Jenny Fancy

I attribute my success to forming pretty solid, strong relationships with the people I work with and keeping in touch with them. Even if it's a short-term project, I stay connected - I see what people are up to and continue to follow up and check in. As a consultant, I'm not out there cold calling people. I really rely on my network and referrals for the success of my consulting business and to be able to continue working for myself and maintain the lifestyle I've set up. I've built a strong professional network over the years and I continue to nurture that. I also show up very openly and honestly with my clients and colleagues. I'm an open book, very transparent. I like to admit when I'm wrong, ask for support where I need it, and maintain open communication. I think transparency and vulnerability are ways you create strong teams and show other people it's a safe space to have an open and collaborative environment, which is really important in brand marketing and creative work.

The best career advice I received wasn't a specific piece of information, but rather what my manager at Maker Studios taught me about leadership when I was young. I was managing 30 people at age 25, which was a lot of responsibility, and I came from a generation, especially with my fashion and beauty background, where bosses were really difficult and tough, and mentorship wasn't really a thing. But he taught me how to be a good manager - how to listen, how to have an open-door policy, and how to come to him with a problem but also bring a recommended solution. He really taught me how to lead instead of just asking for solutions to problems all the time. He listened to me and empowered me to make decisions, especially at a young age as a young manager. I've taken that management style into every other job I've had since then, and even in my consulting work. I work with a lot of junior people in organizations who are seeking mentorship and management, and I've mentored many people I've worked with along the way. He taught me how to be a good leader and how to mentor others.

I think it's just to learn wherever you can and don't set such firm boundaries. I know there's a huge conversation around boundary setting in the workplace, but don't be so rigid in what exactly your job description is. If you have someone who's willing to mentor you or teach you something new, use every opportunity as a learning experience to get where you ultimately want to be. Take every opportunity you have to learn something new, whether that's a skill, a management style, or a mentorship style, even if it's outside of your direct realm that you think you're working in. My career path has been sort of beauty-adjacent in everything I've been doing, but I never thought I would be where I am today. I went to school for fashion design and absolutely didn't think I would be doing what I'm doing today with strategy and all of this. So it's about openness, curiosity, asking questions, and finding great mentors. You have to be willing to roll with it a little bit if other opportunities come up that might be good, even if it's not where you think you're going. That openness to trying something new or being curious to learn something new is really important, because you really never know where it can take you.

I think the challenges almost are the opportunities. All brands are really looking at digital content and social media distribution as a very large part of their marketing, but things are just so fast-paced and changing, and that's a huge challenge. Whether you're focused on product, how people are consuming product, or how different generations are consuming and how you speak to your customers, those are constant challenges that you have to really be staying on top of. You need to keep learning - talk to someone in a different department, talk to someone who works in performance marketing even if you work in creative. Understand where your creative is going and understand how the creative you're making is resonating with the customers they're targeting. It's about keeping that communication open and learning something new. For me personally, a reason I really like working with multiple clients at the same time is because I feel like I might learn one thing from one client and be able to bring that knowledge to another one of my clients, maybe something they haven't thought of. So I would say the challenges are there, but the opportunity is still just staying curious and continuing to learn more and ask questions.

I'm an open book and very transparent with the people I work with. I understand a lot of people posture to climb the corporate ladder, but I'm very open, honest, and transparent. Obviously I'm still professional, but I form a lot of very strong bonds with my clients and colleagues because I like to show up very openly and honestly. I'm able to admit when I'm wrong, ask for support where I need it, and maintain open communication. Transparency and vulnerability - I think those are all ways that you create strong teams. You also show other people that it's a safe space to have an open and collaborative environment, which I think is really important. When you're working in brand marketing and creative, it needs to be a very open and collaborative environment to have really strong and successful work.