Alison O'Connell | Senior Marketing Coordinator
What do you love about your career?
What I cherish the most about my career is the life-long friendships made along the way. I am fortunate to have worked with (and still do work with) extraordinary mentors and peers — all of whom have been valuable and instrumental in shaping my work ethic, my growth potential and goal attainment. I have always gravitated towards driven, progressive, proactive, and creative role models. These are the individuals who have encouraged and supported new ideas and methods.
Tell us about something that is inspirationally important to you.
Early in my career, my work-life balance was skewed. There was no balance. Work consumed me. In my early twenties, I gained a perspective of how important balance is. My dad passed away unexpectedly, I went through a divorce and lost my job. I was lost. I had to reassess and re-align what was important to me – my family. Life is short. You can’t control what you can’t control. Never judge a book by its cover. Listen.
What advice would you give to someone starting their career?
If you don’t know something, ask a question. I don’t believe in the ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ mantra. Be an open book because you are welcome to promote your ideas. Specifically, here, you have great people who are full of knowledge, are creative, have experience, are willing to share and want to see you succeed.
What advice have you received that has helped you in your career?
In my career, I’ve had moments where the transition to different jobs was difficult but working with mentors and getting feedback has morphed into something great that resulted from a lot of hard work. Listen to others – everyone has value to add. Take constructive feedback as constructive, not personal.
What does “success” mean to you?
For me, success is taking a raw task, concept or idea and making it come to fruition. Virtually everything we do on my team is customized for clients. Bringing new ideas to the forefront and seeing those projects through from start to finish gives me a feeling of pride and success. It’s positive feedback from clients too!
What makes a good role model? Have you had one that has made an impact in your life/career?
I believe a good role model is positive, professional, understanding and has integrity. They are willing to take stake in you. You get hired with the notion you are competent and can perform, and in my experience, I’ve been given that trust.
What are the things that have helped you excel in your life/career?
Some things that have helped me have been the tools, support, training, and guidance. Those all mesh with the mentor aspect to keep working with feedback, guidance, and communication as we’ve become the go-to for our clients as a marketing arm.