Keep Leading!® Podcast 159 | Mary Olson-Menzel | What Lights You Up

Mary Olson-Menzel
CEO, MVP Executive Development | Executive Coach | Business Advisor | Leadership Expert | Facilitator | Author of the National Bestseller “What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career”

What Lights You Up

Episode Summary

On this episode of Keep Leading!® Live, Eddie Turner welcomes Mary Olson-Menzel, an esteemed executive coach, business advisor, and speaker. Mary shares insights from her transformative new book, “What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career.”

Whether you’re an industry veteran looking to pivot, a stay-at-home parent rejoining the workforce, or a college student finding your footing, Mary’s actionable advice will guide you toward a fulfilling and meaningful career.

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Bio
Mary is the Founder and CEO of MVP Executive Development (www.mvpexec.com), a national consultancy specializing in leadership, coaching, and organizational management, with offices in Connecticut, New York, and Illinois.

Before founding her company in 2012, Mary was a partner at two global executive search firms. She also served as the National Managing Director of Talent at Tribune Company in Chicago for ten years, gaining expertise in recruiting and coaching. In this role, she collaborated with 20 newspapers, 27 television stations, and numerous digital assets across the country to attract and retain talent. Prior to this, Mary worked in the technology sector and started her career as a television reporter.

Mary holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Public Relations from Illinois State University. Her book, “What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career,” was released on October 8, 2024, and became a USA Today Bestseller.

Website
https://www.maryolsonmenzel.com/

Other Website
https://mvpexec.com/

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-olson-menzel-mvpexec/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/maryolsonmenzel/

Leadership Quote
“Pace yourself, it’s a marathon, not a sprint!”

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About the Keep Leading!® Podcast
The Keep Leading!® podcast is for people passionate about leadership. It is dedicated to leadership development and insights. Join your host, Eddie Turner, The Leadership Excelerator®, as he speaks with accomplished leaders and people of influence across the globe about their journeys to leadership excellence. Listen as they share leadership strategies, techniques, and insights.

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Transcript

Eddie Turner:
Hello. Welcome to Keep Leading Live. Keep Leading Live and the Keep Leading Podcast are dedicated to leadership development and insights. I’m your host, Eddie Turner, the Leadership Accelerator. I work with leaders to accelerate their performance and drive impact through the power of executive coaching, masterful facilitation, and professional keynote speeches. We’re here to help you stay inspired, stay motivated, so you can keep leading.

Please let us know where you are joining us from. You can type in the comments where you’re located, let us know what your reaction is to what we’re saying. If you see the option to hit share, you can share this with your timeline so that your colleagues can be a part of our discussion immediately or see the recording that’s available right after we complete this session. And if you’re not already following myself and my guests on social media, I’m going to invite you to do that. Follow us, stay connected to us. We’d love to keep the conversation going even after our session.

Are you an industry veteran who’s looking to make a pivot in your career? Are you a stay-at-home parent who is now ready to rejoin the workforce? Are you a college student who after spring break here in March, you’re going to be heading off to your first job and you want to get insights on what you should do? Well, today, we’re going to help you discover your career path by learning what lights you up. I’m going to do that by interviewing Mary Olson Menzel.

Mary’s an esteemed executive coach, a business advisor, and speaker. Mary’s going to share insights from her transformative new book. Now, why did I invite Mary? I invited Mary because Mary is the CEO of MVP Executive Development. She is also an executive coach, business advisor, leadership expert, facilitator, and the author of What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career. Mary’s also one of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 coaches and perhaps the most important detail, she holds an MBA from Northwestern University, my alma mater. Go Cats. Mary, welcome to Keep Leading Live.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Thank you, Eddie. It’s so good to be here.

Eddie Turner:
It is so wonderful to have you. Mary, I’ve been waiting to interview you and congratulations on the tremendous success with this book. I did not mention that you are also a USA Today best-selling author as a result of this book.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes, yes. And Eddie, it has been a wild ride. A wild magic carpet ride as my friend Victoria Labomb says.

