Are you sharing your superpowers? Or exiling huge parts of yourself to please others? Amy Stanton, PR trailblazer and author of The Feminine Revolution, insists that our greatest assets are the qualities we’ve been told to hide. Growing up as the responsible first child in a values-driven family, Amy felt she had to be “the good girl,” and spent her childhood perpetually stressed. Destined to follow in the footsteps of her entrepreneurial grandfather, she was making and selling hair barrettes before she was 10, dreaming of building companies, and chalking up the next achievement. We track Amy’s career trajectory, from working in advertising, to running communications for New York City’s Olympic bid, and serving as Chief Marketing Officer for Martha Stewart. Then, changing the game for women’s sports agents, and on to launching her company to promote positive female role models and change makers. Through it all, she struggled to balance the badass boss persona with the sensitivity, vulnerability, and other “soft traits” she prized in her personal life. Figuring out how to make these qualities strengths, not liabilities, Amy incorporated them into her leadership style, approach to business, and core company values. Walking us through how to leverage other feminine qualities that are conventionally dismissed as weaknesses, she shares her check-in questions and secret weapon for decision making, the mistake that makes everything harder, and the best way to reshape our perspective on success and failure. Amy says: You don’t need to prove your worth, it’s already there. Unleash your full power. Run with your wolf. Show up as your full, feeling, and sometimes-messy self. TESS’S TAKEAWAYS Use challenging moments as training opportunities to learn and build resilience. Emotional awareness and sensitivity allows you to read people and feel before you speak. Trusting your gut is a practice. Start with the little things, then level up to the big ones. Againstness—kneejerk opposition—gets in the way of productivity and team building. Agreeability—the antidote to againstness—isn’t playing small. It’s choosing collaboration. Surrender isn’t giving up. It’s letting go of the need to put yourself at the center. Vulnerability is a superpower—the bridge between being seen and known. It will all work out in the end, and if it hasn't worked out, it's not the end. ABOUT AMY STANTON Amy Stanton has built a leading boutique PR and marketing agency by championing impact-oriented people and brands. She founded Stanton & Company in 2006 exclusively to promote positive female role models. S&Co has grown to represent men and companies as well. Clients include top medical practitioners and authors, elite athletes, and philosophy-driven businesses. Recognized as an industry leader in health and wellness, women’s sports, and female entrepreneurship and empowerment, S&Co has been on the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America for the past three years. Beginning her career with global advertising agencies including BBDO and JWT, Amy also served as the head of marketing and communications for NYC2012 (New York City's Olympic bid), and as Chief Marketing Officer for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Drawing on her personal and professional experience, she co-authored The Feminine Revolution with Catherine Connors, and speaks regularly about female leadership and entrepreneurship, business and marketing, and women in sports. CONNECT WITH AMY Website:
New Zealand