132: Telling Your Story with Rachel Garrett

A common topic that so many people have when they’re going through a career transition is around “How do I tell my story?” For so many people who are wanting to do something new and something different, they have been thinking, “I don’t know what I want to do, but it’s not this.” We can often feel trapped by our past experiences, and specifically our past professional work experiences. That can make it feel difficult to tell the story of who we are beyond the job titles we’ve most recently had. 

Today’s guest expert is here to share all things elevator pitch is Rachel Garrett, an ICF certified career coach who believes that people have the power to take command of their careers and their lives with the choices they make. Rachel and I are talking all about elevator pitches, personal stories, professional branding, and how to feel really good in sharing who you are and what you’re all about.

Want to learn more about our strategic framework for successful career change? Download The Roadmap to Career Fulfillment ebook right here!

Show Notes:

• Rachel Garrett
• LinkedIn: Rachel Garrett
• Instagram: @rachelbgarrett
• Roadmap to a Fulfilling Career eBook

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Transcript

Lisa Lewis Miller  0:04   

Welcome to the Career Clarity Show. If you want to create a career path you’ll love, you’re in the right place. I’m Lisa Lewis Miller, career change coach, published author and your host. And each week, we’ll bring you personal transformation stories, advice and insights from experts about how you can find a more fulfilling, soulful and joyful career. Hello, and welcome back to the Career Clarity Show. I’m your host, Lisa Miller. And I’m delighted that you are with us today. On today’s episode of the podcast, we are talking about a common nervousness that so many people have when they’re going through a career transition. And it’s the nervousness around how do I tell my story, because for so many of us who are wanting to do something new and something different, you know, for so many of us who have been thinking, I don’t know what I want to do, but it’s not this, we can often feel trapped by our past experiences, and specifically our past professional work experiences, and feel like it’s difficult to tell the story of who we are beyond the job titles we’ve most recently had. And if that’s something that you are worried about, or wondering about as you’re navigating what could be next for you, it would be so much more life giving and fulfilling and exciting and satisfying and sustainable. Well, you are going to love today’s episode of the podcast, we are talking all about elevator pitches, personal stories, professional branding, and how to feel really good in sharing who you are and what you’re all about. As someone who might have an untraditional professional background for the roles that you’re looking to apply for. My guest expert to share all things elevator pitch is Rachel Garrett. Rachel is an ICF certified career coach, a mom to two daughters, a lifelong New Yorker and a feminist to her core. She believes that people have the power to take command of their careers and their lives with the choices they make. In her one on one coaching and her in her group program the career command to six months shift. She helps clients figure out what they want and then give themselves permission to want what they want. With a combination of mindset, shifting tools and personal branding know how from her prior career in marketing, she inspires clients to confidently speak elevator pitch, promote their good work and step into their worth. Rachel, welcome to the Career Clarity Show.

Rachel Garrett  2:33  

Thank you so much, Lisa, it’s so great to be here.

Lisa Lewis Miller  2:36  

Well, I am delighted to have a fellow former marketer here on the show. Because I think one of the things that can be so satisfying when you get right and such a source of anxiety and stress and insecurity when you feel like you don’t have it right is in marketing yourself and telling your story. And I’m so curious, what got you passionate about telling stories and elevator pitches? 

Rachel Garrett  3:02  

Yeah, so I, as you mentioned, had this previous career in marketing, where I was working with, you know, large clients on helping them craft their social media stories. And when I became a coach, I realized that this was a big gap for people, you know, I could help them with defining their values, figuring out their strengths, even figuring out their non negotiables for their next role. And yet, when it came to getting out there and talking to people and networking, they felt immense fear. And so I realized, wow, this is an area where I can bring these two skill sets together, and I can help I can find the coaching opportunities with my clients in working through the fears of telling their own stories. 

Lisa Lewis Miller  4:12  

Hmm. Cool. you putting your finger on noticing fear around telling stories is really interesting. What do you get the sense of people are most afraid of?