Eddie Turner:
What’s been the most surprising aspect of this ride once the book was released?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Oh, wow. Great question. I think the most surprising part is seeing people across the globe and seeing them actually getting inspiration and hope from this book.

Eddie Turner:
Okay. Well, you’re seeing people’s reaction, they were getting inspiration and hope across the globe. And in part, it’s been because you’ve been everywhere. I see you in the media. You have been a part of interviews nationally and you’re just everywhere. And the biggest thing that I saw in addition to your national coverage on major media is I mentioned you’re a Northwestern University alumna, but I didn’t mention that I woke up to an email that went out to all 260,000 Northwestern alum and what did I see? This notification to get Mary’s book. My dear friends. So I was so excited to see that you were featured and it went out to the entire Northwestern University community.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Oh, thank you, Eddie. I mean, I cannot say thank you enough to people like you, to the people like Northwestern and Kellogg, to people at the 100 coaches for helping to amplify and elevate this book because as you know, we’ve talked about this, I wrote this book to help people at all levels who don’t have access to a coach or don’t even have the means maybe to a coach. But, you know, somebody who doesn’t have time to invest in a coaching program right now, this book is for you because it’s all right there for you.

Eddie Turner:
Indeed. So if I’m one of those folks who I mentioned in my introduction, let’s start with, you know, this literally happened before this call, as a matter of fact, Mary. Someone sent me a message and, someone who I spent many years working with and she says, “Hey, I’m getting ready to make a career pivot. I need to talk to you. I want to understand what should I be doing?” And now I thought about it as I was getting ready for the show, I should have called Mary.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Perfect.

Eddie Turner:
What’s your advice you tell her or anyone who is getting ready to make a pivot in their career?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes, yes. So the first thing you want to do is start to get very clear on where you want to go, right? And thinking about what you want, I mean, especially your friend, right? She’s getting ready for a pivot. But is she clear on where she wants to go, right? So to gain clarity like that, you have to pretty much take a deep look into who you are as a human being, what your hopes and dreams are, but also what your reality is at this very moment.

Eddie Turner:
All right, so get clarity, get clear. And once you have that, is there a next step?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes, yes. So there’s so many steps, right? But you know, the book is based on a 10-step pivot program that I created about 12 years ago. And so the first step is clarity, 100%. Our friend Mitchell Levy loves that word. He’s the expert on clarity. But you know, clarity about where you are right now and where you want to go. From there, you have to brush off your resume. You need to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is up to date. You need to make sure that all of those pieces, the nuts and bolts of a job search are in place. Resume is clear and concise, LinkedIn profile is robust, and making sure that your network is strong. So those are the next steps.

Eddie Turner:
Okay, great. Thank you for illuminating that. And that makes a lot of us a little nervous. How do I know if the resume, my LinkedIn are looking the way that they should? You know, that’s a question people have.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes, and it’s a valid question, right? Because even the process of a resume has changed so much in the years that you and I have been working, Eddie. So you think about what a resume was many, many moons ago when you and I entered the workforce. It was everything, right? You walked into an office and you handed somebody your resume. Now it’s almost like a calling card, right? The average recruiter looks at a resume for six seconds only. Six to ten if you’re lucky. So what you want is that clear, concise storytelling so that I can take a glance at a resume and I can see how amazing you are, Eddie Turner.

Eddie Turner:
Yeah, you’re so right. And I remember the days that not only was it your calling card, in a sense, like you said, you could walk it in. They don’t let you get that close anymore. Everything’s vetted through digital technology. So definitely new strategies are called for writing resumes.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes. And the beauty is that there’s so many people out there that can help you. Obviously, my book can help you, but there’s AI now, right? And AI is really, really helpful when it comes to resume writing. There’s a lot of great places where you can get a clear, concise, wonderfully done resume with a coach or with AI, but you want to make sure it has those keywords to your point, Eddie, where it can get caught into a database and put into the right spot.

