# Brand Building: We dive deep into self-empowerment, personal branding, and workplace advancement in a digital-first world.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 11 Jun 2025, 32 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/d91e7e68-2561-4b50-9315-b2f9015e3ffc/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lorraine K. Lee. A LinkedIn Top Voice and author of Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career. Hosted by Rushion McDonald, the conversation dives deep into the power of presence, personal branding, and workplace advancement in a digital-first world. Lorraine shares tactical strategies and career-transforming insights from her own corporate journey and bestselling book. 📘 About Lorraine K. Lee • Career: Former founding editor at LinkedIn and Prezi • Author: Unforgettable Presence, a practical guide for professional visibility • Focus: Empowering ambitious professionals to go from overlooked to unforgettable • Audience: Corporate professionals, team leaders, speakers, and solopreneurs 💡 Key Themes & Insights • Modern Presence: From Zoom calls to LinkedIn profiles, visibility in the virtual workplace is key • Personal Brand = Career Brand: Your reputation is your brand—intentionally shape it • Advocacy: Success comes from promoting your work and knowing how to communicate value • Layoff Recovery: How Lorraine turned a 2022 tech layoff into the launchpad for her book and speaking career • Executive Presence: Reimagined with the “3 C’s”—Communication, Career Brand, and Credibility • Promotion Strategy: Be proactive, not reactive—speak your career goals early and often • Representation Matters: As an Asian-American woman, Lorraine emphasizes visibility and authenticity for underrepresented professionals 📚 Unforgettable Presence Book Takeaways • 4 Key Sections: • Set a Strong Foundation • Build Essential Modern Skills • Advance Your Career with Intention • Lead and Expand Team Presence Real stories, data-driven advice, and step-by-step frameworks to elevate your visibility 🔁 Personal Journey • Left corporate life after a layoff and built a thriving brand as a speaker, author, and executive coach • Overcame corporate stagnation by advocating for herself, creating a content strategy, and building her confidence through consistency 📣 Call to Action Lorraine invites professionals to treat themselves like a brand and take control of their visibility. Follow her on LinkedIn, subscribe to her Career Bites newsletter, or enroll in one of her LinkedIn Learning courses to begin your journey toward becoming unforgettable. #BEST #STRAW #SHMS Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy…

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Rashan McDonald host this weekly Money Making Conversation
[0:03] Speaker 1: Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this show provides
[0:07] Speaker 1: offer everyone It's time to stop reading other people's success
[0:10] Speaker 1: stories and start living your own now. If you want
[0:13] Speaker 1: to be a guest on my show, Money Making Conversation Masterclass,
[0:16] Speaker 1: please visit our website, Moneymakingconversations dot com and click to
[0:21] Speaker 1: be a guest. Butudon. If your entrepreneur, small business owner,
[0:24] Speaker 1: got a product, motivational speaker, influencer, I want you on
[0:27] Speaker 1: my chop. Let's get your show started. My next guest
[0:30] Speaker 1: has over three hundred thousand LinkedIn followers, only got ten thousand,
[0:35] Speaker 1: so you know she's a baller. She's a bawler. She's
[0:38] Speaker 1: recognized as a LinkedIn top voice in workplace communication and presence.
[0:42] Speaker 1: She is passionate about helping ambitious professionals go from invisible
[0:47] Speaker 1: to unforgettable in the modern workplace, and we know that
[0:50] Speaker 1: changed during the COVID area. Lorraine is on the show
[0:53] Speaker 1: to discuss her best selling book, Unforgetable Presence, Get Seen,
[0:58] Speaker 1: gain influence and catapult your career. Please welcome to the
[1:01] Speaker 1: Money Making Conversation Master Class. Lorraine K how you doing,
[1:05] Speaker 1: Lorraine wonderfully? Well, first of all, thank you for coming
[1:09] Speaker 1: into town Atlanta, be in my town. Why are you
[1:11] Speaker 1: in town?
[1:12] Speaker 2: I am speaking at an event later today and then
[1:14] Speaker 2: you reached out and I was like, oh, you're in Atlanta.
[1:16] Speaker 2: I got to come in person.
[1:17] Speaker 1: Oh great, Great. So you speak a lot, So you
[1:20] Speaker 1: tell us about the whole motivation part of speaking before
[1:23] Speaker 1: we getting into your book, which I've read, by the way,
[1:25] Speaker 1: And there's a great book by the way, which is
[1:27] Speaker 1: Unforgettable Presence, Get seen, gain influence, and cat catapult your career.
[1:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, so I speak for a living. I will not
[1:36] Speaker 2: have anticipated that this was going to be what I
[1:38] Speaker 2: do because I used to be in corporate but really
[1:41] Speaker 2: passionate about helping professionals go from overlook to unforgettable. So
[1:45] Speaker 2: this book achieves that goal. And then I go to
[1:47] Speaker 2: companies to speak on various topics that are really important
[1:51] Speaker 2: to excelling at works or things like executive presence, virtual presence,
[1:55] Speaker 2: video presence. LinkedIn presents all those really important topics.
[1:58] Speaker 1: I'm gonna teasing when I've got the book. Shift the book.
[2:00] Speaker 1: I really didn't understand when I saw Unforgettable Presence, I
[2:05] Speaker 1: didn't understand that. When I read the book, it would wow,
[2:08] Speaker 1: totally get what she's talking about. So why did you
[2:11] Speaker 1: say Unforgettable Presence as your primary title and then you
[2:15] Speaker 1: had get seen and influence and catapult your career underneath?
[2:19] Speaker 1: Because that threw me off a little bit.
