The Women of Faviana is an empowerment council within Faviana International, focuses on the wellbeing, personal and professional development and leadership of female employees. The organization meets once a month to discuss assigned reading, sit in on presentations from thought leaders, and host discussions around core topics relevant to empowering their lives and professional experience while at Faviana.
In October, our Women of Faviana event was hosted by Lili Gil Valletta, who offered incredible advice about finding and developing “Brand YOU.”
In 2000 she became the youngest female executive at Johnson & Johnson and co-founded the company’s chapter of the Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Achievement. Valletta later went on to co-found XLAlliance, a 100% minority owned marketing and strategy agency. Valletta has been named Business Woman of the Year by the Latin Pride Awards, she is a board member on the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and is a member of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Foundation, amongst many others.
Lili spoke primarily on the topic of leadership, with a workshop focusing on “Creating Brand YOU”.
What is Brand YOU? It is combining who you are in the workplace and who you are in your personal life to build one strong, united ‘brand’: Brand YOU!
We discussed some of the hobbies when we were younger, because they inspire and push us towards our true passions. At a young age, you are naive and inexperienced and discovering what you like and dislike – you are not afraid of failure and you are not concerned about making money. Lili’s main tip: Combine your hobbies, passions, workplace and personal ‘you’ for one strong Brand YOU!
“Many times the things we love we leave at the door as we enter ‘work life’ – You as a brand is more powerful as a whole”
For example, I have always been a crafty person, and I played with dolls and dress up a lot. This is evident now in my interest in fashion and DIY projects. Working in fashion is a great way for me to combine my passion and love of fashion and make a career I love and care about.
We also discussed as a group our goals and hobbies outside of the work place. A lot of us discussed makeup, fashion and entertaining – which has to be why we are all so passionate about Faviana!
“There is power in evaluating and knowing yourself” It was interesting to map out our personal brands, learn a bit more about each other that we may not have already known, and focus on evaluating ourselves as a whole.
What are some of your passions – and how can you combine them to build and be a strong all around person? What are some of your hobbies evident in your career? Tell us more below in the comments!