Rachel Garrett  4:14  

Well, I see I work with mostly women. And I you know, one of the steps in articulating your elevator pitch is in talking about your strengths. So in most of it with the women that I work with, I usually tell them you can either talk about a career highlight for your gifts, your strengths, 99.9% of them come back to me with a career highlight because it feels safer to say I did this and yet showing a strength and sharing strength with a future employer or you know, with your colleagues or when you’re networking really gives them the sense that this is something that’s repeatable. And it’s, they get a sense of what they can expect from you. So it’s, it’s really standing in that confidence and saying, I’m good at that. 

Lisa Lewis Miller  5:16  

What do you think makes that such a source of fear or insecurity is?

Rachel Garrett  5:20  

You know, I always look at it as you know, as a lifelong feminist, I look at this, you know, how we’ve been socialized. So really has been like, play the rules. And, you know, don’t, don’t make too many waves, oftentimes, and it feels, you know, my clients say, well, it feels so braggy or boastful to talk about those things. And I say, Well, let’s look at it another way. If you tell them that, you know, this is your gift. And this is where you add the most value. Those organizations, those colleagues can send you the kind of work you want to be doing. And let’s say they can give you more exposure, you know, for your team, and with, you know, with senior leaders, it’s a similar story with authentic self promotion, this is another one of the areas where you know, it can be really helpful to have a pitch is to, you know, be able to plant those seeds. Even if you’re not in a career transition, you know, so people within your organization can know, you know, what you’re good at, and what kind of work they should be sending your way.

Lisa Lewis Miller  6:38  

Well, I imagined for all the layers of discomfort that might come with telling a story about your own strengths and gifts, in isolation, it feels like the stakes are raised so much higher when you’re trying to tell a story about who you are and what you bring to the table, when you’re trying to make a leap into something new. Because if you’re telling your elevator pitch to people who are in your industry, there’s a certain amount of shared language, shared experience shared understanding, that can kind of be a nice foundation to tell your story of your strengths on. And it feels like when you’re trying to tell the story about your strengths and who you are, to somebody new, but the examples you can pull from tend to be rooted in a past that they may not have a shared language with, it can add even another layer to feeling worried or nervous about how it’s going to come off. Yes,

Rachel Garrett  7:33  

that’s such a good point, Lisa, because, um, I try to help people remove some of the jargon from their industry, you know, sometimes the language that they use can be sound very generic and heavy with jargon. And so we work together to come up with some more simple language, and also more visual language, something that isn’t an insider, you know, someone who’s not an insider can understand. And so, you know, because I always say, when you’re networking, you may be talking to somebody who may not be in your industry, but they may know somebody who’s in your industry, who might have the right kind of role for you. And so if you can communicate it simply and visually, and in a memorable way, they can go back to their friends, and, you know, tell that story and connect you

Lisa Lewis Miller  8:35  

love that. But let’s I feel like we’re talking about a lot of the, the tactical pieces. But let’s jump out for a second to look at the the strategy of a well crafted personal narrative or an elevator pitch. When you think about the component parts, and the the why behind the components that go into a really effective story about yourself. What are some of the the big picture things that you see?

Rachel Garrett  9:01  

Yeah, I’m glad you brought up the why? Because that’s where we start. It’s really thinking about what is the why of your career? And you know, what’s that headline that’s going to grab people you really want that first sentence, you know, when somebody says, Tell me about yourself, you don’t want to come back with Well, I’m a marketer with 15 plus years, directing cross functional teams, like that could be anyone and that’s fine. I always tell my clients like that’s a fine place to start if you want to just start getting out there and having conversations. But over time, we want to make this more memorable, something that’s ownable by you. And so it’s thinking about how other people describe you. What’s a way that they might use to describe you That sounds different from you know, the rest of the marketers out there that you know, are the folks in your industry. so that you can really stand out. And another piece of that is a way to talk about your your strengths, and then talk about the pivot that you’re making if you are making a pivot. So this is where it’s really critical for those folks who may have not figured out yet what the next role is going to be even what the titles that they’re looking at. So it’s coming up with a few potential titles that you can mention to say, you know, I, I started in, you know, social media marketing. And now I want to leverage that skill with my interests in healthcare marketing. And so really beginning to talk about how you can hit the ground running in one area, and marry it up with a passion or an interest, and really build the bridge for that person in front of you. So they understand why you would be making that pivot.