[2:21] Speaker 2: It was it was quite an ordeal coming up with
[2:24] Speaker 2: a good title. And so I think, you know with
[2:26] Speaker 2: this title, I knew I wanted to include the word
[2:28] Speaker 2: presence because the whole concept of the book is that
[2:31] Speaker 2: presence is a really important thing for your career. And
[2:35] Speaker 2: presence has also changed a lot over the years. You
[2:38] Speaker 2: mentioned COVID, right, So presence, I think traditionally people think
[2:41] Speaker 2: executive presence, how I'm showing up in person, and then
[2:45] Speaker 2: COVID happened and I realized, oh, presence is all these
[2:47] Speaker 2: other things as well, including where you are seen. So
[2:50] Speaker 2: it's not just about in person. It's on video, it's
[2:53] Speaker 2: on LinkedIn, it's in chat channels, it's in all these places.
[2:56] Speaker 2: And then the Unforgettable piece was okay, it's so it
[2:59] Speaker 2: is really hard to stand out, it's hard to make
[3:02] Speaker 2: an impact. That we're now all distributed, we're all over
[3:04] Speaker 2: the place where there's communication and information coming at us
[3:07] Speaker 2: at all times, and so in order to stand out,
[3:10] Speaker 2: you really do have to become unforgettable. And that's you know,
[3:13] Speaker 2: you're all going to have your own definitions unforgettable, but
[3:15] Speaker 2: really finding that special way to stand out amongst all
[3:18] Speaker 2: the noise, well.
[3:19] Speaker 1: You know, there's very true. Like I said, my career
[3:22] Speaker 1: in the corporate space started IBEAM many years ago, and
[3:25] Speaker 1: so a lot of these buzzwords like branding and motivation
[3:29] Speaker 1: and we're not even there. I was just naturally going
[3:32] Speaker 1: through the process. And so when you talk about unforgettable
[3:35] Speaker 1: presences of finding your moment, mine was always being in front.
[3:39] Speaker 1: And I always tell people this, and I always tell
[3:42] Speaker 1: people making the decision looking straight ahead, they never make
[3:45] Speaker 1: a decision looking left or right, and they never turn
[3:48] Speaker 1: around making the decision trying to find out who's behind them.
[3:51] Speaker 1: And so that to me was my definition of presence,
[3:56] Speaker 1: being in front of the decision makers and also going
[4:00] Speaker 1: above and beyond in the decision maker because that was
[4:03] Speaker 1: the platform. There was no internet, there was no cell phones.
[4:07] Speaker 1: That was just the basic way of life that you
[4:09] Speaker 1: have to deal with. Now fast forward, like you said,
[4:12] Speaker 1: it's a different era we're living in today, but still
[4:15] Speaker 1: the same principles, correct.
[4:17] Speaker 2: I would say, same principles, and there's even more on
[4:20] Speaker 2: top of that. So, like I said, like, we have
[4:22] Speaker 2: to think about our video presence and how we're showing
[4:24] Speaker 2: up and does it align with our in person presence
[4:27] Speaker 2: because a lot of times people will meet us and
[4:30] Speaker 2: or will form an impression of us and quote unquote
[4:32] Speaker 2: meet us virtually before in person. And so I've had
[4:36] Speaker 2: people say to me, oh, Lorene, you have such a
[4:38] Speaker 2: strong LinkedIn presence once we finally meet, so they've already
[4:40] Speaker 2: been having an impression of me and thinking a certain
[4:43] Speaker 2: thing about me. You know, ideally you wanted to be
[4:45] Speaker 2: a positive thing, So you're going to try to make
[4:46] Speaker 2: a really strong presence that way. But that's such a
[4:49] Speaker 2: powerful tooled our disposal that we have to be aware of.
[4:52] Speaker 1: Now, Okay, this is important because we're talking about careers.
[4:55] Speaker 1: We're not talking about putting paths on Instagram or vacation
[4:59] Speaker 1: trips on Instagram. We're talking about LinkedIn. Okay, tell us
[5:03] Speaker 1: more about LinkedIn and the value in establishing your presence.
[5:08] Speaker 2: Oh, LinkedIn my favorite platform. So and I'm not just
[5:10] Speaker 2: saying that because I work there. So LinkedIn has really
[5:13] Speaker 2: become our virtual landing page, our virtual water cooler, and
[5:16] Speaker 2: what I like to call our ultimate virtual office. And
[5:19] Speaker 2: so I think previously people used to think, oh, LinkedIn is,
[5:22] Speaker 2: I'll just go there if I'm looking for a job,
[5:24] Speaker 2: and now LinkedIn is, oh, my gosh, like you can
[5:27] Speaker 2: do so much on there. It's a place to stay
[5:29] Speaker 2: top of mind, to build thought leadership, you know, to
[5:33] Speaker 2: expand your network and meet really interesting people. And so
[5:35] Speaker 2: if you are not being seen in the virtual office is,
[5:38] Speaker 2: it's going to be like did you even exist? And
[5:40] Speaker 2: I'm sure you've had this experience too, where you meet
[5:42] Speaker 2: someone or someone sends you a message on LinkedIn, and
[5:45] Speaker 2: if you don't know who they are, you're going to
[5:46] Speaker 2: go to the LinkedIn to assess like is this person credible?
[5:49] Speaker 2: Are they legitimate? Like what are they about? And so LinkedIn,
[5:52] Speaker 2: you know, I call the profile the foundation. And then
[5:55] Speaker 2: creating content, commenting, engaging with other people. That's where the
[5:58] Speaker 2: real magic happens because you're creating community and you're learning
[6:02] Speaker 2: new things and also getting to share your expertise as well.
[6:05] Speaker 1: So because at LinkedIn, at least when somebody in the
[6:08] Speaker 1: social media world, they call it dming o. Send you
[6:12] Speaker 1: your message. If somebody messaged you in the LinkedIn world,
[6:15] Speaker 1: like you said, you click their profile you can find
[6:17] Speaker 1: out exactly who they are. You do that on LinkedIn,
[6:21] Speaker 1: you gonna get more pictures, I'm excuse me. On Instagram
[6:24] Speaker 1: or Facebook or x you're gonna get more pictures. And
[6:27] Speaker 1: so you really don't have a background of that person.
