{"id":1221,"date":"2025-10-13T07:35:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T07:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/?p=1221"},"modified":"2025-10-16T09:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T09:59:08","slug":"creating-an-unforgettable-presence-with-lorraine-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/2025\/10\/13\/creating-an-unforgettable-presence-with-lorraine-lee\/%20%20","title":{"rendered":"Creating An Unforgettable Presence With Lorraine Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is my honor to introduce you to my guest,\u00a0Lorraine K. Lee<\/a>. Lorraine is a keynote speaker and the bestselling author of\u00a0Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career<\/a>. She also teaches popular courses at Stanford Continuing Studies and LinkedIn Learning. She is passionate about empowering leaders to elevate their presence, influence, and impact.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her frameworks have been adopted by globally recognized organizations like Zoom, Amazon, Cisco, and McKinsey & Company. Lorraine spent over a decade as a founding editor at companies, including LinkedIn and Prezi. Her insights are featured in top media outlets, including CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fast Company. She is a graduate of Northwestern\u2019s Medill School of Journalism and resides in San Francisco. It\u2019s truly an honor and a pleasure to welcome you to the virtual campfire, Lorraine.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you so much for having me. I\u2019m very excited to be here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you so much for coming on board. We\u2019re going to have a great conversation. I\u2019m so excited to dig into your journey to making such an impact in the world. I loved your book. I\u2019m excited that we get a chance to dive into the book as well and learn more about how to have an unforgettable presence. I\u2019m thrilled.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding The Real Meaning Of Presence<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As we do on the show, we navigate people\u2019s stories through what\u2019s called flashpoints. Flashpoints are these moments in our lives that have ignited our gifts into the world. I\u2019m going to turn over to you in a moment and have you share what you\u2019re called to share. You can start wherever you like, and we\u2019ll pause along the way and see what kinds of themes are showing up. Are you ready?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take it away.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many flashpoints in my life. I\u2019m like, Which one do I choose? I\u2019ll talk about a few key moments from my career. The first one that comes to mind is my time at LinkedIn. I was there for six years. I was a founding editor. It was quite a formative experience. My time there influenced and inspired the book Unforgettable Presence. I loved my job there, worked hard, was able to collaborate on high-visibility projects, and was well-liked by my coworkers. You would think all these things would lead to a promotion or some sort of advancement in the company. Unfortunately, as hard as I pushed and as frustrated as I got, it didn\u2019t happen for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What ended up happening through that is I ended up leaving to go to a company called Prezi. During that time in between, I had a lot of time to reflect and think about, \u201cWhat went wrong? What could I have done differently?\u201d I realized that a big piece of what was missing was presence, in terms of how we are seen by others. A few months later, COVID hit after I joined Prezi, and then I realized, \u201cPresence is not just how others see us, but it\u2019s also about where we\u2019re being seen.\u201d For example, on video, we have a video presence. We have a presence on platforms like LinkedIn. That was the starting spark around this new definition of presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Presence is not just how other people see us. It is also about where we are being seen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Beyond that, the second significant moment was learning to be a better public speaker, not with the goal of making this my career, but simply because I know it\u2019s an important skill. I see people who do it well. They\u2019re more confident. They seem more authoritative and more competent. Taking that upon myself and having a mentor, Spencer, at the company to support me changed the trajectory of my career when I ended up getting laid off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had enough confidence to say, \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll go off on my own and try to do the things that I\u2019ve been doing, but make it even bigger to become a company.\u201d That\u2019s what I continue to do now. The book is so exciting. It came out a few months ago. Maybe that\u2019s the last big one that I would have to say. There are a lot of things I have on my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing a book, especially getting out there and sharing insights about this particular topic, is not easy because it\u2019s one that\u2019s on top of everyone\u2019s mind. That\u2019s a big flashpoint. We\u2019ll get to that. Let\u2019s start from the beginning here. You shared this sense of being frustrated. It\u2019s like, \u201cWhy am I not being recognized? Why am I not getting what I want?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people struggle with that. You feel like you\u2019re doing all the things, checking all the boxes, and saying, \u201cWhy am I not getting what I want?