Alexia's Views

Speaking for the DFW American Marketing Association

Nobody's perfect, right? I know I try really hard every day and become frustrated with myself when I mess up or see that I could have done things better. In the midst of trying to navigate Corporate America, I sought out a mentor to help me find my way, and I found an amazing guide in Rhonda Shasteen. Rhonda made the journey from Administrative Assistant to Chief Marketing Officer at Mary Kay Cosmetics over a 26-year career before retiring in 2010. Needless to say, she knows a lot.

Rhonda's wisdom, savvy and business acumen make her the ideal person to look to for personal and professional insights. Rhonda has the perfect blend of leadership, diplomacy, and grace, making her one of the most well rounded executives I've had the pleasure to meet. On Friday September 9th, 2011, Rhonda and I will share some learnings that have come from our relationship that I captured in my book, Views from the 13th Floor: Conversations with My Mentor, when we present for the Dallas Fort Worth Chapter of the American Marketing Association Professional Development Special Interest Group. During the meeting, which will be held at the charming AMS Pictures, we will present our stories and some great tips on leadership, control, corporate politics, and effective communication, while offering ample time for attendees to ask their own pressing questions. 

The DFW AMA has had the most positive and profound impact on my life, and is the very place where I met Rhonda almost five years ago, along with several other long-time friends and mentors. This special interest group is geared towards helping you advance in your career, so please take a moment to come learn from a truly accomplished master. You can!

Meet Neil. The winner of the Alexia's Views comment contest!

A few weeks ago, I met a gentleman by the name of Neil Lemons, through a mutual friend. After talking to Neil for a few minutes, we hit it off as two fellow bloggers and social media junkies. Over the course of our conversation, I learned some interesting things about Neil and his involvement in the Dallas community, which reminded me, once again, of the value and importance of networking and being integrated in your city or town. 

 After meeting Neil, he visited this blog and posted a comment in response to my 100th post celebration comment contest. His comment made him the official winner of the contest, and now I have a great excuse to introduce you to Neil Lemons, and share some of the cool things he's doing to make Dallas a more interesting place to live.

Neil is one of the few native Texans I've met in this state. Among other things, he's a self described "personal development and marketing nut." and has been an active blogger since 2001. He co-founded the website, I live in Dallas, a hyper-local publication on art, events, theater, people and Dallas restaurants. Neil's website is comprised of a group of writers who share interesting things to do and experience in Dallas. The most recent article featured profiles o six boutique hotels in Dallas.

With the help of Neil and his cohort, you'll never find yourself lacking for ideas of things to do in the DFW area.

In addition to being an involved writer and social media guru, Neil is a great networker and connector. Soon after we met, we found out we were in many of the same professional groups, and I learned about even more groups I didn't know about. He gave me the opportunity to grow my network, which lends right into my personal goal for the year to meet as many new people as possible. It's always fun to meet a connector because your circles can expand exponentially in a short period of time. You'll make friends and business contacts you hadn't known before, some of which may have a lasting impact on your life down the road.

I encourage you to visit iliveindallas.com even if you don't live in Dallas. It will offer you many ideas of things to explore in your own town. Experiencing this life is a gift, and I hope you'll follow Neil's example by making the most out of each day. You can!

 

Celebrating my 100th Post and over 6,000 Blog Views

This is an exciting post. It makes Number 100, and it wouldn't be here without you and my amazing mentor, Rhonda Shasteen. People reading the blog give me a very good reason to publish it, and Rhonda helps bring so much wisdom and insight into the thoughts presented here.

The next wonderful moment to celebrate which is logging over 6,000 page views to the blog since it launched in October in 2010.For a small town girl like me, it feels like quite an accomplishment. All the traffic makes me believe some of the things I think about and learn are helping you too. If we grow through this journey together, then it is a mission accomplished. I know I grow every time I write because it causes my thoughts and opinions to really gel.