[6:30] Speaker 1: And so that's a career starter right there. And I
[6:32] Speaker 1: think it's important people understand and value that. I know
[6:35] Speaker 1: one of my clients, huge celebrity, big on Instagram, big
[6:40] Speaker 1: on eggs, huge on Facebook, and I told him LinkedIn
[6:46] Speaker 1: and he went, huh, and so now his LinkedIn account
[6:50] Speaker 1: is huge because he's now into productions and pitching. I said,
[6:54] Speaker 1: see now you see so the people you're trying to reach.
[6:57] Speaker 1: Now I can see your brand and understand what you're
[6:59] Speaker 1: doing outside of being a talent, which really the social
[7:03] Speaker 1: media world that you created over there pushes what this
[7:07] Speaker 1: pushes your business platform? Is that correct?
[7:10] Speaker 2: One hundred percent? And I would also say if you
[7:13] Speaker 2: are in corporate and you're not working for yourself and
[7:15] Speaker 2: you're not a talent like it still benefits you. There
[7:17] Speaker 2: are a lot of things I wasn't expecting when I
[7:20] Speaker 2: started posting more on LinkedIn, that helped me in my
[7:22] Speaker 2: corporate role. So, for example, the more you post, the
[7:25] Speaker 2: more you find your voice and gain confidence, and that
[7:28] Speaker 2: translates into the workplace. The more you figure out what
[7:31] Speaker 2: you're passionate about speaking on that also translates into the workplace.
[7:35] Speaker 2: And I had the situation once where I was posting
[7:38] Speaker 2: on LinkedIn and my team saw me putting myself out there,
[7:42] Speaker 2: and they saw that I was doing public speaking. And
[7:44] Speaker 2: I had a coworker who I think he was sick
[7:46] Speaker 2: or on vacation, and he was supposed to be part
[7:48] Speaker 2: of the media round table, but he wasn't available for
[7:50] Speaker 2: whatever reason. They saw me on LinkedIn, they saw that
[7:53] Speaker 2: I was willing to kind of be the face of
[7:55] Speaker 2: or put myself out there, and they invited me into
[7:57] Speaker 2: the media round table. And since then those keep will
[8:00] Speaker 2: have actually become, you know, when I later started my
[8:01] Speaker 2: own business, became clients and friends, and so it's just
[8:05] Speaker 2: it's just a very wonderful place to establish that credibility
[8:09] Speaker 2: and then also have it connect to corporate Still.
[8:12] Speaker 1: Lorraine kay Lee, what's the case for my middle name?
[8:19] Speaker 1: Her book is unforgettable presence, get seen, gain influence, and
[8:23] Speaker 1: catapult your career. Let's talk about something here. When I
[8:26] Speaker 1: was reading a book, it was it was something in
[8:28] Speaker 1: the beginning right here that I wanted to I wanted
[8:31] Speaker 1: to read out loud, you're saying. Drawing on her decades
[8:34] Speaker 1: long career as the founding editor editor at companies like
[8:38] Speaker 1: LinkedIn and pressy right, Lee combines personal stories and actionable
[8:43] Speaker 1: tactics that are tailored for today's digital first workplace, such
[8:47] Speaker 1: as explain this to me, advocating for yourself and your
[8:51] Speaker 1: team with confidence? What does that mean?
[8:54] Speaker 2: One of the things that I wish I had learned
[8:57] Speaker 2: earlier in my career is that if I want to
[8:59] Speaker 2: get ahead, if I want to be known, it's not
[9:02] Speaker 2: enough to put my head down and do hard work.
[9:04] Speaker 2: I have to really talk about my work and be
[9:07] Speaker 2: willing to share and let others know that I even exist. Right,
[9:11] Speaker 2: And so I think, especially in the way that we
[9:14] Speaker 2: work now, it's even more critical. Again because I mentioned earlier,
[9:17] Speaker 2: you know everyone's all over, we're communicating through different channels,
[9:21] Speaker 2: and so advocating for yourself is such an important piece
[9:24] Speaker 2: to making yourself stand out. And then if you're a manager,
[9:27] Speaker 2: same thing applies. You need to advocate for your team
[9:30] Speaker 2: and make sure that their work is known. And so
[9:33] Speaker 2: I talk in the book this concept of becoming the
[9:35] Speaker 2: CEO of your own career, and part of that is
[9:38] Speaker 2: being really proactive, being intentional, taking charge and knowing that
[9:42] Speaker 2: you have some control, some influence over the outcome of
[9:45] Speaker 2: your career and advocating for yourself is one of those
[9:47] Speaker 2: key ways we all have a brain. Yes, when we
[9:54] Speaker 2: hear brand, I think for ourselves as corporate workers or
[9:57] Speaker 2: even a solopreneur entrepreneur, I think sometimes there's a disconnect
[10:01] Speaker 2: because we hear personal brand and we think, oh, brand
[10:04] Speaker 2: isn't that for companies, it's not for individuals, And then
[10:07] Speaker 2: we hear personal brand. I feel like personal brand has
[10:09] Speaker 2: sort of sometimes for some people become like kind of
[10:12] Speaker 2: a slimy word, like, oh, I don't want to be
[10:14] Speaker 2: promoting myself all the time or bragging about myself. But
[10:16] Speaker 2: what a personal brand really is is what I call
[10:19] Speaker 2: in the book your career brand, and your career brand
[10:21] Speaker 2: is essentially your reputation. So the whole thing about a
[10:25] Speaker 2: brand is that you already have one, and that we
[10:27] Speaker 2: have to be intentional about it, in forming it. Otherwise,
[10:30] Speaker 2: if we're not intentional, someone else is going to form
[10:32] Speaker 2: it for us. So I start. I mentioned it early
[10:35] Speaker 2: on in the book because I feel like it's such
[10:36] Speaker 2: a foundational piece.
