LinkedIn News. I really don't like when people say I am an aspiring blank like people put it in their bios all the time, aspiring copywriter, expiring executive, aspire. Maybe you already are the thing.
I say I'm an aspiring pastries.
You already are because you already used. You are because think about it. You already go home, and you already cook, and you already bake, and you already test it out. The only difference between you and them is that they have a restaurant. You don't have it yet.
From LinkedIn News and I heard podcasts, this is Let's Talk Offline, a show about what it takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your values, sanity or sleep.
I'm Giana Prudenti and I'm.
Jamaie Jackson Gadson. Recently, guys, I've been thinking a lot about personal branding and more importantly, how everyone has a personal brand. Yes, even you. I know it's super cringey and it's kind of uncomfortable, but the reality is there is something that someone is saying about you in some room that you are not in Now. The great thing is you can learn how to own that perception and
hopefully use it to your advantage. And crafting a personal brand or narrative around your career and who you are can also help lead to different connections, awesome opportunities, and hopefully some money in the process.
So a few years ago, I had literally no idea what a personal brand even was. I was like, where do I even be in and what does it even mean to have a personal brand. Luckily, I've learned a thing or two since then, So don't worry. We're going to break down how to think of yourself as a brand and how to communicate who you are to the world.
Personal branding the branding of the personals, Gianna. I am super excited for today's episode where we're going to be talking all about personal branding. But I know some of the listeners are probably like, what even is a personal brand and why is it even important? So I know you can google what a personal brand is, but I
want to share with you my definition. So, a personal brand is like a unique combination of your skills, your experiences, your values, and your personality traits that not only defines you, but it also helps differentiate you from other people. This is not only how you present yourself to the world, but also how the world receives you. And I think it's really important to remember that your personal brand can encompass both your personal and your professional lives, which obviously
has some differentiation, but there's a lot of similarity. So why is a personal brand important now?
For me?
I think that once you really have an idea of what your personal brand is, it helps unlock new opportunities. I mean this can be both financial opportunities, social opportunities, what have you. Because once people kind of know who who you are, what you're about, and when you come into a room what you stand on, they can actually start to figure out is an alignment with this person's brand or not. Jona, what do you think I've.
Kind of thought about my personal brand like a reputation. I think that's been like the easiest way for me to understand what can seem like a very abstract idea.
So it's like what somebody says about you when you're not in the room, and whatever you're posting, whatever you're putting out there, that message is building equity in your name and being at like everything is online now, it's literally the message somebody receives when they come across your LinkedIn profile, Like when I see Jammay's LinkedIn profile, who is she? What is her brand? What is her profile telling me? So it's really how somebody sees and discusses
your work. And when you think about your personal brand kind of like a career story, it becomes your unique value proposition or your elevator pitch or literally the answer to tell me about yourself in an interview, which I know we all dread. And here's the thing, Like it might sound like I know what I'm talking about, but just a year or so ago, the idea of personal branding felt so overwhelming to me. I had never really heard about it, so I didn't know what it meant.
And in my role at LinkedIn, I've been given a platform to build this brand around my coverage and I've been able to build a following through consistent posting largely tied to my work. So all my gen Z coverage nothing too personal. And a year or so ago, people started reaching out to me for speaking engagements and they would say, Gianna, you have a really strong personal brand. I would love for you to speak on personal branding.
And I was like, hold up.
What is my brand?
It was not.
I mean it was, but iden know where it was okay, So I was like, okay, crap, what is my brand?
What is it saying? Like what's the message out here?
And I remember even before that, somebody once asked me in an interview like Gianna, who are you? And I was like, oh my god, that's like the hardest, like the easiest question, but so hard, like I'm a sister, I'm a friend, like the most robotic, wacky answer. But I hadn't given any thought to my personal brand, so I couldn't really articulate that. So people were reaching out about personal branding opportunities and I said to myself, it's
time to figure this out. So I did a lot of research, which included a podcast episode that you were on with my manager Andrew Seaman has get Hired podcasts where you talked about personal branding. And you truly are the queen in this space, and you've done such an incredible job over your career building that in such a
way that sets you apart from other people. So I'm just like completely in all of that as is, and I'm so excited to chat with you today about how you've you know, built that brand early on and how that shifted throughout your career, because it's something I'm giving a lot of thought to now, so I would love to know, like, when did you first think of yourself as like, Okay, I'm Jimmay a brand.
