Maggie Talty

I attribute my success to my parents, Kevin and Colleen Talty. My dad is an entrepreneur himself - he's in real estate and is a family home builder. It's just him, and he took that business over from my grandfather. My mother helps him every step of the way. Having that kind of model of hard work, passion, dedication, and responsibility has always driven me to want to push hard, be curious, and make them proud. I would also say I'm predominantly successful in my work career because at every job, I've had the best co-workers. You know, you're only as good as your team. When you have a good team that's supportive and caring and passionate and curious, you can really go the extra mile together, and it's that level of care and dedication that we have to each other that I think uplifts us all.

The best career advice I've ever received is probably from my father, and he's shared this with me in college and pretty much any time I have a challenging time at work. His whole motto is: just show up. Just show up and try, and you're already in the door. I think there's often a lot of struggle of people who just show up, get the paycheck, do what they need to do, or get really bogged down with the weight of work - obviously it can get really stressful at times. But if you're already there, and you're willing to participate, and you're willing to learn, and you're willing to try, you're already on the right path.

Oh my goodness, be loud. I think for women in the workplace, it can be a bit challenging to advocate for yourself, and show up confidently, and ask the questions that you need to ask. I would say, as long as you are confident in your own voice, and you're willing to learn, show up for yourself, because you know, it's really important that you do. Not a ton of other people are gonna look out for you, so make sure that you're looking out for you. Confidence is key - if not, you get bowled over.

The obvious one that you hear all the time is navigating new technology and AI, and I know it's such a buzzword, but I think it is a really valid concern. It can be really scary, especially in communications, when you see a lot of teams looking to implement AI strategies. I do think it's a really helpful resource and tool - it can present an incredible opportunity for productivity and speed. But if we are going to do that, we need to remember to stand by core principles, and not just be promoting swap out there. In communications, even though AI is both an opportunity and a challenge, we really need to make sure that we, as communicators, bring back in that human element. Integrity that I mentioned earlier is never going to be replicated by technology, so we can use it as a resource, but we need to be grounded and bring it back to the human element that makes all of us passionate, makes us feel connected to, makes us feel cared for, makes us feel heard. Anytime you're looking at all the scary things going on in the world, just sit back and ask yourself: what do you respond to best? What sticks out to you on your own feeds, in your own email inboxes, in your own text messages, any of the ways that we get pinged all the time? I'm gonna bet 99% of the time, it's when someone is earnest, someone is honest, and it comes through with that human element. It really does break through the noise, and that's why it's so critical.

Honesty is number one for me. That directly relates to trust and truth-building in storytelling and PR, across the board in communications. Second is integrity - so not only being honest, but showing up as your best, doing the best you can, being passionate about what you do and caring what you do. And then I'd say third is passion and that curiosity. When you have a combination of those three things - honesty, integrity, and passion with curiosity - no matter what gets thrown your way, I think you're setting yourself up for success.