In addition to seeing my book, Views from the 13th Floor: Conversations with My Mentor, being published, the last 12 months have seen the blog launch and my Fan Page going up. If you haven't yet, please Like my Facebook Fan Page.

In an effort to more fully celebrate this occasion, I'm giving away a copy of my book to a lucky commenter. Please post a comment to my website about your thoughts on the blog and things you'd like to talk about, and I'll randomly select and announce a lucky winner!

Thank you for your support and taking the time to read.

Alexia Featured as a Woman Worth Knowing

I recently made a wonderful new friend who is a fellow author and blogger, and she even lives right here in Dallas, Texas. Because she lives in the same town we've had the fortunate experience to meet. Her name is Lane Morris Buckman, and she writes a blog about Women Worth Knowing. In her posts, Lane explores what makes a woman tick, what makes her feel valuable, and how she gives of herself. In her latest post, she features yours truly, Alexia Isaak. Please visit the post to learn a little more about me!

In addition to her blog, Lane has starting hosting regular events with the same theme, Women Worth Knowing, to give people a place to network and encourage each other. These events are open to all women AND men who would like to participate, and having attended, I must say it's well worth the time to spend an hour in the midst of amazing people.

Lane is truly a dynamic woman who knows the challenges of working and raising a family, while finding time to dedicate to writing. She is an amazing example of grace and balance. If you are in the Dallas area, I'd encourage you to attend the next Women worth Knowing event on May 21, 2011.

If you'd like to know more about Lane Morris Buckman, you can view her author page on Amazon.com and you can order her book, The Order of the Blood there as well.

How Did It Go? Speaking at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

Last night I presented my book, Views form the 13th Floor: Conversations with My Mentor, to a group that gathered at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in North Dallas. The group consisted of a number of parishioners, and I was part of a panel of speakers who attend the church and have also published books. Each author presented their books, told how they were published and what inspired them to write in the first place.

We heard stories of a fighter pilot, poems by Victor Semos and recipes of family members, and memoirs or a man's grieving process. It was amazing to hear each person speak so passionately about their subject matter and their books. Something came alive in each person as they presented with a deep sense of pride in their work.

I presented the story of how I met my mentor, Rhonda Shasteen, and highlighted key topics in the book like boldness, control, leadership and work life balance. The audience was supportive and engaged, and we heard many inspiring stories. I was able to sign a few books at the end of the event too, which was extra nice. The event was a big success, and I hope to do even more speaking engagements in the future.

The End!

 

 

Presenting Views from the 13th Floor in North Dallas

This Thursday, March 17, 2011, from 7:00-8:00 PM Central Time, I will be presenting Views from the 13th Floor Conversations with My Mentor at Dallas' Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. The event is sponsoring several of the church community's published authors in effort to support each one another. I will be presenting with three other authors on a varying array of subjects from business to spirituality.

As part of the presentation, I will talk about how my mentor, Rhonda Shasteen, and I met, what inspired me to publish the book, and how I pursued getting published. I'll also touch on some of the highlighted topics of the book like career guidance, career decisions, seeking career help, leadership, boldness, and work life balance.

The event is open to the public and free of charge if anyone in the Dallas area would like to participate.

Who is Alexia?

Ever since I published Views From the 13th Floor: Conversations with My Mentor and started penning this blog, people have been interested in learning a little more about me. To answer the questions, I thought I'd publish this post with a little more information.

Today I live in Dallas, Texas. I've been in Dallas ever since I graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelors of Humanities and Arts back in 2003. A little over three years ago, my brother, Leo, moved to Dallas from Atlanta and has been my roommate ever since.

Leo and I grew up in Greenwood, Mississippi, a small town in the Mississippi Delta nestled between the Tallahassee and Yazoo Rivers. We grew up in a Greek family with generations in the restaurant business.

