LEAVE YOUR MARK: Freshly Brewed Career Advice with Aliza Licht

Donald Robertson, better known as @drawbertson, went from Art School failure to Fashion's favorite artist. Known as the Andy Warhol of Instagram, his impressive career spans decades of roles that anyone would dream of having. In his early Canadian days, he worked on a tiny brand that no one had ever heard of called M.A.C. He spent years as a creative director going through Hearst's revolving door and later on lunching with the big wigs in the infamous Conde Nast cafeteria. Throughout it all, Donald has maintained his childish instincts and willingness to do absolutely anything. And he is not shy about poking harmless fun at some of Fashion's biggest players.  In this episode, you will learn how Donald ideates his big creative ideas, why if you feel good about presenting an idea, it's probably not big enough, and the reason you need to be comfortable selling yourself "lemonade stand" style no matter how successful you get. Donald shares his journey with contagious humor and humility, with lessons that anyone in any industry will learn from. 

New Power Media's Ann Shoket wears her intentions on her sleeve. Every year she chooses a "word of the year" as a reminder for the goals she wants to achieve and then creates a bracelet with that word on myintent.org. In Ann's world, failure doesn't exist. It's the experience, and the lessons learned that matter. In this episode, you will discover her tactics for goal setting, how to achieve what she has coined a "Big" life, complete with the freedom to live life your way. Ann shares how to get value out of any experience and lessons on picking yourself back up after rejection, time and again, to reach that north star eventually.

Like most businesses, the advertising industry has changed in many ways over the past seven decades - and Ginny Bahr has seen it all first hand. With 69 years of consecutive service, she is the original Mad Woman and the longest-serving employee at J. Walter Thompson, now known as Wunderman Thompson. Ginny's got spunk, clever wit, and spirit (think Betty White!) and at 93 is retiring not because she has to, but at her family's request that she take the time to slow down, just a little. Unlike other guests on LEAVE YOUR MARK, Ginny has already left her mark. In this episode, Ginny shares the secret to her longevity, how the industry has changed over seven decades, and the lessons she hopes to impart.

Jessica and Raman Kia are marriage goals. As the co-founders of RJK Project, a new towel brand called Havly, and parents to three children, including two with Autism, they give new meaning to the word hustle. Both digital marketers by trade, Raman, and Jessica have worked with some of the world's best brands. But as successful as their special ops marketing agency is, they always dreamed of creating their own brand, something sustainable that could ensure their boys' stability and security into adulthood. In this episode, you will learn how they became their own client and used their marketing superpowers to build Havly. They share how they balance work, start-up life, parenting during the Pandemic, and take turns running the daily relay race of life. Their relationship and passion for building a better future for their children are inspiring. One dollar from every Havly towel supports donorschoose.org, earmarked to fund the projects of special education teachers.

Samantha Ettus knows how to win, and she has spent her life showing other women how to achieve success and balance in each facet of their lives. After graduating from Harvard and Harvard Business School, Samantha founded Ettus Media Management, a personal branding firm. She soon realized that many executives she worked with didn't know how to optimize their work-life balance, so she became an expert on the subject. Pivoting away from her company, she became a best-selling author and spoke to thousands of women about the challenges they faced reentering the workforce, getting a more lucrative job, or balancing having a family and succeeding in a career. But being an author wasn't enough for her. Recognizing that men dominated the credit card processing industry, she decided she wanted to do more than offer advice and inspiration to women. She wanted to help them to achieve financial independence. In 2018, she launched Park Place Payments, an award-winning company that has revolutionized the credit card processing space. To date, she has helped hundreds of diverse women previously left out of the workforce find new careers despite having no financial experience. In this episode, you will learn the tactics Samantha recommends to live a full life in every slice of your life, why there's no room for guilt, and how to empower anyone to believe that they are unstoppable.

Bevy Smith was my first guest on LEAVE YOUR MARK, and she's back with even more humor and incredible insights. In her new inspiring book, Bevelations: Lessons from a Mutha, Auntie, Bestie, she captures her experience transitioning from a fashion advertising executive into a media personality, all while living a big, authentic, and unapologetic life. But what happens when everything you've wished for comes true and yet doesn't make you happy? In this episode, Bevy discusses the lessons of her new memoir, Bevelations. The book is no holds barred- just like Bevy. This episode is full of inspiring and worthwhile lessons on living an authentic life at any age. In her fifth decade, Bevy is living her best life yet, and as she says, it gets greater later.

Jyothi Rao was in her twenties when she realized that her nomadic life was unusual. Having lived on four continents before the age of 20, Jypothi credits her success to being adaptable to change. As the president of INTERMIX since 2014, she is responsible for crafting the brand's vision and developing the overall business strategy. In this episode, Jyothi shares why you learn the most when you go through the worst of times, why you should think of your career as a jungle gym more than a ladder, and how every experience allows you to collect superpowers. We also discuss what it's like to weather a major social media backlash, what you can learn from it, and the importance of standing up for what you believe in. 

Over two decades ago, Elizabeth Harrison found herself as the cover story of the December 1998 issue of New York magazine, titled Power Girls. The issue uncovered a new crop of power publicists. Today, she is listed in The Observer's PR Power 50. As a lifestyle expert and CEO, she leads H&S, a full-service agency known for setting the benchmark for groundbreaking, press-worthy experiences. In this episode, we go on Elizabeth's personal journey through her storied and exciting career. From the heyday of magazines and PR, how to create buzz today, manage a crisis, and the tactics she employs to keep her clients like American Express and Booking.com world-class. Most importantly, though, we go deep on her mission to set the standard for a diverse and thriving culture at her agency and how she's taking on corporate America to do the same.

Starting her beauty career as a cashier at a perfume store in West Philly, Jennifer Sullivan has made a name for herself in the beauty world as co-host of the award-winning beauty podcast Fat Mascara. But what happens when you have a crossroads career moment? How do you decide between the safe past and a bet on the future? Jennifer Sullivan decided to pass on a significant offer and plunge head-first into podcasting, a full-time role she could never have imagined. In this episode, we dissect the making of a successful podcast, how Jennifer and her co-host, Jessica Matlin, have applied their magazine editorial principles to their show format and recorded over 250 episodes to date. Jennifer shares tips on finding your voice, the importance of consistency, listening to guests and knowing your audience. We also uncover the myth of clean beauty,  the social bonding aspect of sharing beauty regimens, and Jennifer's desert island must-haves. Plus, what she knows now that she wishes she knew before.

Carrie Kerpen is a digital thought leader, and the co-founder and CEO of Likeable Media, an award-winning digital agency. With her husband Dave Kerpen, they masterminded one of the biggest social media stunts in 2006 that made national headlines-- their wedding. The couple exchanged vows in a sponsored wedding that generated $20 million in earned media, $100,000 in sponsorships, and $25,000 in donations. Their happy sponsors prompted the birth of their social media company. As the author of WORK IT: Secrets For Success From The Boldest Women In Business, Carrie has crowd-sourced a personal advisory board, and shares all the secrets she's learned to crushing your career.