Megan Anderson

First and foremost, I'd say it's probably coming from a single mother family, where I just learned that my expectations and my determination was set high from the start by having a mother that modeled going back to school and just telling me that I could do whatever I want to do, and I had that support there. I also think it's the belief that you can't be afraid to try new things. I've had a couple pivots in my career and have worked at a lot of places, but I think the more you expose yourself to, and the more you keep wanting that determination to do more and want more for yourself, the better you can be. Don't be afraid to jump in and get things done, and just make yourself the best you can be in your field.

I think that people need to hear your voice. Not just relying on thinking that you don't know the answer and deferring to someone else in the room, I think not being afraid to voice your opinion, because you offer a unique experience. You know more than you think you do, and you need to have that confidence to trust your gut. Your voice matters, and people need to hear your unique experience.

I'd say do those networking things and offer support. I've gotten a long way just by making connections and raising a hand to plug in to things. You might not know it all, and I don't think anyone expects you to, so give yourself the grace to learn, but just make yourself available to try new things and take on new projects, whether it's your own career or in community service or in things within your community. Have that confidence in your own ideas. Your voice matters, and people need to hear your unique experience.

I think the biggest challenge right now is the transition that everyone in the tech field is feeling with the AI transformation. There's a lot of learning the tools and finding ways where you can add value. There's a lot of conversation going around where people are afraid that AI is going to take their jobs, and I wholeheartedly disagree with that, but I do think it's important to know how to work with AI, and the more you can better yourself to understand the tools and use it in ways that support your role, the better you'll get at your role, which then shows business value. But AI is also the biggest opportunity. In my type of comms and events roles, you can't hire AI to put on an event, but I use AI all day to help me with writing emails and consolidating notes for meetings and helping assign action owners, and just so much project management for me comes from AI. I think it's such a great opportunity for people to lean in and find the ways that make it make sense for your role, and then it just shows so much more added value for you at your company.

To me, transparency and honesty are probably up there. I think the whole work-life balance thing isn't real. I've never met anyone that says they feel like they have a really good work-life balance. I think it's just allocating and trying to figure out the time, where you need that support. So I think being selective around your time is a big one. And just working for people that have leadership, but also seeking out other leaders and having that leadership mentality.