\u201d We always hear, \u201cYou need to develop executive presence,\u201d but sometimes, people don\u2019t know exactly what that means. Say a little bit about what your definition of presence is before we get too far along.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You touched on an important piece in that when a lot of us hear presence, we think executive presence. We might have to be at a certain level. There might be some preconceived notions about your personality or the way you look. It\u2019s usually some high-stakes situation. It\u2019s perhaps in a boardroom. Presence is how and where you are seen. Executive presence is one piece of presence, but presence is also a lot of other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope that this new definition empowers people and makes them more confident. Presence is, more so to me, about all the small touchpoints that we have in a given day with someone. It\u2019s things that we don\u2019t necessarily think about, but which leave an impression and help holistically, if you\u2019re consistent with it, create your overall impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s something that can and should be worked on throughout our entire career. We don\u2019t have to be a certain seniority level or a certain type of personality. Executive presence is one piece of that, but presence is much broader. It\u2019s how we show up on video, on LinkedIn, in our meetings, or even in email and chat channels. It\u2019s in the small talk and passing each other in the hall. All of these things have to do with presence. They\u2019re small steps. You\u2019re doing great work already. What are small tweaks we can make to uplevel that so that you can truly stand out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to connect with this idea of polished presence versus authentic presence. Often, people think of presence as being something that\u2019s perfection, and like, \u201cI have to look good all the time,\u201d as opposed to being real in the presence that you are. Maybe dive a little deeper into that if you\u2019re cool.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best things about going remote is that we are a lot more open about showing behind the scenes. I\u2019ll share some data. It\u2019s more around executive presence, but it applies to presence as well. There was some data that was published in Harvard Business Review that showed how people perceived executive presence from 2012 to 2022. It was very interesting to notice some of the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first category across 2012 and 2022 was similar across gravitas, communication, and appearance. For communication and appearance, what we noticed is that authenticity appeared in communication in 2022. That\u2019s what people wanted from their leaders. People also wanted authenticity. Some things appeared, like instead of formal business attire, it was still a polished look, but it didn\u2019t have to be so formal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With communication, forcefulness was on the list in 2012, and then that was no longer on the list. Instead, things like authenticity, listening to learn, and command of a Zoom room started appearing. For the folks who feel like executive presence has to fit a certain mold, the good news is that it has transformed a lot over the past several years. That\u2019s a good thing. We can all learn how to have more presence or executive presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning Transferrable Skills In Journalism<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s great. I love this. We\u2019re going to pause on presence for now because I want to get back into what got you thinking, \u201cI want to go to journalism school,\u201d and all these things. Take me back to the earlier days of what got you thinking, \u201cThis was my path.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was always someone who liked writing. I didn\u2019t like math. When I had to think about the extracurriculars that I could do, it was journalism, writing for the school paper, and starting up a school paper at my middle school. That was something that gave me a lot of joy, which I was passionate about. I knew pretty soon that I wanted to attend journalism school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, once I was in journalism school, I knew pretty early on that I didn\u2019t want to do traditional journalism for work. The great thing about a journalism degree is that it allows you to do a lot of different things. You learn a lot of skills that are very transferable. I knew I wanted to do something content-related that used my skills but was in a different industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I graduated at a time when Silicon Valley was booming and tech companies were growing. It was the perfect time when a lot of companies were looking for content folks. In my role at SlideShare and my role at LinkedIn, a lot of people on the editorial team were from journalism school, specifically the one I went to, which was Medill at Northwestern. That was such a cool experience to be surrounded by other journalists and use those skills to help grow the LinkedIn content ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s cool to hear that. I happen to have a lot of journalists who have come on my show. It\u2019s not because they were pitching anything particularly, but the background that people start with, journalism seems to be a great foundational piece, but it then leads off to so many different other areas people get into. There\u2019s also disenfranchisement that happens with journalism.