frankly… Episode 98: Curiosity Can Shape Your Career

In this episode of frankly…

The transcript below is AI-generated and may contain minor inaccuracies. Tune in to the episode audio to hear the full conversation!

Transcript

Rachel

We talked to Sharon Garcia today, who is the VP of Marketing and Communications for the Downtown Detroit Partnership. So you get a little bit of what’s happening in Detroit, what to look forward to around the holidays this year. If you’re a business, how you can support a lot of those initiatives that are happening in the city. But Sharon really talks a lot about her career path, how she got to where she is, the trials and tribulations that lead you there, the opportunities that you take or time in PRSA. So a lot of good just career thoughts and advice.

Dan

Yeah, and coming down, you mentioned PRSA, so the importance of professional development, but also in another sense, the importance of mentorship and how that can support kind of both sides, both the mentee and the mentor. Some really good advice on that front towards the end too.

Rachel

Absolutely. Yeah. So no matter what point you’re at in your career, I’m sure you’ll hear some good advice from Sharon in here. So with that, welcome Sharon.

Dan

Hi Sharon, welcome to Frankly. Thanks for joining us.

Sharon

Hi, thank you for having me. I’m a huge fan.

Rachel

I love to hear that.

Sharon

I’m a fan of the pod and I’m also a fan of the Franco agency.

Dan

We love to hear it. Well, we’re a fan of DDP as well.

Rachel

Yeah.

Sharon

Thank you.

Dan

Yeah, exactly, just up the street.

Sharon

And welcome to downtown Detroit. I know you recently moved and this is a beautiful space.

Dan

Yeah, we kind of shifted across from one end of downtown to the other, from the water to the city side.

Rachel

A lot more lively in the entertainment district.

Dan

It is much more. There’s a lot going on. So, tell us a little bit about your background. Where did you start your career? How have you kind of progressed through and what do you do today with DDP?

Sharon

I’ve been thinking a lot about generational things, and I think I should start by saying I’m a child of the 80s, because I feel like that informs a lot of my trajectory. I grew up in the unsupervised era, where we did not have our parents telling us where to be or what to do.

Rachel

Come out on the street lights, come on.

Sharon

Or after, honestly, after. There was not a lot of talk about going to college. There was not a lot of talk about grades. I wasn’t a member of the Girl Scouts, but my mom caught me and my friends smoking on the playground during Girl Scouts. That’s kind of like my childhood. And it’s funny because a few years ago, one of my mentors, she took me to a Girl Scouts fundraiser. And I thought, wow, I have come a long way.

Dan

All full circle.

Rachel

I was going to say a full circle moment.

Sharon

And it was a really fun story at the table with those ladies. But I grew up in St. Louis and I–let’s just start with college. I went to college at San Diego State University. I could not get out of St. Louis suburbs fast enough. So I moved to San Diego under the pretense of going to college. And I did not go to college until like my mid-20s. I waitressed, I had fun on the beach. I just was not focused on that linear trajectory, which I think as we get further into the conversation, talking about mentoring younger students and professionals, I think that’s a really important thing I have to share with people is that it’s not linear.

Rachel

And there’s not one path for everybody either.

Sharon

No, there’s not.

Rachel

I feel like you would probably look back and be like, I wish I took more time to do what I wanted to do at that point. It makes sense for you and that’s what’s important.

Sharon

I tell people that you might look at your career as like a dot on a chart, like here, this didn’t make sense over here, this did. And then 20 years later, you look back and go, that makes sense for where I am now. So I went to college in San Diego and it took me a while, but I really, it took me time to get focused on college, but I focused on communications. And then as I started becoming really into being a student, I was a tutor for speech writers and kind of got into the writing, realizing I had some space in terms of writing and was also into the academic piece of it. So I went on to graduate school in international and intercultural relations. So again, just followed my interests. My minor was in intercultural communications. But I’d been in San Diego for about 10 years, and I really wanted to get back to the Midwest. So I applied to UC San Diego, Washington University in St. Louis, and University of Chicago. And I got into Chicago and University of St. Louis, but not UCSD. Because I think my background with some of the things I was doing on the border. I was doing a lot of volunteer work on the border just out of my own interest. And I think that was interesting to Chicago and St. Louis. But I got my degree, a social sciences degree in international relations. And I always say that my career in nonprofit, if there’s even a hint of an international policy feel to it, I feel like I’ve done my graduate degree justice. But honestly, it was just an incredible academic pursuit and I made some incredible friends from all over the world during that time and decided to stay in Chicago after I got my graduate degree because you’re so immersed when you’re at the University of Chicago. They have a saying that the squirrels are better looking than the girls at University of Chicago. And that is where fun goes to die.

