Pivot With Purpose Season 4 Episode 8 Full Transcript

[00:00:00] Announcer: Pivot With Purpose, a podcast that highlights the unique stories of professionals that pivoted their careers to align with their work lives and personal lives more purposefully and with more joy.

[00:00:23] Announcer: Pivot what purpose is hosted by Megan Hall, a globally accredited career and business coach and creator of the Megan Hole Method. 

[00:00:32] Meghan Houle: Welcome back to the Pivot with Purpose podcast. I'm your host, Megan Ho, and in this episode we talk to Eliza Elect, award-winning marketer, bestselling author, podcaster, personal Brenna expert, and founder of Leave Your.

[00:00:47] Meghan Houle: A multimedia brand and consultancy. 

[00:00:49] Announcer: Thank you for listening to Pivot With Purpose, with Host Megan, who you can find out more information about each guest, including full transcripts at Pivot with purpose podcast.com. And if you'd like to share your own pivot with purpose, click on the share button and add your story to the conversation.

[00:01:09] Announcer: Finally, be sure. And share your comments wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Your support amplifies our voice. And now this week's episode,

[00:01:23] Meghan Houle: Aliza advises businesses and mentors, individuals on brand building and career development with over two decades of experience in marketing, communications and digital strategy in the fashion. She was formally known as the anonymous social media phenomenon, D K N Y P R Girl. An award-winning personality and pioneered fashion influencers with over 1.5 million fans worldwide, and her reveal generated over 230 million media impressions named as one of America's Next Top mentors by New York.

[00:02:00] Meghan Houle: Aliza is a sought after consultant for brand clients as well as members only career coach, who mentors people on how to shape and amplify their personal brands to drive success. Her first book, leave Your Mark, land Your Dream Job, kill It In Your Career Rock. Social Media has been described as a mentorship in 288.

[00:02:23] Meghan Houle: It was ranked on Books Authority a hundred best career development books of all time, and every year has been translated into multiple languages and is required reading for many communication majors in US universities. Her podcast, leave Your Mark, delivers essential advice and inspiration, an in demand for events with groups like LinkedIn, TEDx, Salesforce, and.

[00:02:47] Meghan Houle: Aliza shares her empowering message. The most important thing you can have is a strong sense of self. Aliza Elect. Welcome to the Pivot With Purpose Podcast. Thank you so much for being here with us today. How are you doing? 

[00:03:00] Aliza Licht: Well, first of all, it's my pleasure to be here, Megan. I'm doing great and I love your sexy 

[00:03:04] Meghan Houle: voice intro.

[00:03:05] Meghan Houle: I'm trying, I'm working on my radio voice, right, and my podcasting voice, so thanks for that kind compliment, but okay, so for all those tuning in to know, I happen to be interviewing today the Queen of all things communications, branding, podcasting, as Eliza is one of the hosts of one of my favorite podcast.

[00:03:24] Meghan Houle: Besides pivot with purpose called Leave your Mark, which we'll get into, but no pressure today. I better be bringing my A game. I'm just so grateful for you taking the time to come on my podcast and share all your wisdoms on major topics, which is really the heart and soul of this podcast. This.

[00:03:41] Meghan Houle: Meaningful pivots and strategic career moves and advice on how listeners can truly brand themselves and find their dream jobs, which I know you have so much to say on all these topics. So are you ready to dive in? I'm 

[00:03:52] Aliza Licht: ready to dive in. And thank you for those kind words. Of course. Yes. Well, 

[00:03:56] Meghan Houle: so to kick off this chat, catch us up to what is going on in your world now?

[00:04:02] Meghan Houle: What are you up to these days career-wise? Before we go into early career highlights? . 

[00:04:08] Aliza Licht: Well, right this second. I'm straddling the day job and the side hustle. Okay, so my day job is I am a brand marketing and digital strategy consultant, so I work with clients and my side hustle has always been Leader Mark, which is a book, a podcast community.

[00:04:25] Aliza Licht: But my big news is I have a new book on brand Shape. Your narrative, share your vision shift their perception coming out April 18th, as you know Megan, and right now I'm working. my marketing strategies for that. Yeah. 

[00:04:40] Meghan Houle: Oh, so exciting. I know I have a juicy question on that in a little bit, but I'm so happy you wrote another book as I know.

[00:04:47] Meghan Houle: Leave Your Mark. I mean, gosh, what an incredible book and something I've just been reading for years and to think, I was thinking the other day, I'm like, when did Aliza first commit my world? I remember grabbing your book, seeing it out there. I know we share a lot of people in common, being in fashion, you know, reading in my bed, and then from there to having you on this podcast like Dream come.

[00:05:06] Aliza Licht: Oh, you're so sweet. Well, I'm so glad. I'm so glad we're 

[00:05:08] Meghan Houle: friends now. It's great. I know. Me too well, let's chat early on, career highlights as if my memory serves me. You didn't really set out early on to get into luxury fashion, right? Did you have a much different path starting off in college? Tell us about some of those early career highlights.

[00:05:25] Meghan Houle: What did you think you wanted to do when you were first picking out your career? 

[00:05:30] Aliza Licht: Absolutely no, what I'm doing today is so different than what I thought I was doing. So first of all, child of the eighties, when, you know back then, for those of you who were much younger, we used to wallpaper our rooms in magazine spreads and mine was wallpapered and Vogue.

