Sharnelle Kan – LYP Alumna & Social Media Specialist at BYU Agency
The Live Your Potential (LYP) program is the brainchild of award-winning trainers Dr. Jean Kim and Lilit Simonyan. I had the pleasure of participating in the program and came away with a sense of empowerment and the confidence to make my career more meaningful and rewarding. I would highly recommend the program to anyone who is looking for the support and direction they need for greater success.
Here are a few things I took away from the program:
1 – You are not alone. LYP brings a group of likeminded, ambitious women together for a full weekend of leadership and career development. During the program, you will meet women from completely different walks of life but what’s special about the women you will meet is that they, like you, are looking for the confidence, strength, and support to develop a meaningful and successful life. This sense of sisterhood is truly empowering and you will likely meet women you will stay in touch with for a long time.
2 – Invest in yourself. Congrats! Signing up for the LYP program is one of the many steps you can take to invest in yourself and your career. LYP showed me that it is crucial to understand yourself and your goals so that every decision you make can take you one step closer to your dreams.
3 – Nourish your network. Networking is an integral part of building your support system but what’s more important than handing out as many of your business cards as possible is nourishing your network. What good are the connections you make if you only speak once? Follow up with your contacts and build a strong support system of people you can actually rely on in a variety of fields— you never know when you may need them, and vice versa.
The LYP program is especially good at helping graduates nourish their networks through a private panel discussion and networking event offered at the end of the course.
4 – Take responsibility. One key takeaway for me from the LYP program was that the only person responsible for your happiness is yourself! If there is something about your career that is making you unhappy, there is always a solution. Jean and Lilit provide you with the tools to effectively action plan to reach your goals.
5 – Tell your story, and tell it well. The professional world can be a tough place to be if you don’t stand out. Every woman who comes through the LYP program is coached in identifying their strengths and articulating a well-crafted personal brand story.
The beauty of today’s social media-focused world is that we can communicate our personal brands incredibly well through many platforms. As a marketing/advertising professional with expertise in social media, I would also be happy to advise any program graduates on how to communicate your brand and story on social media!