Drew Slater

August 7 2014

Guest Blog Post: What Does Being a Millennial Really Mean?

Deirdre Breakenridge Guest Post, Mentoring, PR 2.0, Public Relations, Social media Drew Slater, Gen Y, Generation Y, Millennials, PR, PR 2.0, public relations 0

A Guest Post By Drew Slater

It seems more and more businesses are trying to figure out Gen Y aka Millennials these days. First off…what is a Millennial? Some countries define the generation as anyone born from 1980 to the early 2000s; however, in the U.S. and the U.K. it is defined as anyone born from 1980 to the early 1990s – we’ll go with that one.

As someone who is a Millennial, I want help businesses figure us out. I think there are some misconceptions out there, but in all seriousness…we are pretty awesome. (I may be biased.)

Now, let’s think about this for a second. What does being a Millennial really mean? Most Millennials can always remember having a computer in the house and maybe playing video games from a young age. We were raised believing we could be anything we wanted to be and we’ve had different media coming at us from multiple angles – fast!

So what’s the big deal about the points I mentioned above? They have shaped the Millennial in a way that no other generation has been molded. No other generation has ever had access to so much information so easily. No other generation has been able to get so much enjoyment while staying inside and staring at a screen. No other generation has had to deal with the media and advertising interweaving themselves into practically every aspect of our lives. Companies should learn how to work with our generation and stop thinking we’re lazy, arrogant and unable to see beyond ourselves.

More kids are graduating from college than ever before. How many startups have been attempted this past 5-10 years? How are we doing all of this – especially if this generation is lazy? The answer is simple, we aren’t lazy. Our work ethic may not look like the work ethic of years before us, but we do work hard. Finding research and getting things done take less time than they ever have. Technology allows us to work faster and work on multiple things at once. The tools which we would use today to research and get things done look different than they did before. Just because you don’t see stacks and stacks of books and papers on our desk doesn’t mean we aren’t applying ourselves – we use the computer to pull up articles and use “Ctl + F5 to find key phases.” Technology is just getting faster and faster these days. Don’t assume we are lazy because you don’t think we look like we aren’t working hard enough. Ask us to show you what we are doing or what we have found so far.

Another typical description of my generation is we are arrogant and no offense, but it’s not only Millennials who can act this way, it’s every generation. I don’t think arrogance is always a bad thing though; I think sometimes it’s a necessity. There is more competition than ever everywhere you look. Whether it’s in the classroom and the workforce, there are more people who are out to beat you. In my opinion, you have to think you are the best. You have to think you can do something even if you can’t. It’s the only way to survive. If we are better at something than someone, it will show. Don’t worry though, it works the other way as well.

Lastly, not seeing beyond ourselves…this sort of goes with the above. For the most part, America is a very individualistic country, so why are we being penalized for being individualistic? It’s what we were raised on. It’s what we told growing up, “don’t let anyone get in the way of your dreams,” or “you can be anything you want to be.” Similar expressions were instilled into our heads. In the business world, there are a lot of people vying, positioning and scheming and all we want to do is make sure we get a fair shot – regardless of age.

So while Millennials tend to have a negative connotation towards them, I think it’s more of companies and people not fully understanding us. We aren’t too different than generations before except we are more intense and louder. We want to be successful, and we work hard and have dreams. Companies should embrace this and do what any successful company does – evolve. Evolve and work with Millennials. If you accept and understand Millennials for who they are and work with them, I believe Millennials can take your company to the next level.

Drew Slater is a Miami native who graduated from the University of South Florida and is currently an account executive in the marketing departments for a Fortune 500 company. He has a strong passion for education, whether it is learning or teaching, and sees education as the key to success. In his spare time you can find Drew marathon training, soaking in the sun at the beach or cheering his hometown Heat or Dolphins on TV.

You can follow Drew on Twitter @drewhslater

April 14 2014

Travel Will Change Your View on Life

Deirdre Breakenridge Guest Post, Mentoring, PR 2.0 Deirdre Breakenridge, Drew Slater, Experience, PR, public relations, Travel 1

A Guest Post By Drew Slater

Typical excuses I hear are, “it is too pricey” or I don’t “have time,” but the truth is everyone is busy and everyone is strapped for cash sometimes – so those aren’t good excuses. Quit rationalizing about how it makes sense not to do it because this one thing will change your view on life. What am I talking about?