[00:05:44] Aliza Licht: And Harper is an L in every fashion spread you can think of. And I loved fashion, but I didn't know fashion could be a career. I didn't know about creative industries in that sense. And honestly, when I had my guidance counselor meeting in high, , it was very like lawyer, teacher, doctor, you know, all of the standard paths I sent out to be a doctor, a plastic surgeon, and I really went hard on that path.

[00:06:10] Aliza Licht: Graduating with a degree in neurobiology and physiology, the whole thing, interning in hospitals. And at one point I did an internship, and this is the irony. I was like, I cannot wear a mask all day. And of course we've been wearing masks all days, you know, during the. , which is so funny. So I made a really hard pivot and told my parents, I don't wanna be a doctor anymore.

[00:06:34] Aliza Licht: It was a whole thing and decided I wanna work for a fashion magazine. Mm-hmm. . So I started on that path in fashion. After graduation, I was like, I'm gonna get an internship. I landed, wanted Harper's Bazaar, and then went on to do accessories editorial at Mary Claire Magazine, and then moved over to corporate PR in the late nineties and got my first start at D K N Y.

[00:06:56] Aliza Licht: Mm-hmm. And it's 

[00:06:57] Meghan Houle: so funny you say that. I mean, I remember the wallpaper days. To go back on that comment. I had a full on inside my closet, like top to bottom. I used to cut out KDS ads. Remember the KDS ads? ? No, but that was not my inspo. Oh my God. But I guess I was like basic . Fancy as you, so, and then I, I definitely elevated myself throughout the years.

[00:07:21] Meghan Houle: Yes, yes. Of landing here and then at Louis Futon. So like pinch me from kids to LV thinking. You have such an incredible story in fashion and I wanted to dig in as in terms of your pivot to fashion. I know you touched on some of your early jobs, but maybe what was the most memorable job pivot you? Far and then talk about how it looks so glamorous on the outside, but I don't know if it's always necessarily the case inside in terms of like the fashion world.

[00:07:48] Meghan Houle: Okay, so first 

[00:07:49] Aliza Licht: of all, the pivot from magazine Life to corporate PR I think was the first big pivot. And why it's important is I had no experience in pr. Mm. And in Leave Your Mor, my first book I speak about when you're trying to make pivot, you really need to. about the perimeter of what your job is. And in magazine editorial, who did I speak to all day?

[00:08:17] Aliza Licht: I spoke to PR people. Mm-hmm. So I started modeling behavior and I started to think like, okay, who do I like to work with? What do I like about what they do? Who sucks at their job? And when a PR role, a junior PR role opened up at D K N Y, I was like, oh my God, this is my chance to break into corporate. , but of course I have nothing on my resume that's gonna give anyone the inkling to offer me a job.

[00:08:43] Aliza Licht: So what I did was really leverage credibility in the industry. And I called my friend Gretchen Gunlock, who at the time was an editor at Town and Country, and I said, listen. , there's this role at D K Y. I think I can do it. I have zero experience. Mm-hmm. . But maybe if you an editor who's basically like the client, right?

[00:09:01] Aliza Licht: If you recommend me, maybe they will be more open to considering someone. And they did. Because you know what? When you don't have experience, the best thing you can lean on is your outsider's point of view on something that you actually do know. But from the reverse. . 

[00:09:18] Meghan Houle: Wow. So nugget one. For anyone listening in such great advice, that's networking 1 0 1.

[00:09:23] Meghan Houle: Really honing in on your contacts and saying, Hey, here's what I know I'm good at. I maybe need a little, another little outside voice to be able to like get me in touch with the right people, advocate for me a bit, and then I can take it from there. So that's amazing. What happened when you got connected with the D K N Y team?

[00:09:40] Meghan Houle: How did that job interview go? What was the process of making. , big pivot. And where did you land? 

[00:09:46] Aliza Licht: Well, first of all, I do wanna say that I was 22 and when D K N Y called to interview me mm-hmm. , I was like, Meryl Streep level, Oscar winning actress . I was like, oh my God, thank you so much for thinking of me.

[00:09:59] Aliza Licht: Like as if I didn't orchestrate the entire thing. Like I told Gretchen, don't say that we spoke. No, I, you know, I got the job and one of the things that I think made. Very successful. Early on in my role was I always had an entrepreneurial mindset. So I would look to see the white space, what weren't we doing?

[00:10:21] Aliza Licht: Why were we giving magazines shoe closets of 50 shoes that they never shot for editorial? So I started making really, really bold moves and bold changes and you know, management noticed and I got promoted over and over again. Mm-hmm. . . You know, I stayed there 17 years. I ended up as Senior Vice President of Global Communications overseeing Donna Care in New York, the luxury label, and to him, 

[00:10:46] Meghan Houle: yeah.

[00:10:48] Meghan Houle: In that time period, is there a year that stands out for you where you finally felt you were aligned with what you wanted to do within your career, at least while you were there? Because I know that there was a big pivot from d k. . Well, 

[00:11:01] Aliza Licht: you know, for me, being a publicist for that long mm-hmm. , I loved being a publicist.

[00:11:06] Aliza Licht: You know, for those of you who don't know fashion pr, it entails obviously working with editors, like I said, getting our products into the magazines, producing runway shows if your brand has a runway show, working with tons of celebrities on award season and red carpet dressing. So, So much glam. Mm-hmm.