Upon entering high school, I decided my calling in life was to be a professional opera singer. With that fire in my belly, I went off to Interlochen Arts Academy to spend my senior year of high school singing, acting and performing. At Interlochen I met my dear friend and concert pianist, Yana Reznik. Yana was my friend from the start. We were roommates, and shared one of the best years of my life together.

After Interlochen, I traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to attend the Cleveland Institute of Music. Though it was a good experience, it wasn't the right home for me, and in 2000, I transferred to Carnegie Mellon where I thrived and had an amazing experience.

In the fall of 2001, about two weeks after 9-11, I experienced a trauma to the brain, and had an emergency craniotomy to stop a bleed in my brain. The full story of the experience is recounted in my book. Since the rug was ripped out from under me, and my understanding of my direction in life was completely upside down, I took a bit of a turn from the opera career.

How Did It Go? Speaking at the Kellogg Career Symposium

On Saturday, February 12, 2011, my mentor, Rhonda Shasteen, and I hosted a break out session at the Kellogg School of Management Annual Career Symposium. The event had about 150 attendees from a broad spectrum of specialties. There was a panel of recruiters who gave us all a few really good tips to help us be more self-aware of our professional presence. Some key tips are as follows:

1. Always respond to people quickly.
2. Check yourself out on Google, and Google Images in particular.
3. Know what your social media presence is, and keep it suitable for the public eye.
4. Have a LinkedIn account, or you won't be taken seriously.

The keynote address was by Aylwin B. Lewis, the CEO of Potbelly Sandwiches. His speech included many stories of taking risk with both positive and negative outcomes. He shared how an experience that seemed horrible at the time turned out to be leading him to his next great opportunity, offering great encouragement to all of us. He has a lot of great experience supported by a vision that has been proven time and time again.

Rhonda and I spoke to a group of people ranging from MBA students to a CFO. Rhonda was able to share her amazing insights and be a sounding board for those in the room with pressing issues and questions seeking some self-improvement tips. It was wonderful to be able to share the relationship we have with others. After about an hour of presenting and talking, we attended the keynote address and stayed for lunch to network and sell some copies of my book, Views from the 13th Floor: Conversations with My Mentor.

For our first event together, I'd say it was a big success. We had a great time and look forward to doing more. 

 

Speaking at Southern Methodist University on February 12, 2011

Rhonda Shasteen, my mentor, and I are speaking at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX for the Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management Alumni Annual Career Symposium. Though it is a Northwester event, it is open to the public. We will be presenting the following topic in a break out session.

Views from the 13^th Floor: Lessons from the Executive Suite

Rhonda Shasteen and Alexía Isaak will present lessons Rhonda learned on her journey from Administrative Assistant to Chief Marketing Officer at Mary Kay. Rhonda will share wisdom from her 26-year career as revealed through the frustrations, decisions and opportunities of her mentee, Alexía.  Rhonda’s insights into the real-life experiences of an executive for a billion-dollar, global corporation can help others in their efforts to navigate Corporate America and climb the ladder to the top. Topics covered will include: corporate politics, leadership, boldness, motives and payback, and effective communication.

To register to attend the event, click here, and please let me know if we can look for you there. There will be a question and answer time to lean on Rhonda's amazing wisdom as a sounding board for any issues you may be encountering. It should prove to be enlightening in self-awareness of personal and professional growth.

 

Two Book Signings in Mississippi

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

This holiday weekend Rhonda and I will be doing a short signing tour in Mississippi to promote Views from the 13th floor: conversations with my mentor.

The first signing will be at TurnRow Book Company on Friday, November 26th from 3-5 PM in Greenwood, Mississippi, my beloved home town, full of character and Southern charm. More details about the signing are on TurnRow's home page.

The folownig day we'll be traveling to Jackson, Mississippi's Lemuria Books to sign again from 3-5 PM. Details for the Lemuria signing are on Lemuria's event calendar.

I invite all who will be in the neighborhood to come say hello and visit.  We'll be delighted to see you. We'll have books to sell at each event, and they can be purchased on WME Books online Bookstore.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!