On Camera, Start By Being Your Most Authentic Self

"There's no time that I go on TV and I'm not somehow nervous. It's adrenaline. Embrace the anxiety. It's energy you can use to make your performance stronger." Media Trainer and Political Strategist, Jehmu Greene.

It was so enlightening to hear the words of wisdom from this morning's masterclass host, TV correspondent Jehmu Greene.  A black woman defending progressive values on the likes of Fox News, Greene knows better than most, the value of being on top of your game. From understanding your body language, to knowing your audience and interviewing the producer in advance, our WIE Network members learned the importance of leaving nothing to chance. The smallest detail left unchecked, can lay all your best laid plans to waste.

Get On Board

Where are the real seats of power held? Where are the decisions being made that affect us, the consumers in our everyday lives? Who's deciding what we get paid, who gets hired and fired, our benefits, how companies get run? One key place to look is on corporate boards.

Currently only 19% of S&P 500 companies have a woman on their board. And it's an issue I feel very strongly about. Last night we gathered together a group of seriously smart, successful, board qualified women to hear insights and ideas on how they could get recruited for corporate boards. Our speakers were former Goldman Sachs partner Lisa Shalett and Nexus Management founder, Ceci Kurzman. Both are heavy hitters and on some serious boards.

Getting on boards takes work. You have to lobby, you have to position yourself correctly in the public eye, you have to network at the right events, you have to know the recruiters and be on the right lists, and you have to have right skills e.g. tech, finance, marketing. But it can be an incredibly enriching experience for you and your career and is a sure fire way to affect real change from the top.

Dee Poku, Lisa Shalett, Ceci Kurzman

Nobody knows better than you

This week I interviewed Elizabeth Cutler, the founder of SoulCycle for my monthly speaker series and it was a bittersweet experience. She and her co-founder Julie Rice had announced their resignations from SoulCycle the day before. That aside, she was a funny, honest, straight talker about everything from the importance of trusting your instincts, to actually generating revenues to sustain growth (not just raising more money!), and the value of grassroots marketing over paid advertising. Amazing entrepreneur.