[00:11:25] Aliza Licht: And I realized I didn't answer your question earlier about the non glam part. Yeah. I mean, a lot of manual labor like hacking and unpacking boxes and garment bags, and you know, this job is, is pretty 24 7. Mm-hmm. Especially back then there was no, like, you didn't do it. Like you tucked your email throughout all hours of the night on the.

[00:11:46] Aliza Licht: you worked all the time. Yep. And it was an adrenaline rush. I mean, yeah, if someone in la, if it was the Golden Globes and the dress wasn't there, like, trust me, I was on the phone with FedEx figuring out where that dress was for hours on a Saturday. It didn't matter. Mm-hmm. . . 

[00:12:02] Meghan Houle: And in terms of your little MI mystery project that was coming through, tell us about D K N Y PR Girl, your Twitter explosion.

[00:12:11] Meghan Houle: Yeah. I know there's an awesome, awesome story there, but I mean, because you've been growing up in communications before all these social media platforms were available, this evolution of how we all connect and these options and things, what was the inspiration behind creating? the account, and I know you were sort of like Gossip Girl behind the scenes, right?

[00:12:30] Meghan Houle: It was kind of 

[00:12:31] Aliza Licht: like that. Yeah, it really was. I mean, this is, you know, for everyone listening, you have to take your mind back to 2009 when brands had Facebook pages, no one really had anything else on social media. Instagram didn't exist yet, right? Yeah, yeah. So we were as a team, sitting around in a marketing meeting talking about this, you know, newish platform called.

[00:12:53] Aliza Licht: and what would it mean for our brands to be on it? And you know, as a publicist, I'm always thinking about the narrative and thinking about crisis comms, and I was like, well, you know what? If our Twitter handle is at Donna Karen, people are gonna think that she's tweeting. And then who's writing those tweets?

[00:13:10] Aliza Licht: How are we navigating that? It can turn into just a disaster. So we had to put our brand's story through a different lens. Gossip Girl was all the rage back then. Mm-hmm. and I, I just said like, wait, like why can't we just model it after Gossip Girl and have an anonymous character? Like no one know needs to know who is tweeting and we can call it D K Y P R Girl.

[00:13:33] Aliza Licht: And everyone was like, oh, that's interesting. And then they're like, well, what would the avatar be? And I'm like, well, we could have like a fashion illustration. It could be really cute and. . Everyone liked the idea. I pitched it to our general counsel, Lynn Yuan, who is amazing, but also super strict. And she's like, this sounds great, but Ali, you're the only person who can tweet.

[00:13:54] Aliza Licht: And I was like, okay. I didn't even know what it meant. I mean, obviously it's initiation by fire, so. We had our agency make the account and they said they're gonna write up tweets and they're gonna send to me for approval. And I was like, wait, what? No. Like I'll do it like it's mm-hmm. , you know, so it just became like, I basically like was a hurricane and I just took over the whole thing and I was anonymous though, so.

[00:14:18] Aliza Licht: only, like literally under 10 people knew that it was me and I was anonymous for two years and it became massively huge. Mm-hmm. with this, I mean, it, it really was really a gossip girl. Yeah. Until 2011 when I came out as that person. 

[00:14:36] Meghan Houle: How did that happen? Was that something, I don't know the story behind that.

[00:14:39] Meghan Houle: How, how did you get discovered, so to speak? Yeah. Well I'll 

[00:14:43] Aliza Licht: tell you the impetus for that was, yeah, I was in my office one day and Teen Vogue called and I pick up the phone and they were like, Hey Eliza, we would love to have D Q Y PR girl come speak at the Teen Vogue Fashion Conference. and I'm like, well, she's anonymous , so I don't know how she would do that.

[00:15:00] Aliza Licht: And they were like, well, you know, it, it's like we really think it's a great opportunity, blah, blah, blah. And you know, I took the call, I took the message for D Q Y P girl. Mm-hmm. , and I hung up and I went into Patty Cohen and my, my boss in mentor's office, and I said, teen Vogue just called and they want Dqi period to speak.

[00:15:16] Aliza Licht: Now at the time I will. 2011, this is when all those social media conferences were popping up. Mm-hmm. like brands were like really talking about their strategies and we were the pioneer. We were the first brand to really humanize on social media. Certainly one of the first brands, I mean, D Q Y P R Girl is credited as being one of the first fashion influencers, even though we didn't know that word at the.

[00:15:40] Aliza Licht: Mm-hmm. . And I said to Patty, I'm like, you know, we're not getting the credit we deserve for being one of the firsts and really trailblazing this. Like, what if, what if it wasn't a secret anymore? Hmm. And we like toyed around with it. Yeah. And then Feta Harris, who I worked with, who was on the sales team, we were in meeting one day and she was like, why can't we leverage this more?

[00:16:03] Aliza Licht: Like, why is it a secret still? And then everyone started just getting behind the idea that like, mm-hmm. , maybe it doesn't have to be. Yeah. Fetas sister is a Hollywood producer and her name is Tracy Baker Simmons. And, and Feta connected me with her and we did this whole M T V style behind the scenes. You can still Google it.

[00:16:21] Aliza Licht: It's like the teach my PR girl reveal of my role at Fashion Week. Because the whole mantra of the Twitter handle was, I'm your PR girl living in New York City, so I was giving you a fly on the wall of view into my job. And my job was fashion, shoes and celebrity and all that. , that's what we did, and we revealed the person.

