We were lucky to catch up with Laura Demetrious recently and have shared our conversation below.
Laura, so great to have you on the platform and excited to have you share your wisdom with our community today. Communication skills often play a powerful role in our ability to be effective and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your communication skills.
As a Communications Director for a large software company, my ability to communicate effectively is not only helpful in my role, it’s essential.
From working with C-level executives, customer experience, operations, and product engineers, I’ve gained insight and perspective on what it takes to be an effective communications leader. I have the distinct honor of developing and maintaining a clear and coherent messaging strategy that aligns with the organization’s mission, vision, and goals.
In the world of software, the key to understanding alignment on product features and customer expectations is communicating internally with a release roadmap so that our marketing team can properly plan and execute release packages that highlight our new features and encourage users to utilize them.
Since I also manage a team of community outreach specialists, it’s also pertinent that I stay connected with our community and users. To do this, I conduct User Spotlight interviews with some of our most dedicated customers to share their success stories with our community. Additionally, our outreach team sources honest feedback from our users and we turn that feedback into actual feature requests for the developers.
From internal to external communication, my role contributes to building and preserving the company’s brand, reputation, and relationships with various stakeholders.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’ve been in the digital marketing space for over 15 years and have worn many hats. I started in advertising, then moved to content marketing, then onto strategic partnerships in the e-commerce space before officially landing as the Communications Director for a large software company. I absolutely love serving our users and getting our message out to the world.
In my own time, I build up my affiliate marketing business where I share helpful tips on becoming an effective affiliate marketer through sales funnels and email marketing. You can see what I do at www.sidehustlelaura.com
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?
Looking back on my career and personal life, the three most impactful areas of knowledge that were game-changers for me were overcoming limiting beliefs, building habits, and developing leadership skills.
When I was in the process of publishing my book Lifestyle Blogging Basics, I dealt with crippling anxiety around what others would think of me and if I was smart enough, experienced enough, etc. to write a book. After publishing my book and it hitting #1 bestseller on the Amazon charts for several months in a row, I decided that what really mattered was that I had to be BRAVE enough to just say yes to myself. Belief in yourself is the simple most powerful tool you can equip yourself with.
Building habits was something I had to learn when I started working for a remote company back in 2014. I knew that I needed self-discipline, but the best way to practice that was by building healthy and effective habits that would keep me on track as a high achiever. I continue practicing habits with each new opportunity or chapter that comes my way. Simple things like going to the gym after daycare drop-off, taking my vitamins and supplements, writing out my daily schedule, organizing my project management board, and cleaning my email inbox are daily habits that set me up for success.
And finally, developing leadership skills was and still is to this day my favorite area of focus professionally. I’ve been blessed in my life with many leaders, business owners, entrepreneurs, and mentors that have helped shape the person I am today. After learning from some of the best, I’ve taken it upon myself to become the best possible leader I can be in my career. Nothing gives me more pride than seeing my team members step up into leadership roles of their own and feel fully empowered and confident to guide their own teams in the right direction. I do this by hosting weekly book clubs centered around business performance and leadership, scheduling 1-on-1 meetings, visioncasting, and creating collaborative opportunities for my teams to be creative and support one another in their goals.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I’m feeling overwhelmed, there a few different methods I take to sort out my thoughts and calm my nerves.
For starters, I do some breathwork, yoga, or meditation to correct my headspace and align myself with my focus for the day.
I also like to reflect back on one of my favorite books titled The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. In it, it asks “What’s the one thing you can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
I like to break down my ‘One Thing’ down like this:
1. It must be an action achievable by YOU. It must be a solitary action. It must be discerned.
2. You should possess the ability to EXECUTE it. It must be of a manageable scale, allowing for a reasonably swift EXECUTION. If it proves to be too big, break it down into smaller pieces.
3. Upon the accomplishment of this action, the whole thing becomes simpler.
This can be applied to a large project at work, a lifestyle focus at home, an achievement you’re trying to win in your business, or anything that is important to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sidehustlelaura.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurademetrious
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-demetrious/
Image Credits
Trisha Marie Photography
