Personal Branding - Q&A With Jeanne McPhillips

I had the opportunity to chat with Jeanne McPhillips recently - professor at NYU, author, podcast host and mentor. I especially wanted to speak with her because of the work she’s doing to advance women professionally.

Helen: Thanks for joining me, Jeanne! Let’s get right into it. What does your morning routine look like?

Jeanne: I’ve got two journals that I go to in the morning. One is to keep my fitness regimen on track (steps, goal workouts, eating, etc.), especially since I moved to the suburbs recently and I don’t walk around as much as I did living in the city. My fitness journal also has a space to express gratitude which is so important. The other journal is for ‘the fight’…the daily battle (not in a bad way) and priorities for the day. Those two journals keep me focused and on task especially since I work from home a lot.

Helen: Can you tell us about SuperGirls and your mission?

Jeanne: SuperGirls is a movement I started to empower young women coming out of college and starting their careers. It’s really about paying it forward and helping the baby sisters land a little softer than I did when I graduated. There’s something magical that happens when women help each other because we understand each other really well. I saw this white space…this gap where I could help and offer up a support network. I really believe that my purpose is to do this work through my online platforms, podcast and coaching programs.

Helen: Can you dive into a technique(s) that you use to help women land their dream job?

Jeanne: I like to help them define their personal brand in one word and then expand upon that. I get them thinking about what really motivates them, what differentiates them, and empower them to figure out what their ‘superpower’ is. I also find that it’s more powerful to work in a community setting.

Helen: How do you suggest we go about networking in general..especially for people who are kind of shy?

Jeanne: Well, half of landing your dream-job depends on networking. There’s a proven fact that over 80% of job seekers find their job through their network. It’s really about the ask - that’s the magic word. You can’t be scared and you can’t be ashamed - you’ve got to ask for what you want! We all have a larger network than we even realize. The best thing to do is write down 200 names of people that you know (friends, family, teachers…people from all walks of life), then send your top picks from that group a note. Tell them what you’ve been up to and ask for what you want. Then, make the offer on the backend to reciprocate - and you know that you have a lot to offer!

Helen: Let’s talk about setting goals. What are some tips for setting goals that make them more achievable?

Jeanne: There’s a book called ‘Design the Life You Love’ which uses design thinking to construct your life. So, you break down all the different parts of life that are important to you - personal time, fitness, culture, hobbies, art, pets, family. Then, you figure out a point of view for how you want your life to be based on your values. Figure out how it all works out on a daily basis and determine what you need to do to get to that point. I use vision boards a lot with the girls too.

Helen: I know you also teach entrepreneurship. For people who want to start their own business but don’t really know where to start, what advice would you give them?

Jeanne: So, the first thing I talk about with my students is defining their value proposition. Every business solves a problem. If you’re not solving a problem, then you’re ‘nice to have’ not ‘need to have’. Then, you figure out who your customer is, how you’re going to deliver your value proposition through your channels, figure out what key partners you’ll have, what your costs will be, and of course the revenue model (how you’ll actually make money). There’s an app called ‘Business Model Canvas’ which is great for this.

Helen: What’s something that you’ve ‘failed’ at and how did you overcome the circumstances?

Jeanne: When I first started SuperGirls, I had this big sexy vision of going to every college in the US and speaking on this topic. But I didn’t have a solid value proposition or a solid message…and when you’re a speaker you need to have that locked down. I was so excited about it that I rolled in head-first and went to this speaking bootcamp and went all-in as a sponsor.

There’s nothing wrong with going all in, but your idea should be grounded with some traction before doing so. I made a splash and my presentation was good, but at the end of the day I didn’t have anything to sell. Basically, I went public without having anything to sell. A lot of times, entrepreneurs will do that and it works but I consider that endeavor as a fail because it was expensive and I came out of there without a revenue model being solidified. What did work out was meeting a lot of people in my space that I was able to network with and then go on to develop my podcast because of those connections. After that, I started to get a lot more deliberate about SuperGirls and what it was going to look like in the world.

Helen: Finally, at the end of the day, what motivates you?

Jeanne: When I feel like I’m helping someone I get fired up! That’s my superpower. I just want to do good in the world. People will encourage me and remind me that I’m really making a difference and that keeps me going. Also, looking up to people who inspire me - like J.Lo haha! She’s a force of nature.

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You can listen to Jeanne’s podcast HERE on iHeartRadio and click HERE to visit her website.

Let us know what your favorite takeaways are from this interview! We’d love to know how you plan to take yourself into the next phase of your career, or whatever you are working on improving!

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