I love that question, But first, let me take a step back and say thank you. That means a lot coming from you. I never really considered myself as a brand, and I was at the time just creating, just to create, and I really wanted to write about things that I was passionate about. I had gone to college, I had hung up my dream of being an actor at that time. I look at baby, look at me now, even my dog is in commercials ha. But so I was working and I was like, okay, but I really like to write.
I like to research, and at that point I was like, okay, I'm going to probably do something in the journalism space. So senior year, I'm applying, applying, applying, and I'm not getting anything back. By then, I was trying to get to New York from DC, but I kept hitting this wall and I started to get really frustrated. And after having one experience with an editor who said that she really liked my content, but she already had a black girl on her team. I felt really ignited to talk
about race. And I was looking at people like Terry Agans or Robin Gavon or these prominent black women who were working at these credible outlets like The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and they were talking about fashion, but they were talking about it in a way that wasn't about the clothes. It was about what was happening in the culture. And I said, I want to do that. So I started my own blog because I was like, well, if nobody else is going to give me a chance,
I'm going to do it myself. And so I started The Blonde Misfit because I'm blonde, because I'm a natural blonde. You guys don't ask no questions, okay, And so I was writing essentially about what it felt like to be a misfit, an outsider looking into an industry that would not let me in. And that was the initial steps of building community. Because really, I started the blog thinking I'm only going to use this until I get my foot in the door at Conde Nas or Hearst or whatever.
Like.
I had no intention of keeping this blog up. But what ended up happening was when I finally did get to New York and I finally did get the job right working at a fashion magazine. Everybody was like, wait, you're just going to abandon us. You're not gonna keep talking to us and telling us like how it is now, and I was like, you know what, yeah. So then the blog continue to take shape and I was style sharing different stories about my life in New York and
making friends. When I first started to get on speaking panels and it's really beautiful. I will just say that the beauty of age is wisdom and getting to look back and seeing over my life. How this started off because you know, I started off with the blog because I was a writer. But then what ended up happening was then as the blog continued to pick up, other websites wanted to profile me. So now I was getting
my name out there through press features. Then I started getting invited to people's podcasts, and I was like, wait, you want to hear me talk? Like I know you guys probably would not believe this, but I never thought people wanted to hear me or see me. I was just behind a computer screen. And then people were like, oh wait, this girl actually kind of can talk and
she can do some things. And then I started getting invited to speak on panels, and then I started getting invited to host panels, and so I just see all of that to say that that day that I started my blog, I never would have imagined that it would turn into what it is today. But as time went on, I had to learn that, yeah, I want to see myself as a brand. I want myself to have brand colors, I want myself to have a mission savement. I saw myself as a Coca Cola or as a McDonald's, the
same way that you know that arch of McDonald's. I wanted you to see the logo of my brand or see the name and be like, oh, yeah, I know what that is. And I just kind of put myself in that mentality by just showing up. It was really kind of fun because I got to capitalize on the height of the blogging era and really putting myself out there perfecting it, putting out what I like to call
them minimal viable product and just perfecting over time. So it really was never a thing where I thought I'm a brand, but over time I was like, I can monetize this and I can also build new things. So this is really why I say your personal brand can start one way, but over the course of your career, you're going to constantly evolve and evolve and evolve.
I think that is something that is really refreshing and reassuring, because first off, I didn't realize you started the blah misfit like what ten plus years ago. Yeah, that's where's coming up this year? Oh ten years that's like insane. So it's grown so much, but what it started out
as is not what it is today. And you were just documenting your journey and a lot of people, a lot of gen Zers I speak to, were like, well, I don't even know what to post about on LinkedIn for example, but it literally is just posting your own journey, right,
Like that's unique to you. So you were going through this time of struggle and you were open and Canada about it, and it's snowballed into this big, beautiful thing that throughout that time helped you get opportunities, which I think is like the biggest thing when it comes to personal branding is you just got to start somewhere and you know, leverage your own experience when you do and then those opportunities will come.
It's really a long term investment.
I absolutely agree. And I also think that authenticity is the name of the game here because I'm not gonna lie. When I first launched my brand, I was trying to be the very cookie cutter fashion editor, always on point, and I realized and it actually was my boyfriend at the time now husband, who was like, this is weird because who you are at brunch and who you're putting out out here in the streets is two different people. And I was like, but I can't be my most
authentic self out there. He was like, why not. If they like you, which they do, you have to be truthful and so yeah, when I first started, I did not want to open up, but I did not want to really tell the truth about a lot of things. I wanted to control the narrative. The minute I started to make those adjustments and showing people the real me,
that was really when my world opened up. And honestly, the minute I started being more authentic in being more of who I am truly, whether you liked it or not, it really helped me build community and essentially a network of people who look out for me.
