We recently connected with Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Fabiana thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?

The most important lesson I learned while being an intern was the importance of “being a sponge.” There are a lot of lessons at work that you absorb through osmosis — not everything will be told to you explicitly, and it’s important to sharpen your powers of observation to really understand the way things work. I learned the most when I was observing the ways leaders around me reacted to crises or how they spoke at meetings. It’s crucial to take in the bad things too, what are the behaviors you DON’T want to adopt in your career? Or, what are ways things have been mishandled so you don’t make the same mistakes?

This lesson has carried me throughout my career because there is so much I continue to learn by simply being present and observing situations. For example, a client can tell you they like your work, but their body language can be telling you a completely different story. Knowing this, you can try and course correct before they stop taking your calls.

Being a sponge is also crucial when you’re in leadership positions, it’s not enough to absorb lessons from other leaders you should also learn from your peers, employees, and interns. Absorbing these diverse perspectives can create a richer worldview and make you a ore effective leader. We never stop learning, always be a sponge!

Fabiana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve been a marketer my entire career, specializing in public relations, but also overseeing comprehensive strategies that encompass social media, branding, copywriting, event planning, and more.

There was a time where I thought I was going to work with hospitality clients (restaurants, hotels, clubs) for the entirety of my career, but I’ve ended up working with clients across all industries. I’ve handled campaigns for James Beard Award winning restaurants, well-known B2B tech companies, non-fiction authors, e-commerce brands and now I’ve turned my focus to the A/E/C industry (architecture, engineering, construction).

I think that what sets me apart ismy ability to tell stories from experts in any industry. It’s one thing to market restaurants, which can garner press or attention quite quickly when they open, but it’s another to keep people interested in them. And it’s also challenging to go from marketing these consumer friendly spaces to B2B technology. It does take a certain kind of agility to master the art of storytelling across industries.

I’m thankful for the journey I’ve taken because I get to work with tons of brilliant people everyday — they’re doing life changing things for their communities and industries but don’t know how to tell their stories in a way that communicates their expertise. So that’s where I come in.

Have you ever had to pivot?

2021 and 2022 were major pivot years for me.

In the Fall of 2021, I made the difficult decision of leaving a job I loved, and worked at for several years, because I felt like I was growing in a way that was outpacing the organization. This was the first major pivot because I had to come to terms with this decision — I had a lot of security and routine. What if the next role didn’t work out? What if I was only good at the job because I was with that organization, but I wasn’t actually capable? Despite this, I knew that moving on was the right decision.

Once I started the new role I felt in my gut that I wasn’t meant to be there long term. It wasn’t a fit for a lot of reasons, but I was trying my best to stick it out. The second pivot came quite quickly — I made the choice to leave 4 months into the position. However, this pivot also brought some enlightenment in a lot of ways because I saw that I was actually really skilled in marketing and public relations and would be able to succeed in any environment.

In 2022, I started a new role with a larger agency and was excited about where I was headed there. This one felt right in the beginning, but then it stopped feeling like a fit. I was growing in a way that was at odds with what the organization needed, which was okay. So, 6 months in I made my final pivot and went to work in my current role. This final shift was what really sealed in the confidence I had in myself — I was no longer afraid to pivot when necessary.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn fear.

Fear exists for a reason and it’s a necessary evolutionary trait. But we tend to lean into fear as a catch all for a lot of emotions — anxiety, nervousness, the unknown.

I’m the type of person that doesn’t want to move until things feel safe and secure. So my anxiety translates into fear which can become paralyzing — I used to want to avoid fear at every cost. The thing is, as I grow and progress as a leader, my decisions become more impactful, more high stakes, so there comes a point where fear is not only affecting me but also those on my team.

So, I had to learn to stop letting fear paralyze me and instead lean into the adrenaline so it could propel me to make the right decision. It helps to feel fear, because it’s the rational part of your brain asking all of the “what ifs?”, but you can also use it to make lists of pros and cons, practice your argument, or work to identify the specific things that are making you afraid.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefabiana/
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/_thefabiana

Image Credits
Ashley Hahn,