Her Story
About Ja'nay
I'm a Client Engagement Manager in the staffing industry, where I've been for the past 4 years. I just received my promotional title as Client Engagement Manager in December, though I've been handling these responsibilities for about 2 years. My role is incredibly multifaceted - I ensure client satisfaction on all our accounts, manage relationships between our contractors and clients, and seek opportunities to expand existing accounts. I also lead and am actively building our company's first-ever internal marketing team from the ground up. This means I'm responsible for tracking our website, creating and maintaining dashboards, generating reports for our directors and CEO, and I led the creative and functionality of our entire website rebuild. I built out our whole automation system, which has truly transformed how we work - from candidate outreach to administrative tasks for recruiting, account management, and operations teams. I'm constantly analyzing data to ensure our processes are aligned and our strategies are adjusted based on what the data tells us. Whether it's examining job performance metrics, assessing candidate quality versus volume, or determining if our pay rates are competitive, my day revolves around making data-driven decisions. I'm also preparing to implement AI-related automations into our ATS system. On the side, I consult with small businesses on marketing strategies, business startup plans, and problem-solving, though I've scaled back recently to focus on building my department. I would say my main area of expertise is marketing strategy - really understanding your audience and how to engage with them.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ja'nay
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to lived experiences and lessons learned. Throughout my career, I've been able to apply what I've learned from my years of work experience - I had about 15 years of experience in data entry and accounts receivable before going back to school. Going back to college at age [redacted] with 3 children taught me resilience and determination. My CEO took a chance on me, giving me responsibilities I'd never done before, like building our automation system, which I was intimidated by at first but has truly transformed how we work. Every challenge has been a learning opportunity that has shaped who I am today.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say, understanding your own brand and being clear on how you position yourself is crucial. That's really the foundation of success in marketing and in your career overall. I would also say find a mentor - it is very important to find a mentor. Having someone who believes in you and gives you opportunities to grow, like my CEO did for me, can truly transform your career path and open doors you never imagined.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge right now is navigating the changes in the talent market. We're in the business of people, and there are a lot of trends and fluctuations happening. The challenge is satisfying our accounts while attracting qualified candidates and retaining them in this market. We have employers who want people on-site, and candidates who want to be remote. We have employers who want to pay what they want to pay, and people are saying 'this is my value,' and my role sits right in between both of those sides - I have to understand that from both perspectives. On the opportunity side, there's a lot of opportunity to really grow and understand the talent market a little bit more based off of the needs and wants of the audience. But there's also a lot of opportunity for AI to come in and improve how we operate in our market without disrupting the market so much.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are authenticity and accountability. I'm very much a 'show up, if you say you're gonna do it, do it, if I say I'm gonna do it, do it' type of individual. I believe in being genuine and following through on commitments, both in my professional work and in my personal life. These principles guide how I approach everything I do.
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