Rachel

Oh my gosh.

Sharon

That’s what they say about that university. So, we had a good time. I think we had a really good time. And the people I hung out with were a blast.

Rachel

I also really like Chicago. So like what just being in that city is enough.

Sharon

And I didn’t have enough of that when I was there. So I decided to stay. And my aunt was working at the Arthritis Foundation forever. She was in philanthropy and she introduced me to her old boss who was now running the Chicago chapter. And she told him explicitly, help her network with the board. Do not hire her. I don’t want her working in nonprofit. And I went to events, got to know the team. They had an opening and they brought me in as Director of Communications at the Arthritis Foundation in the Chicago chapter. Met my husband. I was there for quite a few years as the Director of Comms and top three market. I was working in media. It was really new. We began the first Facebook page, like early days. And then we reorganized. And that was, I didn’t know then, but that was becoming a big part of my story working in reorgs in nonprofit. So, the Arthritis Foundation reorganized and I became VP of Marketing and Communications for a region. And around that time, my husband invited me, well, we were dating at the time, to move here and get more serious. We’re married now.

Rachel

Is he from here?

Sharon

No, he was also from Chicago and that’s where we met, but he’s in the steel industry. So, he was coming here once a month and he knew he would have to live here to make it to his next level. I’m like, I’m in, whatever you want to do. I was open. Because I had already moved around so much. I just felt very free to try new things and new places to live. And I was able to work remotely even back then because it was becoming a regional structure. So they really didn’t need me in the Chicago office. In fact, they actually needed me away from the day-to-day so that I could help restructure, help bring everyone into the brand, build trust around the whole group, not that she’s a Chicago lady. So it really made sense, and I was one of the first remote workers I ever knew. And I would travel to the markets, and Michigan was not one of them. So one really important Spidey sense I had at the time was I really missed being part of a team. Everybody wants to work remotely. Now, back then I was so hungry to be a part of a team because every office I visited, they had their team. I was just like the visitor.

Dan

Yeah, kind of flew between everything.

Sharon

And I really missed that. So that was just good information for me to have. And then when we reorganized again at the Arthritis Foundation, I became a national staff person in the communications department. To do the same thing, reorganize the whole country to be one brand and one unified, rebranded a lot of events so that they were one look and feel because each chapter kind of did their own thing. So that was my role for a long time at the national office and they were based in Atlanta. But once again, another reorg and we could kind of see the writing on the wall. They’re bringing everyone back to Atlanta to be taught down. So that’s when I knew it was time to start looking for something new. And I’d been there for 13 years. So I was looking for something to do. In the meantime, a good friend of mine who I knew from San Diego, he started a startup, a biotech startup, and he had no clue about press releases, social media, none of it. All he needed were the ABCs. And I was able to do that for him on the side. My boss knew I was doing that because he wanted me to have enriching experiences because I’d been there for so long. So he bought into it and he was a great mentor to me, my boss who allowed it. And my friend, it was a great excuse for us to get together. So I got him a basic communication strategy, templates, content, early days of Facebook. And he said, when we, if we sell, I will pay you in units, a certain amount of units. I’m like, whatever. This is just fun. Well, when all of that was sort of happening and swirling at the Arthritis Foundation, I was really soul searching. Like, what is next? I cannot go into another job at this level because of the grind. I had just been ground down a little bit. I was hiking in Saugatuck along the beach. And he called me and said, hey, I want to let you know I sold the company to Allergan for $60 million.

Rachel

Oh my God.

