S5E5: End Goal

This episode today is slightly different, more spontaneous if you will. I talk about the end goals. A successful end goal can be different to anybody and it doesn't mean you have to end up in the C-suite to be successful. End goals are what makes you happy and proud with your work. What's yours?

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Transcript

Dr. K: Hello, hello, my wonderful, beautiful friends. It's a crazy day. And I have a lot on my mind. And I'm excited to share with you. First I wanted to provide an update, if you've been listening on Tuesdays, you know, I recently was interviewed to be on the Global PCMA Board of Directors. I did hear from them, they called me, which was amazing. I just absolutely love everyone on the board, they called me and told me that I should definitely apply or get nominated or nominate myself for next year, because this year, they had something like 50 applications, and they took eight or 10 people. And they're just the skills set, and the gaps of the people that were rolling off of the board just didn't align with me right now. And the gaps that needed to be filled, the gaps - kind of like a medical event planner, or somebody focusing in technology. And I specifically asked, like, is there anything that I can do better, so that way, my application is successful in the future. And they were like, no, it purely came down to matching the skill sets and the gaps. And so I'm super looking forward to potentially doing that next year, which is great, because I just, there's so much craziness right now.

 I'm teaching a new class that I haven't taught before. And I was just told last week that I was teaching this class. So gotta love academia. I was told last week that I was teaching a class starting Monday, Wednesday, and I am, if you know me, I'm a person that throws like everything that I have into this. I just love teaching, I love the opportunity to help change behavior, through events and through the classroom. So I'm super into it. So for like three straight days, I've been doing nothing but you know, watching the latest and greatest videos and, and training and doing everything that I can to make sure that this course is excellent. And it's all about marketing, which, events as part of the marketing plan, but also marketing for your events. So it's going to be a great course. And I'm sure that you guys will hear lots about it throughout this term throughout the podcast throughout the semester. 

But I had no intention of recording this podcast today. None. It's not on my schedule. It's not my calendar. I live and die by my calendar. I had this zoom call with this person this morning. I'm not a person that gets riled up very easily. But I was so incredibly agitated. I said, Oh, well, that's just a person who doesn't really know anything about my field or what I'm talking about. But she is actually, her mindset just flabbergasted me. And so for hours now I've been focusing on my class and class development and doing these things. But I cannot get this comment out of my mind. And I was like, Oh my goodness, what if other people think like this as well, I need to do a podcast on this. Because how many people out there are thinking like this. And this is just such a, just an interesting way to think about this. So the conversation...this was... I don't want to give too much away. But this was a person who represents a lot of hospitality, restaurant tourism, and events in our industry. So I don't envy that job at all. Not at all. She has a lot on her plate. But she kind of represents our, our group and our industry and all these different situations. We were talking about something that, that was like a webinar that we're doing. We're talking about marketing and some of these things. And she made the comment that she's not behind the event planning things because there's no professional growth, there's no upward momentum. And she said - she was very serious - and she said that it's a problem because for event planning, there's no professional growth because all you do is you end up planning bigger events or with more people or for more money but there's no professional growth. I was like, woah woah woah, hold the phone, I will argue this, I will continue to harp on it. And we did, we got in a pretty heated discussion for 10 minutes, but then was almost near the end of our time. And I needed to get my other objectives of that phone call done. And it just kind of left where she was very set in her viewpoint that the event planning in education and event planners as a profession, just...I'm like, I don't even have the words for this. She was just saying that there was no professional growth. And then I asked for, so I was probing and asking for some more information on that. And she said, Well, there's no upward growth unless you wanted to. And, and I'm quoting now, a business owner of your own small business, or like the CEO of your own small business, you're just, you're never going to be in the C suite. And I was like, oh, my goodness, I don't know. And she was mentioning, like, the industry organizations like in the past have imploded PCMA and MPI, and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, I don't know how long you've been removed from this field. But this field is crazy changing. And I do so much professional development every single week, just to stay updated. 

And that is also leading to a lot of really interesting challenges in our industry, which I am going to have another podcast on that . In terms of why people are struggling, getting into or staying or finding events is a career path. But this concept of professional growth is super interesting. And she made this, she made this comment to me on the call, she said: you - to me - she said you are gonna be a CEO one day, she's like, you are not like other faculty, you're not like your traditional academics, we need more teachers like you. And so she's saying this to me. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, well, why does everyone have to climb the ladder? Right? Like, what's your purpose? And why do you have to climb the ladder? 

