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Empowering Your Value: A Conversation with Christina Mitine, AWS
80 Plays10 months ago
In this inspiring episode, Christina Mitine, a Go-to-Market Specialist at Amazon Web Services, shares her unique journey from environmental science to tech and business. She discusses the transformative role of mentorship and sponsorship in her career, the challenges of navigating the tech industry, and the strategies she has employed for personal and professional growth. Christina's story is a powerful testament to the importance of self-advocacy, embracing opportunities, and the significant impact of networking and community support in shaping a successful career in revenue-generating roles.
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Transcript
Introduction to Resilient Revenue Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to Resilient Revenue, a women in revenue podcast series designed to magnify the voices, victories, and valuable insights of trailblazing women in revenue-generating roles. Each episode will showcase stories of resilience, mentorship, and self-advocacy. You'll learn exactly how these remarkable women are breaking barriers, redefining success, and showing us the transformative power of unity within the tech industry.
00:00:31
Speaker
So join us as we embark on this enlightening journey toward equality and empowerment in the world of resilient revenue.
Meet Christina Mitton, AWS Specialist
00:00:42
Speaker
Hi, welcome back to the Women in Revenue podcast. We are excited to be here today with a wonderful guest who I'm going to introduce in just one minute. I am your host today, Hana Jakover. I'm a Women in Revenue board member and also head up the Speakers Bureau. I'm very happy to be hosting this episode today with our guest, Christina Mitton, who is a go-to-market specialist at Amazon Web Services. Hi, Christina, how are you?
00:01:12
Speaker
Bye, Anna. Thanks so much for having me today. I'm doing well. How are you? I'm good. I'm really excited for this chat. I know it's been on the books for a little while. So we are happier here. And Christina is also a active women in revenue member. So it's always great for us to get our members on the show because we are talented, strong, badass women.
00:01:36
Speaker
Exactly. I'm so excited to be here today and we're covering such an important topic. Women in revenue has been vital throughout my career over the last three years since I've been a member and I'm really excited to share my journey with everyone.
00:01:50
Speaker
Amazing. Well, why don't we start out by just giving us a little bit of background around your journey in your career?
Christina's Career Journey: Science to Tech
00:01:57
Speaker
Absolutely. So before moving into tech and business, I actually had a pretty non-traditional background. I studied the sciences, have a degree in environmental science and a minor in
00:02:11
Speaker
biochemistry and when I was trying to make that decision to figure out where I wanted to go and move my career into, it was actually my network that came to me and someone who I used to work with had this opportunity in sales and I went through, I think as a lot of us have felt before, a question of what would I possibly do in sales and what value would I bring in a customer facing revenue generating role when I
00:02:34
Speaker
don't have experience in the skill set, but I had really strong sponsors and advocates that pushed me in that space. And I realized, okay, why have these skill sets? And if anything, I'll get to hone in on some
Facing Challenges in Tech Roles
00:02:46
Speaker
new ones. So I moved into and really started my career in
00:02:50
Speaker
the tech sector at Oracle as a sales rep for enterprise accounts. But in that role, within a year, I realized that something was missing. I wasn't getting to use my technical skills as much for my undergrad degree. And I felt that
00:03:06
Speaker
maybe I wasn't being valued in the way that I could be and demonstrating my skills. So I looked around and actually moved into product marketing to really tie together the sales and marketing blend, one in 10 analytics space.
Transition to AWS: Customer Engagement Focus
00:03:22
Speaker
And unfortunately I kept experiencing the same challenge of hitting a ceiling from both getting to expand my skillset and also a
00:03:32
Speaker
compensation standpoint. So I was always looking for that next step. And how could I keep growing? So I moved into programming product management for customer success, and then ultimately wanted a company change. And last January of 2022, interviewed and moved over to AWS or Amazon Web Services, initially in a communications role, supporting two different sectors that were generating revenue and getting to work with our customers and partners.
00:04:01
Speaker
And it's interesting how much you realize the single-threaded piece in your story. And for me, it's been wanting to be close to the customer, being in an area that's profitable and generate revenue. And I recently moved over into a go-to-market specialist role within our worldwide specialist organization where I get to talk to customers multiple times during not just the week, but the day.
00:04:28
Speaker
and really get to drive revenue and generate pipeline for the business. So I've had a unique journey moving throughout and navigating in tech over the last few years. That's an exciting journey and such a big 180 into something so different from what you were doing initially.
