DMN’s Marketing Hall of Femme honors female marketers who have taken risks, pushed limits, and achieved standout success in their marketing careers. These fiercely talented women are all the most senior marketing professionals at brands, non-profits, marketing tech and services vendors, or agencies.
We sat down with 2018 Hall of Femme honoree Rebecca Mahony, CMO, MiQ, who shared advice on the challenges of being a woman in the workplace, and how young female professionals can navigate their own successful marketing careers.
DMN: the best piece of career advice that you’ve ever received?
Mahony: Don’t waste your energy on telling people how smart or capable you are, show them. Take time to hire your staff, vet them well, and make sure that you hire individuals who are much better at what they are expected to do then you are. Then, give them freedom to perform.
DMN: What’s the best way to advocate for yourself in the workplace (whether it’s for a promotion, a salary raise, or more responsibilities)?
Mahony: As much as possible, I try to follow these 6 principles and have always found them to serve me well…
Believe you deserve what you are asking for
Be solution focused
Keep emotions at bay
Tailor your message to the receiver
Don’t ask for “less is more” to increase your chances
Take charge
DMN: As a woman, what advantages and disadvantages have you experienced in climbing up through your career?
Mahony: There are still challenges that women face within the business world – ongoing news of inequality, unequal pay and a lack of women at boardroom level. Balancing family life with work is also seen as a barrier by some, when it shouldn’t be. As a society and an economy, it is vital that we find a way of better allowing, both men and women, to raise families and fully participate in the labor market.
However, I don’t believe that being a woman has held me back or altered my chance of success. I believe that women naturally have traits which allow us to be successful – traits such as agility, empathy, the ability to multi-task and our aptitude for risk taking are just a handful. This combined with confidence and determination, make women a force to be reckoned with!
DMN: What advice do you have for younger women in the workplace who want to lean in and take a bigger seat at the table
Mahony: Some of the simplest yet most impactful pieces of advice that I received when I was earlier in my career was to be inquisitive and ask questions, take risks and not second guess myself, don’t be afraid to make mistakes and trust your gut instinct. Lastly, use every role model you have available, leverage their experience, their guidance and remember that you are a role model to someone else. They are watching you too, so make it count.
