Celestine Pressley

I attribute my success to my faith, my training, and the ability to take the lessons learned from hard knocks. Obviously, you stumble initially, you make mistakes, but iterating and learning from those mistakes has been crucial. Having mentors and sponsors really helped a lot - people that you really could trust, a mentor that you could trust. And as an executive coach myself, having executive coaches has made a tremendous difference in my journey.

The best advice I've received is that you don't need another degree - you have everything you need. Women typically look at a job description and feel like they have to have 10 of the 10 items listed, whereas men typically would have 3 or 4 and they'd just go for it. What I tell women is that you have everything you need. If you had 10 of the 10, you're overqualified. Whatever is new, that new frontier, that's the opportunity to grow. The other thing is, don't chase a title. Figure out what it is you really enjoy about your job, the things that you enjoy professionally. Make a list of those things. A job that entails all those things will appear. Because at the end of the day, you don't want to have a title and be completely miserable. Money will come with the job that you really enjoy.

I would say you are enough. You have the skills and the discipline to achieve whatever you want to achieve. Have confidence in yourself. Align yourself with other eagles. Really know and trust your instincts. Know when it's time to move on, and know when it's time to stay and fight. Never allow fear of failure to prevent you from moving forward.

The biggest challenge in my industry right now is artificial intelligence. People are trying to grapple with how to implement it, how to implement it safely, understanding the return on investment, and dealing with staff retention issues. It's both exciting and complex, and organizations across all sectors are working to navigate these challenges effectively.

Authenticity is my number one value. The second is treating people the way you want to be treated, so I always walk in kindness. Professionalism is also crucial, especially at work - that doesn't mean you're not truthful, it just means you have to really engage your emotional intelligence and political savvy to know when it's the right time to address whatever situation needs to be addressed. I'm very big on respect - you get what you give. And don't try to mimic someone else's approach. You be you. We are all created unique, and you should apply your uniqueness. Your uniqueness is your superpower.