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People think it\u2019s going to be glamorous, and everyone is going to be out there doing these things where they\u2019re going to be reporting on great stories. The interesting thing is that because of the world we\u2019re in now, content creation is a place where you can use that instinct of journalism very well. It gets to a deeper story. If I think about journalism, it\u2019s about this sense of, \u201cHow do I dig deeper into what\u2019s going on to tell the story that is most meaningful here?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding The Real Meaning Of Presence<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When I think about those beginnings of journalism, getting into what is going on in Silicon Valley, and what the things are that these companies want people to know about us, I would love to hear your story about the inside versus the outside, and maybe how you thread that needle.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the outside, the first thing that came to mind when you said that is that a lot of people think I am extroverted and never nervous at all when I speak. For the inside, a lot of journalists and a lot of public speakers are introverts. Journalism gives you the opportunity to ask a lot of questions and meet people with the excuse of, \u201cI\u2019m interviewing you for a story.\u201d It makes it a little bit easier to make the introduction or to reach out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing that surprises people most is that I am introverted and that I still get nervous after doing it after so many years. Everyone still gets nervous. It\u2019s about how you can control the nerves and make sure they don\u2019t debilitate you. I am proud of the fact that I\u2019m introverted and talk about it. People connect with that. For them to see someone who\u2019s able to put their face out there or able to speak for a living as an introvert, hopefully, that excites or empowers people who are thinking about something similar, but thinking, \u201cMaybe it\u2019s just for the extroverts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s inspiring. That\u2019s what it is. It gets people to see that they can do it, too. That\u2019s a great part of it. There\u2019s also a sense of it, to me, hearing that that\u2019s the reality for you. It\u2019s so true. There are a lot of people out there who are introverts who end up getting into this space. It\u2019s one of those situations where people want to relate to you. They want to be able to say, \u201cI can see myself in this person.\u201d It\u2019s not all about you when you are on stage or when you\u2019re even speaking with people. The more that you\u2019re able to be more curious about others, the more it becomes a gravitas for you, presence-wise.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding Purpose In Entrepreneurship<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s very cool. You got into these amazing companies. You start to navigate the ranks, start having this experience, and then decide to go off on your own, which is crazy because it\u2019s not easy to start something on your own. Tell me about the early days. What did you struggle with?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I gave myself a year to see if this was sustainable. This was 2023, so the economy was still not great. What allowed me to see enough traction to succeed in that moment, a lot of it came down to my network and the relationships I built over many years. That was powerful. I was very thankful for that. To your point, the grass is always greener. People in corporate are like, \u201cI dream of one day starting my own thing.\u201d The people who are entrepreneurs are like, \u201cI want a steady paycheck and not to have to do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, it was quite interesting because I didn\u2019t know if I had the appetite or the skillset to become an entrepreneur. You don\u2019t know until you\u2019re in it. For example, there are things like, \u201cI\u2019m not associated with a company brand anymore.\u201d If you need a lot of validation in that way, that\u2019s not going to be easy for you. You need to be self-motivated. Am I going to end up lying down in the middle of the day every day because I can, and no one is my boss, so I can do whatever I want, or am I going to be able to create structure for myself? There are many examples like that. Thankfully, I was able to do all the things that needed to be done to have the right mindset shifts or the right mindset that needs to be done in order to succeed, or at least keep moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw enough momentum in that first year in a bad economy where I thought, \u201cIf I can do this and make some money in this environment, hopefully, things get better, and it\u2019ll get easier to be able to grow.\u201d You have that momentum as well. A client might come back. People have experienced you. They see you in business for longer. It has been rewarding, but a lot of work. I am still working harder than I did in corporate. For anyone who is thinking about making the leap, it takes a little bit of time to find that balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big thing about it is the commitment. You have to be passionate about what you\u2019re doing. You\u2019ve chosen a field and a path that you\u2019re passionate about. If you\u2019re willing to write a book about presence, then you know that this is something that you want to spend time committing to the practice of.