Coming up after the break, we're going to talk about what it takes to build your personal brand. Spoiler, all it takes is being you.
That's next.
So we're back talking about personal branding one on one, and as we know, that can be very confusing and challenging to figure out when.
You're early in your career.
There's still a lot I'm figuring out, even though I spent the past few years, you know, trying to learn what it takes to build a personal brand. And in my coverage I speak to a lot of gen zers who are also struggling with this, So I've compiled a lot of their questions about how to even begin with personal branding to asktimate to day is I'm putting you in.
The hot seat.
Oh god, I'm so excited. Are you ready? I'm We're here? Maybe we're here.
I want to start off with first figuring out what you want your personal brand to be.
How do you go about that? And is there an exercise we can do totally? So I would say, first ask yourself what would you like to be known for? You know, if someone was just looking at a piece of paper that had one or two sentences about you and your unique value proposition, what would you want it to say? So, Like, for the purposes of knowing that we were going to talk about personal branding today, I
wrote out what my personal mission statement is. I said, I champion diverse voices and empower black and brown artists in the fashion, beauty, and entertainment industries through authentic storytelling. My mission is to show people that your dream life is a life worth fighting for your elevator pitch. So when it comes to personal branding, you want to figure out what you want people to know you for. But
how to do that is really key here. So I listed out three things that I think everyone can do. So the first thing I wrote is that you should identify your strengths and your passions. There's this really great term called your zone of genius, which are things that you are really really great at that also come easy to you.
Right.
I always think we ought to be operating in our zone of genius. Right, So if something comes easy to you and it's natural, and you also happen to be good at it, maybe that's also where you want to pursue your career. The next thing I would say is gathering feedback. Now, this one is where it can get fun. It can also get kind of weird. But I was like, if we're gonna get weird, let's get freaky, you know
what I mean? Go to your family, ask me to see your family, your friends, maybe you're even your manager or a trusted a person in your life. Right ask them like, if you had to describe me in three adjectives, what would they be? Because honestly, you can use those adjectives to inform your personal vision statement, mission statement, however
you want to label it. You also want to start asking people what do you see me as an expert in or where do you see that I can add value and impact because the reality is these are the people who are seeing things about you that you don't see. And honestly, even as scary as that is, the reason why you want to do that is because you want to make sure that what people see you as is how you see yourself and how you want to be seen. And there sometimes can be a disconnect in those things,
which you want to figure out early on. The last thing I will quickly say is refine your statement. You might have to go through a couple of revisions, but then you can share it with other people. You can be like, what do you think do you think that this matches up with who I am and how I'm showing up. I think that's a great place to start. And the great thing is this is something that is
industry agnostic. Everybody can do it. You can do it in your first job, you can do it in your internship, you can do it when you are the senior CEO. Everyone should have a personal vision statement that goes back to their personal brand.
Speaking of industries, I think something that makes people hesitate when it comes to personal branding is that it feels exclusive to people who are in creative roles like you and I. So I'm wondering, what's your advice to people who work maybe in like finance or healthcare? How should they think about building a personal brand when they're maybe not in such a public facing role.
That is such a great question, because I'm going to tell you guys a little secret. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking I am an extrovert. I am an ambrovert, and I'm gonna say that because I am extrovertive around people who I know. I obviously am very extrovertive on social media. It's so much easier for me to have social relationships than real ones, Like I kid you not, I talk to the same four people
in my life. And I'm not joking when I say it's literally for pretty much like it's like, it's pretty bad I have to actually leave the house to socialize anyway. But the reason why I say that is because I think people make also the assumption and that personal branding is so easy if you're an extrovert, and I totally get that. But my advice for introverts as well as people to your point who are in maybe less public facing roles, is understand that your personal brand exists whether
you want it to or not. What we're discussing here is you having the power to determine what that brand is. People are going to talk about you no matter what I would say. Don't necessarily think that personal branding means you always have to be external, you have to have a large social media presence that you have to be posting all the time. It's really about controlling the narrative, I would say, and really making sure that again, how
you want to come across is being communicated. So personal branding still matters, right, You can still if you work in finance. You can absolutely create content, maybe even sharing it on LinkedIn about how you do audits or how you are getting your CPA license, or maybe you've decided you want to go back for your MBA. Like there is so much content and just the everyday thing, and
really I would say, we want to see the journey. Yeah, I don't want to just see a quote unquote overnight success, because anyone who's been an overnight success is really at least twenty years in the making. Like, so take the pressure off of yourself to think that you have to be this inflated Like I get it. I wear pink blazers with feathers, I get it. I am a very like bold, out there person. But you don't have to
be to be successful. You just have to be you and even just share a little bit of the journey in the process. Yeah.
