Professional Women and Their Best Career Advice

As women, it’s essential to motivate and pick one another up, especially when it comes to being part of male-dominated industries. Having a seat at the table doesn’t mean just that, but also to be seen, heard, and acknowledged by everyone in the room. March is not only about celebrating our accomplishments and contributions to society, but wearing them unapologetically with pride everywhere we go. Team EnVi got in touch with a few industry women to talk about career advice they wish to share and how they hope to inspire others. 

bibi

Brazilian Singer-Songwriter

What advice would you give to women who wish to follow in your career path?

When I first entered the industry I always had a hard time understanding a balance between my head and heart. Even though we need to be rational, strategic, and methodical, I guess good advice would be: never be afraid of choosing with your heart. If it’s about working with someone, signing a contract, or even writing a song, taking a path that makes you feel at ease with yourself it’s always the best choice. We can never please everyone around us and at the end of the day, the only thing we have is our own conscience.

What opportunities do you wish to see more for women in your industry?

The thing that I wish to see the most is women who open doors for other women. Somehow, we still carry, unconsciously, archetypes of competition and feeling threatened by each other. I want us to be more united about sharing knowledge and experiences so that the industry’s entrance barrier for the next generations gets thinner and thinner.

How do you hope to inspire others through your work?

Personally, I am so connected and thankful for being able to do what I Love! So, I would be extremely glad to see my passion inspire someone to appreciate everything that they are and every powerful energy that’s within them – in order to channel that into a moving force called purpose. 🙂

Chantel Nicole

Singer-Songwriter

What advice would you give to women who wish to follow in your career path?

When it comes to being an artist, learn everything you can. You do not have to master each acquired skill, just make sure you’re knowledgeable enough to surround yourself with the right people. As women, we are considered vulnerable in this space. At times, people may attempt to take advantage of any naïveté. Our creativity is important, but so is our business acumen or technical knowledge. “Doing it all” is both a daunting and exhilarating experience. Make sure you don’t overwhelm yourself. Be open to the new possibilities that can propel you forward. Ladies, be in control of and protect your art.

What opportunities do you wish to see more for women in your industry?

I’d love to see more women producing and engineering. I believe there are more of us in the room, but not enough. We need to be part of the instrumentation, lyrical, and mixing/mastering process. Also, there need to be more women in positions of power— A&R, CEOs, CFO, “Heads of …”— I want to see more of that. Having a seat at the head of the tables can shift the paradigm of the industry.

How do you hope to inspire others through your work?

Those who are inspired by me don’t necessarily have to work in the industry. When people see/hear me, I hope they are moved to create and move. I hope audiences are motivated to be their true, best selves when they watch me host/stream. Whatever a person’s medium may be: music, art, etc— hope that people want to make their own kind of “magic” when they listen to my music.

Keisha Tara

Publicist 

What advice would you give to women who wish to follow in your career path?

The best advice that I can give women who wish to follow my career path is to be unapologetically yourself. The best way that you can stand out is by being yourself and being genuine to those around you. I find my personality to be one of the attributes that attract people to me so I take a lot of pride in it.

What opportunities do you wish to see more for women in your industry?

Oh, I want all the opportunities for all the women in the music industry! I would love to see more women in the touring industry, in the e-suite, I would love to see it all. I’m starting to see it but I want to see more. 

How do you hope to inspire others through your work?

I never want to inspire. I just want to guide. I want to be able to show women of color that it is okay to be lost within their path and that they shouldn’t be afraid to reach out to people for assistance. I want to be able to look at someone I helped find their way and just sit back and think, “Look, she/they finally got it.” I’m here to make sure everyone gets to sit at the table.

Marilyn Hucek 

Singer-Songwriter

What advice would you give to women who wish to follow in your career path?

“Nothing to it, but to do it”…that’s a quote my Dad used to tell me, and it’s true. The power is in your hands and all you have to do is take action. Don’t stress or worry about being perfect, because you are not expected to be perfect. The journey is all about growth.
Take it one step at a time. In our day and age, there are tools and platforms that allow you to be an independent musician without having to rely on major labels or gatekeepers to follow your dream.

