow's a new day. Today is
what it is. And tomorrow's a newday.
Karen Parisi (18:45):
Agreed. Agreed.
And I think the calendar trickis great, too. So we not only do
my husband and I have a sharedcalendar that kind of keeps
track of everything. Obviously,I have that for work, too. But
I'll put my work stuff in there.
So he's aware.
Tara Thurber (18:58):
Yep.
Karen Parisi (18:59):
You know, it's been really helpful on the self
care side of the house to my,massage here and there is great,
and it's on the calendar andscheduled.
Tara Thurber (19:08):
(laughs) Yeah, it's on the calendar. It's
scheduled. And, I couldn't agreemore with the shared calendars
and just having the eyes on it,my husband being able to have
eyes on it, or, my team, lookingat the calendar saying, okay,
Tara is blocked this, this time,this time, this time this time,
I mean, and I mix them together,so and color coded so that it's
(19:33):
organized in a way where atleast there's openings. And when
there's openings, the team cansee that and if I'm going to be
offline, fully offline for anhour or two here and there then
everybody's aware and it's alsoputting your hand up and saying,
Hey, I need a little bit of helpon this. I think it's really
(19:54):
important to.
Karen Parisi (19:57):
Agreed.
Tara Thurber (19:57):
Alright, so women earn an average of 16% less than
men. How can women successfullyprove their and I'm doing air
quotes over here, their worth,demonstrate their experience
level and negotiate a fairsalary?
Karen Parisi (20:19):
Negotiation sucks.
Tara Thurber (20:20):
Yeah (laughs).
Karen Parisi (20:22):
Just have equal pay, come on!
Tara Thurber (20:24):
Right? (laughs)
Karen Parisi (20:25):
Yeah, no it's not cool. This is a challenge. And I
do think obviously, that's thestat and there's probably much
worse. But that's not okay. Westill need to get to parity. But
I think one of the things thatI've seen with the best of the
best at negotiation, andhonestly, I'm not one of them.
(20:47):
I've gotten better, but is onething I've learned to do. And
this is from those that I'velooked up to, or asked for
advice, or this and that is, andit's not just say this. I've
gotten this advice from some ofmy female mentors as well. But
it's not just male, I guess Ishould say, but, female mentors
(21:10):
to o that, they just don't havethis fear of asking, and they
shouldn't. Right? So what's theworst answer you get? By asking?
No, you're not gonna get firedfor asking for a raise or asking
for equal compensation.
And I thinkthat's, I think that's an
Tara Thurber (21:26):
Yeah.
Right.
Karen Parisi (21:26):
And this is something that again, my my
important reminder, as you'regoing into these conversations,
mentors have always talked aboutis, make sure you understand
do your best to move that fearout of your brain, because it's
not going to be held againstyou, or unless the person is,
who knows. But most often, it'snot going to be held against
you, you're not gonna get fired,it's worth asking for. And when
(21:50):
you're in the job interviewprocess, obviously, there's,
this is a delicate situation.
But again, doesn't hurt to ask,and they will kind of work with
you on whatever budget they haveto work with. But you should
always ask for what you deserve.
I think the second thing is doyour research.
(22:17):
every aspect of yourcompensation, whether,
especially as you progress inyour career.
Tara Thurber (22:22):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (22:22):
You're going to have other kinds of components
into your compensation. And, youknow, before you go into that
negotiation process, write itdown on paper, write down the
points on, you know, on what youwant to ask why you want to ask
it, and then practice. I willoften use my husband to kind of
roleplay with me, this type ofconversation, and at least in my
(22:46):
career in the past, or myfriends or again, my, my sister,
and while it's still I'm alwaysanxious during it, like it has
helped, if I can do it ahead oftime, it will be easier in the
moment.
Tara Thurber (23:04):
I think you made some good points there on the
research aspects, I think a lotof candidates are individuals,
companies pay differently, quitehonestly. There's like, almost
like a little bit of a slidingscale. But it's definitely
(23:27):
something around the research,the research of even your role
and what other companies arepaying different sizes of
companies and what they'repaying or what the market is
showing. And definitely comingto the table at times with data
points, I find has beenextremely important when asking
(23:49):
for a raise, asking for moremoney or quite honestly, when
you're applying andinterviewing. A lot of times the
negotiation part, sure there'salways going to be the
negotiation and alwaysnegotiate. I would say anybody
(24:09):
interviewing or anybody that islooking for increase in their
salary, they may say no, butwhat about if you say, Okay,
well, what about this instead?
Right? Meet meet me halfway towhere I'm at today. Never be
afraid to keep pushing it alittle bit further and a little
bit further until you feel thatuntil you feel satisfied, and
(24:33):
happy with the negotiation andhappy with the final outcome. I
think is really important to notgive up. Really finding that
confidence and owning that worthand believing in yourself going
into any form of negotiation. Iwant to say like, Just do it!
Karen Parisi (25:05):
(laughs)
Tara Thurber (25:05):
But it's it's one of those things that it's a very
hard thing to do. And evenmyself, I have a tough time with
it. And I work with candidateson how to teach them how to do
and but I think, definitely it'sthe data points. It's the
practicing asking, being able tospeak to somebody and look at
(25:26):
them in the eyes and say, thisis what I'm looking for. and not
be afraid, don't just shut down.
If they say no, right out of thegate. Maybe it's give it a
couple of months and say, well,I'll come back, and we can
revisit this next quarter or,you know, but definitely stand
up for yourself, I think is is agood, a good point, or anybody
(25:46):
out there.
Karen Parisi (25:50):
Agreed. Agreed.
Tara Thurber (25:52):
So I am definitely into wanting to know your top
five ways to succeed as a womanin leadership today.