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building a business around this, if you were just doing something where you\u2019re like, \u201cI\u2019ll throw my hat in the ring and see what happens,\u201d that\u2019s not going to be something that you\u2019ll do long-term. That\u2019s where we separate entrepreneurs who are in it for the long term. They\u2019ll navigate all those storms, the ups and the downs, and all that. I love what you shared because there\u2019s an element that there are people along the journey who are helping you out, like the network. That does require presence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It requires presence. It requires in-person presence if you\u2019re at a networking event. A lot of things are virtual, so even your virtual presence and being okay reaching out to a stranger on LinkedIn because you want to talk to them or you\u2019re interested in what they have to say. I have met so many strangers through LinkedIn who have become friends and supported me for my book launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve also met people through my job at LinkedIn and Prezi. I was very fortunate that those were external-facing roles, so I got to meet not only my great colleagues, but people externally as well. I got to meet business leaders, thought leaders, authors, and speakers. I had to keep in touch. You don\u2019t just meet them and then that\u2019s the relationship. You have to keep in touch and find ways to help each other over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking Up Everyone In The Attendee List<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what a lot of people miss. It\u2019s the sense of it\u2019s great to make a connection on LinkedIn or make a connection in general, but you have to foster it. You have to continue to keep that going. Especially for introverts, that sometimes is something that they\u2019re like, \u201cI cringe when I hear that.\u201d The reality is, you can do it in your own way. Maybe I\u2019d like to hear a little more about what it is that you advise people when it comes to creating networks in your own way. This is maybe not your wheelhouse per se, but I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts about how you do it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love talking about networking, so it is in my wheelhouse. For introverts and also non-introverts, one of the best strategies before an event, and this is something I did, is to find the attendee list and find all those people on LinkedIn whom you want to meet. It was a few months ago. I went to this design networking event. I\u2019m not a designer, but I got invited. I was like, \u201cIt looks cool,\u201d and then I added a bunch of people on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I felt a little awkward. I didn\u2019t know anyone. I\u2019m not a designer, so I couldn\u2019t connect in that way. I still remember someone. He was walking by me and then did a double-take. He goes, \u201cLorraine from LinkedIn.\u201d It\u2019s so unusual for people to take that extra step to connect ahead of time. That was insane, people coming up to me simply because I took a little time to send that message ahead of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, it is making sure that you\u2019re approaching networking with a giving mentality first. You give to get. It\u2019s not just, \u201cI\u2019m here. I\u2019m looking for a job,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m looking for something.\u201d If you can approach it with, \u201cTell me more about yourself. I\u2019m so curious. Tell me more. How can I help you?\u201d That journalism aspect is coming in. That is a great foundation for relationship-building and for showing up and not feeling like networking is cringe. You feel good when you help people. That\u2019s another helpful strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Being curious about the other person is a great foundation for relationship building.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m so glad you shared that. It resonates very much with the way I think about it, too. Design is something I\u2019m passionate about. It is something where you\u2019re like, \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d We have to go in different circles sometimes because if we\u2019re in the same circles all the time, we meet the same people. Sometimes, you have to break out and see, \u201cWho am I curious about? How do I want to widen my circle so that I can meet people who I think would be interesting and whom I don\u2019t know?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s a great call-out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experiences On Writing A Book<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Tell me about the journey to the book. I know that you\u2019re a writer, so you know how to write, but at the end of the day, writing a book is not necessarily the same as writing shorter pieces and what have you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was quite a journey. It was a fast turnaround. From the start of writing to publishing the book, it was thirteen months. Writing a book was never on my vision board. It was not something that I expected for myself until a former colleague, Arun, planted the seed. I had come out with my first LinkedIn learning course, and he said, \u201cCongratulations. When is the book coming out?\u201d I thought, \u201cMaybe that is something that I could do at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few weeks later, I met up with my other friend, Jenny Wood, who is also an author. She asked, \u201cHave you ever thought about writing a book?\u201d I was like, \u201cHow funny. You\u2019re the second person to ask me that in two weeks.