Eddie Turner:
Absolutely. That is absolutely critical and, attracting, being a magnet with it, in terms of both presence and aesthetic layout, but having the right words because otherwise you’re not going to be able to be found.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes, those keywords are very, very important. And I know you asked me about the LinkedIn profile. That’s even more important now, Eddie. And you and I, we love LinkedIn. We’re on it all the time. It’s kind of our professional playground. But truly, your LinkedIn profile is even more important than your resume now because I will take a look at somebody’s resume or I will be going into a meeting with somebody and I immediately look at their LinkedIn profile. Who are they? What are people saying about them? Do we have any mutual connections? And then that’s where the power of your LinkedIn profile but also your professional network comes in.

Eddie Turner:
Indeed. And, people should obviously understand that before any decisions are made about you these days, before any meetings are taken, that’s the first place people go. They want to see who you are, what your digital reputation looks like and that is LinkedIn. That’s the first place they go.

Mary Olson Menzel:
It is. Yeah. I mean and, right? We’ve got Instagram and we’ve got TikTok and we’ve got Facebook. But the real, real, number one place of where it’s at is LinkedIn.

Eddie Turner:
Mhm. Absolutely. Now, let’s go to that other category. The advice you gave earlier about the transitioning professional, does that apply equally to a stay-at-home parent who now wants to re-enter the workforce?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Such a great question. Yes. And what a stay-at-home parent needs to think about is what are the things that they’ve been doing while they’ve been staying at home that are transferable skills into the workplace. And I can give just an amazing example that’s in the book is there’s a client and a friend down the street from me who was running the show, three kids, was re-entering the workforce. When she went on LinkedIn and actually when she put it on her resume, she put COO of, you know, blank household so that, you know, people understood that this is what she’s been doing and it’s a meaningful thing that she’s been doing and here are the skills, right? She was not only chief counselor, but head of operations and, you know, head of technology and head of transportation and logistics. So, you know, there are ways to kind of add a little bit of humor and integrity into being a stay-at-home parent and looking at what those skills are that are transferable. And there’s a lot of different places that can help you do that these days.

Eddie Turner:
Absolutely. And, it’s not a stretch to say that there are significant transferable skills from being a stay-at-home parent to going back into the workforce. So thank you for highlighting that. And then for my college students, I do a lot of coaching on college campuses and I have a lot of seniors. What advice would you have for them when they come back from spring break as they get ready to head into the work world?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Well, first of all, this is an amazing time to be a college student because of people like Eddie and people like me and the career centers at your universities. But the first thing that I want you to think about is that your network is happening now. It is the people that you’re talking to. It is your professors. It is your classmates. It is your parents’ friends and friends of friends, right? So some college kids come out of school and they’re like, “I don’t really have a network yet.” And I say, “Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Look around you and start connecting with the people who are in your class, with your professors and with all of the wonderful people who really want to help you as you’re graduating from college.”

Eddie Turner:
Very, very good advice, Mary. And as one gentleman once said, I don’t remember who said it, but your network is your net worth. And so start to focus on that and tap into that right away. It’s good advice for our graduating seniors.

Now, also there’s a group of folks out here, Mary, that I’m really concerned about that I think your book will have wide benefit to, and that is we have a lot of folks being displaced from their employment right now as we look around. So be it whatever your displacement reason is, layoff or whatever it may be, what advice do you have for individuals who are dealing with that as they’re going to be looking to reboot their careers and bounce back?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Well, the first thing is you’re not alone, right? I mean, there are so many people going through this right now and there are places to get support, right? And, you know, surrounding yourself with people who can help you, but also surrounding yourself with people who are going through what you’re going through so that you can help each other. But what I would say, Eddie, is you don’t ever know for sure when you’re going to be displaced or laid off. So my advice is really keep that network strong, no matter where you are in your job, no matter where you are in your career because that network is going to carry you into what’s next. And for, you know, those of you being displaced, just lean in to people who can help you because people do want to help you.

