Dr. Joi L. Brown

I think all the success is one, my mindset. It's that belief, I believe, and I am very good at what I do, but it's belief in myself, it's the opportunities that I've created, it's the opportunities that have been provided to me by how I show up. But it starts with that I add value and knowing that is so key. That's where it starts, because you can have all the opportunities, but if you don't believe in yourself, you think differently when you don't believe in yourself. You act differently, but when you believe in yourself, and you know you can add value, and doors are opening, and stuff that you wouldn't even believe is happening because of how you're showing up and being true to who you are, walking in your gifts and talents, that's a testimony within itself to encourage somebody else.

The best career advice is you're always interviewing, and someone's always watching you. And that is so true in my story, because when I first started as an intern, I never knew where my life would go, but somebody was always watching me, so it's how I showed up. And that's very important. It's your professionalism, because someone is always watching you, even when you don't know who you're watching. And your life can change by how you show up, by your professionalism, by how you continue to go above and beyond, how you continue to want to learn and grow within your professional world. And so, that would be the best advice, and that has been advice that I have lived, and that has just opened so many doors for my life, and so many things of opportunity for me. But it's how you show up. It's what you're bringing to the table, and that's what I do, is help people navigate how they're showing up, what they're bringing to the table, then tapping into what I call their superpowers, so they can, again, achieve their greatness.

To believe in themselves, to believe that, again, that you add value no matter what your title is, and leadership is not about a title. But again, you can lead at any level. I was leading when I was an intern, and that's where I am today. And because, again, it matters about what you believe in yourself, but you have to believe in yourself no matter what. Even when life throws you a curveball, you've got to know and believe and surround yourself with people who will encourage you, who will open a door for you to help you achieve everything that you need to do. But it starts with your belief in yourself, and knowing that you add value in your space, in spaces and places, and your voice matters. And sometimes rooms are needed, and you need to be a part of the conversation. And when there's no way, you have to figure out a way to, again, continue to add that value and create those opportunities.

I think the opportunity is, again, through what we're challenging now is all the change. We're constantly seeing a lot of change, a rapid change, and it's hard to change. But I stay true to who I am. That connectedness, that communication, using my technical expertise to navigate all the changes, and it's in the messaging, it's in the people, that is so important. But I also think, again, where there's change, there's opportunity and growth. So then with all the change, some stuff we may not agree with the change, but the change is here, so now we need to change our perspective. And how you view the change is going to impact your life. If you view it negatively, everything comes from that. It's always going to be Debbie Downer. It's going to be negative. But if you see this as, okay, the change is here, how can I seize this change? What are opportunities in this change? You know that you can have a place in the change, and sometimes you may be leading that change that you didn't think that you would lead, but it's how you look at that change. And so that, to me, is the biggest difference.

One is communication, that's very important, because that's the ground of things of how you're able to communicate different messaging, being able to be a connector, and connecting people, because the building of relationships is very key, because you're going to always have to work with somebody, so establishing those relationships is so important in that engagement piece, and also, your technical skills, is making sure whatever industry that you're in, you want to be the best at it. So that is not only that, but that's also how you're sharpening your skill sets, staying abreast of your skill sets, always learning and growing within your profession, building those networks and connections, engagement, communication, and making connections, that's how you become your change agent.