Karen Parisi (26:02):
Yeah, totally. So I've kind of touched upon some
of this already. But you know,I'll give you my top five. So
number one, try everything. Andbefore I go into detail on what
that means, again, I know it'snot fair, because we all know
that our male counterparts don'talways have to do that to get
the promotion. And I think aswomen, we do need to jump
(26:28):
through more hoops. And I'm notsaying that you have to do this.
But one of the things that hashelped me in my evolution as a
professional, is to trydifferent things. It all started
with that internship, as I wastalking about before, I applied
myself to tasks that I did notknow how to do prior that I
(26:51):
learned how to do that, I couldthen put in my my tool bag for
future use.
Tara Thurber (26:59):
Right. Right.
Karen Parisi (27:00):
And I think by always saying yes to taking on
new responsibilities, whilestill being committed to my core
responsibilities. Again, ithelped me think differently,
learn new things, achieve more,to then show that I could take
on a new role. So as I was,again, whether I was going from
(27:21):
a manager to director or, orindividual, employee to manager,
or even the role I'm in today, Ithink I had this, what appear to
be random set of skills that Icould then craft into the role
that I was going for, and showwhy it would be applicable and
(27:43):
why it would be successful inthat role to take that on. And
then in that new role that woulddo the same thing. So I really
think it does come back to tryeverything that can help you
progress your career and learnnew things. Number two, again, I
also kind of talked about thisbefore, but lean into you that
authenticity is so important.
And not even because, peoplelike to trust and work with
(28:10):
people they know are beinghonest, but you'll feel better.
I was so much more comfortablein my skin, as a manager, as a
leader, when I could be who Iwanted to be, and show my team
who I really am that it doesn'tdiffer too much from how I am at
(28:34):
home. And so I think thatauthenticity can help women be
themselves and be comfortable intheir roles and you know, be
comfortable in new roles thatthey might move up into. And
then going back to the what wetalked about in the beginning of
this podcast is that the more wecan be authentic, and the more
(28:56):
we can be ourselves, the more wecan make other people aware of
the expectations they're puttingon us to start unraveling some
of that systemic biases thatwe're talking about.
I think we justneed to do it more. And that
Tara Thurber (29:11):
Yeah.
will again, ultimately, overtime play a huge role in the
future of women in theworkplace.
Love that. I lovethat so much (laughs).
Karen Parisi (29:21):
Yeah, yeah, it's important to me, as you can say,
three, don't hesitate to ask forsome time with your executive
leaders, especially the women. Ithink those who have progressed
in their career likely face manyof the challenges that you have
and can coach and mentor on yourspecific situation. I know it's
(29:43):
sometimes hard to hear generaladvice and then I don't know how
to take that and translate thatinto my specific situation. So
so go to those executives, talkto them. I have no doubt they
will be happy to talk to you. Iwould love whether they're in my
on my team or outside of myteam. If someone in my company
came to me and said, Hey, I'mrunning into this issue, like,
(30:03):
I'd love to get your advice.
Tara Thurber (30:05):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (30:05):
I would, I would go out to coffee with them.
Tara Thurber (30:07):
(laughs)
Karen Parisi (30:08):
I would encourage you to do that. I think it's
important, as we help this nextgeneration of women and
leadership and moving themforward, and to my executive
colleagues out there to do that,as well.
Tara Thurber (30:22):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (30:23):
And then number four, hire smarter experts and
managers. So one of the firstthings I learned as a leader was
I'm expertise I'm good at what Ido. But there are areas that if
I had to execute today, I wouldprobably struggle. And so as
you're progressing in yourcareer, it's really important
that you hire really strong,effective people below you that
(30:47):
can they may know more than youon a particular topic. That's
okay.
Tara Thurber (30:51):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (30:52):
And that's what you want, because they will help
you execute on your vision. Andexcel, ultimately, whatever your
particular strategy is,initiative, etc, to allow you to
then level up your own career,or look at the kind of the next
phase with focus than had younot hired, I think the right
(31:15):
people in your career. So thisis for your managers out there,
or even directors out there,really think about that when
you're in the hiring process.
And then final five of our fiveor fifth one. So number five, is
of the same vein as the hiringthe right people, as a leader,
one of the things that I focuson is how can I boost my team,
(31:40):
I've hired the right people,they're experts in they're super
smart, super talented. How do Imake them thrive? And a big part
of that is the culture thatwe've set up within my
organization, and of course, thebroader organization, but when I
think about it, we work hard, wework very collaboratively
(32:04):
together, not only in themarketing function, but across
functionally too.
Tara Thurber (32:09):
Right. Right.
Karen Parisi (32:10):
But we have fun doing it. So not in a forced
way, but we just make each otherlaugh. And that has, it's small,
but it's made a huge role inallowing us to enjoy coming to
work every day, doing what we'redoing, making the progress that
we are growing the way we are.
And so as you're thinking aboutyour team culture, and what you
(32:35):
can do, that will ultimatelyhelp boost you and your career.
Focus on boosting your team. AndI always say laughter is
probably one of the keysuccesses to any of my
relationships, bothprofessionally and not.
Tara Thurber (32:52):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (32:53):
And so infuse that into your teams. And I think
you'll see that ultimately, itwill make them successful, and
it will make you successful.
Tara Thurber (33:01):
I love all five of these, I think all five of these
really play an amazing,important role in women in
leadership and women that arefocused on and progressing into
leadership. I think by takingthese top five ways from this
podcast, I feel it can set upindividuals to be successful.
(33:26):
Not only in a role, but alsoemotionally and energetically to
be successful, and able to showup as their best selves in order
to lead, in order to raise uptheir team, in order to progress
(33:47):
and be successful. So amazing.
Thank you for sharing those topfive. I want to add just a fun
question in here for you andreally excited to to know the
answer is who do you consider arole model, or a female leader
you particularly look up to?