Traveling.

Traveling throws a curve ball in your routine and allows you to meet new people, taste new food, explore a new city and learn something new about yourself. What more could you ask for?

No matter where you go – a different city, a different state or a different country – traveling shows you something you didn’t know and gives you a different perspective on life. You may think to yourself, “psh…I live in the best city ever, why do I need to go anywhere else?” How do you know? How do you know you wouldn’t like another city if you’ve never been?

I have been fortunate enough to be 26 year old who grew up in Miami and now lives in St. Petersburg to have traveled to the Caribbean, Israel, NYC, DC and Austin along with some other cities. Every single place I have visited; I have always enjoyed and have taken something away from. For example, I loved touring NYC and DC and seeing what they each have to offer, but I don’t think I could live in either.

Austin on the other hand? Austin is an awesome, awesome place. If you haven’t been, you need to go. It is known for SXSW and ACL, but you don’t have to go when it is jammed pack and more expensive to experience it the right way. In my opinion, Austin has a feel about it. A certain feel that sticks with you. The music. The food. The corkyness. It’s all amazing. It’s such an alive city, with always something to do, but also the feeling of being able to do whatever you want. There is a lot of young professionals there who are paving their own path and doing their own thing. In my opinion, it is contagious.

As someone who has a steady, good job and makes a decent salary, I left Austin wanting more. I left realizing I don’t have to be in a cube or an office building forever. I’ve always been driven person, but now I feel like it’s at a whole new level. I sat back at my desk and went back to work, but I wasn’t the same before I left. I’m different. More focused and thinking bigger than I have before.

How did I discover this new desire to want more than before? It was traveling. Traveling allows you to experience so much. Maybe Austin isn’t for you? Maybe wanting more isn’t for you? There is nothing wrong with either of those statements. But not traveling and experiencing something new and only thinking you don’t want more because you don’t know what more is – is not okay. Go visit a new city. Maybe somewhere completely remote? Even if it is somewhere you know you won’t ever live, go visit. Go see what is about. If you stay in your world and bubble, you won’t ever grow and find out all there is about you. Promise.

“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” – Cloud Atlas

You can follow Drew on Twitter @drewhslater

February 10 2014

Running And Life Have A Lot In Common

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A Guest Post By Drew Slater

Over the past year or so, I’ve gotten into something I never thought I would get into when I was younger – running. This past weekend, after about 3-4 months of training, I completed my first marathon and while I didn’t quite get the time I wanted, I not only feel accomplished, but even more driven. I know I can do better and I am already trying to lay out races throughout the year to prepare for another marathon. Why am I telling you about me running? Well…because I think running and life have a lot in common. Fresh out of college, most of us think that we need to sprint and be the fastest at everything in do, while in fact, we don’t.

Running a marathon takes a lot of preparation, mental toughness and discipline – a lot like a career path, right?

You first need to identify what race you want to run, whether it’s a 5k, 10k, half marathon or more, you need a proper plan of attack. You don’t know what you need to do until you know what your end goal is and sometimes you need to set up milestones on your way to the final goal. For example, if your goal is to get promoted (which for most of us, it is), you may need to take on more and more responsibilities slowly until you can handle the full load of the promotion. People want everything at once because they assume they can do it, but if you either jump into a marathon or land a promotion you haven’t trained or prepared for – everyone around you will be able to tell and chances are you will fail without a lot of help. (FYI…you’re much more likely to find help during a marathon than a competitive job field)

The next thing you need is mental toughness. I’ve sure you’ve heard the Henry Ford’s quote: “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right,” or at least some variation of it, but the thing is…it’s true! It’s so corny and so hackneyed, but Mr. Ford knew what he was talking about. You can never do anything unless you think you can and you can’t do something when you keep telling yourself you can’t. If you want to move up in your current job or start a business, you are going have to convince people you can handle it and you aren’t going to do that if you doubt yourself. There will be times when you fall. There will be missteps and that’s totally fine. Just remember, if getting promoted or starting a business or running a marathon was easy, everyone would do it. Stay mentally tough and don’t forget your end goal. Maybe you need to add another smaller race or a milestone to get to your goal? There’s no shame in that.