Sharon

And I want to take you to lunch. And he did. So I put in my resignation, and he paid me for the work I did a couple of years before. I had never even thought about it, but it was such a gift from the universe. And I was able to take a break and start my own startup, PR, marketing, little, very small, sole practitioner. I did a little bit of branding. I called it Startup Communications and I focused on nonprofits, startups, and small businesses. So I joined the Chamber in Royal Oak, that’s where I live. I loved meeting new people and helping them realize their goals because they couldn’t.

Dan

Yeah, and that’s cool to be able to do it in your community too with those small businesses and kind of like feel that connection to where you live.

Sharon

It was so much fun. And I didn’t have any media connections here because the work that I was doing was supporting the teams doing their own PR in their local markets. So I didn’t know anyone in Detroit. And honestly, no one could even speak to my work in Detroit, even though I’d lived here for like 10 years.

Rachel

Everything you were doing was nationally.

Sharon

And I got really involved with PRSA. I was involved with PRSA in Chicago too. And I would go to the annual meetings, go to the meetings, and I cannot remember her name, but she actually worked at Franco back then. And she was on a committee in PRSA. And she goes, you know, you need to just join some committees. Do some pro bono work so that people can speak to your work. Exactly what I did. And so I was very involved with PRSA at the time, very involved with the chamber. And then my friend who sold the biotech company, he gave me a lot of door openers to Ann Arbor Spark. So I was working with some startups there. So I was really off and running. And I did that for about two years where I was at the point where I thought I could grow this or I could, I wasn’t sure what to do.

Rachel

I feel like at that point, you went into that because you were burnt out from working at high level and nonprofit. And after those two years, you’re like, okay, I’m kind of like, I either grow this or am I burnt out of this? Because it’s the hustle, the hustle that I, it’s like, it’s only me, right? I’m hustling for me. And if I don’t, then there’s no money flowing in.

Sharon

I was hustling and I loved the sales part of it. I loved meeting with people, helping them refine their goals, what they’re trying to achieve, come up with a plan. And I loved selling, like get signed on the dotted line. And then I had to do the work. Like I had to do the content, the writing, the press releases, the media pitching. All of that was really good for me. And I did love it, but it got to the point where it wasn’t sustainable. And I was either going to bring someone on or then I saw the Salvation Army position. The Salvation Army of Detroit. It was Metro Detroit at the time. So it was 13 core community centers. And it was for the Director of Communications position. And I said, that’s my next job. That is really it for me. I know it is. And I went through the interview process. And Franco actually has a piece to do with that too, because the final interview, very competitive, was the APR campaign, like show a campaign that you have done from start to finish, including all your audience, your research, your budget. And I looked at that, I’m like, that’s the APR, the accreditation in public relations, which I don’t know if you remember Pat Joy, who used to work here. She was a volunteer to train people to get accredited. So I was golden. I had the arthritis walk campaign from head to toe ready to present. And so I really believe that because of Pat and the way she structured that I was the perfect candidate for that. And it was incredible. I mean, those candidates were really strong. I actually got a peek into who applied and I’m like, how did I get this?

Rachel

But it goes to show you that it’s not always about the work you do, but who you are and your approach to things.

Sharon

And just timing, like I had, yeah, the work I had put in was just so perfectly fit to that. So I started working in the Salvation Army. I was there for five years as Director of Communications. They went through a reorg. They went from 13 community centers and a medical respite and some other facilities to the entire state of Michigan. So like 42 community centers. So we did the same model of like helping bring them into the brand, helping them tweak their, provide templates so that the people on the ground are making connections, they’re fundraising, they’re doing their ministry, and they’re not having to do as much marketing. So same philosophy. And so that was also wonderful. I actually worked with Franco there too. They were an agency that, so I worked with that whole team.

Dan

It’s a small world.