Lisa Lewis Miller  11:05  

Okay, these sound like really important component parts, would you give us an example, like share a story, both in the kind of generic, boring, jargony version, and then a spiced up version?

Rachel Garrett  11:18  

Well, I had one client, who was a multi hyphenate, as she would put it, and so she had a startup. And she also was doing some communications consulting. And she felt like when she was talking to folks about the startup, she had to hide the communications consulting. And when she was talking about the communications consulting, she really didn’t mention the startup. And so she felt like she was living a bit of, you know, two lives. And so what we worked on together was finding a through line between these two pieces of her career, so that she could talk about all of it together. And it felt then effortless, when she was having the conversation, she felt like she didn’t have to hide. And she was also getting all these new communications clients without having to hustle. So it’s really sometimes that headline can be, you know, the through line of bringing it all together, we were calling what she was doing a portfolio career, as you know, you may have heard, and so really saying, You don’t have to be doing one thing, but to, you know, really pull it together so that other people can understand the different pieces.

Lisa Lewis Miller  12:47  

Do you have an example of the way that you’re able to phrase that and kind of work the two pieces together in that portfolio career language,

Rachel Garrett  12:55  

of trying to think of that as well, I do eat it, she was saying. I don’t have her specific example. But I’m thinking about when folks might pull it together sometimes, you know, or even actually, I’ll give you an example with my career, you know, when people asked me about my career transition, and how did you come up with coaching, sometimes, you know, I will retro actively look back and say, you know, based on the truth to say it is, I was always in my marketing roles, so interested in leadership, and mentorship and professional development. And so those were the clues that really brought me to coaching. And so now I get to focus on, you know, both this, you know, these the words, the language, and also, you know, pushing people to be able to build careers of their design.

Lisa Lewis Miller  13:59  

So, it sounds like in the way that you support people in putting together these elevator pitches. It’s not just that you help them identify the through line, but it’s actually encouraging them to be vulnerable and articulate some of the through line pieces, so that you’re still getting a somewhat linear story of, you know, I used to do this and then I did this and now I want to do this, but it gives it a lot more interest, a lot more personality than just telling the story of I got promoted from this and then I took this job and then you know, baba, baba blah from there.

Rachel Garrett  14:33  

Yes, yeah, absolutely. And I get them, you know, I really find the coaching opportunities within building the pitch so that we can get them talking to people before they feel ready. I think that’s one of the the benefits of doing the pitch early is that a lot of these ideas around what could be next for you come from these conversations. And in that spark Enos that you feel when you’re having some of these networking conversations and informational interviews, and many clients feel like they’re going to sound flaky, or they don’t have their shit together, or they don’t really, they don’t feel ready to go out and have those conversations. But you know, it’s, it’s a little bit of a chicken or the egg, you know, you, you really have to have them in order to get some of the ideas. So by putting together what I call, you know, a living breathing document is not going to be a perfect draft when you do it. And it’s just a starter pitch first, so that you can say, you know, I don’t have all the answers yet, here are the things that I’m looking at. And then, you know, one critical component of that pitch is to have an ask. So it’s, you know, going into that conversation with a goal. And, you know, with that goal, you then, you know, ask that person, okay, you know, you seem to have made this transition. And it’s similar to the one I’m looking at me, what were some of the areas that you focused on, in when you made the transition. So, so really coming up with that clear ask, helps to pull it all together and helps that other person who you’re speaking with, feel like they’re helping you?