[10:37] Speaker 1: Yeah. I remember when I was managing Steve Hardy and
[10:39] Speaker 1: it was a about two thousand and I show it
[10:42] Speaker 1: for IBM. So I had that corporate culture culture in
[10:46] Speaker 1: my mind, and then I went to him, I said,
[10:48] Speaker 1: why can't we teach you like a corporation, have the
[10:51] Speaker 1: same standards, the same rules, the same expectations. You know,
[10:56] Speaker 1: because you go, you perform, and so people they don't
[10:59] Speaker 1: like you, they ask for their money back, they make
[11:01] Speaker 1: the decisions your product in a sense, and so and
[11:05] Speaker 1: so I didn't realize at the time, like there was
[11:08] Speaker 1: like two thousand and one and that I was really
[11:13] Speaker 1: using the word branding and tying it to a personal
[11:16] Speaker 1: an individual, which kind of shifted the narrative because, like
[11:20] Speaker 1: you said earlier, a brand, usually IBM, a brand is Ford,
[11:24] Speaker 1: the brand is Burger King. Well, my mindset was a
[11:28] Speaker 1: brand could be an individual. And in your book, you
[11:31] Speaker 1: are telling everybody you are a brand, and you need
[11:34] Speaker 1: to deliver that and understand how you how your presence
[11:37] Speaker 1: ties to that brand makes you successful. Miss Lee my
[11:42] Speaker 1: next one off of it, because like I said, this
[11:43] Speaker 1: is I got started early with these questions. Okay, navigating
[11:48] Speaker 1: under representation in the workplace.
[11:51] Speaker 2: Okay, I am an Asian American woman.
[11:54] Speaker 1: And people who don't see it. She needed to.
[11:58] Speaker 2: Say that, And so I wanted to make sure that
[12:01] Speaker 2: I talked about the experiences in the book. It's not
[12:05] Speaker 2: all you know, The book is not all about it,
[12:07] Speaker 2: but I wanted to make sure I included voices and
[12:09] Speaker 2: insights that talk about this because sometimes it feels like
[12:11] Speaker 2: corporate America is not built for people who look like us,
[12:14] Speaker 2: or who have our certain values or background or whatnot.
[12:17] Speaker 2: And so I have the chance to introdew three dozen
[12:20] Speaker 2: leaders in the book, and some of them gave some
[12:22] Speaker 2: wonderful insights on how to stand out as an upper
[12:25] Speaker 2: underrepresented professional and then also still stay true to your
[12:28] Speaker 2: values and who you are at the same time.
[12:30] Speaker 1: You know, because I'm a minority African American and I
[12:34] Speaker 1: remember my early years that IBM. I worked three two
[12:37] Speaker 1: and a half years part time basically in turning and
[12:39] Speaker 1: two and a half years professional and what I learned
[12:42] Speaker 1: was you know there is going to be racism. There
[12:44] Speaker 1: is going to beople going to judge you part of
[12:46] Speaker 1: color your skin. But what I did learn is that
[12:50] Speaker 1: your presence matters. That's why this book was important to me,
[12:53] Speaker 1: and I thought it was really championing a lot of
[12:55] Speaker 1: my thought process and it's a good read. If you
[12:58] Speaker 1: read it, you understand exactly what miss Lee is talking about.
[13:01] Speaker 1: Because when you participate with who you are and you
[13:05] Speaker 1: allow the negative energy of that group become your voice,
[13:11] Speaker 1: you will lose. You're never going to win in the
[13:13] Speaker 1: corporate space. So you have to create a presence that
[13:16] Speaker 1: creates a balance if you want to, if you want to,
[13:19] Speaker 1: as Sin and what you've done very well in this
[13:22] Speaker 1: academic world, you know if in this corporate world, if
[13:25] Speaker 1: you read our story, she'll tell you I was here.
[13:27] Speaker 1: One year later, I was here, I mean not two
[13:29] Speaker 1: years later. One year later, she was here, Which means
[13:32] Speaker 1: that you had a presence and a clear understanding despite
[13:35] Speaker 1: the environment, despite how you look, that was not going
[13:38] Speaker 1: to stop you talk to us.
[13:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think again, Like it's when I
[13:43] Speaker 2: was at LinkedIn. I started off the book talking about
[13:45] Speaker 2: my experience there. Loved it, did so many cool projects,
[13:49] Speaker 2: but had trouble reaching that next level. And a lot
[13:52] Speaker 2: of it was because I wasn't understanding how corporate America worked.
[13:56] Speaker 2: I wasn't taking control of my own career, and so
[13:59] Speaker 2: when I went to my next roll up, Prezzy, I
[14:01] Speaker 2: was very very intentional six years yeah. So at Prezzy,
[14:06] Speaker 2: pretty much right away I was like, Okay, this is like,
[14:08] Speaker 2: these are all the things I'm going to do differently.
[14:10] Speaker 2: I'm going to meet with my manager once a month
[14:11] Speaker 2: and let her know I want this promotion and to
[14:14] Speaker 2: figure out what it takes to get there, to figure
[14:16] Speaker 2: out where my weak spots are, what my strong spots are,
[14:18] Speaker 2: and really to lean into you know, how am I
[14:21] Speaker 2: going to make this happen? And so I think that
[14:23] Speaker 2: was just such an important mindset shift in that I
[14:26] Speaker 2: don't have to be a victim or I don't have
[14:28] Speaker 2: to let things happen to me. I can make things
[14:31] Speaker 2: happen for myself.
[14:32] Speaker 1: And it's important that she's saying these things audience and
[14:35] Speaker 1: fans who are listening, because a lot of bad words
[14:38] Speaker 1: can come, people saying sucking up do it too much,
[14:42] Speaker 1: making us look bad. It's your goal. You set your goals,
[14:46] Speaker 1: you create your relationship and you win with it. You're
[14:49] Speaker 1: not going home with these people who are complaining, You're
[14:52] Speaker 1: not sleeping in the bed with these people who are complaining.
[14:54] Speaker 1: You have to set the goals that work for you.