Mentorship's Role in Christina's Career
00:04:48
Speaker
And I imagine, not only through that transition, but in general with the changes in different directions you've taken, that mentorship and various forms of guidance has been really critical. You even mentioned my network, which is something obviously we value at Women in Revenue.
00:05:09
Speaker
Tell me a little bit about a particular mentor or advocate, somebody who has really significantly impacted your career and your professional development. Yeah, absolutely. I love the topic of mentorship and sponsorship because I think everyone needs to have a mentor and needs to put themselves out there to get a sponsor. I think I was really fortunate early in my career. I had a male manager
00:05:35
Speaker
who was an incredible ally and a great advocate for me. And he actually introduced me to this really powerful, intelligent, knowledgeable woman. Her name is also Christina. She goes by Chris and she's been my mentor for the last four years and has constantly asked me the same question, but in different ways. And it's been
00:05:57
Speaker
What are you passionate about and what are you doing for yourself? And at every pivotal point when I've been wanting to switch roles and even switch companies, she's been someone who I have been able to go to. We have regular catch ups and I think that over time formal mentorship becomes a little bit more
00:06:19
Speaker
informal and you get to really preserve and maintain that relationship. I think you are your own business and your revenue is actually being built every single day, but having a mentor and especially a sponsor elevates that constantly. So with Chris, my dynamic is
00:06:42
Speaker
I feel very comfortable approaching her with questions and concerns that I have. And I know that she advocates on my behalf when I haven't had a seat at the table and whenever she is able to invite me to a meeting or have me be a silent listener.
00:06:58
Speaker
she creates that space. And I think that is the ultimate testament and sign of a true mentor that is investing in you and in the relationship you have, makes a seat for you, like literally pulls up a chair and invites you to the conversation when oftentimes you're one of the few women in the room sitting at that table.
Advocacy for Women in Tech
00:07:20
Speaker
So I think I've been really fortunate in that we met early on when I was at Oracle and
00:07:25
Speaker
She said when I reached out to when I knew I wanted to switch companies, I actually wasn't even thinking about AWS at the time and was entering with other companies and was looking for her guidance and how do I make my decision? And she said, why didn't I see Amazon on your list? And time and time again, she's really just been someone who supported me throughout my career and maybe asked the question of what do you want to do and where are you going to excel?
00:07:50
Speaker
That sounds like a fantastic relationship. I love the questions, the guiding questions that she would ask you around what you're passionate about and what you're doing for yourself. I think that those two things are critical for our success and really tapping into who we know we are and the confidence that we know is in there and being able to really extract that. You made an important distinction in that
00:08:17
Speaker
a story you talked about or you mentioned sponsor and you also mentioned mentor. Can you talk about just what those two things mean to you and the differences there? Yeah, absolutely. I think a mentor is someone who you can go to with
00:08:36
Speaker
career questions, professional growth ideas, opportunities, stretch projects, just anyone that you want to have an open and hopefully vulnerable, comfortable conversation with that over time could develop into
00:08:50
Speaker
consistent relationship and a sponsor is really someone who advocates when you're not there. They speak on your behalf when you're not in the room and oftentimes with how challenging and competitive especially the technology industry is, having a sponsor who goes even further and I think statistically
00:09:10
Speaker
women don't have enough sponsors or sometimes don't have a sponsor at all. So I would say that distinction is really having someone who knows you and knows your story, your value, your worth, and everything that you bring to the table. They can go talk about you to someone else and they bring you up and then say, hey, I remember something really awesome that Christina did. Let me share it with you even though she's not in this meeting today.
00:09:39
Speaker
Great explanation. And I think what's really interesting too is that people can fill both roles. You know, it sounds like Chris might have been both, you know, a mentor and a sponsor for you. And that's really magical when you can find that individual. I also think it's really powerful thinking about sponsors. You might have sponsors and you might not even know about it. You might have people that are out there believing in you, seeing what you're doing.
00:10:05
Speaker
and advocating for you on behalf of you in rooms that you're not in and mentioning your names and rooms consistently. And you might not even know that, which I think it'd be really eye opening to a lot of people around showcasing your value, communicating your worth, like putting it out there. So there are others that will see that and pick it up and be like, oh, man, this person's amazing. I believe in what they're doing. And if I have the opportunity, I'm going to say their name in a room.