Lisa Lewis Miller  16:32  

Well, and Rachel, you know, what you’re describing, it sounds like part of the magic that you bring to the process is that when you’re pushing people out of the nest, before they’re ready to jump out and test their wings, it’s, it becomes a forcing mechanism to make you comfortable, being vulnerable, and being visible in the messy middle of your transition. Because so often, I’m sure that you see this to people who are smarty pants, and top performers. And high achievers will put gobs of pressure on themselves to have everything perfectly figured out and in a row and have their story perfect little bow on it at the top, every detail accounted for. And the problem of having that desire for your story or for your elevator pitch is that you’re still writing it. Unless you are certain the exact job and the exact title and the exact company that you want to be working at, there’s probably some level of ambiguity and uncertainty in there. And so when you try to tell your story from a place of Oh, no, no, no, I know all the answers already. Number one, it does not give people who you’re talking to any chance to help you. But number two, it’s usually not actually true. It’s usually a facade. And I think we all fancy ourselves to be better liars. And we actually are, and like, people can sniff that out when you’re telling a story that you don’t necessarily believe. You know, I’m sure every one of us has had a story hearing somebody say something, and you’re thinking to yourself, are you trying to convince me? Are you trying to convince you, right?

Rachel Garrett  18:13  

Yeah, so truly is that and I think that, that we just assume that the person that we’re speaking with has never been in a transition before, you know, that other person has been exactly where you are. And so they know, and they’re sitting there with you, or maybe it’s on zoom as as it is right now. And they they’re there because they want to help you. And so it’s it’s friendly fire, you know, so it really is being clear that you don’t necessarily have all the answers right now. But this is the thinking you’re going through this is the process. And here’s a way you can help. As simple as that. And and I like to tell my clients like send me your shitty first draft. It’s because it is not going to be great at the beginning. And that is absolute where you need to be and you know what you’re going to it’s going to get better when you see that other person, are they you know, really excited and engaged? Are they falling asleep?

Lisa Lewis Miller  19:18  

Well, let me ask you this. When I have been working on similar things with clients, one of the things that I will hear is Lisa, I just can’t start telling people my story yet. Because what if I tell my story to this hiring manager who I’ve really wanted to get in touch with and who might be able to open incredible doors for me, and I just fall on my face. And I sound like an idiot and I sound like I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t want to burn that forever. How do you support your clients with navigating that tension between putting your first draft out there, but also wanting things to be successful?

Rachel Garrett  19:58  

Yeah. So we Do a lot of practice. And so first I always say, practice in the mirror, practice my dog nose, my elevator pitch really well. Practice with your pets. Practice on Zoom, you know, if you have your own Zoom account, you can, you know, just think about somebody asking you, you know, tell me about yourself and do that practice. And then start with your closest circle. You don’t need to go to the company where you may be wanting a dream job to start for your first conversation. Start with the people who you know are going to support you and advocate for you no matter what, and, and have those people at the ready. So they can give you a little feedback on your story. So that’s, that’s where we start. And then over time, you realize that you aren’t getting better at it, you didn’t die. Because they really feel like I can’t, I need to have it all exactly, as you said, just like tie it up with a bow. And that’s not human. That’s not real life. That’s not relatable even. And so it’s let’s not strive for that, because you’re never going to get out there.

Lisa Lewis Miller  21:21  

And hearing you talk about being human and being relatable, I think, is a really good indicator of the values that our listeners have that sometimes we don’t think about, we think, oh my gosh, there’s this giant spotlight on me, I have to tell everything perfectly, I have to have all my transitions memorized, I need to have a joke, it needs to be punchy, all these things. And the person on the other side of the table or on the other side of the Zoom screen, as it were, just wants to connect with you, and wants to see your humaneness and your relatability. And some of your your scars, you know this, this person wants to see you as a human and not a robot. And keeping that in mind when you’re thinking about telling your story probably makes a huge difference in the amount of pressure you put on yourself. Yeah, the way you tell the story, and then the effectiveness of how that story is received by your audience.

Rachel Garrett  22:17  

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It’s showing, it’s talking about a few personal things, too, you know, I like to start there, you know, not in my elevator pitch, but in a networking conversation, to really just break the ice. And so it’s, you know, talking about some of those stories, so you get that other person comfortable as well. So, you know, if you want to have a few stories that you’d like to tell, or think about what you might mention about your weekend, or just a few of those in your back pocket. So that, you know, when you get out there, it doesn’t feel robotic, and you know, feel all business.