[00:16:41] Aliza Licht: And of course, that's what led to my book. Leave your Mark 

[00:16:43] Meghan Houle: then. Here you are. Yeah. Mm-hmm. . So what was that major move like? When did you know it was time to leave after 17 years? Well, you know, 

[00:16:51] Aliza Licht: 2013, I got my book deal. Amanda Englander, who called me cold one day in my office saying, I follow you on Twitter.

[00:17:00] Aliza Licht: I read your blog. By then, it was massively huge on Instagram, all the things. Mm-hmm. . And so she basically was like, I think you should write a blog. And I said, no, because I had a full-time job. I had two little kids. I'm like, how am I gonna do this? And then I realized that I. Scared to do it. And I pushed myself and I was like, someone's handing you a book deal.

[00:17:22] Aliza Licht: You can't say no because you're scared or you're lazy, or you're tired or whatever. So I pushed myself, the book came out in 2015, in May. Mm-hmm. . And then the company started changing, you know, Donna, Karen stepped down as chief designer. We got a new ceo. My mentor left, and the writing was on the wall. Yeah.

[00:17:41] Aliza Licht: I was like, this is not the same place that it was. Yeah. And it just, it was time to. . 

[00:17:47] Meghan Houle: Yep. And I'm sure a lot of people listening in can resonate with that, you know, happens over and over again. The people you work alongside with are no longer there. You feel it in your soul and you gotta make the best decision for yourself.

[00:17:57] Meghan Houle: Yeah. You know, so, and 

[00:17:58] Aliza Licht: actually in on brand, I will say, I'll drop a little teaser. Mm-hmm. , I tell. an anecdote about this. Mm-hmm. that ha, I've never revealed before, which is like the real tea on what went down. So you'll have to pick up on brand to hear about it. Oh my gosh. I 

[00:18:15] Meghan Houle: can't wait. Can't wait. All right.

[00:18:16] Meghan Houle: Before we go to a quick teaser break, one more question. What do you feel like has been the key to your successful career? 

[00:18:22] Aliza Licht: Pivots?

[00:18:25] Aliza Licht: I put in the work. Mm-hmm. , I am. Mm-hmm. , extremely dedicated to. going above and beyond in whatever it is I need to do. Yeah. I am really cognizant of my relationships and my network, and I show up for people. I love it all the time. Yeah. Without asking for anything in return. I love 

[00:18:49] Meghan Houle: that. I know, I think for, it's just, it, it, it has to be two-sided.

[00:18:54] Meghan Houle: I mean, I, I, you and I agree a lot on all these like networking and how to do it correctly, but I think just putting in the time, putting in the work and I'm sure we could have a whole podcast on that and all the things that are going on now, the quiet, quitting and all the topics we've been talking about the past couple of years.

[00:19:10] Meghan Houle: But you are so amazing when you show up on Instagram with all your little nuggets you drop daily of like being a working mom. Like early on in the two thousands we're like work life balance. What's that? Especially if you were in fashion, sorry, . Yeah. And you love what you do and you put in the time and here you are.

[00:19:27] Meghan Houle: So I mean it's, thank you. Kind of a rite of passage, right? So, well, like I said, on this podcast, A little teaser, a little cliff hanger moment. So going to put you on the spot, and then we're gonna go to a quick break and come back. So are you ready for this question? I'm ready. Okay. All right. So yes or no, do you think someone should leave a job today without having another job lined up?

[00:19:50] Aliza Licht: So the answer is no, unless it is really affecting your mental health. Ooh. Okay. And 

[00:19:56] Meghan Houle: with that, we will go to a quick break and dig in more when we get.

[00:20:16] Meghan Houle: Before the break, you said yes. No. So leaving a job if it's truly starting to affect your mental health is huge. But I dunno. Maybe give us your insider points of view of, okay, you're in a. Space if it's a bad work environment or you're just showing up one day and you're like, I don't wanna do this anymore.

[00:20:33] Meghan Houle: What is your take on that question? 

[00:20:36] Aliza Licht: My take is get paid to look for another job. I had this moment in a pastoral later on in life. Yeah. And I wanted to quit, like on the spot. Like I would tell my husband David every morning like, I'm quitting today. And he's like, just collect your paycheck. Mm-hmm. , and look for something else.

[00:20:55] Aliza Licht: And that honestly is the best advice. . When you switch your mindset and you think I'm being paid right now to look for another job, and you know that you are not on the clock because you're being paid, it's not a five alarm fire. You're not suffering mentally, like I said before. Yep, yep. You can look for a job during the workday and especially when people are remote now, it's so much easier to like jump onto an interview in the middle of the.

[00:21:26] Aliza Licht: I think that however long you think it's gonna take you to find a job, triple that time. True. 

[00:21:34] Meghan Houle: It's a process these days. It really is. Which we can get into, and I say it too, it was like if you can do an exploration from a place of security, like you said, getting paid, I mean, that's. That's the most ideal, unless your health and things are really suffering.

[00:21:47] Meghan Houle: So, or unless you're a trust fund 

[00:21:48] Aliza Licht: baby, and then all means quit. 

[00:21:50] Meghan Houle: Like, God bless. 