\u201d I kept it in the back of my head. This was while I was still employed. The layoff happened, and I realized, \u201cMaybe now is a time to write this book that everyone is asking me about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I joined this self-publishing cohort and pretty early on realized how hard it is to write a book. I started drafting. I\u2019m generously calling it an outline, but it was not even an outline. I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t think this is the right time. I don\u2019t have the structure in my head. It\u2019s not flowing easily.\u201d I sorted that away and decided I wanted to publish the book with a publisher, for the first time at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of year one of my business, I had a publisher. My publisher, Wiley, reached out to me on LinkedIn. Subsequently, within the next few weeks, a few other publishers started reaching out to me. I said to myself, \u201cThis is the universe telling me that it\u2019s time.\u201d Even if I was nervous, and even if I did feel bouts of imposter syndrome, wondering, \u201cIs this too soon to write the book? Am I ready?\u201d I wanted to take advantage of the moment. That\u2019s what happened. This time, when I wrote the proposal and the outline, it flowed much more easily. Maybe I needed that year in business, that time to reflect, and that space away from corporate to understand what the book would be about and how it\u2019s different from similar books about presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love this. I often say there\u2019s a period of receiving, and then there\u2019s a period of transmission when it comes to writing. You\u2019re out there collecting, talking about things and ideas. You weren\u2019t ready to transmit quite yet until you were ready. Receiving was about seeing what ideas are going to be in the book. When you started to write the first time, you were like, \u201cI\u2019m not feeling it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t quite right. Since we have a journalism thread going throughout our conversation, I had the chance to interview nearly three dozen business leaders for this book, including content creators, authors, and speakers. That was my favorite part of this book process. I got to feel like a journalist again, asking questions and interviewing. That was fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s amazing. I want to give a hat tip to Jenny Wood because she was a prior guest on my show. It was a wonderful episode.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building Your Own Career Brand<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We talked a little bit about the book in terms of what\u2019s in it. Share some of the concepts that people will get when they read it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of different things are in the book intentionally because I like to talk about a lot of different things. One of the most popular concepts in the book is the idea of a career brand. A career brand is your personal brand, but a personal brand can have a lot of negative connotations. People think, \u201cI have to be promoting myself all the time or be loud or obnoxious.\u201d Career brand better explains what a brand is in the service of. A brand is in the service of helping your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When we boil it down even further and think about what a brand is at its core, it\u2019s your reputation. If you go into your workplace, realizing that we all have a reputation, and it could be a good reputation, a bad reputation, or people don\u2019t even know about you, which is a reputation in itself, then we can decide, \u201cHow do I want to be more proactive and thoughtful about creating my career brand so that it helps me move closer towards my goals?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a few different frameworks in the book around that for how people can start thinking through it, because I know it can feel overwhelming to start. Career brand has been quite a popular concept. In this environment, with so many layoffs happening, people are realizing the value of having the brand because companies will come and go, but your brand will stick with you forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second thing that I\u2019m excited to include in the book that I think is less traditional is building your LinkedIn presence. A lot of people still see LinkedIn as a job site and only a place you need to go if you\u2019re unhappy with your job. It\u2019s one of the most powerful platforms to build your presence externally, but also internally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll use myself as an example. When I started posting more on LinkedIn, separate from working at LinkedIn, but when I was at Prezi, I found my voice, gained a lot of confidence, and found external opportunities like speaking and podcasts. That elevated my presence and my profile within the company. It\u2019s not something that everyone feels comfortable doing, so if you\u2019re willing to put yourself out there and be the face of something, it\u2019s wonderful organic brand awareness for your company. It helps you stay top of mind. You find your voice and confidence that can translate into the company as well. You might get tapped for additional opportunities internally as well, which happened to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many things I want to unpack about what you shared. I\u2019ll start by saying I remember when Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha put out The Startup of You. I still have it on my shelf. I recommend it to so many people I talk to when they start thinking about a transition. It was a groundbreaking book.