Description

You've heard the phrase, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?", but have you ever heard it used in the context of your career? Nicole Williams, author of Girl on Top, has real girl-to-girl career advice.

Transcript

Female: Well pretty much everybody out there have heard the phrase, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free, right. But have you ever heard that phrase use in the context of your career? Well Nicole Williams is the author of Girl on Top and she’s got some real girl to girl career advice. And trust me, if you ever been out there in a dating scene you can definitely relate to her language of love. Oh, guys, it’s so so true. Welcome to the show. Nicole: It is, thank you. Thanks. Female: Your book actually uses typical dating rules but then you're flipping them and applying them to careers. Nicole: Yeah. Absolutely. Because dating is all about human nature and building relationships and that’s true in the world of work as well. So they seemed like a perfect parallel to me. Female: Growing up, from learning from your mistakes to. Nicole: Exactly. Female: Now before we get some of the tips, I heard that Warner Brothers bought the rights to the book and now turning it into a movie. Is that true? Nicole: That’s right. Female: Congratulations. Nicole: Thanks. It was just exciting. Female: So she’s just not that into you kind of thing. Nicole: Kind of thing. Exactly. Actually that has just sold when I was starting to conceptualize the book. So I almost wrote it with that possibility. Of course it was a huge dream but that maybe true and in fact it’s coming true. Female: See, so I’m excited. You guys have to read the book. You’ll know exactly why I’m so excited. So let’s talk about examples of how you apply the dating rules to the career advice. The first thing you say is follow your heart. You got to really follow a career that you love. Same thing with a guy, right? Nicole: Absolutely. It’s rule number one. And then I grew up with a mom who work in a paint factory, it literally killed her. It sucked the life out of her. So I really believe in having a career that you really believe in and can feel passionate about. And just like finding a man, sometimes people it’s love at first sight. It’s an instant this is it forever. And then for others of us, it’s trial and error. And sometimes we’re on the wrong job just like with the wrong man. To learn about the right job looks like. Female: Get me out of here. Nicole: Yes. Exactly. Female: This one, I don’t know what this means, treat it mean, keep it keen. Nicole: Yeah, this is one of my mom’s favorite actually. Because truthfully, you know, at the end of the day we value what we have to work for. And someone needs to work for in their career is to be respected. And there’s a difference between liked and respected. And then I talked a little bit about in this chapter the fact that sometimes you need to make hard decisions. You have to hold people accountable. And sometimes you have to be the mean girl in order to get ahead. I’m not for a moment suggesting to be mean just for being mean’s sake. But if someone steals your idea or if someone tries to take you down. You need to be able to stand up for yourself. Female: Okay, we talk earlier about the phrase why buy the cow when you get the milk for free. Nicole: Yes. Female: You know what that means when it comes to relationships, but what about when it comes to job though. Nicole: Your milk in your career is your talent. And the same way, if you give away this talent and don’t expect anything in return and you are pricing yourself below market value. Female: They’ll take advantage of you. Nicole: They’ll take advantage of you. It is exactly that. They’ll just keep taking that milk for free, for free, for free. They won't buy you, they won't pay you. Female: And also don’t bash your ex. I like that one. Nicole: That’s one of my favorite ones. Because it’s a question that inevitably happens in an interview. What happened in the last job. So really, just like in a relationship. Really you’re speaking poorly about your past employer, actually says more about you than it does about them. So I really, really suggest women to keep their mouth shut. Female: Yeah. Last but not least, say play hard to get. There’s a career strategy that you have that’s like the law of supply and demand, right. Nicole: Exactly, and this one of the most important roles. Frankly, it’s like you need to be focus on a skill set that is in demand. And I’m not about being a jack of all trades, really develop a talent. Invest in it. And choose a talent that there’s not a hundred people could do this thing, because that’s inevitably what’s gets paid for. Female: And you’ll end up giving up the mild for free. Nicole: Yes. Exactly. Female: And Nicole says don’t do that. Nicole: No, do not do that. Female: Well congratulations on the book to. Nicole: Thank you so much. Female: Got to keep us posted on that to. Nicole: I will, I promise. Thank you. Female: Alright, thanks so much Nicole. And if you guys might be a career woman looking for some great advice climbing the corporate ladder, you definitely want to check out Nicole’s book. It’s fantastic. It’s called Girl on Top.