[00:21:51] Aliza Licht: God bless, what? Can you live with your parents? And it doesn't matter. Right, 

[00:21:54] Meghan Houle: right. Well, I, I mean, I, I know you have some other like really great tips and your beautiful face and spirit and energy was on Good Morning America.

[00:22:03] Meghan Houle: Major, major, major, major, which I know you, there's an incredible clip going on around there, which I was like furiously taking. But to have you now on the podcast and put you on the spot, what advice would you give to someone maybe looking to make a major career change in the new year? Like what are those top tips to kick off a job search if maybe give three?

[00:22:22] Aliza Licht: Yeah. Yes, and, and thank you. That G Amazing was. Exactly this. Mm-hmm. and well, first and foremost, make sure you are ready for your outreach. That means review what your LinkedIn page looks like. Read your bio. Think about if you are conveying who you really are, right this second. Right? Look at your resume.

[00:22:44] Aliza Licht: Make sure your executive summary at the top actually is the elevator pitch you want to convey. Look at your social media timelines. People think like, oh, whatever. They're gonna check LinkedIn. They're not gonna check. I. , they're gonna check everywhere. Everything. Mm-hmm. , you need to do a personal brand on it.

[00:22:59] Aliza Licht: Get yourself buttoned up before outreach. Yeah. The next thing is be strategic spraying your, my friend Lauren Mcy said this on my podcast and I was like, this is the best line ever spraying and praying your resume everywhere. Mm-hmm. is not a good luck. So Meek, a short list of companies that you really want to apply to and do the research to figure out who you might.

[00:23:23] Aliza Licht: Who knows someone there. You need someone to walk in your resume applying online, even though you must apply online anyway. It's a black hole. And the next thing is tell your network what you're trying to do. People assume that other people know I'm looking for a job. No one is thinking about you. Dory Clarke says this all the time.

[00:23:45] Aliza Licht: No one is thinking about you. It's not because they're mean. It's because they're thinking about themselves. Yeah. Give your network the tools to 

[00:23:54] Meghan Houle: support. . I love that. And is, as the saying goes too, no one's gonna know what you are doing or want to do unless you tell them. Exactly. We're not mind readers.

[00:24:01] Meghan Houle: maybe that's another Lisa topic for Instagram. No one is going to read your mind. Okay. Or you can do that one, Megan . What you could share. But speaking of minds, maybe for someone sitting, because after outreach and applications, Pray and pray and all the things you can get into a super negative mindset or really start to feel frustrated.

[00:24:22] Meghan Houle: Or maybe you get in and you're just like not nailing the interview or always being passed on. You know, what do we, you feel we can be doing better collectively? We out there in candidate process world in the interviews to stand out. What do you feel it really takes to get noticed these days? 

[00:24:39] Aliza Licht: I think one of.

[00:24:40] Aliza Licht: easiest questions to mess up. Mm-hmm. , and I think every single hiring manager will ask this, why do you wanna work here? Mm-hmm. and candidates respond. I've had this in my experience and I've hired many, many people. They respond to that question with their experience and how they wanna take that experience and bring it to the.

[00:25:06] Aliza Licht: That's not what is being used. Yeah. Hiring managers, especially if you work in fashion or beauty where brand matters and sort of drinking the punch matters, they wanna know why you wanna work at their company. That means you need to say like, I have been a fan of this brand for years. Maybe you're a customer.

[00:25:31] Aliza Licht: Maybe you've experienced the brand personally. Maybe you've. To events they've had, like why do you wanna work there? Because at the end of the day, on paper, there's hundreds if not thousands of people who have the exact same experience or can do the job. So why are we gonna choose you? We're gonna choose you because you really love this brand and you understand it, and you've been immersed in it as a consumer.

[00:26:00] Aliza Licht: as an outsider and you're passionate about the mission of that company, and people mess that up all the time. . They 

[00:26:06] Meghan Houle: do. Well, I have to tell you a little story about me cause I don't know. People know, but they don't. So can I tell you early on, my first fashion quote unquote fashion career job was at wet seal.

[00:26:17] Meghan Houle: Do you remember Contempo casual wet seal? Yes. Yes. . So I'm like from wet seal to Louis Vuitton. Now 

[00:26:24] Aliza Licht: we're Ken's wet seal. So far we're not doing well. Megan, thank God you landed 

[00:26:28] Meghan Houle: somewhere. Good heads to disposable, flammable clothing, to Louis Woodton fashion house. But I will tell you, I mean, talk about imposter syndrome.

[00:26:36] Meghan Houle: Okay, so in between, I did work on this very chic Newberry Street boutique back in the day called Jasmine Solo, which was kind of like an intermix of its day. So if you remember the Rock and Republics and the true religions back in the day, the $300 plus jeans, and now you can buy Rock and Republics at Kohl's.

[00:26:54] Meghan Houle: I'm like, oh my God, what is life? But I mean, it was that hu the Juicy Trance. Rebecca Beason, Isabella Fior Gwen's Lamb Collection. When I landed at Newberry Street, I, I felt like I made it for sure . But that was, I think what nailed my question was like, why you wanna work here? And I. Spending hours and hours just researching because as a woman coming up in her career and saving money, I wasn't quite yet ready to invest in a leather goods piece.

[00:27:22] Meghan Houle: But you know what? As that aspirational client, I'm like, there's so much rich, rich history and heritage, and just kind of went in and said, here is what I just love about the brand and the mission and inspiration in the story. We'll have to ask my old regional why she took a chance at me. But I'd love that because I think a lot of people, as an executive recruiter, Coached and try to get to that question too, but you have to have an authentic why of why you wanna work there.