00:10:31
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
Negotiating Fair Compensation
00:10:33
Speaker
Well, let's dive into our core topic, which we've touched on a little bit already, and that's really about value and worth and compensation, getting paid fairly. I mean, all of those things, it's a broad scope.
00:10:48
Speaker
And I think that we can talk about both of the internal and the external, right? The internal value, the internal worth, and then how do you bring that out? How do you showcase that? And from both a communication standpoint, but also what you're doing in your role and also compensation. So thinking about in your role in this
00:11:08
Speaker
ever evolving tech sector, especially at AWS, how have you determined your own value and how have you made sure that you're being fairly compensated for your skills and contributions? Yeah.
00:11:24
Speaker
I think it's challenging. It is something that is a really tough conversation to have. I think we don't talk enough about compensation and negotiating. We shy away from that. And I think over the years I've learned that that actually hurts us a lot more because, and we don't know,
00:11:46
Speaker
I early on had a mentor tell me, you don't ask, you don't get. And I think with every career change and role change I've had, I've used that as my North star when looking at offers and determining my own work. I was really fortunate early on. I had a manager who openly told me, a male manager, he said, you are being underpaid on my team.
00:12:15
Speaker
Honestly, I didn't know what to do with that information. I asked him for guidance. I said, okay, well, what does that look like? What can I do to get to that next level and make sure that moving forward, I'm paid my worth for my skillset, for my background, for my experience? Base pointing had me just do industry standard research. What is the average
00:12:37
Speaker
in the market with your years of experience that other folks are earning across the company and at other companies. What is just your value in the market? I think doing that early on helped me level set and understand and start openly having conversations
00:12:55
Speaker
uncomfortable ones with my peers, both men and women, to understand where was I on that pace spectrum. And so I've made a very concerted effort to always negotiate and push back every time I've gotten an offer to see is there a room somewhere to leverage and make a slight change. And I think just always knowing in the back of your head
00:13:22
Speaker
you know, from if you're just looking at a base compensation, what is that number that you would assign to yourself and knowing what are you okay with, you know, what will make you happy and will allow you to lead the lifestyle you want to lead and move forward in that way. So I would say in silence, you won't get an answer. And even when it's
00:13:44
Speaker
really challenging and uncomfortable. I think pushing yourself a little bit and asking that question of, is there room for more? And what does that look like? So I think for me, that's been probably the most helpful advice that I've gotten that I always recommend to anyone else that asks me, how do you make sure that you're
00:14:07
Speaker
negotiating and actually advocating for yourself. I think the first piece is initiating that conversation and actually pushing yourself to negotiate. Because oftentimes, I think we just look at the paper and say, okay, and then in the back of your head and you have that gut feeling like, I absolutely just settled, but I don't know what to do about it.
00:14:28
Speaker
really think just coming back and saying, hey, is there room here? If it's not in my base, is it in a stock package? Is it in a sign on bonus? When do you expect a timely promotion if I'm starting at this level, because I really want to get into this space, having, I think, realistic expectations to yourself, and then also holding the receiving end, whether it's a recruiter or a hiring manager.
00:14:53
Speaker
the team you're moving into accountable for what they're telling you. Yes, that's great advice. I think also what you mentioned about pay transparency, right? And just having that person who is willing to say and be transparent about
00:15:12
Speaker
you are not making it enough. And here's what the standard is. And even like here's having those conversations with your peers where you can ask them and you can be transparent and they can do the same. And that also is a really great way for allies to step up and advocate for your male advocate for your women counterparts that maybe aren't getting paid, probably are not getting paid as much as men.
00:15:38
Speaker
We just released our annual survey and one of the top issues that women in business and especially in women in revenue generating roles are facing is compensation equity and transparency. It's forever going to be an important topic for us as women to
00:15:58
Speaker
really lean into and remove the self-doubt and anything that is preventing you from doing what Christina is talking about is having those hard conversations, negotiating, knowing your number, understanding the scope in which you can negotiate, right? It's more than just your base number. There's so many other elements that
00:16:20
Speaker
make up that whole package of your quote-unquote salary. So I think that that's really important. When you think about specific strategies of like, okay, I know that I need to negotiate, right? When we can get past that point of like, oh, shoot, like I don't know how to do this, but when you can get past that point of, all right, I feel good. I know that I need to negotiate. I've got my number. What are some techniques that worked well for you when it comes to securing fair compensation?