Karen Parisi (34:08):
Alright, so I thought about this a little bit.
Tara Thurber (34:12):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (34:12):
And there are kind of public facing ones that I
look up to, I think the mostimportant female leader that I
looked up to is actually mysister. So she's three years
older than me. She's paved theway on a lot of things growing
up and also in the workforce.
Tara Thurber (34:27):
Right (laughs).
Karen Parisi (34:28):
You know, funny, she's actually has a chief
strategy officer and the ChiefMarketing Officer, so I probably
subconsciously followed in herfootsteps along the way.
But I'll tell youwhy. So, yes, we're best
Tara Thurber (34:37):
Right! friends. We agree on many
things, but there's also verydifferent types of individuals.
And we do think about things alittle differently in a lot of
ways. But what I've been able totap into her for is to think
about things from a differentperspective. And that's given me
(34:57):
food for thought on how I wantto change my approach to
whatever it is I'm going to herfor.
Right.
Karen Parisi (35:08):
And so, point being that you don't always need
the cheerleader, she's, ofcourse a cheerleader to me. But
she's also want to give me somehonest feedback to help me think
a little differently. Iactually, just this week, I sat
down with a board member of oneof our board members, who
similarly has a differentperspective on good market, and
(35:33):
not necessarily totallydifferent, but just has a really
good view. He's done thisbefore.
Tara Thurber (35:38):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (35:38):
He has a great perspective on it all. And so I
kind of made a point that I wantto sit down with him, I want to
understand his perspective onthings so that I can think a
little differently and evolve mythoughts on approach. And I
think that surrounding yourselfwith people who can both be your
cheerleader, but also give yousomething to think about to help
(36:01):
you evolve as a professional,and as a person can make such a
huge difference in kind of yourdevelopment and career
progression over time. Sothat's, anyways, my sister is
role model.
Tara Thurber (36:16):
That's awesome.
That's so awesome. And I thinkthat makes one really, really
important point, too, is to justtake note that by asking a
senior level person or a sisteror somebody, I mean, some people
I feel that they don't ask fortheir thoughts, or they don't
(36:43):
ask to sit down with them,because they're almost afraid.
And it's taking that extra stepand being able to ask, Hey, do
you have half an hour, I justwant to pick your brain or I
just want to hear your thoughtsor your processes towards
something. I think that's onemajor thing that sometimes I
(37:05):
hear women not doing, becausemaybe it's a man that they're
asking. And maybe they fear thatthat individual, maybe it's
somebody that's in leadershipabove them, and they fear that
they're going to be looked uponas as weak or not know what
(37:26):
they're doing.
Karen Parisi (37:29):
Right.
Tara Thurber (37:29):
But I think women need to really kind of, like,
get through that. That feelingand that mindset, and hopefully
by asking and bringing curiosityto the table, I think is
something that everybody is opento talking about, and to just
(37:52):
not be afraid and just go for itand find those people.
Karen Parisi (37:57):
1,000% . Funny enough, I also was afraid to
reach out to that board member.
But I said, You know what, I'mdoing it. Senate president and I
did it and again, great you'reabsolutely right. You just need
to push through that fear.
Tara Thurber (38:11):
Right? Yeah.
Karen Parisi (38:12):
And make it happen as best as you can.
Tara Thurber (38:15):
Perfect. Karen, thank you so, so much for
joining us today. I reallyappreciate you giving us some of
your time.
Karen Parisi (38:22):
I absolutely enjoyed it. So, thanks so much.
Tara Thurber (38:25):
Awesome. Have a great rest of your day. Okay.
Karen Parisi (38:28):
You too.
Tara Thurber (38:30):
We are DefinedTalent, a DefinedLogic
service coming to you at topfive. Make it a great day.
Hey everyone, welcome back to Top5 brought to
you by DefinedTalent. We are aresults driven service working
with clients to connect themwith quality talent, as well as
working to make an impact withinthe recruiting industry. We talk
straight about today'sprofessional world with real
world professionals, experts inrecruitment, job seekers and
business owners alike. Have aquestion for us. Send it in and
(00:24):
you might spur our nextconversation. I'm Tara Thurber,
co founder and director oftalent partnerships here at
DefinedTalent. And joining metoday is Karen Parisi, Chief
Marketing Officer at CentralReach. Hi, Karen, how are you
today?
Hi, good. So excited to be here.
Tara Thurber (00:42):
Welcome, welcome.
Let's dive in. And would you beable to just give myself in the
audience a little bit about yourbackground?
Karen Parisi (00:50):
Sure. So I'm a marketer now, I wasn't always a
marketer. Actually, in school, Istudied finance, I had a minor
in Japanese. After school, Isaid, if I don't go to Japan
now, I never will. So I actuallymoved to there for about a year
and a half to teach English. Andas soon as I came back, it was a
(01:10):
terrible time to find financejobs. So I was actually at work
for 18 months, I worked as areceptionist, while I searched
for a job in finance.
Tara Thurber (01:22):
Right.
Karen Parisi (01:22):
And then, you know, one of the things that I
kind of discovered early on wasmy passion for other things
beyond the finance world. And aspart of that process of looking
for the next step in my career.
Tara Thurber (01:37):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (01:38):
I decided I had this love for marketing, I
always wanted to try, it didn'tnecessarily have any skills or
experience in marketing beyondwhat I learned in school.
Tara Thurber (01:45):
Right.
Karen Parisi (01:46):
And so I found this internship at a company
called iSense. And at the time,they were much smaller than they
are today. They're a hugecompany today. But I applied,
and I was able to get the job.
And so during that internship,there was no promise of a full
time job. But I said I'll dowhatever I can, it wasn't paid,
but I had the opportunity toreally learn some new new
(02:09):
skills, I did a lot of selflearning during that time to
understand, you know, differentthings that I hadn't done
before.
