🎧 Listen to the episode here → YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
⭐️ HELLO STARS ⭐️
I’m over six years into my windy career now, and I still think about a moment from my first day at Google. My manager asked me a question that should’ve been easy:
“So, what do you want out of this?”
What do you mean what do I want??? I’ve spent my entire life preparing to get HERE. This is the dream job. I assumed YOU would hand me the roadmap, the five-year plan, and the next promotion timeline?? I’m just grateful to be in the room!!!
And that is the trap.
Women are taught to be “happy to be here.” But in today’s job market, that passive mindset will get you left behind. I learned very quickly that I had to step into the driver’s seat, so I got clear on my career vision, through role pivots, career plot twists, and a lot of very lucky-but-not-accidental moments, here we are!
Thank GOD that question got me together, because the truth is that following my own vision is the only reason I now have a career I fully control.
And the more rooms I’ve been in — Google, Northwestern, Wharton — the clearer it’s become: the people with the most enviable careers aren’t the ones who followed the rules perfectly. They’re the ones who stayed true to their vision.
Which brings me to the staggering part.
I was invited to LinkedIn’s career fair last week, and I share the data in this episode because…we are very clearly not playing the same career game we were even a year ago.
The market is shifting fast, and ambitious women can’t afford to respond by trying to be perfect. We have to respond by getting strategic and taking action.
In todays episode, we cover the two keys to surviving and thriving this chaotic moment in career history: becoming HIGH AGENCY and strong PERSONAL BRANDING.
In the second half of this episode, I’m joined by Julia Cabral (Senior Director of Product Marketing at LinkedIn & a fabulous LinkedIn creator) — a corporate girl who transitioned from finance → marketing — and she gives the most helpful, low-pressure ideas for building a personal brand on LinkedIn (even if you do not consider yourself “a creator”).
🎧 Listen to the episode here → YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
⭐️Join Ambitious Material Girl World⭐️
⭐️Your 7-Day High Agency Career Roadmap⭐️
You’re a grown woman, so let’s make a grown woman roadmap to cultivate the career of your dreams. Here’s the plan…
Day 1: Name what you actually want (30 min)
Write 10 sentences starting with:
“If I could design my career like a lifestyle, it would feel like…”
(energy, pace, environment, autonomy, money, meaning)
Day 2: Audit your real skills (20 min)
List:
5 things people always come to you for
5 things you do better than most
3 things that feel weirdly effortless
Circle the ones that create results (not just traits).
Day 3: Pick ONE skill to build this quarter (15 min)
Not “fix everything.” One skill that creates leverage.
Day 4: Build a proof artifact (45 min)
Proof > potential. You need to demonstrate that you create value for the people that you work with and for. Create one:
mini case study
side project
before/after
“here’s what I tried + what happened”
Day 5: LinkedIn glow-up (30 min)
Make your profile your digital front door:
verify your profile
add skills + (where possible) verification
update your Experience section to show impact
Day 6: Upskilling plan
First, pick 4 skills you want to improve on this year and dedicate 1 quarter to learning more about them. (Mine are: AI, Selling, Public Speaking, and People Management.) You can research some courses on LinkedIn Learning and schedule some time to commit to them.
If a course is too overwhelming, to easily get started, pick one book that teaches the skill you’re interested in and commit to finishing it in 7 days. Some ideas:
one book on selling better
or communication
or negotiation / leadership
A single audiobook in a week is a major upgrade and will signal to you that you’re ready to start learning more.
Day 7: Share one thing (10 min)
Post one small nugget on LinkedIn:
something you learned this week
something you’d tell your past self (Julia gives great prompts at the 30 min mark of the episode!)
a perspective shift from this week
It’s not about going viral. It’s about owning your narrative!
Journal prompts to make this personal
When do I feel most energized at work, and what am I doing in those moments?
What drains me weekly that I’ve been treating like “normal”?
What am I currently measuring that’s the wrong metric for my real value?
What skill would make me feel 20% more powerful in my career right now?
What does “agency” look like in my actual life (not in theory)?
If I stopped trying to look perfect, what would I build instead?
If you do all of these and post on LinkedIn, I’ll connect with you and repost. Just DM me on LinkedIn here!!
Remember, you’re too smart to not love yourself.
xo,
Alexis
