5 Ways to Emit Confidence and Make Change with a Little Help From Hubspot’s Katie Burke
Written by: Lauren Mello
On Thursday, April 12, Young Women in Digital hosted their first ever conference at the Google office in Cambridge. It was a day filled with laughter, networking, and an unlimited supply of inspiring women. The entire Digital & Social team at Brand Content was able to attend, and we were all equally blown away. Personally, I fangirled hard over the first speaker, HubSpot’s Chief People Officer, Katie Burke.
Katie walked on stage with her bright red blazer and a bold and confident presence; both of which I admired (and wondered where she got). Without hesitation, she jumped right into her unconventional journey of how she rose to her position at HubSpot and became a Grade-A badass. Before I knew it, I was completely hooked, and I wasn’t the only one. Katie’s energy naturally permeated the audience while the digital girls and I whispered about wanting to be #bossgirls when we grow up.
Channel Your Inner Beyonce
Katie won the room with her walk out on stage and it was eerily similar to the confidence and swagger of everyone’s favorite Coachella performer. That’s right, her walk was modeled after Queen Bey herself. Wanting all of the lovely ladies in the audience to feel that same level of confidence, she gave us this great piece of advice:
“Do something today that makes you feel bold and confident. Walk through your career like Beyonce walks on stage.” Mic drop.
It is also important to mention, that walking like Beyonce isn’t just a way to increase self confidence or self esteem, it also helps to dominate a room. Having a confidence when entering a room helps to establish a presence. While we can’t all walk into a board meeting or a conversation with our manager with this kind of swagger, Katie shared that practicing this walk helps to instill a natural sense of confidence and increases your power and ambition.
The Power of Power Posing
As she power posed on stage, Katie took us on her journey from Bates College, to the Sloan School of Business, and the rest of her inspiring career that led her to HubSpot. As she put it, “it is fun, energizing, and exciting to have an unconventional career path,” which was refreshing to hear as young women are often told to follow the rules and “stick to what they know.” It is common to feel unsettled about making a career change or moving into a role that you’re not quite qualified for, but according to Katie, it doesn’t have to be. She is a prime example of how important a diverse set of skills and experience can be when growing in your career.
Closing the Aspiration Gap
While she has been incredibly successful in her career, she was open about the struggles of being a female in the work place and the huge ‘aspiration gap’ that exists between men and women. She explained that while women are becoming more empowered to #askformore and take on leadership positions, there is still a long way to go in terms of what we aspire to be as we grow in our careers. Tied in perfectly with her advice about having the confidence of Beyonce, she also brought up Imposter Syndrome and how we, as young women in digital, experience feelings of inadequacy and fraudulence much more often than our male counterparts . Shaunna Keller, Director of Strategy and Innovation here at Brand Content, recently wrote an article for Forbes where she addresses the prevalence of Imposter Syndrome, and how to overcome it. This syndrome is often tied to self confidence and the unrealistic standards we hold ourselves to.
This lack of confidence is everywhere, especially amongst young women in the workplace, but Katie reminds us that “confidence is a muscle, you have to work it and make it stronger. Confidence is directly linked to aspiration.” Lucky for us, this muscle doesn’t have to be worked at the gym, or as I like to call it, the place I pay $50 a month to not go to.
This muscle can be stretched and worked in a lot of different ways. Katie outlined a few to get us started.
Focus on the Positive
There are a lot of obstacles for young women in business, but there are also so many positive changes happening. Many companies are working to fill more board and leadership seats with women. Movements like #metoo and #timesupadvertising are working to shed light on some of the larger and more important issues happening to women in the workplace. There are positive changes happening, and even more coming. Focusing on the good and the positive is key to being successful and fulfilled.
Be a Builder
As women, we are often taught to be a doers. We are taught to take direction from the builders, but we are hardly ever told that we can be the builders. Katie’s advice? Build programs and influence change. She disclosed to us that when she first started out in her career, she started inquiring about board positions and how she could get more involved in key programs at her organization. When she brought this up, the energy in the room shifted. It was obvious that so many of us hadn’t even thought this was possible. We didn’t believe that we could walk into a role and immediately start asking how to run the show. It was an uncomfortable thought for some, but quickly became an exciting one. Katie empowered us to be builders in our careers and organizations and to not simply take directions from those making change.
Build Your Network
At the start of any career, building a network can seem daunting. Reaching out to people that are more successful or experienced can be intimidating. Through her story, Katie encouraged each of us to be bold and take chances. She reminded us that it’s about quality over quantity and that the worst that can happen is that the person says thank you and moves on. She stressed the importance of having a network of people that can help and support you, but also that you can help and support. Networking is a two way street between likeminded individuals, and should be treated as such. Helping others can also help you. According to Katie, we should “open the doors for other people. The best way to build confidence is to project it on other people.” Helping others in our network helps to build trust and strong relationships.
Be the Narrator of Your Story
As Katie mentioned early on in her presentation, she’s had an unconventional career path. She originally wanted to be a lawyer. She was sure that her career was headed toward law. After a few bumps in the road, she was equally sure that it wasn’t. She found herself in all different jobs/industries/positions, each of which provided invaluable experience.
While these experiences could be seen by some hiring managers as inconsistent or job-hoppy, Katie was determined to tell her story on her own terms. By owning her experience, she was able to quell the worries of hiring managers and connections in her network by showing up and saying “Here’s what I can bring to the table. Here’s what I can do.” This confidence and assertiveness helped her to forge her own path and not be defined by the outdated idea that a career path has to be linear.
Be Authentic
This piece of advice wasn’t a number in the slideshow, but was something that Katie expressed throughout her entire time on stage. She expressed it with her body language, her passion, and her words of advice. One powerful piece of advice that she shared, spoke to my experience in particular.
“Find an organization, role, and team that values you for who you truly are. When you feel at home, you will do better work.”
Sandwiched between my partner in crime Caroline, Digital Strategist at Brand Content, and my boss Shaunna Keller, Director of Strategy and Innovation, I was filled with elation. I thought back to the day before as Caroline and I sat in Shaunna’s office. We were laughing and celebrating each other, and I made a comment about how you can always see my teeth, because I never stop talking. I laughed and joked about how everyone wishes sometimes that I would, something that I’ve been told time and time again. Without missing a beat, Shaunna said “I don’t ever want you to stop talking” and Caroline laughed and agreed. While this moment might have been trivial to them, it was monumental to me. As someone that has always been told to ‘be quiet’ and ‘be less’, it felt truly empowering to be told to be more. Katie was right. Finding a place where you can be your true self is one of the most important parts of any person’s career. Finding people who lift you up and get you, is one of the most amazing parts of life.
Final Thoughts
Katie was right. About everything.
Look out for our next blog post about some of the other speakers at at the Young Women in Digital Conference and the digital girls’ take on the future of digital advertising and #girlpower!
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