Tara Thurber (02:22):
Right.
Karen Parisi (02:22):
And I used my colleagues to kind of learn the
job, and to the point where Iwas able to master those skills
pretty quickly. And within twomonths, I was offered a full
time job in their marketingdepartment.
Tara Thurber (02:37):
Wow!
Karen Parisi (02:38):
So it was a great way to get my foot in the door,
get to know people, you know,and learn a new set of skills at
the same time that I knew that Icould do.
Tara Thurber (02:45):
Right.
Karen Parisi (02:45):
I just needed the opportunity to do it.
Tara Thurber (02:47):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (02:48):
So from there, I wore many hats. So I at one
point, I was doing a little bitof their PR, and then
eventually, I kind of moved intoa demand generation role where I
was responsible for ProspectMarketing at the time, as well
as some customer marketing. Andit was within that role that my
(03:11):
career really accelerated. Soeventually, I was promoted to
manager. And then that led me tomy next company, which was
Thomson Reuters, where I wasresponsible for beyond just
demand generation, I kind of rantheir demand generation team,
but also worked closely with theCMO around our marketing
organization, and how we couldoperate better, more efficiently
(03:34):
and more effectively. And sothat was a great kind of
milestone in my career where Ireally got exposed to efficiency
and workflow within themarketing organization that has
kind of helped me in my roletoday.
Tara Thurber (03:51):
Right.
Karen Parisi (03:52):
After that, I went on to actually start my own
company. It was a softwarecompany for basically project
management for marketingagencies. And you'll hear me say
this, I'm sure many people haveheard me say this before, wasn't
a success financially. But itwas success in so many other
ways in terms of what I learnedin that role, and what I was
(04:13):
able to accomplish therelationships I was able to
develop, and then just myoverall business acumen that
came from that. After that, Icame here to Central Reach,
where I am now the ChiefMarketing Officer. So when I
first started at Central Reach,we were about to focus on the
marketing team. And so I wasreally responsible for building
(04:35):
it from the ground up.
Tara Thurber (04:36):
Right.
Karen Parisi (04:37):
And we are thriving and scaling and growing
fast today.
Tara Thurber (04:41):
So amazing what a story to go to be going to
school for financing completelycome into a totally different
world over the course of yourprofessional career so far.
Karen Parisi (04:55):
Yeah. Yeah. And I think I kind of started to say
this a little bit before.
Tara Thurber (04:59):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (05:01):
At the time, I thought I didn't have the skill
set to learn these new roles.
But the reality was I did. WhenI was in Japan, I was teaching
English, I was responsible forgetting new students enrolled in
the school. And marketing playeda huge role in that. And so a
big part of you know, when Iapplied for that marketing
internship was showing that,hey, I may not have that direct
experience, but I can definitelydo this role, and here's why. So
(05:23):
I think that played a huge role.
Tara Thurber (05:26):
I just got goosebumps, because, you know,
nowadays, we're talking to somany young professionals that
are getting out of school, andmaybe they weren't in for what
they wanted, or they're kind ofstruggling to figure out their
next steps. And that outsideexperience is so important. So
(05:48):
important, the projects, theoutside projects that one does,
or the experience, because that,essentially, that outside work
brought that fire that passionto life for you, in a totally
different way.
Karen Parisi (06:02):
Yeah, and it gives you exactly and it gives you a
different perspective too. Oneof the things when I'm looking
for when I'm hiring for my teamis I don't always necessarily
look for do you have you havethat exact experience, or is it
from that industry? Because thereality is that some of the best
ideas I've had, or have come tome come from folks that are
(06:24):
outside the bubble that we thinkof that we have to hire for.
Tara Thurber (06:27):
Right.
Karen Parisi (06:28):
And so that's something that has always played
a role, I think in in mysuccess, and I think people that
are nervous about going for arole that they've never done
before, or that is outside oftheir current experience, I
would just stress that you'vegot this. Just think about your
transferable skill set, and howit applies to this new role.
(06:51):
And, you know, articulate thatwhen you're when you're speaking
to the manager or whoever you'respeaking to.
Tara Thurber (06:55):
Right. So amazing.
When we're talking about womenin leadership, in your opinion,
what are some of the most commonchallenges that women are facing
in leadership today? (laughs)
Karen Parisi (07:11):
You know I hate to state the obvious on this one.
But honestly, I think, when youthink about the biggest
challenge that women face isthat these biases that occur in
the workplace, that are just soingrained in the workplace, and
(07:32):
how companies operate, that areoften you know, outside of
women's control.
Tara Thurber (07:38):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (07:39):
And so when you think about that, if someone has
certain expectations of how youshould act, or who you should be
in the workforce, and they putthat on you how do I help them
overcome that?
Tara Thurber (07:51):
Yeah, Right,
Karen Parisi (07:51):
And why is that my job to help them overcome that
so that I can kind of show that,hey, I can do this job, I can
lead this company, I can helpyou accomplish what you need to
accomplish? And I think as I'vethought about my career, I think
that's been one of the biggestchallenges that I've faced is
how do we how do we change thesystemic biases that we face at
(08:14):
work? And honestly, I think wehave made a lot of progress. But
when you think about it,obviously, women and workforce
in the labor market and duringWorld War Two, but it really
wasn't until the 60s with thefeminist movement, where you saw
this kind of greater influx ofwomen in the workplace.
Tara Thurber (08:31):
Right.
Karen Parisi (08:32):
And that's not that long ago.
Tara Thurber (08:36):
It's not that long ago at all.
Karen Parisi (08:39):
No. And so when you think about it, it's just,
we still have so much progressthat we need to make around some
of these systemic biases that weface. And I think when I've
thought about this, how do weovercome that? Right,.