Lastly, you need discipline. This sort of goes hand-in-hand with mental toughness, but I wanted to talk about it separately because I didn’t want to dilute its importance. You’re discipline is going to be what makes or breaks you. How well would you expect to run if you ate whatever you wanted, drank whenever the occasion popped up and ran sporadically? Well…how successful do you plan on being if you work hard sometimes, socialize more than work and never try to learn something new? Exactly. There will be a ton of distractions along the way, but once you have your end game in sight and you’ve told yourself you are going to do it, you need to stay the course. Like I alluded to above, success isn’t for everyone, so if you notice you only working hard when everyone is or doing the same amount of work everyone is, why do you think you will end up better than them?

Your career isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. Set your goal, keep your pace and you’ll get where you want. I promise.

You can follow Drew on Twitter @drewhslater

December 23 2013

Growing Your Network in 2014

Deirdre Breakenridge Guest Post, Mentoring, PR 2.0, PR Job Search Deirdre Breakenridge, Drew Slater, Networking, PR 2.0, public relations, Social media 0

A Guest Post by Drew Slater

Nowadays, having a stacked resume and good credentials isn’t enough. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “it’s all about who you know,” and thought it was just a saying; however, it is much more than that – it’s the truth. Why you ask? While you might have the best resume and be the best candidate for the job, there are dozens and sometimes hundreds of applications vying for the same job. You will need someone helping your application stand out and get noticed.

Something I always thought was “bull” when my professors said it in class was, “Be nice to everyone because you don’t know who is going to become who.” Luckily, I am a nice guy by nature and I don’t burn bridges because as I’ve grown professionally, it’s pretty amazing to see who ends up where. Classmates get jobs at cool companies, people you interned with switch jobs and you’ll realize your network can organically grow very quickly. However, you can’t expect for people you know and your network to just keep growing on its own.

You need to get out there and mingle. And, nowadays “out there” doesn’t even mean you have to get off your couch. Social media allows you to meet people in Chicago, San Francisco or even London with a simple Tweet or message. Take part of Twitter chats and start chatting away or simply watch/listen to people and start following them.

While networking events can quickly bring back the anxiety you had at your middle school dance, you need to remember one thing – everyone is there for the same reason. To meet people! Is randomly walking up to someone and saying “hi” out of nowhere awkward? Sure is, but this is the one place it is expected. Just remember to look sharp, look confident and have your elevator speech known by heart. The rest will take care of itself. At networking events, you’re trying to meet new people and create contacts, so you don’t need to have the most amazing conversation in the history of the world. It can help to go with someone you know, but I will warn you not to go with a pack of people you already know because without realizing it, you’ll only talk to those people and the event will be over before you know it.

It’s also very important to remember you are valuable to other people as well. You bring a lot to the table and you have the ability to help people. You will have colleagues reaching out to you eventually asking for your help. Personally, this is my favorite part of networking. I find it very gratifying when I introduce two people professionally and they end up being able to help each other out. It’s a win, win, win situation.

Get out there and meet people, whether in person or via social media because unfortunately people rarely get where they want to go all by themselves. It takes a network.

“The mark of a good conversationalist is not that you can talk a lot. The mark is that you can get others to talk a lot. Thus, good schmoozer’s are good listeners, not good talkers.” – Guy Kawasaki

You can follow Drew on Twitter @drewhslater

November 25 2013

Be the Smartest Person in the Room

Deirdre Breakenridge Guest Post, Mentoring, PR 2.0, Public Relations Drew Slater, PR, PR 2.0, public relations, Social media 2

A Guest Post by Drew Slater

I’ve always believed you learn more from your experiences or what your teacher says rather than from a textbook. I know you remember a phrase, a quote or a speech one of your professors gave that still resonates with you to this day. During my junior year in college, my professor told the entire class to, “always be the smartest person in the room.” Seems simple enough, right? And then it sets in …

I remember thinking “How am I always supposed to be the smartest person in the room?” I’m surely going to be in rooms with people with higher IQs, more advanced degrees and my superiors, so is it even possible? Absolutely.

