Abbie Hagopian

I would say my mom. My mom was in insurance most of her life, and she made her way on her own without any help, and she always kind of instilled a really amazing work ethic in me. Beyond that, I always just want to do more, because she always did, too. I think also part of the success is that I love helping people. If you love what you do, then you're not actually really working, so it makes success a little bit easier.

The best career advice I've ever received is to keep breaking shit. Break it, fix it, break it again, fail. If you don't fail, you won't learn. Without failure, you won't face adversity, and you won't know how to teach others how to be better.

I would say be bold. Don't be scared to challenge the norm. Don't be afraid to use your voice. I think that women, specifically, have been challenged for many, many, many years, decades, with not always having their place in a room, or not feeling like they do, but you can make your place just by being direct, and being bold, and saying, hey, you know what? I know my stuff and being confident in that. People are crazy, and you have to learn how to navigate those hard conversations, but as a young woman entering any kind of career, it's okay to listen and push back and explain and be proud of your intelligence.

I think this is everybody right now, but it's definitely AI. As a manager, someone who is hiring people and sometimes has to fire people, I think that we are faced with the challenge of having to operate with operational efficiency, and AI is going to make things a little bit more efficient, but that's also going to have an influence and impact on my people. I think that's really hard - it's a really hard message to deliver, and it's a really hard thing to teach people. The people that are scared of AI are the people that don't embrace AI, and they're going to be the ones that are a little bit in trouble. The people who learn how to use it to make their day more efficient are going to be the ones that succeed, and it is my goal right now to teach that.

For me, one of the things I always say to my team, and even my friends, is to be clear is to be kind. I don't know what I don't know, and I expect everyone to be transparent and direct. Just because you're direct doesn't mean that you're being mean. When I'm coaching someone, and they're surprised at a comment or coaching advice that someone has given them, then I'm doing a bad job. Transparency is key to anyone's success, and I also think that there is a way to lead with empathy, but also lead with empathy that will drive results. You can lead people in a way that they will want to work harder, and it comes with trust, it comes with taking the time to get to know people. I think integrity is really important to me in my personal life, but also at work, and I teach that to most people I'm around. I care about people. Sometimes too much. But what I've learned is that if you don't care, you won't actually build the trust, or a good circle of people around you.