Sharon

I know. It really is. They helped me tremendously with the ad buy for the bell ringing campaign, the amazing Celebrity Bell Ring, all of those programs that really came out of Franco. It was really a fun time. So that was about five years. And then get to now at the DDP, when you’re in downtown Detroit for the tree lighting, you see the tallest red kettle from the Salvation Army. That’s how I got to know the Downtown Detroit Partnership. So I got to know Sarah from the Downtown Detroit Partnership because she was the logistics person working with us to get that tallest red kettle built, lit, all of that in advance. So we would work together very closely. And then David Cowan was the one, he would get us ready each year. Welcome us to come, start to prepare for the show. We had a space on the show, which was an incredible community opportunity in public relations. So I got to know them. And when I saw the job posting for the marketing and communications lead at the DDP, I’m like, I feel like I need to put my hat in the ring for that one. Because every year when we were done with that event, I thought, I really like those people, and I would love to work more with them. I really would. So it just, once again, it was like, it was just a sign. It wasn’t easy but it just seemed like everything was sort of like a calling, like, oh, that’s my next thing. So I’ve been there for just over 2 years.

Rachel

And talk a little bit about the difference in, like you’ve always worked in nonprofits where like you’re promoting a brand, right? So when you’re marketing a neighborhood or a district, that’s kind of a different challenge than just a brand. You’re trying to market this like feeling or experience that somebody’s gonna have. How did you kind of shift your thinking or, you know, what’s different when you’re doing that?

Sharon

That’s so interesting to think about because it really is both sides of your brain. Because when you’re thinking about the bigger picture of the reorg and the rebrand and helping people to do the work they need to do in the community, it’s such a different strategic approach than it is when you’re telling stories, figuring out who your audience is, what makes them tick, how old are they, how much are they giving, what the trends are. So it’s different, but for on the ground, it’s all about the stories. I’m always looking for stories. And I’ve told people from day one, well, when I felt like I had something to really share. You know it’s a story when you can feel it in your gut. Like, oh, that moved me. I feel like if we could sort of package that, others would be feeling something too.

Dan

Yeah, and I have to imagine even like going back to some of your freelance time, like working with those chambers, working with some of those like community groups, I have to imagine that some of that translates also of like just talking with those types of groups and saying who has a story to tell? How does this like shape what the meaning of this community is? I have to imagine that kind of carries over, you know, downtown Detroit is a larger market, but it seems like that’s very transferable to what you’ve been doing before.

Sharon

Totally transferable. In fact, I have very top of mind right now that I met with the director, or I think she’s Chief of Communications at the Kresge Foundation. She was so kind to give us a tour last week to a young student at OU that I’m mentoring right now. And Zania, my mentee, was asking questions about her trajectory. And she said that, because she’s done automotive and she’s pizza, and she was saying all of these spaces she’s been in, she goes, the fundamentals are the same wherever you go. And I thought, isn’t that the truth? Because when I was doing my freelance, it was very much the fundamentals. What are you trying to achieve? What are the big stories? What do you want people to know? And how do we get those tools in place so that we can help bring it to life?

Dan

Yeah.

Sharon

Very similar.

Dan

Yeah. And so talk about some of the things that you have coming up with DDP downtown in the coming months. What are some of the big things that you’re working on to kind of bring that region neighborhood to life?

Sharon

Yeah, knowing this is going to run in a couple of weeks, I do want everyone to think back to Labor Day weekend because we have something really cool outside. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, if you’ve been down there, but it’s an art installation and it’s called Gallantly Streaming. So it’s beautiful waving little flags above the park. So the park is all shaded because there’s this installation across it in red, white, and blue. So we’re doing, we’ve done two weekends of really recognizing our nation’s 250th anniversary. So last weekend we showed live the IndyCar race in DC. The Penske Corporation, Roger Penske’s on our board and Bud and Danker. So we really wanted to support that. And we had like the national cornhole competition. So like a really Americana feel. And then this weekend, looking back, we will have had a movie night with the classic, it’s pretty much a classic at this point, National Treasure, the movie with Nick Cage. We’ll be showing that on Friday night.

Rachel

That is a classic.

