Sarah Flynn on working with the right people

🤝 Sarah Flynn knows somebody who knows somebody: She’s the ultimate multi-hyphenate whose role went way beyond the CMO job description — no wonder she just landed a major promotion. She works on everything from contract review to event production, and she values that flexibility and do-it-all capability in her team at Boardroom, too.

💡 The takeaways: A former boss from her music days brought Flynn into the sports industry. Although it might seem like that first job fell into her lap, she ultimately leveraged her robust professional network and strong reputation to open the door to a career in sports. Here’s what she has to say about how you can pivot, too:

• When looking for a new role, get serious about what kind of people you want to work with, not just what kind of job you want to do. “Focusing on the people that I respect and want to be around and want to learn from has been, for me, what changed my life and my career.”

• How can you determine if a job is a good fit, people-wise? There’s no better source than mutual acquaintances — ask what it’s like to work with your potential boss or how the team functions. In interviews, lean on specific questions about management style, like “What’s our ideal amount of communication every day?” or “How do you prefer to receive information?”

• When building your network, understand that relationships with peers and superiors are both crucial, for different reasons. A potential boss can teach you things and help shape your career, but the people you start out with can be vital connections as you come up through the industry together.

🎤 Mic-drop moment: “No place is perfect, and you aren't gonna get along with everybody. But the overall attitude and the overall vibe of your day-to-day is dramatically changed when you really enjoy working with people and you aren't coming from a place of fear or irritation or just simply not understanding the people around you.” Friendship makes the world go ’round, after all.