We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jamila Brown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jamila below.

Jamila, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I was raised by two amazing parents, William & Betty Brown who throughout my childhood led by example in every area they had the experience, education, and exposure to do so. One specific area that prepared me to take their legacy to another level was the area of learning from others, navigating it better, and faster, and then taking others with me. While my father, did not have all the career hacks to be able to successfully navigate being a tenured artist for the newspaper at the time and therefore being considered an overpaid employee, through his experience I learned that there are rules to the game. Throughout my career in corporate America, I was able to move towards understanding the intricacies of a company and more importantly for me a publicly traded company. Understanding how to navigate from mentors and sponsors is why I do what I do. I have been blessed to have amazing mentors and sponsors, to name one Cole Brown (no known biological relation), who poured so many career hacks and more importantly life hacks. It was an easy choice and decision to start the 5 Minute Career Hack with Candyce Hunta & Alicia Wade. Our mission is to share career hacks in a concise and easily digestible manner to help individuals pivot in their confidence, compensation, and careers. We do that by working with organizations, through our podcast, speaking engagements, and on-demand courses. My parents modeled excellence in their work ethic, learning new things, learning through others, and reading. My mentors like Cole Brown modeled excellence in authenticity, producing amazing results, promoting others on their platform, and sharing knowledge with others. I am blessed and honored to be apart of their legacy and do the same.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have gratefully walked the path from the sports arena to managing billions in corporate America. And I now lead as a speaker, podcaster, and career strategist. I have worked with many global corporate giants like Champs Sports, Walmart Inc., Ross Stores Inc., Dollar General, and now as a co-founder of the 5 Minute Career Hack. My reputation as a branding, content, and leadership development guru is a foundational piece of my success. I have had the pleasure of working with heavyweights like Payscale, ASHA, Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, LA SHRM, The Vitamin Shoppe, and more. I am a co-host of the 5 Minute Career Hack with my fellow co-hosts Alicia Wade & Candyce Hunt, which is a weekly stop for thought leaders, visionaries, and entrepreneurs sharing their wisdom with the world and providing actionable life hacks along the way. My brand embodies excellence, blazing a trail that defies conventions and inspires others to aim higher. My journey is a testament to resilience, ambition, and an unwavering commitment to reaching the pinnacle of success. My hope is that my journey and commitment to sharing with others ignites others’ passions in life.

From career strategy to customized training, workshops, podcasts, and on-demand learning courses, we meet challenges or needs at their root and provide sustainable solutions to advance individuals’ & organizations’ overall performance. With a concentration on confidence, career navigation, and compensation we help individuals pivot throughout their career journey.

The most robust employment lifecycle course on the market is our flagship course, the Career Hacks Masters course. This course helps you at every stage of the employment cycle from applying for a job, your resume, interviewing, negotiation, emotional intelligence, and your exit strategy.

We have 3 core workshops that we provide for organizations:
1. RENEW Career Wellness which focuses on Burnout.
2. The Brand Whisperer workshop meshes personal and professional branding in a way that converts into opportunities.
3. Conflict Leadership workshop which helps all levels with navigating conflict towards positive ROI.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I will never forget the day. I had just completed a last round of interviews. This company was set to give me everything that I had asked for. I went back home to New Orleans after meeting with the executives. It was a short day by comparison to most interview days that included travel. I got home by 1 pm and heard from what could be my future boss. He offered me everything I wanted from compensation to geography. I told him to give me some time to think about the offer and discuss it with my advisors and family. I went to sleep and didn’t wake up for 24 hours. I wasn’t sick, I wasn’t even tired when I went to sleep. But when I woke up, all I heard was “I’m done, it’s time to bet on me.” Leading up to this moment, I had not been considering leaving corporate America. I was contemplating the great offer that I had on the table along with a couple of other opportunities. But in that moment, it was crystal clear, I was done. I left corporate America in 2018 without a plan or knowing exactly what I would be doing. Looking back on it, I realize now that I was experiencing burnout. My body shut down for 24 hours due to mental fatigue. I am so happy that I listened that day and decided to pivot into entrepreneurship. I am blessed to live a healthier lifestyle mentally, physically, and emotionally. My work is personally fulfilling. The amount of people I have been able to help is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Burnout is a topic that is mainstream now but we still have a long way to go with 70 & of employees affected. We developed our R.E.N.E.W. Career Wellness Workshop with almost 3/4 of the employee population in mind. Teaching individuals about the burnout cycle, symptoms, root causes, and ways to calibrate periodically to avoid burnout is just the beginning.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Corporate America is not a person. The organization you work for is not a person. While you may have a boss and work with others, the organization itself is not a person. Understanding how a business is set up and it’s primary function is vital. This informs how you show up at work and what your personal objectives are. No matter what a company says, its number one goal is to make money. This is especially true for a publicly traded company. If this is not their number one goal then that business will no longer exist. They could approach this goal by #1 prioritizing operational execution or #2 taking care of their people. But either way, the motive is still that they make money. If employees digest this fact they will be more focused on what they want from a company. It is a transactional relationship. That relationship starts with an employee agreeing to do work for the company. Then that company agrees to pay the employee for that work. An employee can take advantage of career growth opportunities, continuing education and development, benefits, profit sharing, equity purchases, and more. And when an employee sees another organization is offering better transactions you can take your talents elsewhere. The organization does not take this personally if you decide to leave, they post your job to replace you. The NBA is such a great example of this transactional relationship. They sometimes trade players to other teams while they are on the court playing or on a road trip. Is it tough sometimes? Yes, because we are all human. But we must remember the organization is going to always prioritize their number one goal, making money. And you should prioritize your number one goal, YOU.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.5minutecareerhack.com
• Instagram: https://bit.ly/5mchinstagram
• Facebook: https://bit.ly/5mchfacebook
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamilabrown
• Twitter: https://bit.ly/5mchtwitter
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/5MinuteCareerHack