Sharon

It is. So that was Friday night looking back. And we had the color guard doing a presentation, the national anthem. Our friend Chiara Clayton, I think everybody knows her in Detroit. She works as the Communications Director at the Detroit Ministries. She’ll be singing. So we try to bring in, we just try to bring in people. And so, and then the next day is going to be like a big party on the park with just games and just classic American red, we call it red, white and play. So I wanted people to know that we did that because even if they just saw the Gallantly Streaming, we did a big article about art in the park and the importance of accessible art for people. So that’s really important for our brand and our mission. But looking ahead, we’re looking at tree lighting. We are really planning for Detroit tree lighting. We just met this morning and we were talking about some content that we want to push out in September to say, get involved with us as corporate sponsors because they do sell out. We want to put a corporate name on really everything we can, and we want to give them visibility. But there’s only so many spaces. So we’ll be promoting that. We’re getting the talent lined up. We’re getting the everything.

Rachel

Who are you? What makes a good corporate sponsor?

Sharon

They care about the community. They want to be visible. They really need to have the receipts to show that they are in the community. Like DTE Energy is the sponsor of tree lighting. Clearly, you know, they have Beacon Park. They’ve really invested in Detroit. We have B of A was our winter in the park sponsor last year again. And they just had Ed Siage join the board. They’re just, they really show up for the community. And they were part of Salvation Army too. So I worked closely with B of A back then. So you see that through line. So those are the type of companies that join in.

Rachel

Okay, I like that.

Sharon

So we’re planning the talent. We’re planning the tallest red kettle, lighting of the tallest red kettle. Once again, all those beautiful traditions. We have new, I think this will be the third year that we have the giving machine. And so that’s the, I think it’s the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have a machine downtown for a couple of weeks where you can purchase a gift card for someone at the Pope Francis Center. They’re all local charities. So that’s how you put your card in and you can choose a charity. So we really try to just be as inclusive as possible to mission-based organizations, faith-based organizations, bring them all in and the corporate world just so we can all be together through that season. And then the markets are getting prepared for tree lighting season and the holidays.

Dan

Yeah, getting ready for all the gift giving and everything else that goes into it. And you have something already in Campus Martius now or in the area as far as shopping as well, right?

Sharon

In June, we made news by opening the shop at Campus Martius. They’d been talking about doing a retail opportunity for a long time and it finally came to life with Carhartt. Carhartt, thanks to their support, we have a container on the beach in Campus Martius and it is amazing. We worked with Detroit artists and creators, apparel, to create limited edition items, really celebrating downtown Detroit and Campus Martius. There’s beautiful tote bags. There’s a whole line of the Tulip series. You know, the Tulips in Spring in downtown are just really intentionally extravagant. So we have the Tulips series with hats, shirts, tote bags. And one thing I’m really proud of is the Poabic tile. And I worked with Poabic, David Cowan and I worked with Poabic for over a year on this tile. We didn’t even know we were gonna open a store at that time. We probably did, they were so patient with us and so generous with their time and revisions. We probably did 30 different looks to the tile and it finally came together and it’s of the fountain and the backdrop of downtown. And then we had to get to the colors. So that took a whole other like months and months of revisions and then we got it perfectly crystal clear. You can see the fountain shooting up and the droplets. Even the droplets took so many revisions. So that tile is for sale now at the store. And I’m so proud of that partnership and the work we did with Poabic. And there’s some baby onesies that you can only get there. It’s just really a fun shop. So that we’re preparing like holiday items and gift ideas for, and we’re thinking when people are downtown working, could get a grab and go gift for their coworker. So that’ll be turning over for this season, but we have so much neat summer stuff. It’ll be open. It’s open Thursday. It’s open mostly the weekends right now, Thursday through Sunday. So definitely go check out the shop. And then other one more like B2B, something to consider for our folks listening is holiday parties, because Cadillac Lodge, we’ll be getting that going too. And a lot of people don’t know that the Downtown Detroit Partnership manages all of these.

Rachel

They don’t, for sure.

Sharon

Produces all of these, produces the tree lighting.

Dan

It doesn’t just pop up.

Sharon

No, it doesn’t. I mean, thanks to so many partners like Gilbert Family Foundation, these Bedrock, our team, we’re very closely partnered with the City of Detroit, but they’re produced by the DDP and there’s space for your Christmas party. If you want to do that, those are booking up too. So those are really the calls to action for corporate entities listening. Get involved with the tree lighting and have your party at Cadillac Lodge.

