We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christina Long a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, so great to have you with us and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community. So, let’s jump into something that stops so many people from going after their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. We’d love to hear about how you dealt with that and persisted on your path.
It’s so important to maintain focus on your purpose and your goals. In my experience, haters can be close friends and family members who view your talent and capabilities in a limited light. When you pursue something that extends beyond what they are familiar with, they can sometimes share negative comments, fears and concerns about your plans. For me, this happened when I launched my learning design business in New York City called edCircle. I received many ‘what if’ questions from my family. What if you fail? What if no one likes it? In reality, those questions had nothing to do with my personal goals, and everything to do with their personal fears around failure. I stayed focused on my goals and was able to build out a successful business in under 2 years.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I consider myself a creative entrepreneur, holding a lot of different business interests that allow me to help and support communities I care about. Through my digital learning design company edCircle I’ve helped thousands of professionals access and complete online training programs that allow them to achieve their career goals. This work has allowed me to help companies like The New York Times, The Wharton School, Vice, HBO, Sotheby’s and others, grow their digital products, and learning solutions in new ways.
In addition to my work in digital learning, I have a passion for music and run a publishing company called #blkgrlswurld to celebrate women of color who participate in underground rock and punk music scenes. This provides a chance to expose young audiences to new styles of music and join a supportive community of artists. In 2024 we organized a symposium with this music community at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
When you have a diverse set of interests like me it can be hard to find a common theme in the work we do, but I believe what overlaps between my two businesses is the power of learning. At edCircle we design information in a way that makes it easier for adults to learn new skills, and at #blkgrlswurld we develop media to help women learn about new music they perhaps had not heard before.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Don’t be afraid to stand out on your own. Sometimes we have a passion or interest our peers don’t have, and there can be pressure to stay in the group.
Never stop learning. A key to ongoing success during these times of innovation and change is to make sure you keep expanding your skills set, asking questions and being open to new information.
Speak up. When you are struggling to understand something, ask questions. It should never be a bad thing to seek out information to make sure you have a solid understanding of what is being said or presented.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
The first thing I do when feeling overwhelmed is step away my computer and my smartphone. It could be as simple as taking a 15 minute walk outside. Then, I come back to my desk and review all the requests and tasks I am trying to navigate. From there, I start prioritizing and resetting expectations: Is this item really due today? Is this task really urgent? What are the items that we can delegate to others, or ask a colleague for help?
It’s also important to communicate when you need more time so that stakeholders understand what tasks are in process.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://edcircle.org/ and https://www.blkgrlswurld.com/
- Other: Photo credit: Taylor Baldwin
Image Credits
Image Credit for Portrait of Christina Long is Taylor Baldwin Image credit for all other images, Christina Long