[14:56] Speaker 1: And that's what I had to learn when I was
[14:58] Speaker 1: an IBM and I still care care those values to
[15:02] Speaker 1: this day because there's a certain structure that you have
[15:05] Speaker 1: to be able to have no matter who you're talking to,
[15:08] Speaker 1: no matter whether you meet them at a restaurant, you
[15:10] Speaker 1: meet them at the club, you meet the better picnic
[15:13] Speaker 1: or are social event, their standards and that's what you're
[15:16] Speaker 1: talking about in this book. Your presence matters no matter
[15:20] Speaker 1: where you are at.
[15:21] Speaker 2: Correct correct, Yeah, one hundred percent. And you know, I
[15:25] Speaker 2: interview some content creators as well for the book is
[15:27] Speaker 2: of course presence is like huge for them, and yeah,
[15:30] Speaker 2: anywhere you go, presence is not about one big moment.
[15:34] Speaker 2: It's as I say in the book, it's about those
[15:37] Speaker 2: little moments that build up over time, that create an impression,
[15:40] Speaker 2: that create your reputation in someone's mind. So the book
[15:43] Speaker 2: hopefully is you know, is level setting and not freaking
[15:47] Speaker 2: people out like, oh presence, I just have to be
[15:49] Speaker 2: like this executive on day one. But here let me
[15:51] Speaker 2: build up my presence across all these really different important channels,
[15:55] Speaker 2: and over time this will create my overall presence.
[15:57] Speaker 1: A book Unforgettable Presence Gets Gain influence and catapult your
[16:02] Speaker 1: career by Lorraine K. Lee. I have one from the
[16:06] Speaker 1: liner before we get into Moorrow. More questions commanding attention
[16:10] Speaker 1: with executive presence.
[16:13] Speaker 2: Executive presence is one piece of the presence pie, or
[16:17] Speaker 2: presence puzzle, as I like to say. Executive presence has
[16:20] Speaker 2: also changed a lot over the years. So there was
[16:23] Speaker 2: this really interesting research in Harvard Business Review that showed
[16:26] Speaker 2: the difference in how people perceive executive presents or what
[16:29] Speaker 2: they thought it was, from twenty twelve to twenty twenty two.
[16:32] Speaker 2: And you'll see a lot of new words started appearing
[16:35] Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two, for example, authenticity, command, a zoom room,
[16:40] Speaker 2: body language, listening to learn. So there are a lot
[16:44] Speaker 2: more people centric skills, whereas in twenty twelve, perhaps it
[16:47] Speaker 2: was the more stereotypical version of executive presence that we
[16:50] Speaker 2: might think about. So I talk about the three c's
[16:53] Speaker 2: of modern day executive presence, communication, career, brand and credibility,
[16:57] Speaker 2: and so you know, go into more of that in
[16:59] Speaker 2: the book. But these are the new new ways I
[17:02] Speaker 2: think to exude executive prices.
[17:03] Speaker 1: Absolutely, we're not trying to give way the book and
[17:05] Speaker 1: this interview. We're trying to tease you so you can
[17:08] Speaker 1: go to the book.
[17:09] Speaker 3: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[17:12] Speaker 3: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
[17:24] Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashaan McDonald.
[17:27] Speaker 1: Now, there was a couple of things that were sent
[17:29] Speaker 1: to me as questions, and you know, as we go
[17:31] Speaker 1: through life, you know you look back and go, wow,
[17:34] Speaker 1: this is what I should have done differently. And one
[17:36] Speaker 1: of the questions that came to me is how you
[17:38] Speaker 1: bounce back from getting fired?
[17:42] Speaker 2: Spot. Yeah, my layoff happened at the end of twenty
[17:44] Speaker 2: twenty two is part of you know tech layoffs happening
[17:47] Speaker 2: at the time happening.
[17:49] Speaker 1: There's a layoff in a fight. There's two different.
[17:52] Speaker 2: Things, two different I mean, some people might say layoff
[17:55] Speaker 2: is being fired.
[17:55] Speaker 1: It wasn't performance Emotionally, Emotionally, there's a different sature the
[18:00] Speaker 1: lanes of justification. You go, you get fired, Yeah, you're
[18:02] Speaker 1: like those persons layoff be disappointed in May. Yeah, yeah,
[18:07] Speaker 1: because you were doing your job.
[18:08] Speaker 2: Sure, sure, Yes. I got laid off at the end
[18:11] Speaker 2: of twenty twenty two, and yeah, I mean a little
[18:14] Speaker 2: naively was like, oh, is this gonna happen to me?
[18:17] Speaker 2: I don't know. I hadn't gotten laid off before because
[18:19] Speaker 2: I've been in tech for you know, the past decade
[18:21] Speaker 2: and it was a wonderful time in tech. But got
[18:23] Speaker 2: laid off and that was really the catalyst for me
[18:26] Speaker 2: reaching this whole new level of my career, starting my
[18:29] Speaker 2: own business, doing the speaking, writing the book. And So
[18:32] Speaker 2: for anyone who's gotten laid off or you know, has
[18:35] Speaker 2: experienced this, uh, you know, I want to say that layoffs,
[18:38] Speaker 2: as many people say, are a blessing in disguise. I
[18:40] Speaker 2: know it doesn't feel like that in the moment, but
[18:43] Speaker 2: it was such a Yeah they.
[18:45] Speaker 1: Can say that, yeah, okay, no blessing when you get
[18:48] Speaker 1: fired or laid off.
[18:49] Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, but usually people like it gives them the
[18:52] Speaker 2: time to think and to find something better down the line.
[18:54] Speaker 2: It doesn't feel like that in the moment, but you know,
[18:56] Speaker 2: I didn't feel like that to me in the moment either.
[18:58] Speaker 2: But you know, I've come out about strong longer. On
[19:00] Speaker 2: the other side, I'm thankful for it. Yeah.
[19:02] Speaker 1: Now there's another question that comes about the way the
[19:06] Speaker 1: best way is to get promoted, because you have shown
[19:09] Speaker 1: the examples of your book at you come in at
[19:12] Speaker 1: this level and you already looking at that next wrong
[19:15] Speaker 1: talk to us about.