I think when you think about it as your career story, it's really how you sell yourself in networking conversations. When you're reaching out to people, let's say, over LinkedIn, how do you explain who you are you know, in the context of your professional life in interviews? How do you position yourself across your cover letter and resume, Like, what is the message people are getting when they look at
those materials when they look at your LinkedIn profile. So I think that's like the way to kind of think about it if you're not somebody.
Who's like, I'm ready to post right now.
Yeah, totally, And I would definitely add to that that. Really it's just about starting with where you are at right now and understanding that you have something unique to add to this conversation and that is also part of your personal brand.
I want to bring up a question from one of our listeners. Next this is Dear work Bestie, where we answer your questions. This week's comes from Morgan and Nevada.
A question I have as a gen Z professional entering the workforce is how can you start establishing a reputation and credibility early in your career as you're building a personal brand. Especially with social media and the Internet, it's made it easier to put yourself out there, but it also feels like there's more to consider when you're trying to figure out what your personal brand is.
I love Morgan's question because figuring out what you want your personal brand to be is only the first step.
And we talked about that before you then have to communicate that.
And you know, we've talked about posting a bit, and you know how you position yourself in interviews and in networking. But part of that too is building credibility, Like how do you get people to actually buy into what you're saying.
What's your advice to Morgan.
Yeah, it's one word consistency. I think that what's really important here is that you build credibility when people see things over a period of time. For instance, Gianna, you've talked about baking and how much you love cooking and stuff. If you said that one time to me and that was the only time you ever mentioned it, I'm gonna just be like, yeah, she said it, but like she's
really not serious about it. Now if you keep talking about it now, I'm like, oh, there's something really here, right, And in many ways you have to keep kind of putting it out there. And I think that's what scares people. People don't like to be marketers of themselves. They don't like talking about themselves. It's scary, right. We're not comfortable because we have been taught as a society to downplay
our achievements. This is not the time for that. Even if it just starts something as simple as you know, I am a this, and I'm a this, and I'm a this, I do this. I specialize in that you have to keep saying it. It's almost like affirmations to yourself. The more you say it, the more it gets locked into yourself, and the more that you keep saying it, the more other people begin to see you as that. Now, this is where faith without works is dead. You can't
just say something and then not back it up. Okay, if you're gonna talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk too. That now also comes with showing up every day authentically as that person you want to be treated as an executive. You got to show up to work as an executive. You got to carry yourself like one.
Right.
For instance, for me, I was saying that I was an actor before I even started editioning. Why I'm going to classes, I'm taking my voice classings, I'm working out, I'm doing the things, I'm doing the work, and guess what, now I'm doing things like some of it, yes, it's some of it is what is like delulu, like manifestation, like but you have to believe it. And I'm so passionate about it, because I really do think anyone can change their life at the drop of a hat, the
minute you decide to take a bet on yourself. So from Morgan, I would definitely say, be so delusionally aggressive about who you want to be that you show up every day and you speak life into being that person, because at some point it's either going to be your word against everybody else's. But if you've been putting in the work, if you have the receipts, if you've been showing up and you've been saying it, everybody else has no other option but to support your vision for yourself.
Yeah, I think.
You know, Let's say you're like at a networking event and you introduce yourself and you basically are sharing your personal brand, like who you are, what you care about, you know, your interests, your strengths. Someone's then gonna go connect with you on LinkedIn and then they're going to see, oh, you know, does her career experience align with this, does her boud section align with that? I mean, they're not
literally going there and asking that. Maybe they are, but I think it's a way for people to kind of, you know, check what you're saying even if they don't realize they're doing it consciously. They want to see the posts that you're putting out there. Does it align with kind of what you said?
