To build your career, you have to be continuously learning, passionate and fearless, according to Michelle Taite, chief marketing officer for Intuit Mailchimp.
Taite, who spoke Tuesday at the Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit, hosted by The Jerusalem Post and WE (Women’s Entrepreneurship), shared her advice for young entrepreneurs, which included these three tips and more.
“Passion has been crucial for me to show up and do my best”
Michelle Taite
Learning from people around you
Taite said she recognizes the value of continual learning, adding that she learns from the people around her and often listens to audiobooks and reads the Harvard Business Review.
“I learn from my colleagues and friends,” she said. “You have to be self-motivated and committed to learning, even when it is hard, because that is when you learn about new possibilities.”
Taite did not start her career as a marketer. She transitioned between roles, including designing footwear at New Balance, before landing her role at Mailchimp, which was recently acquired by Intuit.
“Passion has been crucial for me to show up and do my best,” Taite said.
“You need to recognize what you are passionate about at different points in your life and career,” she said, “and be honest with yourself about what really drives you.”
In Annie Duke’s book Thinking in Bets, the author encourages readers to look at decisions as a series of small bets – some you win and some you lose. And when you lose, you are offered the opportunity to learn from the experience, get up and try again.
Decisions are small bets
“Looking at all of our decisions as a collection of small bets makes it a little easier to be fearless,” Taite said.
She also spoke about the value of self-care and said to be a good manager, one has to be “fully charged” themselves.
At Intuit Mailchimp, employees come first and are highly valued, Taite said. That mentality has enabled her teams to achieve excellent work, she added.
One of Taite’s key insights shared during her talk was for leaders to care about staff holistically, as people and professionals.
Humility and curiosity
“We, at Intuit Mailchimp marketing, have a slogan: ‘#BeatOurBest,’” she said. “This means we aim to build on our successes and work together to unlock gains through shared experiences. We know winning as a team is better than winning alone.”
Humility and curiosity are added ingredients for success, Taite said.
“Humility is recognizing we have limits,” she said. “Curiosity is the understanding that we don’t know everything, and there’s more to learn.”
Finally, Taite stressed the importance of connection.
“People live to connect, and work is no different... Invest in your connections,” she said.