00:16:49
Speaker
I think number one is have data and metrics to back you up. Find three to five sources or resources to say, hey, this is the market average, this is the industry standard, and I fall into this range. I think coming in with a range for yourself right off the bat, over-prepare, over-study,
00:17:14
Speaker
over-educate yourself. That way, any question that comes your way, you're ready to present and lay yourself out accordingly. And then I think don't be afraid to push back a second time if there's something exactly like you said, salary is so many things. There's
00:17:34
Speaker
Also, so many other company benefits and things to look for. And just to ask and say, hey, I noticed this wasn't detailed. Do you offer this? Or I have this planned or I'm expecting this. What can you do for me? Because I think an important reminder is the same way that a company or a team or a manager is interviewing you,
00:17:59
Speaker
To a degree, you're also interviewing them. It's a two-way street. You want to make sure that they are a good fit for you in every aspect, especially from being paid what you are worth. I think that's been my main piece is just really having
00:18:18
Speaker
all of the data behind me for one. I think a second is I have utilized women in revenue and the mentorship program and the different Slack channels to openly ask questions and see what are other women making and
00:18:37
Speaker
Have they heard from their other female peers? They heard from other men? Is this in line with the average based on your location and everything that you're really looking for and not being afraid to ask? So I would say those are really my two main strategies up front.
The Art of Silence in Negotiations
00:18:57
Speaker
And then once you're in the room, I like to have just a note that grounds me because I think those conversations can be
00:19:06
Speaker
uncomfortable and depending on who you're talking to, even intimidating. You could get a lot of pushback of, I have openly had someone tell me, you know, I think you're paid enough actually. And in the moment I actually didn't know how to respond and I just said I really want time to think about that and
00:19:26
Speaker
would like to come back to the conversation because you also have to create your own timeline. And if you're not ready to respond in that moment, it's okay to ask for some time and take a step away and think, what does that really mean? Where is this coming from? And then I like to just have actually a post-it note on, I keep it on my monitor every day. And it literally says, invest in yourself. And I think to me the word invest
00:19:55
Speaker
means a lot of different things. But in those conversations, bottom line means I'm investing in myself today for my future and for the future that I want to have. And that means getting paid with my worth starting today, not in a year or two or five years from now.
00:20:15
Speaker
You said so many things I wanna dive into, so many good nuggets. But yeah, so data and metrics, community and networking and just grounding yourself are all really important. So yeah, data and metrics, communities and networking and leaning into those. And I'm really happy that Women in Revenue was a really great place for you to leverage in your experience and hopefully will continue to be.
00:20:43
Speaker
And then also grounding, and I love your affirmation that you give to yourself. I think the post-it notes are an underrated anchor that I know a lot of folks that are successful in their career use it as an anchor. I'm looking at four of them right now.
00:21:02
Speaker
And I think that there's so much value in when you're in that conversation to come at it from a place where you are responding, not reacting, because they are uncomfortable conversations. And when we react, we have a tendency to overexplain.
00:21:21
Speaker
or bring our emotions into it in a way where it's not beneficial to us because we haven't actually processed them yet. And those things are like giving away your power. When somebody sees you do those things, they say, oh, okay, I see that is a trigger. And whether they're consciously or subconsciously, right? Like, you're giving that away. You're giving away that that's a trigger for you, that that is an opportunity for
00:21:47
Speaker
Hmm, like the other person can lean in further or push a little further. So not only in these conversations, but any uncomfortable conversation. I think it's so important just to stay grounded and come at a place where we're responding versus reacting. And if you can't do that, ask for that time. Like you said, it's OK to say.
00:22:06
Speaker
this is a really, really important decision or I need time to process this information because all of those things are true, right? We all process in different ways. It's rare that you receive life changing information and you're just like, okay, sounds good. But yet we do that display for some reason or another and particularly women.