Tara Thurber (08:52):
Right.
Karen Parisi (08:55):
A big part of overcoming that challenge is, I
think, for men and women and allpeople to recognize that we need
to continue to address that weneed to continue to be aware, if
we're putting expectations onhow a gender or non gendered
person should act, or look, orto accomplish or be a leader,
that we need to challengeourselves to think a little
(09:17):
differently of, well, maybe Ishouldn't be putting those
expectations on that person. Youknow and I think the last thing
I'll say with that is I'm awhite woman with privilege. The
uphill biases that black andminority women face are even
more astounding. So, you know,again, I think we need to just
(09:37):
as leaders ourselves, ascompanies, ourselves, even the
most progressive ones, we justneed to constantly remind
ourselves of what expectationswe might be putting on other
people.
Tara Thurber (09:49):
Absolutely. I love that. Just the focus on its the
expectations and perhapslimiting the expectations and
letting these individuals, thesewomen grow and evolve. And I
think also women supportingwomen is huge. And as we
(10:12):
continue to help raise eachother up, we're able to raise
ourselves up too. So it's thatconstant it's that constant
flow, it's that give and takewith one another, in order to
help make a bigger impact.
Karen Parisi (10:24):
Yeah. And I think you, that brings up a good
point. So I have a little bit ofa story that, again, some folks
have heard, but we as women alsoneed to support each other, and
then again, check ourselves too.
Tara Thurber (10:39):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (10:40):
Early on in my career, I had a manager who was
a woman, and I was passed overfor a promotion, because I was
considered too nice for the roleand the expectation was that
that would not be a good fit fora manager role at the time. And
I took that as an opportunitynot to say, Okay, let me let me
(11:02):
figure out how to be a jerk orwhatever.
Tara Thurber (11:05):
Yeah (laughs).
Karen Parisi (11:05):
But rather just lean into who I am, I don't want
to be that person, I don'tthrive in that environment. I
like being nice. But I also likebeing smart. And I know, I'm
smart. And I don't think the twonecessarily have to be at
conflict with one another. And Ithink I can do both to lead
people successfully. Andhopefully, I am the use case, or
(11:26):
the story or the example forthose that are similar to me,
that you can succeed by beingauthentic to who you are, which
is really going to hurt myselfhere. But yeah, one of the
things that I hold very dearly.
Tara Thurber (11:39):
The authenticity rings, so true to my core, and
the fact that you didn't stop,you kept going. I feel like a
lot of individuals may take thatcomment. And some people may
take that and go, you know, witha negative approach, and lessen
(12:03):
themselves, or change themselvesto be something that they're
not, whereas you took that as anopportunity. And I think that's
so important for, for womennowadays, to really understand
that, the authenticity of beingwho you are, allows you to grow
as a better leader and allowsyou to flourish and raise the
(12:27):
the energy that surrounds youdifferently. Because you're
holding your truth, right?
You're holding your own trueself in a role. And if you
believe in yourself, and you canpick yourself up after a comment
like that, or really just growconfidence within it. The sky's
(12:47):
the limit, and proof is in yourstory, where you went from that,
and you didn't stop you kind ofsaid, Okay, thank you. And you
stepped it up a little bit more,and stepped it up and stepped it
up. So I mean, congratulationson taking it that way.
Karen Parisi (13:08):
Yeah.
Tara Thurber (13:09):
But so important for individuals to know and hear
that.
Karen Parisi (13:13):
Yeah, absolutely.
And just so for anyone outthere, it took me a second to
get there.
Tara Thurber (13:19):
Right (laughs).
Karen Parisi (13:20):
It may take you that second together may take a
week or two to say Oh, right. Ishould take this that way. And
that's okay, too. It may notcome instantly.
Tara Thurber (13:27):
Yeah, totally.
Karen Parisi (13:29):
Cool.
Tara Thurber (13:30):
You know, Karen, also going into this age of this
work life balance that's outthere now. I mean, whether
you're fully remote hybrid, orback in the office full time,
how do women or how should womenprioritize or balance self care?
(13:53):
Family responsibilities,hobbies, work, I feel that it's
so much harder for for women toown all of their roles within
this work life balance, and Idon't even call it a work life
balance anymore. I call it moreof this life blend that we're
all in now. What are yourthoughts around that?
Karen Parisi (14:15):
Oh, God, I wish I had an answer for this.
Tara Thurber (14:18):
(laughs)
Karen Parisi (14:19):
I think you just got to do your best. Some days
you're gonna have that perfectbalance where you get everything
right, you finish your work ontime you get home, you need to
go to the gym in the morning.
You have dinner with family andyou get everyone to their
activities on time. And then andbecause prioritize all the right
way.
Tara Thurber (14:38):
Right. Right.
Karen Parisi (14:40):
And then the next day, something will come up and
it will go downhill fast.
Tara Thurber (14:45):
(laughs)
Karen Parisi (14:45):
I'm almost 40 I have three kids I still struggle
with with balancing it all. AndI have a feeling that I when I'm
in my 50s or 60s. I'm going tostill struggle to balance it
all. We're human. And I think noone has work life balance
figured out perfectly or, again,they might have it perfect on
one day, and not so perfect onthe next day. But I think it
(15:07):
doesn't mean that when you falloff the horse, and things are
hard, that you can't get backon. And so the trick that I've
used for me is just hopingcommunication, and especially
with my partner, my boss, myteam making it clear when I need
help, or I might need a littleextra time on something, or I
(15:28):
need to get home for dinner orwhatever it might be. And then,
and that open communication,constant communication has been
critical and kind of helpingthose kind of tough days that I
don't have it figured out. Andthen a little grace. I think, as
your whether you have a ton ofactivities or not, think,
(15:49):
again, we're it's hard tobalance, and it will forever be
hard to balance. But you willfigure it out. And it's okay,
you're doing your best. And sojust, tomorrow's a new day.
