Lisa Van Tassel

I think my success comes from all the mentors I've had and all the people that I've worked with. It's really been a collection of people passing on their wisdom and being supportive to me throughout my career. I've been very fortunate to work with a lot of great and talented people, and the feedback I get from designers is that I've been supportive, which makes me feel good because I don't want anyone to feel burned out. I want people to feel like they can get the job done and still be proud of it.

Years ago, I went to a career coach, and she gave me advice that was a huge eye-opener and really changed a lot of my relationships going forward. She told me that when we work with people in the office, we always try to change our communication style so everyone relates to us, but if you're stressed or super busy, you're always going to default to your natural, authentic communication style. For me, that's New York - I'm originally from New York, and New Yorkers are very direct. She told me to just let people know right off the bat that I'm from New York and I'm a direct communicator. Now, every time I start somewhere new, especially as a remote worker, I schedule one-on-ones with the entire team just to get to know them on a personal level, or if I'm working on-site, I'll go out for coffee with my team members one-on-one. That way, when I'm in my Get Shit Done New York mode, they're not going to be like 'whoa, what's up with her?' They're like 'oh, that's just Lisa, okay, we gotta get this done.' I also had to give that feedback to my manager, because I told them when you're giving me feedback, you need to be direct with me, because if you're not, I'm not gonna guess what you want from me. You can't be a passive-aggressive communicator with me - you have to be blunt and tell me to start doing this or stop doing that.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and always be open to learning. Seek out a mentor, whether that's your boss or someone else. If you see someone that works the way that you like, find out how they do it and copy it. Just be open and always be a helper - be part of the team. A lot of times people want to climb up that corporate ladder, but you really get up that corporate ladder by doing good work and also by being a team member. I do believe if you raise up someone else, you raise up everybody. I work with a lot of younger people, and a lot of times I'm like a mentor. I just always want to help people be the best who they can be.

AI is definitely going to reshape project management, but I think if we can use AI to shape it in a better way, it will help us be better project managers. I was never afraid of project management tools when they came out because they help me be a better project manager. Back in the day, I was just using Excel sheets and making copies, but now we can all jump into whatever project management tool we're using at the same time and see where the status is in real time. Creating automated workflows has been huge because there was a time early in my career where half my day was just data entry - I was inputting the same information in 5 different places, and that just annoyed me. I'm very happy that technology has come forward with all these new project management tools and AI because it took away that data entry part of the job that I hated. My goal right now is to really hone in on how I can write good AI agents and leverage AI without being in fear of it. As a creative project manager, you can easily move into a program manager role, marketing manager role, or product marketing manager role if you want to transfer your skills. You can also move into a director of operations or Director of Project Management role and manage a team of project managers. Project management skills really are transferable no matter what - you can go into events, being a producer for videos and movies, or even construction.

I think respect and trust are two very important values for me. At work, it's about respecting my knowledge and also respecting everyone else's knowledge that they bring to the workforce. If you are always micromanaging your team, you're not trusting your team or respecting that person's expertise. When I do a workback schedule in a project management tool and assign who's doing what, I don't bug them every day. I'll have a kickoff meeting, but I'll trust that designer or copywriter or even the marketing partner that they're gonna do what they were assigned to do. And if it's late, then I'll check in. Being open-minded and always learning is also huge for me. I work with a lot of younger people, and a lot of times I'm like a mentor. I do believe if you raise up someone else, you raise up everybody. I just always want to help people be the best who they can be. Allowing people to be their authentic selves is really important too.