Erika Brown

I would say being willing to learn more. As I mentioned, not having a degree meant that I had to sort of push myself a little bit more to learn multiple things outside of my job description. I think that it's just something that I'm always going to be proud of, that I didn't just say, this is on my job description, and I'm going to just go with that. It was more learning outside of that, being able to take on stretch roles, or being able to take on different responsibilities, which is what allowed me to jump into the next company or the next role, because I started gaining all that knowledge.

The best career advice I have ever received came recently and centers entirely around the concept of exposure. Hard work is essential, but talent alone isn't always enough if no one can see it. I received leadership training through my job at Cisco, and they did a survey asking what you think is more important when trying to grow within your career. I thought it would have been delivering work and being able to be on top of things, but it turned out that it was actually exposure, which I didn't think had a huge impact on being able to grow and move up. You can still do a great job, but sometimes doing all the great job is not going to get you anywhere if you're not showing that yourself. It's not just, I'm gonna do this work and keep it to myself and not even share what I'm doing. A lot of us just decide to do the work and don't share it out, don't take ownership. You feel proud of the work that you did, but sometimes you don't want to almost toot your own horn, and you almost have to do that in order for others to see what you're doing and the value of your work, and be able to expose yourself that way.

I would say the same that I was talking about earlier when it comes to taking on stretch assignments and projects, and doing a little bit more outside your job description, but of course, without losing sight of what you're worth. You don't want to start taking on too much that all of a sudden everyone knows, oh yeah, she's the one that gets it done, let's just give it to her. You also have to learn how to say no at some point and feel empowered to say no. Something that I'm learning right now too is exposure. I didn't know how important exposure was to be able to grow within your career, whether that is making connections at where you work or making connections outside of your work, meeting new people and understanding what they do and how they got there, because that also helps open doors, just knowing people as well.

The most significant dynamic in my career right now is balancing a rewarding corporate role with the rapid growth of my bilingual marketing agency. I launched the agency to provide specialized social media, SEO, auditing, and consulting services tailored specifically for the Spanish-speaking market in Wisconsin, a niche that was heavily underserved. While the immediate market interest has been incredible, it brought a classic entrepreneurial challenge: you don't know how much is too much until you are already overwhelmed. The opportunities are everywhere, but time is finite. I am currently navigating the unknown of what comes next, weighing a fulfilling corporate path where I love the values and the culture against the exciting, uncharted potential of growing my own agency. The core challenge is time management and strategic prioritization.

My foundational value is honesty. In both corporate strategy and agency consulting, transparency is the bedrock of building long-term trust. Being upfront with clients and colleagues about data, expectations, and capabilities is non-negotiable for sustainable success.