Katie Miller

I would attribute my success to being adaptable. I think that's something that's really helped me throughout my career. I also really prioritize finding joy and purpose in what I do. I would rather miss out on a higher paying role for something that meant a lot more to me personally. That focus on meaningful work over just compensation has been a guiding principle for me.

The best career advice I've received is to never stop learning outside of work and bring that into what you do every day. It's about having a different angle of work-life balance, making sure that the things you learn about yourself and life in general can also play a role at work too, especially in terms of being a leader and how we treat other people. It's not just about separating work and life, but about integrating the lessons from both.

I think that things are always going to be changing and adapting, so never be afraid to try something new or to explore your creativity and think outside the box. Always meet people where they are and lead with honesty. In sales-adjacent careers, the instinct is to kind of always yes and, but I've found the best relationships are really built out of honesty and transparency, even if you have to tell somebody something that they don't want to hear. That authenticity is what creates lasting, meaningful professional relationships.

It's been an interesting few years in any industry in general, just with the economy and the state of the world. One of the biggest challenges I've faced, which has also been an incredible opportunity, was being the first U.S. employee at a Portuguese company. There was definitely a lot of learning involved and a lot of cultural differences to get used to - language, just a whole different way of working and living that I didn't share with the rest of my organization. It's been challenging, but in a very rewarding and incredible way. I feel like it's made me a better person and a better employee, and I feel like we all just learn so much from each other. It really takes a certain kind of person to be able to jump into that kind of situation, and it's been something I've been really proud of in myself. I talk with my leadership a lot about continuing that and really seeing how we can establish some of their culture in a U.S. entity of the organization. In terms of opportunities, I've had the chance to step into management and more leadership positions. At Lyra, I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to lead a team and teach folks who had come from a similar background that I did. I was one of the few people in the consultant relations field that had never been a consultant, and I was able to prove that you could still learn and grow and be successful in that. I was able to give 3 other people without that background the same opportunity to learn and grow and become experts in that field. With my job now, I've had the opportunity to learn a working environment from a whole different culture, as well as get to travel - I got to go to Portugal a few times last year, and Brazil as well, with my team.

Consideration is something that's really big for me. We don't always know everything that someone else has going on, and so I think consideration and kindness are essential. Honesty and transparency, especially at work, are also big values for me. I think especially with leadership, honesty and transparency are really big culture builders. These values guide how I interact with others and how I approach both my professional and personal relationships.