00:22:31
Speaker
One thing that I'll add to that too is, and I'm going to swear, sorry everybody, but for me, and this is for me personally, like when I'm negotiating, I know that I have a tendency to go into the justification, to go into, here's the why, here's all the details, right? And we do this, right? We do this all the time as women, especially if you're a people pleaser, have tendencies to lead into that, but
00:22:59
Speaker
You just got to stop and lead with what you want. Make the ask. And for me, when I'm in those conversations where it's high stakes negotiation, I say, say your number and shut the fuck up. And for me personally, that works because that's what I'm reminding myself is like, say it and stop.
00:23:20
Speaker
You don't have to go into the story of why you think you're worth it, right? Set the table and let them take the next step. Here's what I'm saying. And then that silence, that pause, like there is so much power in the pause, power in the silence. It is a power move when you can include silence into those conversations.
00:23:44
Speaker
some of the best negotiators and you'll start to pick up on this if you work with a really good negotiator is they use silence as a tactic. And that is when it can be a little intimidating and a little uncomfortable because we as humans don't like to sit in silence. We don't like to sit in the unknown. But if you can get comfortable with it and if you can start leveraging that yourself, you keep your power and you display a level of, I think, being concise and being very clear about what you want.
AWS's Diversity and Inclusion Efforts
00:24:14
Speaker
I'm curious in your current role and in the environment of AWS, such a large complex company, right? How does AWS create an environment where employees feel valued? I would say that exactly like you said, AWS is such a big company and
00:24:38
Speaker
We fall under our parent Amazon, which is even larger. And one of the most amazing things about that is there are so many opportunities, but you do have to seek them out yourself to see what it is that's important to you. Amazon takes pride in investing in global DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion. And there are so many different initiatives, but for me, the one that's been so prominent in my last year and a half,
00:25:04
Speaker
with the company has been one of the affinity groups. It's women at AWS, and it's a women-run, volunteer-led community with close to 5,000 members started grassroots about seven, eight years ago. And to me, that's really how the company drives
00:25:25
Speaker
inclusivity through all of the different affinity groups. We have our Black Employee Network, Asians at Amazon, the Latinx community, allyship. The list really goes on in. I think once you start bringing in
00:25:43
Speaker
diverse individuals and you have that representation, that's how inclusivity starts because you get diversity of thought, diversity of leadership, diversity of opinions.
00:25:58
Speaker
AWS has, there's 16 leadership principles is how the company level sets and grounds itself on. And one of the more recent ones is strive to be earth's best employer. And it's really centered around diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives specific to women at AWS. We have amazing executive sponsor who is one of our
00:26:23
Speaker
male senior vice presidents and he really took a look specifically at the stock pass packages and within that looking at RSU's investing cycles that happened during leave, both maternity and paternity, so parental leave.
00:26:43
Speaker
And it's initiatives like that empower women that develop, but most importantly, I think one category that we don't talk about a lot is retaining. We're always looking at recruiting and increasing the percentages, which is great to have that goal and AWS strives towards that too. But one of the core missions of our affinity group, the last one is
00:27:07
Speaker
retention because you invest so much time into going through the interview, onboarding talent, and some really intelligent, phenomenal, powerful women out there. Then you lose them because they aren't fairly compensated because they aren't promoting at the same rate as their peers. I think
00:27:30
Speaker
AWS has been very consciously striving and looking at what are the different retention efforts, and they've been doing that through sponsoring women to go to different conferences. We have several women right now at the European Women in Technology Conference in Amsterdam. We have Afrotech that comes up later this year, and then the large Grace Hopper celebration in Orlando. And mentorship has been a huge program that's been run company-wide, and then we're also running a pilot within our own to really encourage
00:28:00
Speaker
female mentors and younger mentees. And the topic of reverse mentoring has been huge right now because anyone can be a mentor regardless of your experience, your level, and your background. So I would say those are really the key areas where the company has been focusing on its inclusivity initiatives and
00:28:21
Speaker
increasing representation in the workforce. Those are fantastic initiatives. And yeah, when we think about feeling valued, like that belonging is so important. It's so critical. And our brains actually register that, right? And make sure
00:28:40
Speaker
that if I'm feeling this belonging, it helps me feel safe. It helps me feel secure. And there's a number of other areas or domains in our range that kind of pick up different things like certainty and autonomy. And yeah, but I think for a lot of people belonging,
00:28:59
Speaker
takes, it ranks very highly if they were to sort of say, here are the things that make me feel safe and secure and valued in my role. And it's interesting because I think even just hearing the term belonging, like people immediately think of DEI, but I believe that when you just ask somebody to explain what makes them feel valued in their role, they're going to give you an answer that is directly related to the idea of belonging.