Dan

Love it. And we can vouch for that. Last year when we were getting ready to move into this new space, we actually took like 1/2 day just to kind of like go as a group, walk through the shops, walk through the shops over at the Hudson building and just kind of do like an outdoor holiday community walk around. And it was such a good time. We spent some time at the lodge. We got to do some shopping, check some things off the list. It was just a fun company get together outing, whatever you want to call it. But it was so much fun.

Sharon

That is what I love about the culture of Franco. The leadership has such a vision for how they want their team to show up and to feel and be plugged in the community. The Tinas are quite the team. I really admire Tina Kozak. She’s sort of my North Star on. She’s so amazing. I love reading her LinkedIn content. Really thoughtful leadership.

Dan

She’s going to love listening.

Rachel

She loves the city too. That really shows through in the company too. I mean, when we were needed a new spot to land, there was never discussion about not outside of Detroit, right? Like it might have been a different neighborhood or whatever, but there, you will find us in Detroit as a staple for as long as she has anything to say about it.

Sharon

I just love that so much. And Franco is actually a member of the DDP. So we have, you know, we have a board of directors. And we also have memberships where we have events, they get access to cool events like Detroit Aglow, and Franco had, they have the receipts too. You guys really show up and really want to thank you for your membership at DDP.

Rachel

Of course.

Dan

It’s a great one to be a part of.

Rachel

Absolutely. Talk a little bit about your time with PRSA and your mentorships.

Sharon

PRSA is one of the most important things anybody can ever do for their career.

Rachel

There you go. You heard it here first.

Sharon

Just join, show up, get involved, especially for young professionals or mid-level people who are looking for a different type of experience because when you’re new in your career, you get so focused on what you’re doing with your team. You barely have time to lift up your head to think about what’s going to happen in five years when I need to be working with, other people need to know my role besides these people at this table. There’s that. And there’s so many good programs where they’re timely topics where you can just go in and hear experts, local experts, talk and network with people in the community that are the most seasoned, even retired seasoned people, all the way to students from PRSSA. It is really a rich organization. And I was part of the Chicago, I joined in Chicago and my boss at the time, Tom Feit, who was an incredible mentor to me, paid for it. And I want to encourage all leaders and owners who are listening to this to fund the membership of their employees in the communications department to join PRSA or another professional association. It’s so enriching. And when I moved here, I got involved, as I told you that story, to make connections because I didn’t really know anybody. And I asked Nancy Skidmore, I don’t know if you remember Nancy, but I said, what does it take to get on the board? And she said, you need to be on a committee for two years. I’m like, okay. So I just joined a committee and lo and behold, they called me very quickly after my tenure of doing committee work to join the board. And then I was invited to join the executive committee and was chapter president in 2021 during COVID. That was a really trying time. And she also retired. So we actually did a whole reorg of the PRSA Detroit gig. Yeah, it was meant to be because we had to get a lot of things online and everything went through her. And I’m like, that is not sustainable. So we had to get board buy-in, make the board more actionable and less advisory. And that was all under my tenure. And I actually received a Hefty, the Robert Hefty Distinguished Service Award last year.

Rachel

Congratulations.

Sharon

And they’re taking nominations now, I just saw. So if you know anyone who is an incredible, someone who’s been part of the chapter, do a nomination. And then their annual meeting is in November. So now I also recently signed up to be a mentor. And once again, they just put out a shout out, anyone who’s looking to be a mentor. I’m like, yeah, I like mentoring. So a young, I always call her a young student. She’s a student. Sania Pritchett. She filled out the form too and they paired us up because she had an interest in nonprofit, but she really has an interest in sports. So when we meet, I’m like, I can help you all day long in nonprofit philanthropy. I’m like, sports. She helps me with sports. She told me that there was a big thing happening with NHL Hockey League for women some week recently. She goes, are you doing any content? I’m like, I’m that. I’m like, no, but we need to. So she got me aware of it.

Rachel

I do feel like mentoring really should be a two-way street, right? It’s like leadership. You have to have two-way communication, feedback models in place because they really do bring so much to the table and know things that you don’t. That’s just the difference in whether it’s culture or age or where you’ve lived. I mean, it’s just, it’s all, it’s so helpful. I love that.