[00:27:45] Meghan Houle: Yes, and I'll tell you that definitely knocks a lot of people outta the process. I can't tell you how many times I've heard from hr, well, I didn't really get a sense they wanted to work here, so Right. There you go. Yeah. Great. It's like the candidate wants 

[00:27:57] Aliza Licht: a job, but it's like, no, we don't want someone who just wants a job.

[00:28:00] Aliza Licht: We want someone who wants to work 

[00:28:02] Meghan Houle: here. In your opinion, how do you feel like hiring has changed since the pandemic? . 

[00:28:07] Aliza Licht: Well, we used to just hire people we were friends with, and now we have to go through an entire process of inclusive interviewing, which I think is great change. Mm-hmm. , but also makes it the process a lot longer.

[00:28:17] Aliza Licht: Right. Oh, 

[00:28:18] Meghan Houle: totally. So get ready. That's another thing that really frustrates people, but it's like, yeah, we gotta go through it. It's not just a one and done interview or kind of like a backdoor interview. And I think companies are taking. Risks of hiring people outside the box, unless you can really show up and present yourself in a way or anything else you're seeing or maybe why it's taking so long, or any thoughts on that?

[00:28:42] Meghan Houle: Well, 

[00:28:42] Aliza Licht: I think first of all, most companies have internal processes where you find, let's say five to 10 candidates you like As the first hiring manager, I have clients who then those five to 10 people need to then, Five to 10 other people in the company. Right. And then there's a consensus. So it's not just one meeting and you're like, oh, okay, I like this person.

[00:29:02] Aliza Licht: Let's put them to the next round. It's like, now let's have them meet our marketing person, or our, our brand design per whoever. Mm-hmm. . And it's, so, it's, it's time consuming. And I think, you know, candidates, you know, I, I feel for candidates because everyone, you know, the radio silence really kills and. , you have to check in and you have to continue to show interest, but you also need to understand that things take time.

[00:29:27] Aliza Licht: So one of the most important things you can ask as a candidate on an interview is where are you in the process? Like, I would love to understand your timeline. Mm-hmm. , when do you hope to have someone hired by? How many rounds of interviews are there? Those are all fair game questions. , try to paint the picture of how much time you're dealing with.

[00:29:45] Aliza Licht: Right. And I feel 

[00:29:46] Meghan Houle: like so many people are afraid to like ask those questions at the end. It's like, no, give yourself a peace of mind, especially if you're not working with a recruiter for someone who would be asking those questions on your behalf. Like know where you stand if you can. Absolutely. So I love that.

[00:30:01] Meghan Houle: Well, going back to our favorite topic, networking, which crowning you, the queen of that we hear all the time, and I, I know you reference this, like, oh, I don't wanna reach out to that person. I don't wanna bother them. Somebody so-and-so doesn't wanna hear from me, which you know, is complete BS and streams from truly a fear of reaching out to people.

[00:30:18] Meghan Houle: How important is it to be networking in your job search and give us some other tips on top of some of the things that you shared, but how do we ask for conversations from someone you're looking to network? . So my 

[00:30:30] Aliza Licht: friend Susan McPherson has a book, the Lost Art of Connecting. Mm-hmm. , and I think we need to replace the word networking.

[00:30:39] Aliza Licht: Mm-hmm. with relationship building because Yeah, I love it. You need to be reaching out to people all the time, but you need to not be asking for things. You need to be genuinely interested in other people. That is the way, love it. To build authentic relat. , 

[00:30:57] Meghan Houle: we're gonna call it relationship building.

[00:30:59] Meghan Houle: Absolutely. It's just asking for question or asking for something without anything in return and how can I help and serve you as well, so to speak. Yes. Yeah. Well, speaking all things, asking for connections, I know you and I got our start connecting through your Leave your Mark community and obviously following you for years and leave your mark.

[00:31:15] Meghan Houle: As I referenced early in the podcast, is not only your incredibly inspiring career story advice podcast, but also. Book and it literally changed the way I approached interviewing and putting myself out there in the professional world. Oh, thank you. It's a must read everyone. So tell me, what was the inspiration to write?

[00:31:31] Meghan Houle: Leave your mark. I know you were approached to write the book, but what was that inspiration? And tell us what are some of those takeaways somebody would get from reading 

[00:31:39] Aliza Licht: this book? . So the title is Leave Your Mark, land Your Dream Job, kill In Your Career, rock, social Media. Mm-hmm. . And when I was tweeting as DEA Q, my PR girl, remember I was trying to give people a fly on the wall view into my job in pr.

[00:31:55] Aliza Licht: So I started tweeting under the hashtag PR 1 0 1, and I found myself dishing out career advice mostly to aspiring public. to give them an inkling into how you break into fashion, how you navigate pr, what does it all mean? And a lot of people would tweet back saying, well, you know, that's great advice for any industry.

[00:32:18] Aliza Licht: Mm-hmm. . And that became a constant. So when I did get approached to write a book, Amanda gave me carp blanche. She was like, we love your voice, we love your writing style. You can write about whatever you want. And of course that's the scariest comment ever cuz you're like, okay, well what am I gonna write about?