00:29:26
Speaker
Yeah, I absolutely agree with you. I think it's this thread that runs along the bottom of ID&E or DEI initiatives because you can't really feel included if you don't feel like you belong.
00:29:42
Speaker
And we want to see other people who look like us and talk like us and act like us in the workplace because that helps foster that sense of belonging and inclusivity. Yeah.
Defining Executive Presence
00:29:59
Speaker
So shifting gears and thinking about executive presence, because this is another way we can showcase our value is by the way that we show up and the way that we show up in a room where there are executives. We do need to have or put on that leadership hat and
00:30:20
Speaker
whatever it is, however you define executive presence, everybody defines it differently. But what do you think are some key characteristics or behaviors that define a strong executive presence? I would say that executive presence falls into, there's so many categories, but for me, what stands out the most is your ability to listen,
00:30:46
Speaker
and to be empathetic and everything else falls under that. Your presence is how you actively choose to show up. I really associate your executive presence with your personal and professional brand. It's the way that you show up in a space and how you want people to ideally see you for who you are and what you bring to the table. For me, my number one is
00:31:13
Speaker
building genuine connections. And that oftentimes stems from listening. People love to talk about themselves and to share their experiences and their background and by really getting to ask those
00:31:29
Speaker
questions, even if it's something small like, hey, what got you into this space? Or why are you passionate about women in revenue and amplifying the voice of women? You learn the different aspects of people in that way and it ties down to how you show up. And then I think the second for me is
00:31:52
Speaker
leading with empathy. It's easy to get caught in the day-to-day and mundane tasks and feel that all you're doing is working and you're going through this checklist, but being empathetic is
00:32:08
Speaker
have succeeded in my career. I've been able to very rapidly burn trust with executives, and I show that by delivering results. So I would say to me, that is what executive presence is, and I actively show up in a room knowing I will
00:32:29
Speaker
or the trust of the leaders in this space. And they will register, okay, Christina is someone who is a expert in this area. And even if she isn't, she will find someone in her network who will help deliver that answer or complete that task.
00:32:47
Speaker
I love this so much because you've really wrapped in what we call or what has been traditionally called soft skills. I think that they're essential skills. But when we think about executive presence, a lot of the times we dive into things that
00:33:06
Speaker
are sort of more hard, quote unquote, hard skills like communication. But you talk about empathy, you talk about relationship building, authenticity I hear in there too. And I think that that's really a great way to look at it. And obviously, active listening is a skill, but I do think that active listening is a hard skill to develop.
00:33:28
Speaker
There's many, many layers to active listening that almost take that empathy, take that curiosity, take that authenticity in order to be in that present moment and hear what is being said and what is not being said as well, and take all of that in and see something through the context of somebody else and their experience.
00:33:50
Speaker
What are the things that outside of those practicing active listening, empathy, building those relationships, showcasing that trust, how else have you worked on cultivating and enhancing your own executive presence?
Enhancing Executive Presence for Introverts
00:34:07
Speaker
In terms of cultivating and enhancing executive presence, I think it does come down to some of those hard skills, but it comes down to knowing the space you're in and knowing your audience. I do a lot of research beforehand when I'm going into
00:34:23
Speaker
a meeting, whether it's with internal senior leaders or with customers and partners, because that's how you build that connection by being knowledgeable. So I do the background, whether it's like company websites or profiles,
00:34:40
Speaker
LinkedIn, you can learn a lot about people on their LinkedIn profile. I think it's actually probably one of my favorite social media platforms in that way because you get to know a lot. And so I educate myself and then I come prepared to the table. I would say that's the first one. The second is knowing your worth.
00:35:02
Speaker
You were brought to the company, to that meeting, to that space for a reason. I think it's really easy to lose sight of that in settings like that where you have to demonstrate your executive presence. But to me, that is what it means. It's showing what you know and being very confident in your presentation to do that.
