Resilience, resilience, resilience.
When I was a kid it was considered unacceptable for me as a young girl to punch anyone. I was told not to hit, not to get into scrappy fights.
One day three boys around the ages of eight to 10 years old decided to pick on my older brother who was happily hanging out nearby waiting for my mum to finish her grocery shop. I saw what was going on and with all my might, as a seven-year-old stood in front of my nine-year-old brother, I told them, “Don’t you pick on my brother”. In that moment of surprise they backed off and left. It was a great lesson in understanding that I could rally against the norm.
When I was young, I was taught to compete differently from boys (physically and mentally). Although this not done intentionally, by making exceptions, we were not treated the same way and this carries through to our adult lives. We can compete on every level but we need to be more resilient to break through conditioning and expectation learnt over generations.
What this means is that I have experienced working with, and for all types of people, along the way. One of my first jobs was in the magazine industry where I witnessed a powerful person throw a hot cup of coffee over an assistant (there was no HR department).
I was at the beginning of my career, excited and brimming with potential. I was told by my boss that I wasn’t cut out for the industry – simply because I didn’t fit their mold. My boss eventually moved on and my new boss appreciated my skills.
My new boss put me forward for an amazing promotion and I became the youngest ever advertising manager within the business. We doubled the media bookings going into the magazine over a two year period.
The type of people who worked in my team were self starters who wanted the opportunity to build a successful career. From the toughest of days at the beginning where I did question my ability to the great fun of building success for the magazine, it was a wonderful period. Understanding that if you put yourself out there and use your smarts that you can make a difference to a business.
I decided at the age of 28 years to move to agency side to develop my media planning and buying skills. To get a broader understanding of all media versus selling only one type of media.
It was an exciting time as I immersed myself into understanding and learning about how to deliver brand success based on placing a combination of different media within the mix.
Unfortunately the fun came to a halt when my agency lost our largest client and we didn’t have enough income rolling into the business to pay everyone salaries. I could have returned to the publishing house and my old team or I could strike out on my own and give it go.
With no money and no business plan, I did have a deep understanding of the frustrations that clients had shared with me over many years. I set about answering their frustrations.
To start with I paid a fee for a desk and team support from a larger agency. It went well and I started building the business. Then I needed my own dedicated team. The problem was that the larger agency didn’t want me build my own team. After three months of difficult conversations where we didn’t see eye to eye, I decided to move out.
At this time a senior person in the larger agency was furious as they had wanted me to roll into their business. He told me “I’m going to take all your clients away and I’m going to destroy your business”.
One by one he systematically visited all the clients I had worked hard to service over the past three years. Explaining that he could do their work for half the price. One by one my clients called me to say that they were all going to stick by me, that they wanted to see my business thrive. One client offered to pay a higher fee to guarantee my success.
What have I learnt? Compete as best as possible and create opportunities for my clients, my team, and the business will be rewarded and grow. The second thing I learnt, be confident in my capabilities and resilient on the journey to success.
Now we are a thriving business of 45 people with consistent growth since inception every single year.
My advice on International Women's Day would be to back yourself, don’t give up when it gets stormy, learn the lessons and thrive.
By founder of Hyland Media, Virginia Hyland