[00:32:35] Aliza Licht: Right? And I realized that there were so many, and when I say so many housings of people DMing me every day saying, wow, I would love your advice. Can I take you to coffee? Can I pick your brain? How do I break into fashion? What do I do? Yeah. You know, blah, blah, blah. and I realized, you know what, if I can write a career mentorship and pay forward what I've learned, it'll be my way of grabbing coffee with everyone.

[00:33:02] Aliza Licht: Which is why the cover of Leave Your Mark is a coffee cup was red lipstick because that's my mark every single day. Yeah. They wear red lipstick every single day. And Jenna Blackwell, who is the introduction of my book, who I still work with, I've worked with her at three different. . She was one of the D Q I PR girl Twitter followers who DMed and said, I would love to work in fashion.

[00:33:25] Aliza Licht: I live in Texas. I sell artificial turf. I was like, oh my God. If there was a case study ever for like how you pivot? Mm-hmm. , this is the story. So I urge you to pick up, lead your mark and read what happened and how she was. To go from selling artificial turf to dressing celebrities. Love with me. Love it.

[00:33:47] Aliza Licht: You know you can do it. You have to be smart about how you connect with people. Yeah. 

[00:33:54] Meghan Houle: So good. And to pivot into this next book, I feel like I also have heard in other podcast conversations you were really hell bent on not writing another book, , but I know this one is so timely and so needed. So what did it take for you to get writing again and what can we expect from this new book on brand?

[00:34:12] Meghan Houle: Give us a little more teaser there. The story behind. Coming forward. I want 

[00:34:15] Aliza Licht: people to know that I am a very positive person. you are. Yes. However, it seems like I shut down a lot of ideas very quickly. I'm very decisive. So yes, I was like, I am never writing another book. This is a nightmare process. I love my book.

[00:34:30] Aliza Licht: I'm grateful for a readers. I'm so happy I did it, but never again. But it's also a little bit like having a child. Mm-hmm. and I have two children, so therefore you can understand, you forget the pain and you go through it Again. This book I have to. . It is almost ironically exactly what I prescribe, which is what you put out into the world comes back to you.

[00:34:53] Aliza Licht: Mm-hmm. and my mantra even. And leave your mark. The idea of how you're showing up, right? Yeah. How you're showing up in your job, how you're showing up in your personal life, how you present. All of those things contribute to your personal brand. And I was on the phone with a psychic friend. who asked me and of nowhere, she's like, are you gonna write another book?

[00:35:12] Aliza Licht: And I was like, absolutely not. And she was like, I think you are. And I was like, Heather, come on. I'm not writing another book, but just for fun, what would it be on? And she's like personal branding and didn't even skip a beat. Yeah. Like just said it. Yeah. And I was like, oh, that sounds like me button. No.

[00:35:28] Aliza Licht: And then I swear this is a true story. Three weeks later, Amanda, my former editor from Leave Your Mark texts me out of nowhere and she's like, would you be willing to meet a literary. and I was like, why? And she was like, well, so I could buy your second book. And I was like, I don't have a second book. What are you talking about?

[00:35:48] Aliza Licht: She's like, well, no, you're gonna write it and then I'm gonna buy it. And I'm like, Amanda, for fun. What is my second book on? She's like, Personal writing. And by the way, this was on text message. Yeah. And I see the three dots moving. And then in all caps, she writes personal writing. And then I'm like, my gosh, damn, that psychic was good.

[00:36:05] Aliza Licht: And by the way, if anyone wants the psychics information, DM me on Instagram. 

[00:36:09] Meghan Houle: I know that is freaking crazy. It's universal 

[00:36:11] Aliza Licht: alignment. It is universal alignment. But when I really got comfortable with the idea, and of course I met the literary agent, Alyssa Reen, who I love at W W M E. . I f thought to myself, this is the perfect time, because I believe so strongly that people need to own their narrative and they need to understand how to position themselves, especially in the world we live in now, which is hybrid and virtual.

[00:36:38] Aliza Licht: You need to know how you're showing up in every single medium. And the lines between personal and professional are so blurred more than ever. Yeah, and people need to think about. How they're messaging and more than anything, like how they're being perceived. Yeah. So on brand shape, your narrative share, your vision shift, their perception is really a comprehensive and fun read.

[00:37:04] Aliza Licht: It picks up right from leave your mark where it left off. It has my personal journey of my own rebrand, and then I tapped amazing expert contributors. It's not. Social media, unless that's what you want to do. It's really a holistic view. Mm-hmm. on how you're showing up in this world and owning 

[00:37:21] Meghan Houle: your narrative.

[00:37:23] Meghan Houle: Right. Yeah. So I love that. Just send me a case and I'm gonna give this by every single client I work with. So saying I cannot wait to read it. Well, before I let you go, just a couple of little fun questions. So what's been the best career advice that you've ever gotten? Or maybe something that someone has said to you that's really stuck with you throughout your career?

[00:37:42] Aliza Licht: My grandma Hil. Show me your friends, and I'll tell you who you are, so who you surround yourself with. . 

[00:37:50] Meghan Houle: It absolutely does. And I know you talk a lot about doing the edit. The friends edit the life edit, so yes. And 

[00:37:55] Aliza Licht: I actually, that's true. I have a term for the friend edit or like the life edit. I call it exfoliation.