Lisa Lewis Miller  22:57  

Well, Rachel, let me ask you this. What’s the difference? Cuz it sounds like you’ve heard lots and lots of people practicing their elevator pitches. What’s the subtle difference? That That makes a huge difference between people who think they have a good elevator pitch? And the people who actually have a good elevator pitch?

Rachel Garrett  23:17  

Yeah, such a good question. Um, I would say, I like a pitch, that’s four to five sentences. That’s it. And you know, people who do it, well say their pitch, and then pause. They don’t need to keep filling up the space. Sometimes you’ll say, Tell me about yourself. 20 minutes go by. You have no idea what just happened, you know, half your time has done. So so that’s one thing. Then second, I like visual language, something that feels very vulnerable, as I was saying are very unique to you. So I have one client who has a great line. She’s a product marketer, and very memorable line and her pitch where she says, I’ve been known to tame jargon with my bare hands. And so it’s so great, you get the visual of that, and you know exactly what she does. So, so I love that kind of visual aspect. And that takes a little while to bring in. But you know if there are metaphors that you like, you know, I would I would test them out on different people and see how they how they catch people.

Lisa Lewis Miller  24:39  

Very nice. I think that’s such a cool example of memorable. Alma almost jarring just because it’s so unexpected. Yeah. Yeah, like very lovely and very instantly recognizable phrasing. Now, when you think about the difference between the function of an elevator pitch versus just the function of a conversation, you’d have an at a networking happy hour or something like that. Do you see the length is different or the asks is different? Do you see them as just two different variations on the same theme?

Rachel Garrett  25:21  

Yeah, more the ladder. So I see your elevator pitch as your number one tool in your job search or career transition, that is, you know, far and away beyond the resume beyond the LinkedIn, because you can use it, it’s the building block for all of your other messaging. So you can say it at a party in a more casual way. And, you know, wherever you live, you know, I live in New York, and so you never know who you’re going to be standing next to. And so, you know, dropping it in as much as possible, so that, you get the practice. And, you know, you never know what kind of connection will come out of that, you know, then it also could be used when you’re asking for an intro over email, maybe a little bit more formal version there. And then for networking, as I was saying, you know, I think one of the biggest mistakes people make in networking is that they don’t have a goal for the conversation. And so what ends up happening is that people walk away and say, that was an interesting conversation, but I didn’t really get much out of it, or I’m not sure either of us got what we needed. But when you do have a goal, then you can be really clear about, you know, something you would like to know, or you know, maybe it’s about the culture of the organization, or, you know, a specific leader that they’ve worked with, like I said, the transition, I have, you know, sent out a list to my clients here want 100 goals that you could have for networking. And so all you need to do is have one, and then the ask, will follow accordingly.

Lisa Lewis Miller  27:17  

Thinking about 100 different possibilities for a goal or a desired outcome out of a networking conversation. It’s such a good brain structure to realize that it can be so so much more than just asking like, Hey, are you hiring? Do you have a giant? Will you refer me? Can you submit my resume on on my behalf? So being open to a lot of different types of outcomes as being desired? Feels really important?

Rachel Garrett  27:45  

Yes. Yeah. And and most often, it’s not Do you have a role, it’s, it’s really building a relationship at that organization, or with this person. You know, many times, you know, we all have these connector types in our life, where we reach out to those people, those are usually one of the first people that I tell my clients to go network with, because I call them high impact conversations. He walked away, and they’re making five or six intros for you, because just because that’s what they love to do, and it and they get a spark from it. So it’s thinking about who those people are in your life. And, you know, being clear on the kind of intros that they may be able to help you with.

Lisa Lewis Miller  28:32  

Now, let me ask you this, as we bring our conversation to a close, we have all these different types of goals that you can have. And you really recommend that folks make an ask, what’s going to be the differentiation between a highly effective ask versus an ineffective ask? 

