5 Ways to Own Your Career With Simone E. Morris

Ladies, it’s time to own your career. If you’re still trying to figure out how, we can help. We recently met with Simone E Morris, a career coach and the author of 52 Tips for Owning Your Career. Simone shared some great tips to help you own your career. Whether you’re a business owner or in corporate America, you can benefit from knowing how to own your career. Here’s what Simone had to say. 

1. Make a Plan

The first step in owning your career is making a plan.

Simone says, “without a plan, you’re not going anywhere.”

When it comes to making a plan, you have to know where you want to go and how to get there.

“You need to figure it out. And by figuring it out, I mean, doing the research, doing informational interviews, talking to people, and gathering data and insights to give you a roadmap on getting from point A to point B.” Simone told us.

To help move your plan along, set a timeline. Simone says, “set a date. Is it at the end of this year that you’ll be fully in [your business]? Is it the first of next year? [Or] is it within the next six months that you’re gonna really launch this thing that you’re gonna be fully in?”

2. Find Community

Finding a community of like-minded go-getters is one way to help own your career. In addition to that, it makes the journey to your goals much more bearable. If you’re a solopreneur, you know just how difficult and lonely it can be. 

So, what do we mean by community? Simone says, “And by community, I mean it could be a, a coach, a mentor, a sponsor who speaks your name in rooms when you’re not in rooms and invites you into spaces that you’re not in.”

We’re big on mentorship and encourage entrepreneurs, no matter where they are in their journey, to have mentors to mentor. If you’re looking for a community that offers mentorship and support, you can join our Facebook community or YouTube community. Our community members get exclusive content and discounts too!

3. Work on Your Brand 

Your brand is important to your success. What do people see when they see your brand? What do they associate you with? You should also pay attention to what your brand looks like. Take the time to ensure your brand aligns with what you want to put out there and make it look good. 

For example, Simone wants to be known as someone who empowers women to take the driver’s seat in their careers. Therefore, that’s the message she puts out there. 

People may associate you with the corporation’s brand if you have a corporate job. That becomes a problem when you have a business, but people only associate you with the other company. Simone went through a similar ordeal. She resolved it by naming the company after herself and taking other steps to distinguish between her and her past corporate job clearly. 

To conclude, when you’re working on branding, you must focus on messaging and being intentional about the content you put out there. At the same time, branding also includes the colors you choose to use and fonts.

4. Get Marketing Collaterals

So marketing collaterals are really just resources you need to help promote yourself and your business. For example, a resume is marketing collateral. 

A resume is important whether you already have a job or have your own business. Simone says that people still ask her for her resume even though she’s a business owner. How many of us, as business owners and entrepreneurs, have updated our resumes to reflect what we are currently doing as the CEO? If you haven’t, it’s a real missed opportunity. 

If you want to update your resume, Simone recommends hiring a resume writer to create a great resume for you. 

Another vital marketing collateral to have are professional photos, especially a headshot. Many business owners overlook this resource, but it’s necessary and can cause you to miss out on opportunities if you don’t have it. 

If you have speaking engagements, write guest blogs, appear as a podcast guest or take part in other opportunities, you will almost always be asked to provide a picture. Your picture should be high quality and only has you against a background. You can book a headshot session with a photographer in your city if you need headshots. 

However, if hiring a photographer is not in your budget, Simone suggests getting your headshots done at a conference. Many conferences offer headshots as part of their package. 

5. Pivot 

You have to be able to pivot if you want to own your career. The first question many people ask is, “How do I know it’s time to pivot?”

According to Simone, an indicator that you have to pivot is chaos. Chaos is an indicator that something has to change.

Once you realize you need a change, you must decide to make a change. Simone says, “Step number one is claiming it. So you have to claim that you deserve to make a change [and] to feel satisfied about your career. So I think mindset is very important. Feeling like you deserve more and have to make a change will help you to make the decision to pivot.”

Now that you know when to pivot, you may wonder how to pivot. Well, Simone says that you have to go on a process of discovery. Simone reassures, “You don’t have to have it all figured out day one. You just have to decide, and off you go. And, and I feel like the universe, God meets you where you are and you start meeting people who can help you, achieve the dreams that you have for your career.”

 Next Steps

It’s time for you to start owning your career. If you need more help, you can grab Simone’s book “52 Tips for Owning Your Career”. In the book, Simone provides 52 tips to help create successful career partnerships, build and sustain career brands, and create and achieve career goals. This book’s for you if you feel challenged in your career and seek deeper purpose and meaning. You will gain templates and strategies to work through career obstacles. Grab this go-to career resource guide today. Simone is also offering our community 15% off her book; use the code sheboss for 15% off on her website.  As a matter of fact, the code will get you 15% off anything in her store, so now is a great time to purchase.