Absolutely? And that's kind of why. Fun fact, I really don't like when people say I am an aspiring blank like people put it in their bio all the time, aspiring copywriter, expiring executive, aspire. Baby, you already are the thing I say.
I'm an aspiring pastry.
You already are because you already us you are, because think about it. You already go home and you already cook, and you already bake, and you already test it out. The only difference between you and them is that they have a restaurant. You don't have it yet, thanks to me. But think about it, because if you keep selling yourself you're aspiring. You are already sort of putting a mental glass ceiling on yourself that you haven't arrived yet. But
the minute you tell yourself, actually, I've already arrived. It's just everybody else hasn't seen it yet. Like, honey, I already know Lionsgate is gonna come knocking on my door one day. Okay, I'm already carrying myself in the way that I want to be. I'm going to stay ready so I don't have to get ready. And that's just it. The minute you realize that this is what you do for your personal brand, the universe conspires in your favor
and I don't believe anything else. That's my delusionalness coming in.
If we're going to be Jululu, be it for yourself, I might as well be for yourself. Morgan mentioned social media making it easier to put yourself out there, and we talked a bit before. Or You mentioned having a social media presence, and I remember when I started at LinkedIn, I was so fearful to even start posting, even though I was literally getting paid to do that, because I was like, oh, my friends are going to see this, what are they going to think? And I talked to
myself out of posting so many times. Luckily, I've really worked on getting, you know, outside of my comfort zone over the last few years.
But great, thank you.
But I'm wondering for others who are just getting started. Do you need to have a strong social media presence to have a strong personal brand? Are those two things mutually exclusive?
Yeah, I would say, I said no. I would say for certain industries. Obviously it pays to be more front facing, right, But if you find that you don't necessarily need a social media presence in order to be marketable, I would say still do the exercise that we discussed and really make sure you lock down your vision or your mission statement, because you can use that when you go into job interviews and when you're talking through your resume. I always say social media can be a good tool in your
toolkit if used correctly. So a couple of mistakes that I see is when people try to be too many places, too many times, lock one platform down and then expand. I'm saying this not just because I work here, but because I genuinely have seen the fruit of the labor here that LinkedIn I think is a really great place for people to start out. First of all, we have so many different formats. You have short form video, we have LinkedIn live if you want to go long. We
have newsletters. You know, Gianna, you've been running a great newsletter for years. There are so many different tools we already have here, and I know, like then the caveat of that is that people are like, but this is a professional platform. How am I supposed to show up
baby by sharing your story, just by starting there. If you have just graduated, like document the jobs maybe you know, you don't have to call out the names of them, but the companies and when things that you're learning in the process that first internship, I bet you you walked out better than you came in. Those are things that you can start sharing now. And even though you don't think that that's part of your brand, it sort of is because everything is building this holistic idea and image
of you. So there's just so many ways that you can flip storytelling on social media that I would say, like to take the ick or the fear out of it. Just start with what you know. At the end of the day, as I am going to continue to say, oh a brand authenticity is the name of the game. Like you cannot be anyone else but you, and honestly, no one else deserves that seat.
Okay, So I have.
Been loving everything you're sharing, but I have one last question for you. You know, you build this personal brand, you do all the work, you've taken time and energy and invested into doing it. How do you then leverage that personal brand to find your next opportunity?
Yes, so I would say that you can leverage a couple of different ways. And again it goes back to sort of your industry. This is honestly where industry research is gonna come. Okay, market research. If you want to be in a certain industry, you kind of need to see who the movers and shakers are, what companies you would want to work for, because it's gonna sort of give you a vibe check.
Right.
So, like, let's say, for instance, I am a new grad who wants to work in marketing, and so I start, you know, googling and finding out different cmos chief marketing officers for those who don't know, and I'm like, Okay, I want to aspire to be like this one. I'll just use Bozma Saint John because she's just who I'm thinking of off top of mind. You might go on her Instagram, you might go on her LinkedIn. You start to see how she's creating content. Now, what did I
say earlier? You are not an aspiring marketer. You already are a marketer. Okay, So now you're like, all right, she's posting consistently, she's posting a little of her personal she's posting her professional wins, I'm going to start doing the same. That is how you start building up the portfolio. And now when you want to go and apply for X, you know, job or whatever. Usually in a job application they ask for links, websites, whatever. This is where you
can start sharing out your portfolio. Now, I know someone out here saying, okay, but you may this is for the creative folk. What I do and find it is same thing. If you have cultivated or curated a digital portfolio of some sort, you can absolutely share that. I think a lot about how we have so many healthcare
professionals on LinkedIn. We have doctors, we have nurse practitioners, we have everyone in between, and they are consistently creating content on LinkedIn about becoming a new grad or going to med school or whatever the process. That is all fair game.