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m glad they put it out because it got people thinking about this idea of, \u201cI need to be thinking about my career as a startup.\u201d It\u2019s an interesting concept, but it also has you thinking about, \u201cWho am I connected to? How do I create a network that supports me?\u201d That is also almost like a leverage point to not continue to work so hard in the background and see that it\u2019s not the hard work, but it\u2019s working smarter. That was the other thing I was going to mention. When you got into this concept, I was thinking about the idea that having a good presence is not avoiding work. You still have to work hard, but make sure that your work doesn\u2019t go without notice.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good work is foundational. It\u2019s like the bare minimum you have to do to have your job. If you\u2019re just doing the bare minimum, that\u2019s only going to get you so far. No one is going to notice you. It\u2019s like, \u201cHow do I uplevel a little bit and still do the good work? How do I make sure that people know who I am, and they know about the work that I\u2019m doing and why I\u2019m important, like the value that I\u2019m adding here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to make this about me, but when I was in my prior life as a corporate executive, I remember working so hard and feeling like I was a martyr on many accounts. I would do the extra work, work that extra mile, and work those late hours. It felt like I was doing it because I was trying to look like the person who is willing to die on the sword. The reality is that\u2019s not working anymore. It didn\u2019t work for me. It doesn\u2019t work for anyone. We need to stop all that madness and instead say, \u201cWhat do I do that supports the overall goal of the organization, and how do I make sure people know what I\u2019m contributing?\u201d That\u2019s presence.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s such a good story because so many people have experienced that. You feel important, like, \u201cI\u2019m doing the extra work. I\u2019m working late,\u201d but do people care about that in the end? It\u2019s about working on the right things, not just working on every random project that comes your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Work on the right things. Do not just work on every random project that comes your way.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I love that you see that. There\u2019s an element where we need to know the unique presence that we bring, not just, \u201cI worked hard, so therefore I deserve the accolades, the promotion, and the things.\u201d We can\u2019t be basing this on entitlement or time. It has to be based on how we ensure that other people see what we\u2019re uniquely bringing to the table.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Become The CEO Of Your Own Career<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The thing you mentioned about Reid and Ben earlier with The Startup of You reminded me that in the book, I start off chapter one with career brand, but also a mindset shift in that I say, \u201cYou have to become the CEO of your own career.\u201d What you said reminds me of how it is so easy to assume things are going to happen to us. We\u2019re like, \u201cI\u2019ve been at this company for so many years,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m working hard,\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t have to go out and network because I\u2019m not looking for a job right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you shift your mentality and realize, \u201cI can and should be proactive. I can control some of the outcomes of these things. I can influence whether I get promoted or not, not just wait during annual review time and hope it happens. I can find out who is going to be in the room. I can create a case six months before and let people know that I want to get promoted.\u201d Unfortunately, we don\u2019t get taught it, but it is all about becoming the CEO of your own career, being proactive, and being intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using Imposter Syndrome To Your Advantage<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Beautifully said. You\u2019ve covered a lot of ground already. My challenging question for you is going to be, what have you learned about yourself in this journey to getting to where you are and becoming an unforgettable presence?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve learned so much. The first thing I would say is that if I\u2019m feeling imposter syndrome about anything, I\u2019ve pushed myself through those moments enough times. I\u2019m much more confident now than I was many years ago. It\u2019s because I\u2019m doing the hard thing. Sometimes, I might fail, but I\u2019m also succeeding. To know that it\u2019s okay to do the hard thing and to have it be either outcome is a huge confidence booster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also talk about this in the book. Anytime I feel imposter syndrome, it\u2019s a mindset shift of as I\u2019m doing something new, different, and hard that I haven\u2019t done before, it\u2019s going to make me feel uncomfortable, but that\u2019s when I grow the most. My confidence was like a steady scale growing, but then it started growing exponentially. The more you do hard things, the faster you\u2019re willing to push yourself to say, \u201cI can do this. I have seen enough evidence and data that I\u2019m able to push past that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was thinking about this. I was talking to some people from high school and thinking about myself back then and how I am now. That has been a cool transformation. The public speaking part, too, has transformed me. