It was her first day on the job at The Active Network’s San Diego office when Robin Jones recalls suddenly questioning her abilities.
“Here I was hired out of Canada and lo and behold was going to run marketing for a pretty large organization. And I don’t think I actually knew what I had gotten myself into until I walked in the doors and realized how big, and large and complex everything was,” said Jones, who is now chief marketing officer for Vancouver-based QuickMobile.
“The thing I learned over time is that you’ve got to trust the battles you’ve already fought.”
It’s those types of lessons and experiences Jones wants to impart on her fellow businesswomen when she speaks Wednesday (January 21) at the Canadian Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) leadership conference in Vancouver.
She’s among four panellists speaking at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music (843 Seymour St.), where they’re tackling the topic of challenges faced when making a big career move.
WCT-B.C. chairwoman Wendy Turnbull, who is also the marketing manager at the B.C. Technology Industry Association, said it’s an issue that frequently comes up in her circles.
“A lot of us are at that stage where it’s, ‘Do I stay at the job I’m at? Do I do look at something new,’” she said, adding her peers at WTC discussed these ideas at length.
“Well, if there’s 10 of us who thought this is a great idea, hopefully there’s another group of women in Vancouver who’d be interested in this as well.”
Panellists include Nectar Juicery co-founder Tori Holmes, Edelman senior vice-president Bridgitte Anderson and Deloitte partner Bevin Arnason.
“We’ve got this incredible range of speakers with different backgrounds and we want to ask them the real questions that they wouldn’t necessarily answer in some other panel,” Turnbull said, adding speakers will talk about risks that paid off as well as ones that did not.
“So, we’re really trying to get to the heart of wins and losses.”
As for that first day in San Diego, Jones said she just had to take a deep breath and realize she was able to reach her position due to past successes.
“I’ve come across so many extraordinary young women in my career who, with a nudge here and a nudge there, have just gone on to do profound and wonderful things,” she said, adding mentoring women in the workplace has taken on new significance for her as she’s gotten older.
“In my career, women have just been so influential. Both those above me, and those who worked for and alongside me.”
Tickets for the event can be purchased at WCT’s website.