What opportunities do you wish to see more for women in your industry?

It’s no secret the music industry is male-dominated. For one thing, I would love to see equal representation of men and women performers in festival line-ups. I also hope to see more women in the top charts, more women on stages, more female musicians on tour, more female producers and engineers, the list goes on.
I would love to see established companies do their part in providing opportunities for women to have their voices heard by giving emerging female artists a global stage they might not be able to otherwise. Women can come together and work to create change for ourselves, but we really need help from the top, we need allies to help give us those opportunities.

How do you hope to inspire others through your work?

Music is a beautiful and powerful art form. Everyone experiences it differently. I would love my music to touch people in the way I know music can. I hope my music and work inspire confidence, love, happiness, and promote healing. I hope my music brings people together and creates a positive community.

Brittany Press

Director of PR and Operations

What advice would you give to women who wish to follow in your career path?

Keep your chin up. This industry will not go easy on you so be prepared to work hard and to probably hear some unpleasant things along the way, but keep pushing forward. Connect with other women in the industry so you have a strong support system. If you want to enter this industry, do everything you can to learn about it. Network, and do as many internships as possible. The more knowledge and skills you accumulate, the more no one will be able to ignore how amazing you are.

What opportunities do you wish to see more for women in your industry?

Of course, I would just love to see more women in various roles in this industry. Managers, producers, A&R specialists – and at every level. Generally, I would love for women to stop being looked down upon in the industry because they’re also fans. I’ve seen it so many times where women aren’t considered for certain roles or opportunities because they’re dubbed “crazy fangirls”. Their passion is often seen as unprofessional, and if that isn’t a double-standard, I don’t know what is.

How do you hope to inspire others through your work?

I just hope that by seeing what I am doing, others will realize that they can do it too. My road to get to where I am now has been a wonky one because as a college student, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and initially went towards a different career, which made getting to where I am now much harder and longer. It also took an immense amount of work, but I still did it! So, if this is your dream, regardless of your age or current career path, I am proof that it is possible if you are willing to fight for it.

Racquel Goldy 

Marketing Manager 

What advice would you give to women who wish to follow in your career path?

Be willing to put in a lot of time and energy because not only do you have to prove yourself but work your way up. Be nice to whoever you meet because you never know where a new connection or friend will lead you to.

What opportunities do you wish to see more for women in your industry?

Definitely women in leadership or higher-up management roles making executive or long-term decisions.

How do you hope to inspire others through your work?

I know it’s cliche but I want to be able to inspire others by showing them that although following your dreams is indeed scary it is truly possible to do it.

Tap That

Tap Dance Team

What advice would you give to women who wish to follow in your career path? 

Go for it! Book the ticket and get comfortable with the unknowns. It’s not an easy career path, but it is the most rewarding when you look back and see the growth, both individually and as a group. I think a lot of times we let fear override, and this can stop us from pursuing what we ultimately want. So I try to feel the fear and do it anyway. Surrounding yourself with a great team to ride the journey with is the absolute key, and I feel very grateful that our squad is like family. If you are going to achieve big dreams, you need to have a strong foundation, and as I always say, We are blessed with the best.

What opportunities do you wish to see more for women in your industry?

Tap dance in the past has been dominated by males, however, this has evolved over time and it’s great to see more opportunities for females in this space. I would love to see this continue to evolve with women in all areas of the arts, from stage, to videographers, in front of the camera, and behind the scenes. It’s also important that within the dance world we continue to see a safe, and nurturing environment where dancers feel involved, supported, seen, and heard. Creating environments where dancers can flourish and thrive.

How do you hope to inspire others through your work?

We are constantly inspired to keep pushing the boundaries and creating unique groundbreaking work that is original. We hope through our creative spaces that we can continue to encourage the upcoming tap dancers to dream big and make a mark in the dance world. Our goal as a group is to keep creating top-notch content that inspires our audiences worldwide AND to get our LIVE stage show up and running. We know the energy of our group live on stage will not only entertain audiences but also encourage and inspire.

This article originally appeared in our Women’s Issue, be sure to read it here!