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Quick Lift: How to Make Bold Career Moves (and Pivot When Needed) · Loud & Lifted

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  Welcome to Loud and Lifted, the podcast where
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  we amplify women who lead with courage and make
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  bold moves. I'm your host, Betsy Hamm. This week's
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  quick lift is inspired by Gwen Whiscount, a powerhouse
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  sales leader and entrepreneur. Gwen's journey
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  is all about action, grit, and being intentional.
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  In under 10 minutes, we are digging into those
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  key takeaways and action items from our conversation
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  with Gwen. No matter where you are in your journey,
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  this is your reminder, your career doesn't just
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  happen, you build it. Let's get into it. Takeaway
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  number one, hinge moments shape the story. The
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  biggest changes in your life often swing on the
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  smallest choices, a bold move or a yes risk.
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  Now, this was not a concept that I ever heard
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  of, which is very interesting, however, and this
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  is based off of a book by Michael Lindsay and
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  he talks about hinge moments or those crucial
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  decision points in life where actions can have
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  a disproportionate impact on future outcomes.
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  These are significant and sometimes they may
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  be obvious. You know, Gwen talked about one of
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  her very early on hinge moments in her career
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  was after she graduated college and she had two
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  job opportunities. opportunities in front of
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  her. One was staying local and staying comfortable,
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  to be honest, with a company that she was familiar
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  with. And the second opportunity was moving several
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  states away, really starting fresh and starting
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  over in an industry that she didn't have experience
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  in and didn't really sound the most glamorous.
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  She went with the later option, which then had
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  a different trajectory of her career. She probably
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  could have stayed here and everything could have
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  been great. And who would have known how that
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  would have continued to grow. But because of
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  her moving to Florida and because of the people
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  that she met, it changed the path of her career.
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  So that was. a pretty significant hinge moment.
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  I think hinge moments can be as simple as sometimes
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  taking a call or taking an interview. You know,
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  through the years, I've had certain companies
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  reach out who want to discuss and, you know,
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  I always take the calls even if I'm not looking
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  because you never know where that can lead to.
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  And maybe it's not now, but maybe it's in the
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  future. I think about that even how I ended up
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  at Duck Donuts. I was kind of keeping an eye
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  out and somebody had mentioned that they were
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  looking to open their corporate headquarters
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  in Mechanicsburg. I had never even heard of Duck
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  Donuts. at the time, but I decided to take the
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  call and set up the meeting. And that really
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  opened my eyes and became this huge hinge moment
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  in my career that never would have happened if
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  I didn't take the call or take the lunch meeting
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  to learn more about it. So action item for this
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  week, reflect on one hinge moment in your life
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  that changed your direction. Was it good? Was
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  it bad? Did you open a door? Did you close a
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  door? Sometimes closing a door isn't a bad thing,
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  but think about that. Reflect on if you should
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  have or would have done anything different, but
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  most important, Think about the future. What's
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  that next hinge moment? That's coming up and
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  what are you gonna do about it? It's a door that
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  you should be opening or again, maybe closing
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  I just saw a quote from Mel Robbins the other
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  day It says you were one decision away from a
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  completely different life Think about that take
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  away number two if you want something tell someone
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  Your goals need exposure. And when you speak
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  them, first of all, you start to own them. Second
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  of all, the people you speak them to may be able
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  to assist. Maybe it's an introduction. Maybe
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  it's a connection. Maybe it's pointing you in
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  the right direction of something that needs to
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  happen in order for this to occur for you. This
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  can take a lot of different meanings. However,
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  a lot of it's based on relationships and connecting
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  the dots and being intentional. There was more
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  than one time in my career where one time when
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  I was at Hershey and I wasn't being very clear.
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  outspoken about my goals or what I wanted to
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  do moving forward. And it definitely caught up
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  to me, you know, when I finally did tell my boss,
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  she was like, I had no idea you'd want to do
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  that. And I missed an opportunity. So that was
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  one opportunity where I should have told somebody.
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  And maybe it's something that you're working
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  towards, or maybe she could have helped connect
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  the dots for me, but I didn't. tell someone.