Rachel Garrett  28:53  

Hmm, I’m all about clear communication. And sometimes people really beat around the bush and say, you know, maybe it would be great and you know, if there’s any way you could do this, or I’m sorry to bother you, a lot of discrediting words or apologizing, to me, that’s an ineffective ask, because you’re you’re discrediting yourself and you’re devaluing your own time. So a powerful ask would be, you know, I see that you know, someone so who works at peloton, that’s a company that I’m really interested in, and it would be wonderful if you could make an intro. And so, you know, sometimes the way I tell clients to do that is to say to your friends, okay, I’m going to send you a formal ish, no more formal than I would naturally send to you. And can you forward it on to your friends, so it that note would have your elevator pitch and it and so you make it incredibly easy. for that person to help you. So they can just forwarded on with, you know, a little note, you know, this is a friend of mine from so and so. And then they can, you know, they don’t have to spend time thinking about it. And actually you get to control the messaging on what you do and what you want.

Lisa Lewis Miller  30:24  

I love that. Yeah, it’s such a simple tap tactic to write a forwardable email. Yeah. And I actually learned about this tactic in a really different context. I was applying for grad school, many, many moons ago, longtime listeners know that I almost went to become a licensed professional counselor, and then pulled the plug at the very, very last minute.

Rachel Garrett  30:46  

I did the exact same thing, Lisa. I wrote out all the applications, and then I never sent

Lisa Lewis Miller  30:54  

us New York marketing types. Yeah, no, man. Well, so when I was putting together my application, I had to get letters of recommendation. So I reached out to my then boss, because he knew I wasn’t totally loving what I was doing. And I said, Hey, Bill, will you write me a letter of recommendation. And he was like, Sure, write it for me, and I’ll sign my name to it. At first, I was like, Uh, I asked you to write it. And then I was like, This is freaking brilliant. He’s happy to do it, I get to control down to the word, exactly what is being said about me and the story that’s being told about how my previous career can contribute to this future career. And all he’s got to do is put his name on it. And that’s so much of an easier, ask an easier lift for him. And it’s not that big of an ask or that big of a lift for me. And so that idea of how can I do all the work, and just hand deliver it to somebody to sign their name to, has served me and I’m sure so many people well throughout the course of their careers and lives. And this forwardable email is exactly the same thing. If you want an email introduction, why don’t you write the whole thing? Yes. And then send it to somebody. So all they have to do is press the forward button and say, Hey, so and so? See note from XYZ below. What do you think question mark? Boom, so easy, so straightforward. And take so little time?

Rachel Garrett  32:20  

Yes to do. And then once you’ve written one or two of those, then you know, it becomes easier and easier to to create new one. So So yeah, it’s it’s a tool that my clients use all the time to, to get the insurance that they need.

Lisa Lewis Miller  32:39  

Amazing. Well, Rachel, for people who’ve been listening to this episode, and who has been loving your story and all of your tips, where can they find out more about you in the work that you do?

Rachel Garrett  32:49  

Sure. So I have a nail your elevator pitch workbook for all of you. And you can find that at Rachel B garrett.com/elevator. Pitch. So come on, get the workbook. It’s got a formula for you and some of these tools in here and tips on how to make a memorable pitch.

Lisa Lewis Miller  33:13  

Amazing. And we’ll put that in the show notes. So if you didn’t have time to scribble down that address, just come check out the show notes. We will point you to Rachel and all of her goodness right there. But Rachel, thank you so much for coming on the Career Clarity Show and sharing your brilliance with our listeners today.

Rachel Garrett  33:28  

Thank you so much for having me. It’s been so much fun.

Lisa Lewis Miller  33:38  

And that’s a wrap. Let us know what you thought about today’s episode. Leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Because not only can your stars and words help us find great guests and topics to feature on future episodes. Your input also helps other people find the resources they need to discover the work that lights them up. And make sure to check out my book Career Clarity Show finally find the work that fits your values and lifestyle for the link to order it go to GetCareerClarity.com/book. And don’t forget to get your other tools resources and helpful goodies at GetCareerClarity.com/podcast. Thanks again for joining us for the Career Clarity Show today. And remember, if you don’t love your work, we should talk because life is too short to be doing work that doesn’t light you up. Talk to you next time.