Tara Thurber (16:02):
I love that feedback, Karen, because in
speaking to a lot of differentpeople throughout the years, and
most recently I think there'sthis stigma around females and
women in the workplace where,oh, well, of course, they have
(16:23):
to leave early because they haveto do this and take their kids
and of course. And I think as,as a mother of two that two
children that are extremelybusy. It you're right, it's that
communication. And it's thatopenness to say, hey, team, Hey,
(16:45):
boss, this is our schedule, orthis is what I need to do today
and not feeling guilty about it.
I think a lot of women hold thisinternal guilt when they have to
leave right at five o'clock oneday. And it's not noticed if
they stay or are working untilseven, eight o'clock, nine
o'clock or they leave early atfive and then they're logging
(17:08):
back in at eight or nine o'clockto wrap up their day. It's
definitely that communication.
And it's it's the the leadershipand the flexibility. I think
that's most important. And thenfor women prioritizing. I
strongly believe we all needmore self care. Nowadays,
(17:31):
there's so much around burnout,there's so much around, just
breakdowns. And I think as weneed to, we need to put it on
our calendars, block time forourselves, and not forget that
if our cups aren't filled, thenhow are we going to do that for
(17:52):
the rest of our team, for therest of our company, for the
rest of our families? So I feellike that's also, you know, it's
hard to prioritize, because Ifeel also that a lot of people
are moving very, very fast rightnow, because there's so much
coming at them at once. But ifyou can just take a step back
(18:15):
and breathe and know that notevery day is going to going to
be perfect, right? Not every dayis going to be getting the kids
to where they need to on time,dinner on the table, whatever
the case may be. And being okayin that space. I think is really
important for individuals toknow that it doesn't mean that
(18:36):
you failed for the day, itdoesn't mean that you're
failing. It's just a matter oftomorrow's a new day. Today is
what it is. And tomorrow's a newday.
Karen Parisi (18:45):
Agreed. Agreed.
And I think the calendar trickis great, too. So we not only do
my husband and I have a sharedcalendar that kind of keeps
track of everything. Obviously,I have that for work, too. But
I'll put my work stuff in there.
So he's aware.
Tara Thurber (18:58):
Yep.
Karen Parisi (18:59):
You know, it's been really helpful on the self
care side of the house to my,massage here and there is great,
and it's on the calendar andscheduled.
Tara Thurber (19:08):
(laughs) Yeah, it's on the calendar. It's
scheduled. And, I couldn't agreemore with the shared calendars
and just having the eyes on it,my husband being able to have
eyes on it, or, my team, lookingat the calendar saying, okay,
Tara is blocked this, this time,this time, this time this time,
I mean, and I mix them together,so and color coded so that it's
(19:33):
organized in a way where atleast there's openings. And when
there's openings, the team cansee that and if I'm going to be
offline, fully offline for anhour or two here and there then
everybody's aware and it's alsoputting your hand up and saying,
Hey, I need a little bit of helpon this. I think it's really
(19:54):
important to.
Karen Parisi (19:57):
Agreed.
Tara Thurber (19:57):
Alright, so women earn an average of 16% less than
men. How can women successfullyprove their and I'm doing air
quotes over here, their worth,demonstrate their experience
level and negotiate a fairsalary?
Karen Parisi (20:19):
Negotiation sucks.
Tara Thurber (20:20):
Yeah (laughs).
Karen Parisi (20:22):
Just have equal pay, come on!
Tara Thurber (20:24):
Right? (laughs)
Karen Parisi (20:25):
Yeah, no it's not cool. This is a challenge. And I
do think obviously, that's thestat and there's probably much
worse. But that's not okay. Westill need to get to parity. But
I think one of the things thatI've seen with the best of the
best at negotiation, andhonestly, I'm not one of them.
(20:47):
I've gotten better, but is onething I've learned to do. And
this is from those that I'velooked up to, or asked for
advice, or this and that is, andit's not just say this. I've
gotten this advice from some ofmy female mentors as well. But
it's not just male, I guess Ishould say, but, female mentors
(21:10):
to o that, they just don't havethis fear of asking, and they
shouldn't. Right? So what's theworst answer you get? By asking?
No, you're not gonna get firedfor asking for a raise or asking
for equal compensation.
And I thinkthat's, I think that's an
Tara Thurber (21:26):
Yeah.
Right.
Karen Parisi (21:26):
And this is something that again, my my
important reminder, as you'regoing into these conversations,
mentors have always talked aboutis, make sure you understand
do your best to move that fearout of your brain, because it's
not going to be held againstyou, or unless the person is,
who knows. But most often, it'snot going to be held against
you, you're not gonna get fired,it's worth asking for. And when
(21:50):
you're in the job interviewprocess, obviously, there's,
this is a delicate situation.
But again, doesn't hurt to ask,and they will kind of work with
you on whatever budget they haveto work with. But you should
always ask for what you deserve.
I think the second thing is doyour research.
(22:17):
every aspect of yourcompensation, whether,
especially as you progress inyour career.
Tara Thurber (22:22):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (22:22):
You're going to have other kinds of components
into your compensation. And, youknow, before you go into that
negotiation process, write itdown on paper, write down the
points on, you know, on what youwant to ask why you want to ask
it, and then practice. I willoften use my husband to kind of
roleplay with me, this type ofconversation, and at least in my
(22:46):
career in the past, or myfriends or again, my, my sister,
and while it's still I'm alwaysanxious during it, like it has
helped, if I can do it ahead oftime, it will be easier in the
moment.