And so when I had graduated with my PhD, I was trying to follow the ladder, right? You start as a student, and then maybe in my field, you go to be an assistant professor, and then you're promoted, you go to associate professor, and then you can choose to be promoted again, or not to full professor. And then you go to department chair, and you go to associate dean, and then dean blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, there's this ladder. And so I think a lot of times societal constructs and just this view of this ladder, you feel like you have to do that. And I definitely felt like I had to do that just based on society for a long time. And it wasn't until maybe 2018, I really started questioning a lot of things about society and, and family makeups and family types. And if you have one kid, do you have to have a second kid so they have someone to play with, and, and there's all these things that were going through my head. And I decided I had no desire to do administration, which is interesting, because everyone tells me I’d be a great administrator. And I have no doubt that I would be a great administrator. But that's not what I want to do. 

And based on this logic, that event planning has a problem as a profession, because there's no, you're never going to be a CEO unless you start your own business. There's so many problems with that comment, in my opinion, anyway. But then essentially, what she was just telling me is that there's no professional growth for me, because I don't want to move up the ladder of command. And granted, she, the one I was the woman I was talking to she, she is the CEO, and older generation. So maybe there's some mindset there. But I feel like I love my role, because there's so much opportunity for professional growth. No one controls my schedule. I control my schedule, I control my classes, and I control my professional growth. I go to more events than probably anyone. I do more learning, lifelong learning webinars. People joke about all the letters behind my name. And most of the time, I actually don't put all the letters behind my name. I'll just choose the one to three that are most relevant for whatever I'm doing. I have a lot of letters behind my name. And it's not because I'm a letter seeker. 

It's because I just love learning. And I think that events is all things. I can learn from psychology, behavioral science, neuroscience, experience design, marketing, strategy, architecture, interior design, urban design, all the things. And that makes me a better event planner. And that makes me a better business event strategist. And there's so many event professionals that are in the C suite, they're doing marketing, they're doing strategy. And they see that events are part of the overall strategic plan of an organization. And I just could not wrap my mind around the fact that she said that event planners, she couldn't get behind it as a profession, because there was no professional growth just because there's not a traditional ladder. And then the comment of unless you want to be a CEO of your own small business, and I'm like, excuse me, let's talk about this, I have owned my own business, I was very thankful to sell my business and pay off all my private loan debt and have a deposit for a house and do all the things. It's just I guess, just I'm still I'm rubbing my temples, you can't see it. Because this is an audio podcast, I just cannot wrap my mind around this thinking. And I challenge every single one of you who are listening to this podcast, to really think about what your viewpoint is, on this field. And on your version of professional growth. 

There is so many different things to think about when you're choosing a career. And especially now a lot of people are talking, talking about work-life balance. There are people that will say, oh, haha, work-life balance. I don't talk about work life balance, I talk about work-life satisfaction. My students have seen and met my daughter, she comes once a semester, my family has come up to the university before they've come to my classes before. I am fully integrated. I am an authentic person through and through, I don't have a classroom persona, and a colleague persona, and a family persona, and a mom persona. I am, who I am. And all of those things are a part of me. And I don't try to separate it out. And I love what I do, I love every single moment of what I do. And so I probably do work too much. But I love it gives me joy. And a lot of people who know me, they say that things that are inspiring about me to them is that I have found something that I love so much. And that's probably why I'm good at it because I love it so much. And I do put in the time and the effort and it takes a lot. There's so much professional growth. And if you think about professional growth just as a title, or earning an office, or having a better title, a professional job title on your business card, then there might not be that traditional professional growth. But some of the smartest people that I know do not even have college educations. They are just through and through lifelong learners. And growth is not a promotion at work. Growth is who you are inside and your mindset and challenging yourself. 

And I just had to pour my heart out onto the podcast today, I had to get it out of my body. I wasn't allowing it to flow, it was getting stuck. It was becoming toxic, it was affecting my mindset, and I could not have that happen. So if you are listening to the podcast today, which you are because you're hearing these words. If you’re listening to the podcast today, I truly challenge you to think about what your version of professional growth is. And if events will match your purpose. With that professional growth, I see the future of events being super, super bright. And I am so excited about what is happening within and with our industry in general. It's a great, great time to be in events. And I am so excited about what our future holds. And so you're gonna see on the podcast coming up, you're gonna see me talk a little bit more about marketing, and event marketing, and marketing for events. And also why I think, Kristin Malek, why I think people struggle with getting into events. And even a little bit on the academic side of why so many programs are having trouble staying in touch with our alumni. And it's not just the things you think about in terms of resources or not having a dedicated recruiter or whatnot. So I'll throw some of that in there too.

So as always, thank you so much for taking the time to make the time. I hope that you will rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend. This is not my normal podcast. This is a little bit of a rant, based on a zoom call that I had earlier, but I hoped that it was beneficial to you. And just thinking that other people out there in the world might have this view set as well. We can battle this but we need to all be in it together. So until next time, I'll see you later.

Thank you for listening to the extraordinary events podcast. Stay tuned for our next episode.