Sharon

I really love it too. And it’s very energizing. I feel like I’m giving back, but I’m also receiving so much. We meet once a month for coffee and then I find ways to plug her in. We had a tour here where she got to meet, she got to meet Tina Kozak.

Rachel

Yeah.

Sharon

You know, and the team here, which was incredibly generous of your time. And I took her to the Kresge Foundation last week, which for me, I’m such a fan of the Kresge Foundation. To get a bird’s eye view, a back door view, I’m like, she got that from me, even though I helped her secure it. And I’m setting up a tour for some students to the communications departments around downtown next month. And it’s been a really great experience. So I hope to continue. I keep saying we have this one-year commitment to each other, but it’s so much more than that. We’re several.

Rachel

Yeah, of course, of course. That’s absolutely how it should be.

Sharon

So PRSA has really given back much more than I’ve ever given. I really recommend. just joining a professional association in general. But for me, it’s PRSA.

Dan

Yeah, and you talked about for leaders investing in that for their people too. And it’s an investment, but it is an investment that is in your own business as well because you said it’s enriching them. It’s helping your team get better across the board. And there’s only improvement that can come from that.

Sharon

It’s so true. And it’s an investment in their leadership opportunities because while they may not have a manager or leadership opportunity where they’re working, In PRSA, there’s opportunities to lead a project, lead a group, manage a team. It’s evaluable.

Dan

Building skills across the board, yeah. So we always like to close with one kind of just final fun question, but you’ve given, I think, a lot of helpful advice to younger professionals here already, but what’s one thing that you wish you would have known coming into that first career or coming out of school that you’ve learned along the way?

Sharon

If I could go back to my younger self, I would say, just keep going. Like I said about those dots, you’re doing a job that makes no sense at the time. And then as time goes by and you get perspective and each leads to something new, and you don’t understand that it’s not from this to way ahead, it’s just a really, it’s not linear. So follow your interests. Whatever you’re curious about, pursue. And I still do that now, I tell myself that too. If there’s any spark of interest, go join. Join the group, go learn more, because that’s where the opportunities kind of, that’s sort of a calling.

Dan

Yeah, ask for the opportunity too, if it’s something within even your own group that you’re not doing already. I think that’s, you know, if you see something that interests you, ask for it, because it’s too rarely here, no.

Rachel

I feel like it boils down to like what I am hearing you say a lot is like be curious. Right, keep going. If there’s something that piques it, be curious to figure out more, to ask more questions, to try something new. I feel like that’s kind of what you did in your entire career, right? You just kept trying new things that have led you to right where you want to be.

Sharon

But I think you need to be able to see it. So that’s why it’s so important to follow leaders and professionals that you admire. Watch them and think if you can see yourself in that role. Because there was many years where I would look at job description with higher titles and think, I could do that job. I had to be able to see it before I could really believe that I could do it and also put myself out there for others to believe it. So I think that was a piece of it too. And then the final thing that actually the lead of Kresge Communications, Jennifer Kokolski, I know I’m mispronouncing her last name, but she is a rock star, she gave Zania this advice to keep showing up. And I think that’s so important right now because with remote working and so much so digital, it’s easy to think, I’ll just plug in for that meeting. You just lose so much if you’re not in person. So I thought that was a nice one to end on. And it was the end of our conversation too last week was to just show up, keep showing up.

Rachel

Love it. Thank you so much, Sharon. I do feel like you gave a lot of good advice to all sorts of age groups and wherever people are at in their career. So I truly appreciate it. It’s been fun.

Sharon

Thank you so much for having me and congratulations on this podcast. It’s no easy feat, as we were talking about before to keep it going for this many years to have such strong content. So thank you. I’m happy to be a part of it.

Dan

Thanks again so much to Sharon for joining us today. Like we said at the top, I mean, there is really something for everyone in this one from nonprofit to thinking about professional development to different, if you’re going out on your own and freelancing or entrepreneurship. Really, really enjoyed this conversation. We’ll link some information about PRSA Detroit and about DDP in the description so you can check out both sides of that conversation. But in the meantime, we’ll catch you next time.

Rachel

Bye.