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so passionate. I\u2019m always telling people, \u201cTry it. I know it\u2019s scary at first, but it does get easier.\u201d I love coaching people because the confidence at work and the confidence it gives you outside of life is hard to match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s so beautifully said. You said that collecting evidence is so important. As you get out on the road and start trying new things that you haven\u2019t done, you\u2019re collecting evidence that you can do it as you go along. You\u2019re saying, \u201cYou did that, and you did this. Look at me now. I\u2019m very different. I almost transformed from where I was.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing I always think about, and I didn\u2019t coin this phrase, is that imposter syndrome is not a bug. It\u2019s a feature of successful people. That is a wonderful way to think about imposter syndrome. If you are feeling that way, it\u2019s a good thing because it means that you are up to something that is meant for you. It\u2019s a great way to think about this.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lorraine\u2019s Book Recommendations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m feeling inspired by all the things you\u2019re doing. I know that this is landing with the audience in a way that\u2019s going to get them thinking, \u201cHow am I cultivating my own brand in a way that is going to resonate with me, but also, how can I do it differently?\u201d Before we come to a close, I have one last question that I always ask my guests. What are 1 or 2 books that have an impact on you and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think Faster, Talk Smarter<\/a> by Matt Abrahams. He is one of my public speaking mentors. I am so thankful to have him in my corner. He has multiple books that are about public speaking and also speaking on the fly, which, for introverts, is a little bit less comfortable. He has some great books, so check those out. I\u2019ll give a shout-out to Jenny. Wild Courage<\/a> is an awesome book as well. We call ourselves book sisters-in-law because our books were one month apart. We love supporting each other. Managing Up<\/a> by Melody Wilding is also a wonderful book and a very important thing that we all need for our careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get In Touch With Lorraine<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Wonderful recommendations. I feel like that was a masterclass in giving some good breadcrumbs for people to go out and look for as they\u2019re trying to build up their own sense of courage, confidence, and presence-building. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you again for coming on the show. This has been a wonderful journey through understanding how you got to where you\u2019re doing this work. I am excited to see what happens next. Another book in the works?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll see. We’ve got to get through year one first of this first book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I know. I\u2019m kidding. It\u2019s wonderful. I\u2019m so proud of all the things you\u2019re doing. I\u2019m looking forward to seeing where you take things. Thank you for coming on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you. This was so fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I let you go, I want to make sure people know where they can find out more about your work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connect with me on LinkedIn<\/a>. Send me a message. If you buy the book, I would love to hear what resonated with you and what you might be trying to implement. I have a weekly newsletter, Career Bites, which is are bite-sized tips to supercharge your career in three minutes or less. That\u2019s at my website, LorraineKLee.com\/subscribe<\/a>. I have many LinkedIn Learning courses. Nineteen. Most of them are nano courses, so they\u2019re less than a ten-minute watch. You can find those on LinkedIn Learning and my book wherever books are sold.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I love how you\u2019re tapping into the fact that we all have short attention spans. Thank you again. Thanks to the readers for coming on the journey. Go pick up Lorraine\u2019s book. It\u2019s amazing. Go check out her stuff. It\u2019s cool. That\u2019s a wrap. Thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stand out anywhere you go and let others see you by setting an unforgettable presence at all times. Corporate keynote speaker Lorraine Lee is here to share how you can do this and create a lasting impact to the people around you. Joining Tony Martignetti, she looks back on her inspiring journey from traditional journalism to corporate to explain what it takes to make yourself unforgettable through genuine interactions and authenticity. Lorraine also talks about the power of creating your very own career brand, the right way to build your network, and turning imposter syndrome to your advantage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1221"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2825,"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1221\/revisions\/2825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonymartignetti.devstudio.work\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}