Tara Thurber (23:04):
I think you made some good points there on the
research aspects, I think a lotof candidates are individuals,
companies pay differently, quitehonestly. There's like, almost
like a little bit of a slidingscale. But it's definitely
(23:27):
something around the research,the research of even your role
and what other companies arepaying different sizes of
companies and what they'repaying or what the market is
showing. And definitely comingto the table at times with data
points, I find has beenextremely important when asking
(23:49):
for a raise, asking for moremoney or quite honestly, when
you're applying andinterviewing. A lot of times the
negotiation part, sure there'salways going to be the
negotiation and alwaysnegotiate. I would say anybody
(24:09):
interviewing or anybody that islooking for increase in their
salary, they may say no, butwhat about if you say, Okay,
well, what about this instead?
Right? Meet meet me halfway towhere I'm at today. Never be
afraid to keep pushing it alittle bit further and a little
bit further until you feel thatuntil you feel satisfied, and
(24:33):
happy with the negotiation andhappy with the final outcome. I
think is really important to notgive up. Really finding that
confidence and owning that worthand believing in yourself going
into any form of negotiation. Iwant to say like, Just do it!
Karen Parisi (25:05):
(laughs)
Tara Thurber (25:05):
But it's it's one of those things that it's a very
hard thing to do. And evenmyself, I have a tough time with
it. And I work with candidateson how to teach them how to do
and but I think, definitely it'sthe data points. It's the
practicing asking, being able tospeak to somebody and look at
(25:26):
them in the eyes and say, thisis what I'm looking for. and not
be afraid, don't just shut down.
If they say no, right out of thegate. Maybe it's give it a
couple of months and say, well,I'll come back, and we can
revisit this next quarter or,you know, but definitely stand
up for yourself, I think is is agood, a good point, or anybody
(25:46):
out there.
Karen Parisi (25:50):
Agreed. Agreed.
Tara Thurber (25:52):
So I am definitely into wanting to know your top
five ways to succeed as a womanin leadership today.
Karen Parisi (26:02):
Yeah, totally. So I've kind of touched upon some
of this already. But you know,I'll give you my top five. So
number one, try everything. Andbefore I go into detail on what
that means, again, I know it'snot fair, because we all know
that our male counterparts don'talways have to do that to get
the promotion. And I think aswomen, we do need to jump
(26:28):
through more hoops. And I'm notsaying that you have to do this.
But one of the things that hashelped me in my evolution as a
professional, is to trydifferent things. It all started
with that internship, as I wastalking about before, I applied
myself to tasks that I did notknow how to do prior that I
(26:51):
learned how to do that, I couldthen put in my my tool bag for
future use.
Tara Thurber (26:59):
Right. Right.
Karen Parisi (27:00):
And I think by always saying yes to taking on
new responsibilities, whilestill being committed to my core
responsibilities. Again, ithelped me think differently,
learn new things, achieve more,to then show that I could take
on a new role. So as I was,again, whether I was going from
(27:21):
a manager to director or, orindividual, employee to manager,
or even the role I'm in today, Ithink I had this, what appear to
be random set of skills that Icould then craft into the role
that I was going for, and showwhy it would be applicable and
(27:43):
why it would be successful inthat role to take that on. And
then in that new role that woulddo the same thing. So I really
think it does come back to tryeverything that can help you
progress your career and learnnew things. Number two, again, I
also kind of talked about thisbefore, but lean into you that
authenticity is so important.
And not even because, peoplelike to trust and work with
(28:10):
people they know are beinghonest, but you'll feel better.
I was so much more comfortablein my skin, as a manager, as a
leader, when I could be who Iwanted to be, and show my team
who I really am that it doesn'tdiffer too much from how I am at
(28:34):
home. And so I think thatauthenticity can help women be
themselves and be comfortable intheir roles and you know, be
comfortable in new roles thatthey might move up into. And
then going back to the what wetalked about in the beginning of
this podcast is that the more wecan be authentic, and the more
(28:56):
we can be ourselves, the more wecan make other people aware of
the expectations they're puttingon us to start unraveling some
of that systemic biases thatwe're talking about.
I think we justneed to do it more. And that
Tara Thurber (29:11):
Yeah.
will again, ultimately, overtime play a huge role in the
future of women in theworkplace.
Love that. I lovethat so much (laughs).
Karen Parisi (29:21):
Yeah, yeah, it's important to me, as you can say,
three, don't hesitate to ask forsome time with your executive
leaders, especially the women. Ithink those who have progressed
in their career likely face manyof the challenges that you have
and can coach and mentor on yourspecific situation. I know it's
(29:43):
sometimes hard to hear generaladvice and then I don't know how
to take that and translate thatinto my specific situation. So
so go to those executives, talkto them. I have no doubt they
will be happy to talk to you. Iwould love whether they're in my
on my team or outside of myteam. If someone in my company
came to me and said, Hey, I'mrunning into this issue, like,
(30:03):
I'd love to get your advice.
Tara Thurber (30:05):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (30:05):
I would, I would go out to coffee with them.
Tara Thurber (30:07):
(laughs)
Karen Parisi (30:08):
I would encourage you to do that. I think it's
important, as we help this nextgeneration of women and
leadership and moving themforward, and to my executive
colleagues out there to do that,as well.
Tara Thurber (30:22):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (30:23):
And then number four, hire smarter experts and
managers. So one of the firstthings I learned as a leader was
I'm expertise I'm good at what Ido. But there are areas that if
I had to execute today, I wouldprobably struggle. And so as
you're progressing in yourcareer, it's really important
that you hire really strong,effective people below you that
(30:47):
can they may know more than youon a particular topic. That's
okay.