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  Now, there's another time where I actually did
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  a great job of this. And that's when I never
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  set out to be a CEO of an international donut
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  franchise. But as the opportunity was sort of
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  unfolding, as as we were looking to sell the
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  company, I realized that we Nobody asked me,
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  but I want to be the CEO. I didn't want someone
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  to come in from the outside. We had such great
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  positive momentum at the time. And I knew I could
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  continue to move the brand forward. So I literally
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  had to tell the founder and then CEO that that's
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  what I wanted. Now, of course, there was a lot
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  of steps and interviews and process that went
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  behind that. But if I wouldn't have said something,
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  I could have easily been passed over for that
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  job. Action item, share one goal out loud this
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  week. Now with somebody who can help you like
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  a mentor or a colleague or even if it's your
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  friend, but saying it gives you power and they
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  can maybe help hold you accountable and ultimately
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  help you connect the dots or help you get to
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  where you're trying to go. Number three, nothing
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  is permanent. So this cracks me up. Gwen mentioned
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  this. I remember saying it very flipped to her,
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  you know, 17, 16 years ago. She was really overthinking
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  her decisions. And I said, look, if you don't
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  like it, then you can move on or move back or
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  find something different. You know, she was acting
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  like this was a permanent decision and it wasn't,
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  you can always reroute. And, you know, Gwen talked
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  about thinking in two year plans or one year
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  plan and not forever, which when you think about
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  that and a smaller scale, then you're more likely
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  to take. the risk or try something new. I think
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  as women especially as we wait for complete clarity
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  or complete confidence and a lot of times we're
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  not going to get that. Sometimes we have to take
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  the risk and put it out there. I have a friend
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  who recently has been talking about wanting to
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  start her own business, kind of as a side hustle
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  at first till she can get it off the ground,
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  obviously need the stability of an income. And
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  you know, she finally realized like, what is
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  she waiting for? So she started slow. She's taking
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  steps, you know, starting the LLC, getting things
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  around, creating the marketing material, but
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  it's just taking that step and moving forward
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  because sitting around is going to not ever have
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  it happen. So action item for this. week, give
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  yourself permission to make a move, whether it's
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  big or small. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
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  And the last takeaway, exposure over effort.
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  Doing great work is one thing, right? That's
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  step one. That's foundational. It's very important
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  to have great work, strong performance. But who
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  is talking about you when you're not in the room?
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  You need sponsors and supporters. You need to
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  be intentional with who you surround yourself
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  with and know the relationships take work. This
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  is one of my big ones for sure, because I have
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  seen this happen countless times to women throughout
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  my career where they do really great work, but
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  nobody really realizes what they do or the value
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  that they bring. I understand being your own
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  PR person sometimes can be uncomfortable and
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  people don't want to come across as cocky or
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  conceited or taking credit for something that
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  maybe was a team effort, but you have to get
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  exposure. People have to know the value that
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  you bring. And the only way they're going to
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  do that is by you talking about it in the right
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  way, sharing it and making sure that others around
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  you know what you do. You know, I often talk
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  about this. Does your boss know what you actually
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  do? And more importantly, does your boss's boss
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  or maybe somebody whose job that you would like
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  something similar does, people have to know the
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  value that you bring. And this is definitely
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  a hard one. Also, think about this. Most promotions
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  and jobs are filled by who you know. Let's be
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  honest, right? It's the relationship. It's the
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  connection. So if people understand who you are
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  and what you do, then when the opportunity for
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  a job or a promotion comes up, they're going
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  to think of you. So action item for this week,
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  identify one person who could be a champion for
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  you and build that relationship. Get visible.
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  This has come up multiple times on multiple podcasts,
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  but being visible is so important and you can't
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  be the best kept secret in the room. No matter
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  where you are in your journey, the message is
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  clear. Be bold, get intentional, and start laying
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  the groundwork now. Because when opportunity
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  knocks, you want to be ready. Say yes to new
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  experiences. Share your goals out loud. And remember,
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  doing great work is only part of it. Find your
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  champions. Take the risk and own your path. And
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  of course, keep getting loud and lifted. If you
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  haven't listened to Gwen's episode, I strongly
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  encourage you to do so. As always, if this episode
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  resonated with you, please like it and share
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  it. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram
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  and TikTok. Until next time, stay loud and stay
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  lifted.