[19:16] Speaker 2: It the first thing. I know it sounds so obvious,
[19:19] Speaker 2: but you have to make it known that you want
[19:20] Speaker 2: to get promoted. I talk about the story in the
[19:23] Speaker 2: book my coworker great work, had been at the company
[19:26] Speaker 2: for a while, hadn't gotten promoted. One day she comes in,
[19:28] Speaker 2: She's promoted. I'm like, oh, my gosh, like, what happened.
[19:30] Speaker 2: I'm so happy for you. And she says, oh, I
[19:33] Speaker 2: my manager didn't even know I want to get promoted.
[19:35] Speaker 2: Once I let him know, then I got it. And
[19:38] Speaker 2: so I know it sounds like as an ambitious person,
[19:40] Speaker 2: you're like, oh, doesn't everyone want to get promoted? Doesn't
[19:42] Speaker 2: my manager know that they don't? Some people don't want
[19:45] Speaker 2: to get promoted, they're happy where they are. They have
[19:47] Speaker 2: to you have to let them know.
[19:49] Speaker 1: And you can't pressure in A supervisor can't pressure you
[19:53] Speaker 1: to do something that you're uncomfortable.
[19:55] Speaker 2: Don't. Yeah, if you don't feel ready. Yeah, and then
[19:57] Speaker 2: and then after that you need to again be really proactive.
[20:00] Speaker 2: So it's not during annual review time that you mentioned
[20:03] Speaker 2: your promotion that you want to get promoted. You need
[20:05] Speaker 2: to start thinking about it like six months at least
[20:08] Speaker 2: ahead of time, and making sure you know who's going
[20:10] Speaker 2: to be in the promotion room and talk to them
[20:12] Speaker 2: and let them know about your goals. Right, There's so
[20:14] Speaker 2: many moving pieces that I didn't realize when I wanted
[20:17] Speaker 2: to get promoted at LinkedIn. I was like, oh, just
[20:19] Speaker 2: my manager just says something and it happens. Right. No,
[20:22] Speaker 2: there's like a lot of conversations. They're all putting up
[20:24] Speaker 2: their people for promotion. You need to get the right
[20:27] Speaker 2: feedback from the right people who have influence. Right. So
[20:29] Speaker 2: there's just there's so many moving parts. So it's about intentionality.
[20:32] Speaker 2: And then there's additional tips in the book. But yeah, wow, you.
[20:35] Speaker 1: Know I've mentioned this story several times on my show
[20:38] Speaker 1: about my ivy and experience. So I worked two and
[20:42] Speaker 1: a half years, they hired me full time, and then
[20:44] Speaker 1: I was hired a long with the two white guys.
[20:46] Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna say race because my mind was
[20:49] Speaker 1: operating in that coin. And six months later they were
[20:53] Speaker 1: buzzing around doing different things, and I was still trapped
[20:56] Speaker 1: at my desk, and so I went and stormed into
[20:59] Speaker 1: the off for some of my supervisor who had interviewed
[21:01] Speaker 1: and brought us all through on board at the same time.
[21:04] Speaker 1: And I used to miss an example. I said, you know, hey,
[21:09] Speaker 1: what's going on with Sean McDonald And he said, well, Rashan,
[21:13] Speaker 1: doing your initial interview, I asked you what you wanted
[21:16] Speaker 1: to do, and your statement back to me I wrote
[21:19] Speaker 1: it down, was I'll get back with you.
[21:21] Speaker 2: Okay.
[21:22] Speaker 1: Six months later, Rashan, I'm still waiting for you to
[21:26] Speaker 1: get back with me. Now, since you were complaining about
[21:29] Speaker 1: those two gentlemen, they had a plan in place when
[21:32] Speaker 1: they sat down, they said they want to do this, this, this, this.
[21:35] Speaker 1: So since they gave me a plan, I work with
[21:37] Speaker 1: their plan and they're doing all the things that they
[21:39] Speaker 1: asked to do. Now, ra Sean, what do you want
[21:42] Speaker 1: to do? And at that moment, I said, I'm gonna
[21:44] Speaker 1: get back with.
[21:44] Speaker 2: You when I got.
[21:47] Speaker 1: Because again I still came the mad without playing and
[21:50] Speaker 1: so and so that's why I really enjoyed reading your
[21:53] Speaker 1: book because it was so relatable to a lot of
[21:56] Speaker 1: conversations I have on the show motivating people and warming
[22:00] Speaker 1: them with action plans and things like that. But it
[22:03] Speaker 1: was just my stories. Now we officially have a book
[22:06] Speaker 1: called Unforgettable Presence, where a lot of the dialogue that
[22:10] Speaker 1: I talk about on the show motivating people, strengthen your values,
[22:13] Speaker 1: understanding your presence, you know, being able to communicate your
[22:17] Speaker 1: goals and your brand to anybody, and then you can
[22:22] Speaker 1: win and this really helps. It's really funny. My wife,
[22:26] Speaker 1: she always she always maddened me. It's not mad in
[22:29] Speaker 1: the good way because I go into restaurants and they
[22:31] Speaker 1: treat me differends. You know. It's always no matter what
[22:36] Speaker 1: restaurant I go into, the chef or the owner of
[22:39] Speaker 1: the restaurant is going to come to my table. She says, why, Wow,
[22:43] Speaker 1: what do you do? I said this presence? I said,
[22:45] Speaker 1: when I said, I walk a certain way, I say
[22:49] Speaker 1: hello to people, when I come into the room, certain
[22:52] Speaker 1: way to matri Die, I just it's just natural things
[22:55] Speaker 1: I do. And so when I sit down, people go, okay,
[23:00] Speaker 1: want to go speak to that guy? And these are
[23:02] Speaker 1: just natural brand presence that I've created over the years.
[23:05] Speaker 1: Some people might call it confident cocky. I just call
[23:10] Speaker 1: it presents and it's part of your brand. And so
[23:13] Speaker 1: because that's part of my brand to walk into a
[23:16] Speaker 1: room and I tell people, I generally walk in the
[23:18] Speaker 1: room like I own it, and there's nothing wrong with that.