Eddie Turner:
Yes, they really do. And the problem sometimes when it comes to help is simply being able to ask for it.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes, yes. And in my book, Eddie, I give people advice. It’s uncomfortable for many of us to ask for help. So flip the narrative. Reach out, say, “How can I help you?” There’s always ways, right? And it’s hard when you’re coming at the world and your ego is rocked a little bit, your world is rocked a little bit. You’ve got this timeline that you have got to find a job in, but flipping that narrative and reaching out to people and just doing a genuine, authentic check-in. How are you doing? Here’s what’s going on with me. I wonder if we can hop on a call or Zoom for 15, 20 minutes to see how we can help each other.

Eddie Turner:
The law of reciprocity. Yes, what a nice way to make that request and to see what comes from it naturally. Sometimes those organic outgrowths are the best.

Well, thank you very much, Mary. I’m talking to Mary Olson Menzel. She’s a CEO and author of What Lights You Up?We’re going to take a pause for a brief moment now as I acknowledge the sponsor of the Keep Leading Podcast and Keep Leading Live.

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All right, so I’m back talking with Mary Menzel. And with Mary, we’re talking about her new best-selling USA Today best-selling book and that is, What Lights You Up. So Mary, when it comes to this book, What Lights You Up, tell us where the light comes in to our life.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes, where if you think about it, Eddie, and you have young kids, right? Young kids are lit up from within, right? We’re all born with that inner light. And, you know, a lot of times as we grow up, whether it’s parents or teachers or anyone else, they kind of help you, you know, calm that down a little bit. And maybe it sometimes takes away your childhood exuberance, life, right? In general. But what I’m really urging people to do is to tap into what it is that makes them happy. And that truly is my favorite word, the Japanese word Ikigai, which is the intersection of what you’re passionate about, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and how you can make money. So to me, that is your light. Your light is your secret sauce that can get you to that really beautiful intersection.

Eddie Turner:
And if I’m having difficulty discovering what that is, what do I do?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Well, I would recommend that you create a light log. And what we do, what I do with my clients is I say, you know what, take notes, right? It doesn’t have to be on a notebook, it can be in your phone, but look at the moments of your day that are giving you joy. Look at the moments of your day where you’re feeling in the flow. Where are those moments popping up? And that starts to help you understand where you’re being lit up during the day. What’s getting you excited every day? What’s getting your head off the pillow? And then do this for a couple weeks, a couple months, and then start to look at the trends. Where are you seeing those patterns? And is there a way that you can get more of that in the workplace?

Eddie Turner:
Very nice. That’s a nice set of options for individuals to try to discover what’s lighting them up and then translating it into what you said that they can do and earn money with. In your book, you offer a framework and you call it the three Ps. Can you share that with our listeners?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes, that is one of my favorites, Eddie. The three Ps is, in essence, it’s turning your job search inside out, right? So many people who are looking for jobs will look at, you know, Indeed and LinkedIn and job boards and company websites to see what’s open. But what I’m urging people to do is take the reins. Don’t sit back and wait for the openings to come to you. Start looking at the companies in an aspirational way, the companies that you would like to work for. And so what I ask people to do is put that in a category of three Ps. And, you know, you and I went to Kellogg, we had the four Ps of marketing, right? So I call this the three Ps of your job search and what it is is the first P is your usual prospects, right? So for, you know, somebody, I like to use my husband as an example. He’s a great example for this. He works in media. He could look at other media companies in his usual prospects, right? Then there’s the pivots. Could he take his sales leadership expertise and pivot it into a company like Google, tech, right? Media, entertainment, still tech, Netflix, whatever it is. But he’s super passionate about the NFL and football. So what if the next area of his list is the third P, which is passions. Could he take his sales experience and sell for the NFL or for, you know, one of his favorite teams? Not that he’s looking. He is not looking. He’s super happy where he is. But you know, that’s an example, right? Media companies, tech companies, and then what is it that you’re passionate about and how can you tap into that?