I was gonna say, even like what's going on in the healthcare industry, like news that's impacting your job.
I need you now tell me what to do and tell people to keep washing their hands, because I think some people have stopped knowing that. It's really great. Yeah, but what I'm but essentially what I'm saying is you can leverage all of that and actually that is a great way when you are filling up those job applications for you to say I'm already talking about this. I am already because again, the reason why your personal brand is so important is because it differentiates you from other people,
including your competition. You have to show why would I go out and nowadays getting a job is hard. I know friends who are out here applying for two three, four hundred jobs who have been laid off for a year, year and a half. Whatever it is rough out here, it is full on hunger games. So what are you bringing to the table that is different than everybody else? Your personal brand is that? And if you are already creating content, why would I not take the bet on you?
At least I know that you can talk about this versus someone who's just said, Hi, I just got my degree. I don't have anything behind me. I don't have no receipts, no samples, no nothing, just vibes. Can I come up here and drink the macha? No? No, no, no.
So true.
We're gonna take a short break, but stick around because there's still plenty more to come.
Wow, Tomay, I love everything you shared and I love just getting to learn more about your own journey and something I've been curious about since I listened to that podcast.
Episode a year ago.
So I really appreciate you sharing all of that with me. And I think I totally need to revisit my mission statement. I actually did write it before the episode.
I'm not gonna read it, but yeah, it's like not it.
I need to, you know, think about my identity outside of my job title, which I still feel tied to because that's how I started my personal brand. So I'm going to revise my mission statement just so I can better articulate, like what I'm passionate about, what I'm interested in outside of just like being tied to a company and with a certain job title. And also I'm gonna
ask for feedback. I think that was such a good tip, because you want to know if your messaging is land right, Like you could do it for so long and then somebody's like, oh, that's not really what I thought you were about. So I think that's a really good piece of advice, is to ask people closest to you, like, if you had to describe me in the context of my professional career, what would you say, and collect that and you know, pivot revise, do all the things after.
So those are my two action items.
I love that I cannot wait to hear your personal mission statement. But everything you said is so true, and I think that the minute you detach yourself from a job and think more about, like what is the holistic arch of your life, then that will also help inform you for other roles right and other opportunities down the road. For me, I really want to emphasize three things. First of all, remembering that authenticity is key. You are you. I always like to say you are your superpower. Nobody
else can be you. No one else deserves to be you, and if you were not you, then who would be? So you have to be you and you have to be true. Second, write the vision. Make it plain. It's that simple. Write it out, put it on pen and paper, articulate it. Workshop it. It's okay if you have to go through multiple rounds. I'm gonna give you guys a little tip. Open up, chat GPT, ask it some questions, tell it you know, adjectives that you have that people
have given to you. Workshop your vision and if it aligns, it aligns, and then pivot if you need to. And then last personally, not least be consistent. One thing I did not mention earlier that I think consistency also entails is making sure that you're getting the same person, even if it's a slightly different variation on every platform. If you go to my Instagram, you go to my LinkedIn, you go to my Twitter, you go to my TikTok,
you go to my website, you're gonna see Jamay. It's going to be a different version of jam because obviously, you know, I can cut up a little bit more on some places versus not. But at the end of the day, you're going to say this is Jammy Jackson, and I know that for a fact. So your consistency is also about showing up in the places where you need to show up and being true to yourself in the process. So speaking about being true to yourself, Gianna,
I gotta be true to myself. I love cooler cringe.
Ah.
It is my favorite thing, Emma, because it is such a fun way for us to figure out what is cool versus what is cringe. And in this little part of the show, we like to present something to you all, and Gianna and I like to discuss if it is in fact cool or it is cringe. So, Gianna, what do we have this week?
This is a spicey on? Oh I love spice dating your coworkers. Ooh, you've been there, dumb.
Would you like to go first? What do you think about that? Gianna?
I think it's cool as long as there's like some degree of separation between you and the person. So like direct team is kind of you know, that could get messy.
That could get really messy. Really message what if someone got promoted over the other person.