[00:38:02] Aliza Licht: So you can ex exfoliate people in your life that no longer serve you. Yeah, 

[00:38:07] Meghan Houle: a hundred percent. Did a lot of that over the past couple years. And like me, you are not a fan of resolutions, but instead a couple questions. So what do you want to start doing this year and what do you wanna stop 

[00:38:17] Aliza Licht: doing? . Well, my theme for 2023 is impact.

[00:38:22] Aliza Licht: Mm-hmm. . So I'm being very conscious of where I'm putting my energy and thinking through really from like a more of a marketing perspective of like, what is the ripple effect of that action? Why am I doing it, and what do I hope the outcome is? And if I don't see the outcome as being meaningful in some way.

[00:38:45] Aliza Licht: Then I'm not gonna do that thing even maybe if I did that thing all the time, I'm gonna stop doing that thing. So I'm being really thoughtful because we only have so much time in the day, and I know I do have a lot of things that I do, by the way, podcasting. So freaking time consuming, as you know. Yeah.

[00:39:00] Aliza Licht: So I really need to think through where I'm putting my energy and I'm gonna work out more. I'm getting up there in age and I really need. Care more about health and that's really, that's it. 

[00:39:13] Meghan Houle: What's on your plate for 2023? Any exciting plans besides this big book launch? Anything else you got up your sleeve?

[00:39:20] Meghan Houle: Well, 

[00:39:21] Aliza Licht: I will say that, . I am also starting to work with people on their personal brands. So on my website, eliza lick.com, you can go two ways. You, if you're like a business, you go one way. If you're a human, you go a different way. So that is something new. I did it like casually before, but now it's. It's real.

[00:39:43] Aliza Licht: And then on a personal note, my son Jonathan got into Wharton and we are so proud and we'll be moving him in in August. So that's gonna be a big yay. A 

[00:39:54] Meghan Houle: big moment. Yeah. Aw, congratulations. This so awesome. So awesome. Well, I'm stealing this from you, as I know you asked this at the end of your podcast, so I'm turning the tables.

[00:40:04] Meghan Houle: How do you wanna leave your mark Alisa? 

[00:40:07] Aliza Licht: That's amazing. Well, first of all, my kids are my work, right? So I am really focused on making sure they're the best, most successful humans. One of the things that's really important to me is that they have incredible work ethic, and they do. And so that's number one.

[00:40:24] Aliza Licht: And then professionally, you know, I really wanna help people understand how to market themselves. Yeah. There's too many people that I know. Who are successful in their career, but not really getting the credit they deserve. And too many people are afraid to take up that space in the world. And I think my buck on Rand will help people feel more comfortable to do that.

[00:40:48] Meghan Houle: I love it. Oh, I can't wait. Well, thank you for all of that and all of your incredible advice, and I feel like you have a good one stop shop where everyone can kind of find you and engage with you and we'll link everything. But what's the best way for someone to reach out to. , 

[00:41:03] Aliza Licht: honestly, Instagram dm, . 

[00:41:04] Meghan Houle: Yeah, you're very responsive.

[00:41:06] Meghan Houle: So 

[00:41:06] Aliza Licht: yeah, I mean, it's just easy. I'm on there all the time. Of course, you. , my website, eliza lyft.com is another way. But 

[00:41:14] Meghan Houle: yeah, and I love your new website and there's a lot of comprehensive ways to work with Elisa. So we'll link everything, as I said, and thank you so much for being here with us today and for all your valuable and priceless career advice and for also sharing your career story.

[00:41:29] Meghan Houle: So everyone listening in, Scroll down below, click the pre-order for her book, . Go by, leave your mark on brand. I mean, you know, do a little reading as we kick off the year and we'll get all those in the show notes. And I mean, these books leave your mark for short sand the test of time, and I promise you you'll reference them, you over and over for years to come.

[00:41:50] Meghan Houle: So Ali, I am so grateful for you and all your mentorship and your advice you've given me. You are generous. You're. Soul and I really cannot wait to continue to see all it is to come for you in so many ways, and for our walls to continue to collide. You are simply the best. So thank you. Oh, Megan, 

[00:42:07] Aliza Licht: thank you.

[00:42:07] Aliza Licht: Thank you so much. Thank you for these wonderful questions. You're a great podcast host and you too are an incredible resource and inspiration for so many, so I'm honored to be on your show and yeah, can't wait to do more stuff together. Yay. Thank you so much. 

[00:42:26] Meghan Houle: Thank you. Thank you for tuning into another episode of Pivot With Purpose.

[00:42:30] Meghan Houle: If you'd love this episode, please be sure to share it with your network. Leave us a review in a five star rating. If you are enjoying these pivot conversations and wanna keep the personal development going as an executive recruiter and master career and clarity coach, join my community and be the first to have access to all of my content to set you up for success in whatever stage you are in career-wise, and get some inspir.

[00:42:56] Meghan Houle: Be the first to know about local and virtual events I'll be hosting as well, so maybe you can join me in person. Head over to www.meganwho.com/community or click the link in the show notes to get on the list. 

[00:43:11] Announcer: Pivot With Purpose with Host Megan Houle is a Fashion Consort production, and part of the FC Podcast Network.

[00:43:19] Announcer: It is produced and directed by Phil k a Corin, and a special thank you to Spencer. For our theme music, learn More at Pivot with purpose podcast.com And be sure to follow us on Instagram at Pivot with purposes podcast.