Shanelle Alexander

I would say probably just trying my best to stay focused, working consistently, learning as much as I can, reading, trying to polish my craft as much as possible. I think surrounding myself with like-minded individuals, strong people, people that I've seen have the type of success that I would love to have one day - that kind of helps. Just surrounding myself with amazing people. I also think taking feedback is important - I like to hear feedback from people that I look up to, I think that helps as well.

My mentor once told me to always protect your peace and protect your energy, both in your professional journey and your personal journey. She said to keep your peace of mind, keep your sanity, so that you're able to show up for people how they need you to show up. I think you just got to always protect your energy and protect your peace, and surround yourself with good energy as much as you can. That was something my mentors told me kind of early on in my career that was helpful. I always try to do that as much as I can - stepping away if needed. I try as much as I can to not put myself in the most stressful environments, and if things are getting stressful, which is possible working in events, I just take a beat. I just need a minute, let me step away for a second, and then I can come back to it. So just, you know, as much as you can, protect your energy and try to keep that inner peace.

I would say probably stay grounded and trust the process. I know sometimes it feels slow - I struggled with that myself. Sometimes you feel like you should be higher in your career, but you gotta trust the process. You gotta try your best to stay encouraged. You gotta surround yourself with people that are doing things that you want to do. Keep learning - there's always something to learn. And be willing to learn as well. Keep showing up, stay consistent. I think that's really what helps.

The biggest challenge right now is budgets - they're a little bit tighter right now, and that creates challenges. You're seeing a lot of layoffs, you're seeing a lot of reductions in staff, so these are scary times. My peers, people that I work with, you constantly see these big companies laying off, and that's really just because the budgets are not there right now like they used to be in this space. On the opportunity side, I do think AI is a really big one. I see how it's been extremely helpful in a lot of these roles. AI can help you with decks, and it can help with automating certain processes, so there's less work on the team. You can use that tool to help us in our day-to-day, and it takes a little bit of weight off of the team. Technology integration overall - you can do so much with it now to help streamline processes. I think some folks are still a little scared of it at first, but the more you learn it and figure out ways it can help you in your day-to-day, it just makes your life easier. It streamlines event operations overall, so I'm grateful for anything that takes a little weight off the team.

I would say respect is one of the most important things for me at work and at home - just always treating people with respect and fairly. I would say always taking accountability, owning your responsibilities, owning your results, in life, at work, at home, both. And I say also just love - showing up for people, supporting them, people that are your friends, your colleagues, just always showing up for them the best you can. I think that's important. And of course, just being honest. Always being honest. Honesty is key. Being open, truthful - that as well, in home life, work life, just overall.