Or just like you break up and then you're like, let's work on this project together.
No, I would not work on no project. You're on your own body.
Yeah, totally great.
So I think it's okay as long as there's some you know, maybe they're on a different team or they work in like a different office. Great, And I feel like that's good. Like you need healthy separation too, Like you don't want to be like potentially living with this person, going to work every day, seeing them every day. And I think there that's like a healthy level of separation too that you want. So yeah, I don't know, I've never experienced this myself.
I was gonna say, have you ever had to, you.
Know, figure out no office romance. Okay, what about you?
I kind of want that for you. But now, like we both worked here, instead of be like, oh my god, I'd be like, who's Gianna's bow. I have dated a coworker before, but we were not on the same team. We didn't have the same job function our entire days were. It's completely different, and so I think that's sort of where it was fun. And it was kind of you know, it was cute. You know, oh, I see you up in the lunch line boot, you know you want to take a walk with me to go get coffee and
hold my hand. But wholl that didn't last. I was like, is this your husband? No, it is not, but it is okay, y because I'm trying. I want my husband to work to work with me so we can do the same things. He's like, absolutely not only can, He's like, I can take you on doses.
I can't.
But I say the same thing. I would say that it's cool as long as you have boundaries. Obviously, still keep a professional. Okay, no hanky panky in the office, please, I do not need to know what y'all been up to with your weekends, with your nights. I don't stop getting so close to each other. Stand away what is Don't be weird, you know, especially at the company holiday party. Not be weird because I'm gonna call you out. I'm aa spray you with a spray bottle. You being weird, Yeah,
spray bottle. It's a little too hot up in heare.
I think when people can start picking up on like to they have a vibe, that's when you know.
When other people start getting uncomfortable because they're like, something itchy is happening here and I don't know what that's about. Don't do that. Don't make the block hot, essentially, and that's when it can get into the cringe territory. But again, I would just say, also, just be mindful. You know,
I've had friends who have dated their bosses. I think that is an absolute that's a no no. Like I had one friend who was dealing with her manager's manager like so she always would be like, he can't say nothing to me. I'm like, sis, you're playing a dangerous game. So like I would say, like, aside from like the fun juiciness of it all, I get it. We're young,
we're hot. Everything is still sitting pretty and whatnot. Like, I get it, baby, but just be careful about how you run in these streets because these streets will run up on you.
Yeah wow.
But also you're like spending so much time at work, so I think it's natural for people to find you know a partner at work. I think you also just have to be mindful of the policies not to be like such an arc. But you probably have to disclose that it is in your employee hand but read your employee handbook.
Do not get god.
Are you guys let us know cool or cring dating or coworkers, and if you have some stories to share, we want to hear them.
So I think we both are collectively cool cool ringing cool, Yeah, cool ringing. We're ordering cringe if you go about it at the don't be freaky kids out there, So guys, don't be a freaky kid cooler cringe, but more poorlyan. I hope you've enjoyed this entire episode. Thank you so much for listening.
Yes, and make sure you guys are following the newsletter Let's Talk offline if you're not already. The link is in the show description and also in my LinkedIn bio.
Yes and a couple of important announcements. First of all, if you have a burning question, make sure you send that to me and gian Okay, we cannot do that segment without you, guys, so we want to hear it. Okay, send us your questions. Information on how to do that is in the show description. And also, do not forget to rate and review the podcast and follow it to the you didnim misus any episodes. If you missed the
episode is because you are not listening to your work. Mesties, Jamai and Gianna follow the show.
Also shout out to Morgan for your question this week. That was so fun to have Jamay answer. I know I learned a lot. All Right, guys, before you go, remember we've always got your back, so something comes up.
Let's Talk Offline. I'm Giana Prudente.
And I'm Jammy Jackson Gadson Stay Thriving.
Let's Talk Offline is a production of LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. This show is produced by Western Sound. Our producer is Sabrina Fang. The show is edited by Savannah Wright. Our associate producer is Sarah Dilley. Alex mckinnis is our engineer, and Ben Adair is the executive producer.
Executive producers at iHeart Podcasts are Katrina Norvel and Nikki Etour. We got support from LinkedIn's Jesse Temple, Sarah Storm, and Ayana Angel. Maya Pope Chappelle is Director of Content, Dave Pond is Head of News Production, Courtney Coop is Head of Original Programming, and Dan Roth is the editor in chief of LinkedIn
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