[23:22] Speaker 1: And that's called confidence. And that's all believing in yourself
[23:25] Speaker 1: and a lot of those values is what you talk
[23:27] Speaker 1: about in this book, correct.
[23:28] Speaker 2: Yeah, And I love what you said too about how
[23:31] Speaker 2: you've cultivated it over the years. Right, that's not going
[23:33] Speaker 2: to happen overnight. This takes some time. You have to
[23:36] Speaker 2: build trust right, consistent actions, and so yeah, I love
[23:39] Speaker 2: that story.
[23:40] Speaker 1: It's reality. So it teaches us. I get I get
[23:44] Speaker 1: free desserts a lot of time. We went to this
[23:49] Speaker 1: new restaurant just the other day and we sat down
[23:52] Speaker 1: and got the owner or the manager of the restaurant
[23:56] Speaker 1: came over and go, hey, we'd like a free dessert.
[23:58] Speaker 1: And she went, wow, what are the seeing And it's
[24:04] Speaker 1: just that when I came in, I specifically said hello, hello,
[24:09] Speaker 1: my energy levels is always a little bit higher. And
[24:12] Speaker 1: when I asked the waiter, waitress or their name and
[24:16] Speaker 1: that all those different things, and I always and here's
[24:19] Speaker 1: the thing I always say when I sit down, when
[24:20] Speaker 1: I go to the restaurant, I'll tell them this is
[24:23] Speaker 1: I tell this specifically. I said, like, if you're with me,
[24:26] Speaker 1: miss Lee, I go first time, I'm a regular, you
[24:30] Speaker 1: know it just that's just my style, and I go, hey,
[24:33] Speaker 1: I'm back. This is one of my favorite places. So
[24:36] Speaker 1: I will broadcast my intentions about why I'm there. If
[24:41] Speaker 1: I bring somebody in, I'll tell them because that's how
[24:45] Speaker 1: I naturally do it. Now, if it's promoting people and
[24:48] Speaker 1: encouraging people to want to treat me differently in a
[24:52] Speaker 1: positive way, I'm winning. Okay, I'm winning and I'm gonna
[24:55] Speaker 1: keep winning. But that's what you're talking about.
[24:57] Speaker 2: Yeah, that is like so much intention and that is
[25:01] Speaker 2: a very common theme. That's that runs throughout the book.
[25:03] Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, let's talk about because I want I don't
[25:06] Speaker 1: want the use of all my time talking about the experiences.
[25:09] Speaker 1: But it's four key sections that will help you strongly
[25:12] Speaker 1: build your presence. That's what I want to talk about,
[25:14] Speaker 1: not in detail, about these four key presidents that you
[25:17] Speaker 1: outlined at the very top of the book. The first
[25:19] Speaker 1: one is setting a strong foundation.
[25:23] Speaker 2: Yes, so career brand slash mindsets, your virtual presence, your
[25:28] Speaker 2: LinkedIn presence. Those are i think unconventional and traditional ways
[25:32] Speaker 2: to think about, Oh, this is the foundation of my career.
[25:35] Speaker 2: But those things are things that are we, that are
[25:38] Speaker 2: we that we are using every day that are so
[25:41] Speaker 2: important and so you need to have the foundation before
[25:43] Speaker 2: you dive into anything else. And then we have you know,
[25:47] Speaker 2: essential essential skills for today's workplace. So a lot of
[25:50] Speaker 2: that is communication practices, things that I've seen people make
[25:54] Speaker 2: mistakes about. And then we go into leading teams and
[25:58] Speaker 2: like thinking more like a manager because my hope is,
[26:00] Speaker 2: like you know, people want to get promoted, they want
[26:02] Speaker 2: to reach that next level. And then the last section
[26:04] Speaker 2: is really okay, now, how do you expand your presence,
[26:06] Speaker 2: how do you expand your team's presence, and how do
[26:08] Speaker 2: you really get into that executive mindset?
[26:10] Speaker 1: Right? So as an individual, but let's talk about somebody
[26:13] Speaker 1: who doesn't want that, who doesn't want to supervise, doesn't
[26:17] Speaker 1: want to lead. How does your book handle that type
[26:20] Speaker 1: of personality?
[26:21] Speaker 2: Definitely, someone can still get a lot of takeaways from
[26:24] Speaker 2: the book. We don't always have to be managers, but
[26:26] Speaker 2: there's a lot of things when you are a manager.
[26:28] Speaker 2: That are still great qualities to show when you are
[26:32] Speaker 2: an I see individual contributor, contributor for example, being a
[26:37] Speaker 2: someone who elevates others and cheers on other teammates. That's great.
[26:41] Speaker 2: You're going to be seen as a leader, even if
[26:43] Speaker 2: you're not leader by title. It's so important to be
[26:45] Speaker 2: seen as a leader at a company because that is
[26:47] Speaker 2: still what's going to help you advance and grow.
[26:50] Speaker 1: This was the way positive personalities get paid. Yes, let's
[26:55] Speaker 1: go to number two. Key skills for the modern workplace.
[26:59] Speaker 1: We talked about COVID has shifted and Zoom popped up,
[27:02] Speaker 1: and video and television the whole media world changed. Are
[27:07] Speaker 1: we saying about that period or you just talk about
[27:09] Speaker 1: the last ten fifteen years as the modern workplace?
[27:12] Speaker 2: It's generally I do you know, talk a lot about
[27:15] Speaker 2: virtual communication, virtual presentations I think are super super critical
[27:19] Speaker 2: and people are still not doing them in the ideal way.
[27:22] Speaker 2: So that's definitely a chapter there.
[27:23] Speaker 1: What's the wrong way? Don't want to help myself out,
[27:26] Speaker 1: don't need to put makeup on what's going on now?
[27:27] Speaker 2: No, it's it's the start. It's the way you create
[27:29] Speaker 2: the content and the way that you deliver the content.
