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

Juanita, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

An important lesson that I’ve learned at a prior job that has helped me professionally is to document everything; this includes your actions, interactions with others, planned activities, goals, targets you’ve met/exceeded, projects you’ve worked on, etc. Effective documentation has helped me to stay consistent, meet targets and keep track of progress/results. It has also helped me to mitigate risks and has protected me from unfair treatment. Over the past 10 years, all my positions were customer focused, so I understood the importance of documentation for that reason – protecting yourself if a complaint arises. However, I didn’t always understand other reasons as to why documentation is essential. After taking on my first leadership role and experiencing my first mishap with my leadership team, I quickly realized that I needed to not only document to protect myself from clients I’ve worked with, but to start documenting everything, to include my accomplishments, conversations with staff, workflows, etc.
I often hear professionals say that they’re just so busy doing their jobs that they don’t have time or think about doing anything else. And though we may be able to do our jobs effectively without necessarily documenting everything, it could hurt you in the long run. It’s so easy to forget about that one small action you took that made a major difference. So, when it’s time to update your resume or negotiate a pay raise, you find yourself scrambling trying to remember everything you’ve done. Documentation takes that weight slightly off your shoulders. It was one of the reasons why I was able to successfully negotiate a pay raise 6 months into a position that I’d just accepted.
There was also a time where I experienced discrimination in the workplace – which came as a complete surprise to me. One issue, led to another issue, which then led to me being wrongfully terminated. Though I can’t speak too much on this instance, I will say documentation allowed me to exercise my rights and ultimately provided some release during a stressful time.
Now that I’m an entrepreneur, I continue to document everything – my workflows, goals, conversations, etc. No matter what industry you’re in or what type of professional you are, I suggest you document everything. Make it a practice and make it habit.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Juanita Barkley, Founder of ‘Resumes by Juanita’. I am a Resume Expert and Career Clarity Coach. I help high achieving professionals secure sustainable positions that aligns with their core values through holistic career coaching. I started out in this industry back in 2014, where I worked on the largest military installation, helping transitioning service members from the US Army and Navy prepare for careers in the civilian workforce. I’ve taught workshops for thousands of job seekers in multiple industries, I’ve helped thousands of people develop clear career road maps, and I’ve written more resumes than I can count. From there, I continued my career working within the education system as a Career & Success Coach. During this time, I worked closely with staffing agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and contractors to place our graduates in sustaining careers. In 2020, I decided to start my own business as a entrepreneur offering career development and coaching services. Professionals come to me when they need assistance building and strengthening their professional brand such as their resume and LinkedIn profile. They also come to me when they need assistance gaining career clarity and determining their next best move.

What sets me apart is that I’ve been on every side of the job search phase. I’ve been a job seeker, hiring manager, recruiter and HR specialist. I’ve also worked with many companies, world-wide to help them achieve their staffing goals. I know what it takes to be a successful career professional. Additionally, career alignment is something that I truly believe in. When we all enjoy what we do, it makes the world a better place. My goal and mission is to empower more people to do the work that aligns with their true desires.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience by providing as much value as I could. Often times I hear other entrepreneurs say that they’re hesitant to provide too much value, because they fear their audience not buying. However, the more value you give, the more you build trust and the more others will share your page. You can’t hold back on sharing the things you know because that’s what positions you to be an expert in your field. The more gems you provide, the better.

Another thing that helped me to build my audience was showing up and being consistent. You have to be willing to switch up your content here and there and not be afraid to show your face and personality. I’ll be honest, I did not want to record reels for a long time. In fact, it took me almost a year to start posting reels on my IG page. However once I started posting reels on my IG account- my page grew even faster.

And last – start with one platform. You don’t have to try to grow them all at once. It works for some people, however it didn’t work for me because each platform has it’s own set of rules. It was very challenging for me to try to keep up with them all. Master one and then slowly start making your way to the others.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I love feeding my brain! There’s a few books that has helped me tremendously – not just in entrepreneurship but in life. I’m spiritual so I enjoy and benefit mostly from spiritual reads. A few that’s helped to transform me and my mindset are ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle and ‘Becoming Supernatural’ by Joe Dispenza.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://resumesbyjuanita.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/resumesbyjuanita/