ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Who says prioritizing fun in your career isn’t a smart move?
Marketing mogul Karima McDaniel has worked with every kind of beauty product under the sun. She made all the right moves to climb ladders at major companies and build a successful career. But at the top, she found herself wanting more. She wanted to find a job that aligned with her values, and on top of that – she wanted to have fun at work. That’s how Karima ended up in a meeting with actress Tia Mowry who was starting a hair care line centered around textured and naturally curly hair.
Now the president of 4U by Tia, Karima joins Breaking Schemas host Marcus Collins to chat about disrupting the beauty industry, making an impact for women of color, and why having fun at work should be prioritized.
*Breaking Schemas is a production of the Yaffe Digital Media Initiative at Michigan Ross and is produced by University FM.*
Episode Quotes:In finding an organization, figure out where your style is celebrated
23:58: I remember having this conversation with myself: where everybody likes me, but I'm no one's favorite. And I think that's a dangerous place to be in an organization because that means you don't have the right sponsorship. And so if somebody has to go out on a limb, is it going to be for you? And if you can't identify who those people are, it's probably time to either go build those relationships or leave because it's going to slow you down in your progress.
Embrace the art of self-promotion
27:52: Learning and not shying away from the art of self-promotion—that's not something that is intuitive to me. Like, I feel like it's kind of icky to do it. You hate when other people do it too much, but it is a really valuable skill in figuring out how to do it in the right way. Because I think you'll spend a lot of your early career having your ideas taken from you, or other people get credit because you're not actively claiming credit for the things that you're doing. And so, how do you do that in a way that feels authentic to you and not think of it as a bad thing? And it took me a while to figure that piece out.
You have to be your own cheerleader
29:23: There's like that moment when you realize you're sitting in a room; at some point, you're going to realize, "No one actually knows more than me." Again, it's like I hit you at a moment when you're like, "I actually probably know more than most people in this room." Like, what have I been waiting for? And even, I don't know when that starts, but it's like, "Oh, I wish, I wish everybody could un-teach themselves that," as they're kind of starting their careers. Like your perspective is your perspective, and it's valuable. And people do not know more than you. They're just more confident in how they express their ideas.