Eddie Turner:
Wonderful. Now, give us those three just one more time. Passion was the last one, but the first was prospects. I think I missed the one in the middle.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Pivots.

Eddie Turner:
Pivots. Okay.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes.

Eddie Turner:
So prospects, pivots, passions. All right.

Mary Olson Menzel:
You got it.

Eddie Turner:
Very nice. Now, Mary, you have developed a tremendous amount of expertise in this area because of your breadth of business experience. Is there one particular concept from your book or from your experience portfolio that you want to make sure that everyone who’s hearing our discussion leaves with today?

Mary Olson Menzel:
There are a few. One is that your career is in your own hands. You can’t sit back and wait for anyone to take control of it other than you, right? So that’s why the three Ps are so powerful because you’re being very intentional and deliberate about where you want to go. So throughout your career, keep that in mind. You are the driver of your own destiny, right? And only you can really push your career forward by training or networking or mentoring or anything else. But the second thing is be patient. The whole process is daunting. Looking for a job is a full-time job unto itself sometimes. And so understanding that not everything happens on the time frame that we would like it to, understanding that companies and corporations and organizations have other things going on behind the scenes that maybe we don’t know about. So if it’s two weeks before you hear from somebody, it’s okay. It’s okay. Give yourself the grace and have patience with the process because it’s not easy. It’s a lot of ups and downs and it’s a roller coaster.

Eddie Turner:
That is very, very true. And I want to acknowledge that on Facebook, we’re getting a little love from one of our fellow 100 coaches members, Oleg, if I’m pronouncing that correctly, Oleg, pardon me.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Hi, Oleg.

Eddie Turner:
So he’s giving you a thumbs up there, Mary, on Facebook.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Thanks, Oleg.

Eddie Turner:
Very nice. This is the Keep Leading Podcast, so I always ask the question, what is a quote or the best piece of leadership advice you’ve ever received that helps you keep leading?

Mary Olson Menzel:
So many. I’ve had so many great mentors. But one thing that I’m really, really talking about a lot right now is to put your own oxygen mask on first. You know, we as leaders, we as executive coaches, we as human beings, right? We are driven to give it 100%, 150%. We’re driven to help. And sometimes we need to actually sit back, take that deep breath and help ourselves in order to be able to help others to the best of our abilities.

Eddie Turner:
Fantastic. Thank you for sharing, Mary. And I’ve shared a couple of times here how people can find you, but can you just tell us again for the benefit of those who are going to hear this as a podcast and who aren’t seeing the banner on flashing, where can people learn more about you and your work?

Mary Olson Menzel:
Yes. Well, the first place, if you want to know more about me, my work, the book, you can go straight to MaryOlsenMenzel.com, which is m a r y o l s o n m e n z e l.com. You can also go to MVPexec, mvpexec.com to see more about our business and what we do from a leadership and a coaching standpoint. And you can connect with me on LinkedIn. As Eddie and I said, LinkedIn is where it is at. So please connect with us. We love that. And I’m just throwing you into that, Eddie, too. Everybody connect with both of us.

Eddie Turner:
Absolutely. Well, we definitely want to see you connect with us, ladies and gentlemen, everyone who’s tuned in from around the world. And, you have a copy of this and get the audio copy wherever you get your podcasts. We appreciate that. Mary, it’s just been so wonderful to speak with you. I’ve been looking forward to this and your great book. Congratulations on all your success and we look forward to seeing more people impacted as they learn what lights them up.

Mary Olson Menzel:
Thank you, Eddie. It’s been a delight to be on here with you.

Eddie Turner:
Thank you. And thank you for listening. That concludes this episode of Keep Leading Live and the Keep Leading Podcast, everyone. I’m Eddie Turner, the Leadership Accelerator, reminding you that leadership is not about our title or our position. Leadership is action. Leadership is an activity. It is not a garment that we put on or take off. We must be a leader at our core and allow it to emanate in all we do. So whatever you’re doing, always keep leading.