Being the smartest person in the room doesn’t mean you need the highest IQ, the highest degree or the highest title. Being the smartest person in the room simply requires everyone in the room believing you are the smartest person in the room. Perception is everything.

As a marketer or communicator you need to earn the respect of your clients, your prospects and your colleagues. How do you do that? Before you get the chance to walk the walk, you need to talk to talk. You need to have everyone respect you when you are talking. You need to be able to talk about anything at any notice. Unless you have a niche type of client, your client literally could be anyone – a not-for-profit, a government subsidiary, a pizza joint or a hospital. Each is very different, yet all are possible clientele.

There are a few things you can do to make sure you come off as the smartest person in the room when that meeting ends.

– Be prepared – You should never go into a meeting unprepared, whether it’s being caught off guard by the time/day or by the subject matter…neither should be tolerated. Always set the time and day which works for you and make sure to set reminders. The easiest way to make sure you get prepared is to set appointments on calendar to research everything possible about your client/prospect, so you can prepare accordingly. The more prepared you are the more confident you’ll come off.

– Read daily – Stay up to date with current events locally, nationally and even globally. There are so many outlets literally a click a way, which makes it inexcusable to not know what is going on. Your client/prospect might bring up something in passing and if you don’t know about it, whether it’s relevant to your meeting or not, you will lose a little bit of credibility.

– Listen – I know you have great ideas and you want to share them, but sometimes you just need to sit back and listen. Listen to not only what is being said, but also how it is being said. Pick up on the tone, the body language and then the message. Don’t react too fast or rash. Keep the rule “listen twice, speak once” on your mind and you’ll be fine.

– Don’t be afraid to say no – I hope they aren’t looking to hire you to be a yes man (or woman). Feel free to stand your ground and respectfully tell them you disagree with their idea and then explain why. THAT is the important part. You can’t simply disagree with something and not give an alternate viewpoint. You are smart; don’t be afraid to show it. Your client will respect your thoughts and the fact you didn’t simply roll over, play dead and do whatever crazy idea they had.

If you learn how to be the smartest person in the room, you will always have an upper hand. Don’t feel like you can’t accomplish this because you didn’t get straight A’s. The tips above will certainly help you become the smartest person in any room you walk into and all of them surprisingly easy. Please don’t be shy to let us know if any of these or any other tips have worked for you!

You can follow Drew on Twitter @drewhslater

October 15 2013

Generation Y: Overcoming the Stereotypes

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A Guest Post by Drew Slater

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Jefferson

What does this quote mean to you? Do you find it amazing that a quote said by a man who was born over 250 years ago is still relevant? Psh…I know I do.

Our generation, Generation Y, gets a lot of flak for being entitled and not truly knowing what hard work really means. Whether or not you believe the assumptions to be true or not, your beliefs are a moot point because the reality is, the assumptions are out there. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Prove them right or prove them wrong?

I for one love to prove people wrong and don’t like listening to people group me into something not based on my own actions, but rather group me into something based on the actions of others. Honestly, it kind of ticks me off because I know I have worked hard to get where I am and how hard I continue to work to get where I want to go. I would like to assume most people in Generation Y feel the same way (sigh…I hope so…), so I’ve tried to identify a few ways to help alter the perception about us.

– Just Do It. – This should be your motto. Chances are you didn’t start with direct reports or in the corner office and you are swamped with a lot of work which you feel is beneath you. Look around, there isn’t anyone beneath you. Once you realize that, the better you’ll be. If your colleague or boss tells you to do something that you don’t really want to do it, wait for it…just do it. Show him or her you can do it because whether or not you realize it, everyone starts from somewhere and everyone has been in your shoes before.

– Stay Quiet – Considering I am such an extrovert that it sometimes pains me to stay quiet, this one is huge. It’s quite simple. First off, no one wants to hear you complain. Second off, no one wants to hear you brag. It’s that simple. You might be frustrated because a client did this or that and you think it’s a big deal when in reality, 9 out of 10 times, everyone else has experienced it and then your rant simply amplifies your inexperience. On the flip side, don’t brag out loud. If you are in a 1:1 with your boss or small group, maybe share it, but otherwise keep it to yourself.

