Bozoma Saint John says she's successful in her career because she ignored this piece of advice: 'It really shrank me'

Bozoma Saint John doesn't shrink distant from the spotlight.

Saint John, 48, was Netflix's archetypal Black C-level executive arsenic their main selling officer. She became Uber's archetypal main branding serviceman tasked with rehabbing the rideshare company's image. And she made headlines successful 2016 erstwhile she shook up the signifier astatine Apple's yearly league contempt not looking similar a emblematic "Apple instrumentality boy," she says.

Saint John's vocation moves are arsenic as bold arsenic her idiosyncratic style. And she has what she considers immoderate well-meaning but misguided proposal to convey for that.

"An aboriginal manager told maine ne'er to deterioration reddish lipstick oregon reddish nail polish," Saint John tells CNBC Make It erstwhile asked astir the champion vocation proposal she's ever gotten.

"She did it with bully intention, like, 'You locomotion into a country and you don't privation to beryllium excessively bold. You don't privation radical to marque opinions of you earlier you adjacent unfastened your mouth,'" Saint John says.

But "that made maine question my quality successful rooms. Being a Black pistillate who's rather gangly and bold successful her wardrobe, I recovered that it truly shrank me."

Saint John says she decided to disregard that proposal and flip it connected its caput to "be the astir colorful, the boldest, the sharpest, the wittiest successful a room, and consciousness precise assured successful it."

"I've been capable to beryllium palmy due to the fact that I didn't instrumentality that advice," she says.

Saint John continues to spell aft large changes successful her career, becoming a first-time CEO for her ain hairsbreadth and quality brand, Eve by Boz, and astir precocious adding "reality TV star" to her resume a formed subordinate of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and arsenic co-host of NBC's "On Brand with Jimmy Fallon."

And she wants you to spell aft your large vocation swings, too.

With radical approaching a caller twelvemonth with caller enactment goals, Saint John says it's a bully clip arsenic immoderate to spell aft what you truly privation successful your career. "That the pivot tin hap immoderate moment," she says.

Here, Saint John draws connected her ain vocation and acquisition managing thousands to stock the signs it's clip to discontinue a job, however to signifier your nonrecreational brand, a large reddish emblem erstwhile interviewing with companies, and more.

If you privation a promotion oregon much experiences wrong your job, acceptable a timeline by which you tin deed that extremity oregon determine it's clip to leave. Create a timeline with your boss.

A batch of times radical attack that promotion oregon the rise speech from a precise self-centered standpoint. What the institution and your manager wants to perceive is however it's going to assistance the institution and the wider assemblage of your colleagues.

So if you presumption it as: "By March 1, I privation to beryllium promoted to X position, and this is however I'm going to execute my occupation to get instrumentality connected much work oregon assistance the institution execute X, Y and Z goal,' that gives you immoderate gathering blocks and a timeline to get to March 1.

When you're mid-career trying to get to the adjacent step, you should perfectly person a program to marque definite that you're talking to your brag with a timeline successful mind.

It's specified a mistake to deliberation that this is each you, that you've got to enactment successful the ideas for however you're going to get ahead. If you don't see your manager successful your timeline, they person nary thought what what extremity you're trying to hit.

Lay the groundwork truthful that by the clip you person that conversation, everybody is good alert that either you've deed the extremity to get that rise oregon promotion, and if you bash your portion and don't person it by March 1, everybody's connected the aforesaid page: 'I'm quitting.'

Regardless of if you're connected TV oregon you're sitting successful a cubicle, I judge your idiosyncratic marque is important, and to immoderate grade you don't person control. So you person to instrumentality arsenic overmuch power arsenic possible.

If you're sitting a cubicle successful an unfastened level program and idiosyncratic doesn't admit your work, your work is to marque definite that the marque communicative astir yourself is that you're hardworking oregon that you're originative oregon that you're a occupation solver. Do arsenic overmuch arsenic you tin to pass that marque the aforesaid mode that you would successful beforehand of a camera.

This is the No. 1 thing: Bring your afloat self. Don't effort to chopped down the edges of yourself truthful that you tin acceptable successful better. The mode that you marque yourself memorable is to really beryllium memorable.

There are truthful galore beautifully unsocial things astir each of us, our experiences, the past that we travel with, that weaving that into your answers and into the speech that you're having is really what's going to marque idiosyncratic retrieve you.

We often deliberation that arsenic quality beings, we person to person akin interests oregon akin tastes with idiosyncratic truthful that they get on with america and privation to prosecute us. And I deliberation it's really rather the opposite. Curiosity, wanting to cognize idiosyncratic due to the fact that you're like, 'They're from this place, oregon they've had this experience, and that could adhd to the occupation due to the fact that I don't person that experience' is really however you privation to beryllium perceived successful an interview.

If you're successful an interview, and the idiosyncratic who's talking to you makes it dependable arsenic if they're looking for idiosyncratic who's conscionable similar them, run. Run fast, acold and away.

You privation to beryllium successful a spot that is going to admit and emotion the unsocial publication that you're bringing to the job. And it's not conscionable astir your concern experience. It's astir your taste experience, your idiosyncratic acquisition and your affectional experience.

You're 1 of one, truthful bring it.

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

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