[27:31] Speaker 2: A lot of people are pouring over in person to
[27:34] Speaker 2: virtual and not making any changes. But virtual, there are
[27:36] Speaker 2: some nuances and things that you have to adjust in
[27:39] Speaker 2: order to make it suited for virtual environments.
[27:42] Speaker 1: Right, And there's also let's talk about that virtual environment
[27:45] Speaker 1: because you know all the people use these little virtual
[27:48] Speaker 1: or three D looks behind them. Are they are virtual
[27:53] Speaker 1: backgrounds or they or you see the real backgrounds? You're going,
[27:57] Speaker 1: what's going on over there? So that's part of the
[28:00] Speaker 1: whole precientation? Correct?
[28:01] Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, that's that's chapter two. I'm having a
[28:04] Speaker 2: strong virtual presence. Yeah, yeah, I say no to the
[28:07] Speaker 2: virtual backgrounds ideally, and then also, yeah, curate, curate what's
[28:10] Speaker 2: behind you, and no to the.
[28:12] Speaker 1: Virtual background, and no to the plain white walls.
[28:15] Speaker 2: Please too too. Yeah, a little personality?
[28:19] Speaker 1: Yes, good Number three. How to approach career advancement? You
[28:24] Speaker 1: an expert your book. I'm gonna tell you this up,
[28:26] Speaker 1: ladies and gim when you read this book, read the background.
[28:29] Speaker 1: This is I'm sitting across a true go getter. I'm
[28:32] Speaker 1: sitting across a person who walks in the door. You
[28:35] Speaker 1: sit in a chair, but that's not the chair. She's
[28:37] Speaker 1: going to stay in. I love that about you. When
[28:40] Speaker 1: I did the background research on you in your book,
[28:43] Speaker 1: what what built that in you?
[28:45] Speaker 2: What?
[28:45] Speaker 1: What?
[28:45] Speaker 2: What?
[28:45] Speaker 3: What?
[28:46] Speaker 1: What? DNA just just just that made you the person
[28:51] Speaker 1: you are.
[28:52] Speaker 2: I appreciate that. I think it was a lot of
[28:54] Speaker 2: trial and error because I did not start off super
[28:57] Speaker 2: confident in my career. I was very much like, oh,
[28:59] Speaker 2: tell me what to do, do it. But I wasn't proactive.
[29:01] Speaker 2: I wasn't super strategic in the way I thought about things,
[29:04] Speaker 2: and so lucky to have had many great managers, many
[29:08] Speaker 2: great mentors. And then also that period of self reflection
[29:11] Speaker 2: after I left LinkedIn like what went wrong? What could
[29:13] Speaker 2: I have done differently? That really allowed me to grow
[29:18] Speaker 2: a lot faster build my confidence. And then with every
[29:20] Speaker 2: sort of career move that I made, the confidence grew exponentially.
[29:25] Speaker 2: So again, this is not an overnight thing. It took
[29:27] Speaker 2: time and a willingness to want to learn and to
[29:30] Speaker 2: do it.
[29:30] Speaker 1: Cool a last one because I don't want to keep you.
[29:33] Speaker 1: You know, I can keep going because you're such a
[29:35] Speaker 1: great interview. What's need to be? What need to be
[29:40] Speaker 1: an unforgettable leader and manager?
[29:44] Speaker 2: I think first and foremost, you really have to care
[29:46] Speaker 2: about leading people because a lot of people they want
[29:50] Speaker 2: to become a manager because it means they're going to
[29:51] Speaker 2: reach that next level. But you actually have to care
[29:54] Speaker 2: about the development of your people, helping them grow, and
[29:57] Speaker 2: I think that's such an essential piece to being a
[30:00] Speaker 2: really strong manager. And then building out your team's presence,
[30:04] Speaker 2: teaching them how to advocate for themselves. You also being
[30:07] Speaker 2: the voice for them when they're not in the room.
[30:09] Speaker 2: I think those are all fantastic ways to become unforgettable
[30:13] Speaker 2: to your peers and also to your team who you're supporting.
[30:16] Speaker 1: She's the one and only Lorraine Klee Unforgettable Presence, Get seen, Gain, influenced,
[30:22] Speaker 1: and cateaborty career tell us about your Is it only
[30:25] Speaker 1: on LinkedIn that we can find you?
[30:27] Speaker 2: You can find me on LinkedIn. You can find me
[30:30] Speaker 2: on my weekly newsletter Career Bites, Bye sized tips to
[30:32] Speaker 2: supercharge your career in three minutes or less. And then
[30:35] Speaker 2: I also have many many LinkedIn learning courses that you
[30:37] Speaker 2: can watch.
[30:38] Speaker 1: Just talk about it. Before I didn't know about the newsletter.
[30:41] Speaker 1: Tell us how do you just submit your email address?
[30:45] Speaker 2: Yes?
[30:46] Speaker 1: Where can we go?
[30:47] Speaker 2: Lorraine Klee dot com slash subscribe Okay.
[30:49] Speaker 1: See I just got it. I need a manager. I
[30:52] Speaker 1: gotta full of these vital information out you. But thank
[30:55] Speaker 1: you for govering on money Making. It's been a wonderful journey.
[30:59] Speaker 1: They really do comment to a lot of things I
[31:01] Speaker 1: sell on the show, but in your words, and I
[31:03] Speaker 1: think that's wonderful. I feel that's one.
[31:05] Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you so much.
[31:06] Speaker 1: This has been another edition of money Making Conversation Masterclass
[31:10] Speaker 1: posted by me Rushaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests
[31:13] Speaker 1: on the show today and thank you o listening to
[31:16] Speaker 1: audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
[31:18] Speaker 1: I want to be a guest on the show, visit
[31:20] Speaker 1: Moneymaking Conversations dot com. Our social media handle is money
[31:24] Speaker 1: Making Conversation. Join us next week and remember to always
[31:28] Speaker 1: leave with your gifts. Keep winning.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.