CategoryCareer Advice

6 Lessons Learned from My First-Time Speaking at a Large Conference

Public speaking is scary. Talking in front of large amount of people or being the center of attention isn’t necessarily my thing. I also admittedly talk fast and wasn’t blessed with the natural charisma of awesome public speakers that I look up to like Brene Brown, Gary Vaynerchuk and Scott Stratten. Yet, I’m not one to succumb to my fears often. When you give into your fears...

3 Life Lessons Learned From Brene Brown’s SXSW Keynote

A photo posted by Jessica Malnik (@jmalnik) on Mar 12, 2016 at 1:15pm PST For those who don’t know, I’m a huge Dr. Brene Brown fan. Two of her books, Daring Greatly and Rising Strong have fundamentally shaped my 20s to date. So when I found out she would be a keynote speaker at SXSW this year, I was more than a little excited. Her keynote definitely didn’t disappoint. This...

My Word For 2016: Mindfulness

What’s your word for 2016? It’s becoming an annual tradition to ask myself this question at the start of each year. Last year’s word was vulnerability.  And the year before were change and resiliency. Looking back, I feel like 2015 was finally the year that I gave myself permission to start living life on my own terms instead of blindly following the scripts that everyone else...

What I’ve Been Reading: My 11 Favorite Posts From 2015

As 2015 comes to a close, it’s a great time to reflect on everything that has happened this year. Before I dive deep into my annual recap and choose my theme for 2016 (This year’s theme was Vulnerability), I like to look back and reread some of my favorite posts and books from the year. Last year, I wrote a recap of the best posts I read or listened to in the community management...

Best Career Advice For Community Managers

I’m lucky enough to have a few mentors in my career that have taken me under their wings and shared some awesome pieces of advice with me. I received this best piece of advice a few years ago. I’m only just now realizing how powerful and helpful it really is.  Ready for it. Your ultimate career goal should be to find a way to remove yourself from all the current tasks you are working...

New To Community Management? 15 Community Pros Share Their Best Tips For Brand New Community Managers

I stumbled into community management purely by accident about 6 years ago. I didn’t go to college for community management or marketing or even public relations. (I was a journalism major if you were curious). In fact, when I was 21, I still thought I wanted to be a newspaper editor. Thankfully, I had enough foresight to realize that working 80 hours a week writing mainly obits and stories...

My Theme For 2015: Vulnerability

It’s becoming an annual tradition for me to write a post in the beginning of January reflecting on the past year, and choosing a theme to live by for the year ahead. Last year’s theme was about change and resiliency.  As I look back at 2014, I look back at a year that has honestly been the most rollercoaster of a year that I’ve ever had. Filled with some serious high points...

Reflections on Life 4+ Years Out Of College

To be honest, last week was one of the more challenging weeks I’ve experienced in quite awhile. Filled with some extreme highs (including my one year work-anniversary. 🙂 ), as well as a few stressful lows, spread out over the first, full work week of 2014. Some of the lows I experienced this past week would be enough to send my younger-naive self of even just 2 years ago to go curl up in...

The Four Letter Word That Is Destroying Your Career And Life (And’s it’s not what you are thinking)

When you think of fun, four-letter words that need to be banned, you generally think of the colorful adjectives and nouns that would get you sent to the principal office back in your younger years. But, there’s another FOUR LETTER word that’s much more commonplace, yet equally detrimental. It’s a word I can guarantee every single one of us says on a near-daily basis...

Three Early Career Lessons From Legends of The Hidden Temple

How Young Pros Can Piece Together Their Own “Shrine of the Silver Monkey?” The first few years after graduating from college can be a daunting time for anyone. It’s a time of defining (sometimes scary) life decisions. Job searching, navigating that all important first job, and maybe moving to a new city and finding new friends. Each of us handles this unsettling time a little...