Sophia Marshall

I attribute my success to my great tribe of people. No one can accomplish anything alone, and it can be exponentially better by surrounding yourself with people who stretch you, who challenge you, who are completely honest with you. I've had a great circle of women and men along the way, some personal, some professional, but all of them personally invested in my success as much as I was invested in theirs. Having a great tribe that would hold the mirror to me in the moments that I needed but also support me along the way is what I attribute my success to.

I have a mentor who told me that you have to find something that makes you want to kick the covers off in the morning. I always think about that, whether I'm hiring or considering a new opportunity. I ask myself that very same question. Is this an opportunity that makes me want to kick the covers off in the morning? Meaning, does it energize me? Do I want to spend my day and most of my time doing it? When you connect passion and purpose, that's really what that statement is about, and finding that thing that really drives you. If you're able to do that and follow that, the money will come.

Don't be afraid to blaze your own path. There will always be a ton of naysayers, and people who can give you every single reason why you shouldn't try something. But if you're grounded in the belief in yourself first, grounded in the fact that you're doing something and work that you're passionate about, grounded in the fact that you are able to accomplish anything with the combination of grit and hard work and sincere passion for the work, the sky is the limit. If I listened to the many people who told me across my career what I should not do, I would not be here today. Women should be unapologetic, unafraid to set the bar for themselves, and to bet on themselves.

What is both an opportunity and a challenge is this prevailing belief that the work will be replaced with technology. Today it's AI, 10 years ago it was social media, 10 years before that it was the internet. Every single point in history there's always been some technological advancement that will propel and enhance what it is that we do, but not replace it. It can't replace that human connection, that authenticity. How can technology today, which every conversation is about AI, be something that propels us in this moment? Stop being afraid of it and lean into it.

Authenticity is most important to me. I think that translates both personally and professionally. If you can be grounded in being authentic to who you are, authentic to how you show up as a brand, make real and authentic connections, whether that is connections in your family life, in your friend circles, in your professional circles, or connections that we make through companies with customers and vendors and partners. The authenticity is what is real. It allows you to build trust, and trust has become the center of business. It's what dictates growing businesses and brands and separates them from others. At the center of that is the ability to really show up authentically, and it's something that I leverage both personally and professionally and hold as a standard for my teams and now the clients that I support.