Martine Annozine

I think my whole thing has been trying to break glass ceilings and just try to be in places that wouldn't normally expect me to be. It's not that they won't have you in the room, it's that you don't ask to be there in the first place. That's what I love so much about LinkedIn - I walk into any room, any big room I want, I lay my opinion out there, and I exit before they even know I was there. I can drop anywhere I feel like. It's beautiful, and I don't have to worry about gatekeepers or 'please pick me, pick that.' My credentials and what I have to say speak for itself, and the business comes from there. There are no gatekeepers, and nobody's telling you that you have to do this, or you have to be that. I've made it about making the space for myself and maintaining high standards regardless of circumstances. Even when I was homeless, I didn't let go of my standards - I still had my membership to Lifetime luxury spa, still got my French manicure, still had my $35 glass of wine at Morea where my connections happened. My standards stayed high even without anything, and that's what I realized - this is not something inherent to me, this is access everybody has to this part of themselves.

I think the human touch is going to be the differentiator. Don't rely on language models like AI for your voice - use it as an assistance to amplify it, but not to substitute for it, or replace it, or have it lead what you want to say. You lead the conversation. Keep your voice distinct, because language models soften your ideas, and then you just become generic, like everybody else. I fight with AI constantly because it will use the same words and it's ingrained in our vocabulary. Things like the word 'however' - it negates what came before. I correct it all the time when it distorts or softens things. There's definitely a voice that they're losing if they're not diligent about it, and I don't think, at this point, they even know it's happening. Also, be unapologetic about who you are. As far as being a woman, or a Black woman, or anything, I am just shining bright, and I'm not asking for permission. If you're 56 and you don't feel good about saying what you feel good about now, when are you gonna feel good about saying it? You have to take your chance regardless of whether people like it or not.

The most important value to me is agency - making decisions in your life that are just little steps towards what you envision your life to be and what you want to say about it. I believe in self-love and showing up in your life first, even if it's a tiny little step. This whole concept of doing well and doing for others only works if you do it for yourself first. I've learned that you don't have to have money to have access to luxury and a good quality of life and a meaningful life. I maintain high standards regardless of circumstances - that's not something inherent to me as a great person, it's access everybody has to this part of themselves. There doesn't have to be a rupture for you to access this part of yourself, it's just about having the courage for yourself to move counterintuitively to what you're normally used to, to break the habits you might be caught up in. I also value revealing brilliance hidden in plain sight and not dimming your light for anybody. Excellence has been the through-line of my life, and I believe in maintaining that regardless of external circumstances.