Recently I was asked to be part of a “Professionals With Strong Brands” interview series on the blogProfessionality. This site is published by Dawn Stanyon, a personal brand expert. Her company, Professionality Consulting, brings soft skills leaders and corporations together for outstanding training.

Dawn and I go way back because she was my very first networking challenge interview! You can watch or read the interview here. (I have now done 31 interviews since Dawn’s interview a year ago…WOW!)

There were a lot of fun questions, so I thought I would share the interview with Classy Career Girl!

Dawn: Tell us what your “profession” is (i.e. What’s your day job?)

Anna: Which one? Just kidding. I have multiple day jobs to keep my life interesting. I am a Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, a Professor at DeVry University, and Blogger and Career Coach at Classycareergirl.com.

D: Did you think this was what you wanted to do when you grew up?

A: No way. I would never have imagined that I would be a writer or a Professor just five years ago. I hated writing when I was younger and used to be terribly scared to present in front of a room full of people. Never ever would have imagined my life taking this direction but I love it now!

D: What has been your professional path? Any bumps in the road?

A: I had a long period of time where I felt terribly stuck in a job I hated. It took me a long time and a lot of self-assessment tests to realize that I was in the wrong role for my personality, motivations, and interests and the role just didn’t fit me at all which is why I was so unhappy. Now I get to help other young professionals who are also stuck get unstuck like I did and help them through that process.

D: Would you share any of your professional goals with us? How important is goal setting to you?

A: It’s a must! My goal for this year is to focus on balance so actually this year I am trying not to set too many goals for myself. My goals this year are just to focus on a few things that are really important to me, which are teaching, writing a book and blogging. My goals are also to make sure I have a lot of downtime in my schedule and to not work too much! 🙂

D: What do you consider your top three attributes/strengths? And how do you consistently project them?

A: My top three strengths are:

1. Consistency – I have hardly missed a blog post on a weekday in three years!

2. Listening – I love listening to people and helping them get through a tough decision or problem.

3. Time management – I don’t know really know how I do it but I am able to get it all done. I am really good at focusing on one thing at a time, which I learned while getting my MBA while working full time for three years.  Focusing and prioritizing are a strength of mine.

D: What advice would you give a new professional (if they asked for it, of course!)?

A: Don’t think that there is anything that you can’t do. If you have a dream or big scary goal, just put a plan in place and start talking to the people that are already in that position you want to be in. It’s amazing how doors will start opening once you set your mind to do something and start telling people about it.

D: What advice would you give to a professional looking to make a change?

A: Take action. Do something small every day. Make sure you do something besides staying miserable in a role that you hate.  Life is too short to be miserable.

D: When you’re having an “off” day, what do you do to kick yourself into gear?

A: Crank up the music and do something I enjoy (usually working out or blogging). Also, if I have been working too hard, I have to remind myself to relax. Those are the times when I just lay down and read. I have to remind myself not to always go-go-go and to relax every now and then. That is when my best ideas come! When I am not doing anything related to work.

D: What makes you laugh?

A: My husband. He’s my comic relief.

D: What are some of your favorite blogs?

A: I love looking at Kendi Everyday and Cupcakes and Cashmere. I actually try not to read too many blogs in the career niche because if I do that, I find I start trying to make my blog like their blog.  Instead, I want my blog to be totally unique and not like anyone else’s.

Do you have more questions for Classy Career Girl?  Put them in the comments and I will do a follow-up post!