Tara Thurber (30:51):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (30:52):
And that's what you want, because they will help
you execute on your vision. Andexcel, ultimately, whatever your
particular strategy is,initiative, etc, to allow you to
then level up your own career,or look at the kind of the next
phase with focus than had younot hired, I think the right
(31:15):
people in your career. So thisis for your managers out there,
or even directors out there,really think about that when
you're in the hiring process.
And then final five of our fiveor fifth one. So number five, is
of the same vein as the hiringthe right people, as a leader,
one of the things that I focuson is how can I boost my team,
(31:40):
I've hired the right people,they're experts in they're super
smart, super talented. How do Imake them thrive? And a big part
of that is the culture thatwe've set up within my
organization, and of course, thebroader organization, but when I
think about it, we work hard, wework very collaboratively
(32:04):
together, not only in themarketing function, but across
functionally too.
Tara Thurber (32:09):
Right. Right.
Karen Parisi (32:10):
But we have fun doing it. So not in a forced
way, but we just make each otherlaugh. And that has, it's small,
but it's made a huge role inallowing us to enjoy coming to
work every day, doing what we'redoing, making the progress that
we are growing the way we are.
And so as you're thinking aboutyour team culture, and what you
(32:35):
can do, that will ultimatelyhelp boost you and your career.
Focus on boosting your team. AndI always say laughter is
probably one of the keysuccesses to any of my
relationships, bothprofessionally and not.
Tara Thurber (32:52):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (32:53):
And so infuse that into your teams. And I think
you'll see that ultimately, itwill make them successful, and
it will make you successful.
Tara Thurber (33:01):
I love all five of these, I think all five of these
really play an amazing,important role in women in
leadership and women that arefocused on and progressing into
leadership. I think by takingthese top five ways from this
podcast, I feel it can set upindividuals to be successful.
(33:26):
Not only in a role, but alsoemotionally and energetically to
be successful, and able to showup as their best selves in order
to lead, in order to raise uptheir team, in order to progress
(33:47):
and be successful. So amazing.
Thank you for sharing those topfive. I want to add just a fun
question in here for you andreally excited to to know the
answer is who do you consider arole model, or a female leader
you particularly look up to?
Karen Parisi (34:08):
Alright, so I thought about this a little bit.
Tara Thurber (34:12):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (34:12):
And there are kind of public facing ones that I
look up to, I think the mostimportant female leader that I
looked up to is actually mysister. So she's three years
older than me. She's paved theway on a lot of things growing
up and also in the workforce.
Tara Thurber (34:27):
Right (laughs).
Karen Parisi (34:28):
You know, funny, she's actually has a chief
strategy officer and the ChiefMarketing Officer, so I probably
subconsciously followed in herfootsteps along the way.
But I'll tell youwhy. So, yes, we're best
Tara Thurber (34:37):
Right! friends. We agree on many
things, but there's also verydifferent types of individuals.
And we do think about things alittle differently in a lot of
ways. But what I've been able totap into her for is to think
about things from a differentperspective. And that's given me
(34:57):
food for thought on how I wantto change my approach to
whatever it is I'm going to herfor.
Right.
Karen Parisi (35:08):
And so, point being that you don't always need
the cheerleader, she's, ofcourse a cheerleader to me. But
she's also want to give me somehonest feedback to help me think
a little differently. Iactually, just this week, I sat
down with a board member of oneof our board members, who
similarly has a differentperspective on good market, and
(35:33):
not necessarily totallydifferent, but just has a really
good view. He's done thisbefore.
Tara Thurber (35:38):
Yeah.
Karen Parisi (35:38):
He has a great perspective on it all. And so I
kind of made a point that I wantto sit down with him, I want to
understand his perspective onthings so that I can think a
little differently and evolve mythoughts on approach. And I
think that surrounding yourselfwith people who can both be your
cheerleader, but also give yousomething to think about to help
(36:01):
you evolve as a professional,and as a person can make such a
huge difference in kind of yourdevelopment and career
progression over time. Sothat's, anyways, my sister is
role model.
Tara Thurber (36:16):
That's awesome.
That's so awesome. And I thinkthat makes one really, really
important point, too, is to justtake note that by asking a
senior level person or a sisteror somebody, I mean, some people
I feel that they don't ask fortheir thoughts, or they don't
(36:43):
ask to sit down with them,because they're almost afraid.
And it's taking that extra stepand being able to ask, Hey, do
you have half an hour, I justwant to pick your brain or I
just want to hear your thoughtsor your processes towards
something. I think that's onemajor thing that sometimes I
(37:05):
hear women not doing, becausemaybe it's a man that they're
asking. And maybe they fear thatthat individual, maybe it's
somebody that's in leadershipabove them, and they fear that
they're going to be looked uponas as weak or not know what
(37:26):
they're doing.
Karen Parisi (37:29):
Right.
Tara Thurber (37:29):
But I think women need to really kind of, like,
get through that. That feelingand that mindset, and hopefully
by asking and bringing curiosityto the table, I think is
something that everybody is opento talking about, and to just
(37:52):
not be afraid and just go for itand find those people.
Karen Parisi (37:57):
1,000% . Funny enough, I also was afraid to
reach out to that board member.
But I said, You know what, I'mdoing it. Senate president and I
did it and again, great you'reabsolutely right. You just need
to push through that fear.
Tara Thurber (38:11):
Right? Yeah.
Karen Parisi (38:12):
And make it happen as best as you can.
Tara Thurber (38:15):
Perfect. Karen, thank you so, so much for
joining us today. I reallyappreciate you giving us some of
your time.
Karen Parisi (38:22):
I absolutely enjoyed it. So, thanks so much.
Tara Thurber (38:25):
Awesome. Have a great rest of your day. Okay.
Karen Parisi (38:28):
You too.
Tara Thurber (38:30):
We are DefinedTalent, a DefinedLogic
service coming to you at topfive. Make it a great day.
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