00:35:26
Speaker
One thing I do know, I've had a lot of women ask me saying, well, those are great tips for people who are extroverted or maybe ambroverts who can switch back and forth. But what if you're an introvert? What if you don't feel comfortable raising your hand and speaking up and
00:35:44
Speaker
I think there's other actions that you can take to still build your executive presence, even if you're not at the head of the table. Because maybe that's not where you want to be right now, or maybe that's not how you show up. And I think actually that's where your
00:36:01
Speaker
Mentor and sponsor relationships can build your executive presence. I remember one of my peers was an introvert and something that she would do is she would just write her thoughts and what she would want to say in a meeting on a post-it note or a paper. She would pass it to a senior leader in the room and they would say, hey, this is a thought from someone in the room.
00:36:26
Speaker
and they would read it. I think that is a different way also to more subtly build out your executive presence as well because it shows, hey, I'm knowledgeable and I have something to say. Also, getting a read for who's in the room, whether you write it out or you speak up, he's going to back you up and call it and say, yeah, exactly.
00:36:50
Speaker
I agree with Christina and build off of your idea, not take credit for it, but really emphasize what you're doing. I think that that's so great and something that came to mind and I think what you have done for yourself too is like what is your own definition of it, right? Executive presence can mean, like I said, so many things. And if you are an introvert,
00:37:14
Speaker
it's going to look different than if you are an extrovert. And that's OK. Right. It's about finding and embracing your version of executive presence or whatever it is that aligns with who you are and will help get you to where you want to go. So I love the idea of it being so subjective that you can make it more personal. And then that's what you're known for. You brand it in your own way. And I think that that's really beautiful.
00:37:44
Speaker
As we're winding down, actually I have one more question that I wanted to ask. So we talked about, okay, if you are an introvert versus an extrovert, and gosh, how do I showcase that worth? Because it might look different. It might need to look different for me.
00:38:00
Speaker
What about thinking about that confidence that you mentioned? I talk to so many people and we see this all the time, journeys of overcoming confidence or lack of confidence, lack of self-worth, and really lack of that value and love for yourself.
00:38:20
Speaker
How do you build that internal worth, that internal confidence through your eyes? What is the process that you go through to do that? So when there is the time where you need to showcase that confidence and tap into that, you can do it in a manner that works well for you.
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
00:38:38
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I love that question. And I think the first thing I want to say and just naming it and stating it is, imposter syndrome is real.
00:38:50
Speaker
And it oftentimes deters us from showcasing our confidence and really putting ourselves out there. It's interesting, I think they say that imposter syndrome disproportionately affects high performing women and achievers. And I think what I do continuously to remind myself of my worth and my value is
00:39:18
Speaker
being comfortable bragging about myself. It's interesting. I think the word brag has this really negative connotation, a negative connotation that you're boasting and you're putting everything out on the table, but it's actually just stating a fact about yourself. And maybe I'm slightly more
00:39:41
Speaker
confident and assertive way. So what I started doing and what I encourage everyone to do, whether you're an extrovert or an introvert, because it actually doesn't require anyone else other than yourself, is creating a Bragg folder. Whether it's in your email or in just a document on your computer or Google, whatever platform you like, but
00:40:09
Speaker
taking different pieces of evidence, like anecdotes that people have said about you and compiling all of them. Because I think one, they serve as a good reminder of your accomplishments. And it could be something as simple as an email from someone that says, hey, thanks for organizing that meeting.
00:40:29
Speaker
Or, hey, thanks for that idea that you shared. Or it could be something a lot bigger of you improved efficiency by this and you brought X amount of ARR into our pipeline stream. It doesn't matter what it is. It's all still a positive in showcasing your work, metric-driven or just through gratitude. I've been doing that for the last year. So not even for that long because
00:40:58
Speaker
I didn't before. I would just kind of dismiss and say, I've done all these things and kind of move on to the next one. But being really intentional in piecing together my brags and my successes is helpful. And then when you
00:41:13
Speaker
feel that you're not making what you're worth or you deserve to be at that next level. You actually already have all of your evidence and you're coming to the table and like you said, I know my number and here's why. And you don't have to spend time like over justifying and doing all of that. You already have everything. And a lot of it is for other people who see you, who hear you and who value you.
