My LinkedIn profile “About” section taunts me. It sounds like every other multi-decade professional who’s great at merging systems and people and can find effective synergies across multi-disciplined teams for full funnel results. It’s more like blah blah blah, or for the Seinfeld fans, yada yada yada, even in my own head.

We all have a 2,600 character limit. Is anyone else feeling pressure to get the tone right?

“I don’t know how to think about my whole self,” a woman shared recently during The Room Women’s Leadership Summit in a small group discussion that I co-moderated with Olivia Kory from Haus. We planned for a candid discussion, and like most The Room conversations, this one delivered. We unpacked what modern day authenticity meant and how many of us wished we dedicated more time to thinking about what it means to be fulfilled beyond the day job—in the ‘5 to 9’ hours. 

Most agree that feeling fulfilled at work is easy to define: stimulating business challenges, a motivating compensation package, people who inspire our best work, a flexible working arrangement. But when asked about a holistic sense of fulfillment—one that embodies who we are as people beyond just employees—we struggle. 

What I realized among the 15 or so women in that room is that we all seemed to know we stood for more than what we do day-to-day on the job, but to articulate what it meant to be ‘our authentic selves’ at work and at home required deeper contemplation. We all have endless priorities; few make the time to define who we really are beyond the desk. 

Between prepping for annual business planning and leading two large teams (and sometimes trying to have a personal life) I decided an intentional pause was warranted. I wanted to be clear on what I stood for. I wanted to know who I was beyond my title. The essence I brought into a conference room. What others could count on me to do repeatedly. I thought that clarify in “what I’m about” would allow me to project an even more compelling energy into every board room and living room I enter.

I believe small steps yield winning outcomes so I made three small commitments to myself in search of … myself: 

  1. Friday Post-Its: “What would have been missing this week if you weren’t there?” My executive coach prompted me with this question during a routine session last month and I wasn’t able to clearly answer beyond the generic: That email wouldn’t have gone out. The team wouldn’t have known what to do. Sure, that’s all true, but what does my presence really impart? Every Friday between now and the end of the year I will write my answer to this question on a Post-it note. So far I’ve written: Stability. Emotional support for someone struggling. A translation to an executive mandate. Cookies.
  2. One post a month on, yes, LinkedIn. Okay, so I know most people detest posting status updates on LinkedIn—cue a Simon Cowell rant, “that was indulgent.” Yes. That can be true. So, I’m challenging myself to enhance the existing conversation. My passion is writing—a large portion of my hours not clocked on timesheets are spent on beautiful blank pages—but not everyone knows that about me. Along with this newsletter, here’s how I’ve started to integrate that identity to add something more to the marketing industry conversation. (And, no, your “I’m hiring” post doesn’t count for the monthly LinkedIn quota—unless you say something super unique about what it’s like to work with you.)
  3. Sunday silent walks. Thirty minutes. No headphones. No charted path. As someone who mentally composes tweets while folding laundry, I usually allocate every waking hour to productivity. Silent walking opens a portal to mental clarity, and the magic is, at least for me, the eureka moment is never during the walk. Back in my consulting days I was trying to name my divorce coaching business. New Start, Beyond Divorce, ideas came out on the page while I forced myself to brainstorm. I then started the silent walking regimen and, sure enough, while unloading the dishwasher it came to me: Happily Better After. I almost dropped a glass. Yes, that was it, and I successfully ran that business throughout the pandemic.


I commit to taking the pause. Scribbling on the Post-It. Rewriting the summary. I’m worried if I don’t, someone else will decide who they think I am—and they’ll probably get the tone wrong. I’m not here to be yada yada yada. I’m here to be the sentence that makes you stop scrolling. 

I started on a new LinkedIn bio opening: Andrea brings an ineffable quality of stability to her multi-disciplinary teams who can count on her for crystal-clear strategic direction and an open spirit of transparency on why we do the things we do for our clients. She is a storyteller at heart—whether in a deck evaluating last quarter’s performance, a narrative on why her client needs to go after a new growth segment, or for her latest article in a national publication—Andrea knows how to bring people along the journey. If we haven’t already, let’s connect on LinkedIn. Tell me how you’re defining what you’re all about.