Nadja Brandt

I would attribute my success to trusting myself and pushing past self-doubt. And to the people who told me to trust myself, and that I'm better than I sometimes think. That sentiment of believing in yourself and knowing you're good enough is something I really embrace and pass on to others.

A colleague of mine once said, 'It's PR, not ER' - meaning we all get a little too crazy sometimes because we want to do a really good job, but we need to keep perspective. While we should always hustle and be first, we also need to make sure to take a breath and remember that we can do this.

My advice to young women entering this industry is don't be too narrow-minded. Content, communication, and media relations is a huge field, and you can do so much within it. In my last job, anything that touched communicating out to the world fell under this umbrella. It included newsletters, podcasts, blogs, and straight-up earned media. It's a really wide field. So I would say be open-minded - look at it holistically and don't niche yourself too much.

The biggest challenge in my field has always been deadlines. It's a fast business, especially as a reporter, in which you're constantly trying to stay ahead and be the first to report on something correctly and smartly. Deadlines are very stringent, and while that's not unique to communications and media, I feel like in this field it's particularly palpable. In terms of opportunities, AI is huge. It needs to be used carefully and thoughtfully, especially in communications. It's not a replacement, but it definitely is huge with research and strategy. AI can be a collaborator that allows us to do better work through more access and brain power, and that is invaluable for a field where information and knowledge is key. I also love that this field gives you leeway in how you want to shape your work and your day. Being freelance now means I get to work with different companies - one is AI, the other is a developer. There's quite a bit of freedom and excitement, and I've always loved learning. I feel like I'm back in that place where I get to learn something new every day.

The values most important to me are courage, responsibility, and authenticity. Courage, because life begins outside of your comfort zone. Responsibility because it means showing up in a diligent, applied way so that people know they can trust you. And authenticity. I am a big proponent of bringing your whole self to the table. I think it's important that we all come to the table as the people we are, and that is our superpower in many ways. Being authentic and showing up as your true self is what makes you unique and valuable.