00:41:39
Speaker
That would say for me, that's been the biggest piece. And then the second is just leaning on my network because sometimes the people around you, whether it's a mentor or a sponsor, a friend, a family member,
00:41:56
Speaker
Sometimes they know your abilities better than you do and can motivate you and encourage you to let them shine. I think you touched upon this a little bit and when you were talking and it made me think of that very glaring statistic that's been out for a while, but that men
00:42:14
Speaker
apply for a job or raise their hand when they're competent at 60% and women have to check off every single box before we feel ready to raise our hand. 60% to 100% difference is incredulous. That is a huge ratio gap. And to be honest, I've used that stat kind of as a driver for myself to know that
00:42:40
Speaker
hey, if other people can do it, I don't have to hit every box right now. Hitting every box actually means you're overqualified. So you probably should go do something else and get paid your worth for something more. And I would say for me, those have really been the key grounding points in the ways that I encourage and push myself to be confident. And then that's how I carry myself in the workplace and in my personal life.
00:43:08
Speaker
Mm, great tips. I think it goes back to what you said about bragging. These are facts.
00:43:14
Speaker
and really getting to a place where you believe that. Not only to believe it, but you know that. Because when we start talking about ourselves, like sometimes we're just not sure. We even can believe it, right? But there's this huge difference between believing and knowing. And when you come to the table and you know that you are good at something, you know that you are meant to be in that room, you know you're worth, that's pretty powerful. Nobody can really take that away from you.
00:43:44
Speaker
I call mine the smile file. And yeah, I am totally on board with that, obviously. And I think it's a great tactic. And I'll also say, just don't forget to celebrate we especially as women.
00:44:01
Speaker
especially as women, we do not celebrate our wins enough. We do not recognize them enough and we don't celebrate them
The Power of Community and Closing Remarks
00:44:08
Speaker
enough. It's something that I ask as a coach in sessions is, how are you going to celebrate that? And it's something that has been asked of me by coaches that has really helped change my perspective on that and how I value that, that moment of pause to celebrate and do something to
00:44:28
Speaker
really acknowledge whatever it is that was important, that was impactful, that you did take that time to celebrate because that will also just further contribute to the knowing the facts that you belong, that you can do it, that you are a badass at whatever it is that you're doing and other people deserve to see that too.
00:44:52
Speaker
Christina, this has been such a wonderful conversation. I'm grateful that we have connected and that you are in our community and that you've also gotten so much out of it. I'm curious just to wrap things up. What advice
00:45:07
Speaker
or resource or whatever it is that has helped you that you want to leave for other women who are exploring this idea of showcasing their worth, whether it comes from that internal aspect or the external aspect of executive presence and fair compensation. What would you like to leave our listeners with? You are your own best advocate. There is no one that knows your worth
00:45:37
Speaker
your skills and your passion better than you do. And that's what I want to leave everyone with today is take that time, write it down, go brag about yourself, and then go out and celebrate in whatever way that you enjoy doing that. But that is what's going to help move you forward professionally and personally.
00:46:04
Speaker
And that's really what I just want to close out on today. And this has been such a great conversation and finding the area or multiple niches that work for you. For me, since late 2019, early 2020, the women in revenue community has been
00:46:21
Speaker
a constant threat. Even when I was switching roles in companies and was trying to find areas in that space, women in revenue was always there and putting myself out there in the Slack channel, attending some of the virtual events and finding a mentor and being perfectly paired with one that I've stayed in touch with ever since has been really impactful to me. And I just encourage everyone if
00:46:47
Speaker
You're in a revenue-generating role. You're in this space. I think Women in Revenue is an amazing platform. And if it isn't for you, find what works for you. Find that group for yourself because I think having a sense of community is so vital in just your overall happiness, well-being.
00:47:07
Speaker
ultimately your success. So thank you again for having me. This has been really wonderful and to everyone tuning in with us, just keep advocating for yourself and remember your value. Thank you so much, Christina. This has been a really, really important conversation and I'm really glad that you've been able to join us for it and share your voice and experience and stories. So we appreciate you. Thank you.
00:47:37
Speaker
And that wraps up another episode of Resilient Revenue. These narratives are more than just personal triumphs. They embody the collective journey that we undertake as we strive for a future where every woman, no matter her career stage, location, industry, or demographic profile, has the opportunity to excel in her chosen field.
00:47:58
Speaker
Women in revenue exists because we know amazing things can happen when driven, talented, bottom line oriented women are fired up and collaborating to grow their careers and organizations. We invite you to join our amazing community of 7,000 plus members. If you'd like to become a member for free, head on over to womeninrevenue.org to join today. See you next time on Resilient Revenue.