– Dress Up – You are a professional, so you need to dress like a professional. Dressing like everyone is okay if you want to be like everyone. Take a minute and look around. I’m willing to bet you will notice something funny. The people in the offices and with the direct reports are normally some of the nicest dressed people day in and day out. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don’t see how dressing nice can be a bad thing anyway.

– Stay Focused – Nowadays, there are a ton of distractions around us – social media, news, music, texts, etc. You need to practice staying away from as many personal distractions as possible during the day and stay focused with the task at hand. Just because you work hard for 15 or 20 minutes, doesn’t mean you can search through your news feed on your phone for fun. It means you still have several more hours of work ahead of you. You will also be amazed at what you can do if you stay focused and simply pump out work.

Being in Generation Y comes with a lot of negative stereotypes, but the truth is, stereotypes normally come from somewhere. While I do believe a good chunk of the generation works hard and has a good head on their shoulders, there are those who don’t and unfortunately they tarnish our image. The tips above can help you either mend or keep your image intact in the workplace. Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and do whatever the job or project is and prove someone wrong. It’s fun, I promise.

You can follow Drew on Twitter @drewhslater

September 3 2013

Guest Post: Be A Sponge

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A Guest Post By Drew Slater

That three word phrase continues to ring in my head from the moment my dad said it to me years ago before basketball practice or baseball workshops. He wanted me to go and learn everything I possibly could. “Be a sponge and soak up everything they tell you.” Of course, my dad was talking to me about sports, but I feel like that mentality is what got me to where I am today and continues to help me grow in my professional career.

Even though I graduated from college and have been at my job for a few years now, I’ve never stopped learning. Education is a funny thing because while you study and take tests throughout school, you learn so much outside of school. Looking back at it, I remember a lot more from my internships and life experiences than I do the answers of tests or papers I wrote. So imagine how much you can learn when you are in the workforce 40+ hours a week. Don’t think for a minute that since you are done with school, you are done with learning. In many ways, it’s the opposite.

Getting your degree and doing your internships gets you in the door of your first job and working under someone. Continuing to push yourself and continuing to learn is what gets you on the other side of the desk and in the corner office.

In our field, whether you label yourself with marketing, public relations, social media or advertising, our industry is always changing – always evolving. There are countless blogs, podcasts, videos and conferences available which make falling behind inexcusable. The game is always changing quicker and quicker. The professionals who absorb it faster are the ones who continue to succeed. It’s tough and sometimes might feel impossible, but it’s a must.

Imagine being in a prospect meeting and your client, who’s looking to spend a nice amount of money, asks about something you aren’t familiar with. Do you think that client will give his business to someone he feels doesn’t know enough? Your chances are no bueno.

Ever see one of those articles pop up about similar characteristics among successful people? It’s when they survey a group of people they deem successful, and try to find out why they are as successful as they are. I came across one recently and one of the characteristics this study found was everyone always spent some time every day in bettering themselves. For some of them, it was as simple as reading their favorite blogs while eating breakfast or on their lunch break. You could do that, couldn’t you? Why not, you check Facebook and Twitter multiple times a day don’t you?

Don’t be fooled and think that all you have to do is absorb what you read to stay ahead. Remember when I mentioned most of what you learn during school, you didn’t necessarily learn from books and studying? Observe people at work. Colleagues. Managers. Senior Managers. Everyone. I hate to break it to you, but being young and inexperienced means only one thing – you don’t know anything. Now, I know you are going to argue you with me and be defensive, but look back. Remember when you were in fifth, eighth or even twelfth grade? You thought you knew everything. Looking back at it though, you really didn’t.

Watch how other people in your company run meetings, interact with clients or even simply pick their brains about the field. Everyone is interesting and has something to share if you look. Absorb it all. Whether they tell you work related stories or life stories. They will all help you grow. Don’t be arrogant and think that your boss has no clue what’s going on and you could do better. You can’t. Not yet at least.

Being green and being a fledgling in your field can be tough for anyone, but if you want to succeed and grow you must keep learning. Absorb everything. Everything you read. Everything you observe. It is all useful.

Be. A. Sponge.

You can follow Drew on Twitter @drewhslater