Tanisa Phillips

I would attribute my success to my parents. Coming from an immigrant background, my parents really drove and honed in education into my siblings and I. We spent a lot of time reading, and that was our favorite pastime as kids. I really owe it all to my parents. They shaped who I am as an individual, how I show up for work, and how I show up in my personal life. So I really owe it all to my parents.

The best career advice I've received is to dress for the job that you want, not the job that you have. That pushes me to make sure that I show up as my best self. I think that doesn't only talk about what your physical appearance is, but how you carry yourself at work, how you communicate with others, and just having a general respect for everyone. So I make sure every day that I show up as my best self.

My advice to young women entering my industry is to remain resilient and stand firm in what you believe in. Never take the first no as an answer. I think sometimes when you're new in the industry, you could be a little timid or shy, and that can hinder us. If you have a great idea, never be shy to share your thoughts, share your ideas, share your ideologies. I'm speaking from experience because when I first entered project management, I was very afraid to speak about things that I knew. I was a criminal justice major coming into a criminal justice field with people who had worked there their whole life, but I brought a new perspective. Never be afraid to share your thoughts, share your ideas, share your ideologies, and never take the first no as a definitive answer. If someone tells you no, you should question what made them say no, because now that gives you an opportunity to change the perspective. Taking initiative gives executives a different perspective of you because now they're leaning on you. I think a lot of young people become timid when it comes to discussing their ideas with executive leadership, but we're all people. When they leave this job, they're a person, a mom, a dad, a grandma, a grandpa, a sister, a brother. People should not only look at those titles but just look at people as people, and don't be afraid to share your thoughts and ideologies, especially when you have a seat at the table. That's the most important time for you to share your thoughts.

There are so many opportunities in my field. When I first started, I started off as an executive assistant at NYPD, and I clawed my way up the ladder. I really think it's what you make it. Even if you start off as an assistant, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to remain an assistant. You can look for different opportunities and different avenues, and pick what you like and what you don't like. I never thought that I would be in project management or government communications. I needed a job, started off as executive assistant, and then I started getting more into the weeds of the projects and found a real passion there. For me, it's very fulfilling to see something go from vision to fruition. Sometimes something is just an idea, but once you see it come to life, see it implemented, and see its impact on others, that is the part that is most fulfilling to me. In government, there are many job opportunities, and they're all made publicly available. In terms of challenges, I've faced being young and being a minority woman. I think oftentimes people are apprehensive to take advice from the youngest person in the room, but I think we bring value to the conversation because we can see things from a bird's eye view. Sometimes when you're in the weeds of the operation so long, you become desensitized to a lot of things, so a fresh set of eyes on any project is really great. Being in a male-dominated or paramilitary organization, their viewpoint is different than everyone else's, and sometimes you have to compromise. That was the biggest lesson I learned while working in government - the compromise part. We want to make sure we protect the agency, but we also want to make sure we protect the people that we serve.

Honesty and integrity are very important to me. We work with highly confidential, highly sensitive information, and we want to ensure that we are able to be trusted and that we can also trust our partners as well. Honesty and integrity are really important to us, especially when working with public information that may not be so public. It may be a public project, but not everyone knows the backstory of what's happening behind the scenes. You always want to make sure that you're honest, you're transparent, and don't ever give anyone an opportunity to question your integrity.